DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
This Office Action is response to the claims set filed 05/26/2026 following the Final Rejection of 02/26/2026. Claims 1, 3-4 and 10 were amended. Claims 1-10 are currently pending.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 05/26/2026, with respect to the specification objection, the drawing objection, and claims rejected under 35 USC § 112(b) have been fully considered and are persuasive. These objections/rejections of 02/26/2026 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 05/26/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) under 35 USC § 102 and/or 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the amendments made to the claims.
Regarding prior art reference Umeki (US 2019/0341279), the top-side first resistive portion 31 which includes top-side first resistive elements 31a and 31b would be analogous to the claimed “conduction portion” currently recited in the claims. This is supported by Umeki which states that “top-side first resistive element 31 a, 31 b is wide in area as mentioned above and thus is low in electrical resistance. Accordingly, the amount of Joule heat generated from the top-side first resistive element 31 a, 31 b by current supply thereto becomes small. This leads to the effect that, in the occupation region of the bottom-side heating resistor 40 (in top view), uniformity of heat would not be interfered with by heat generation from the top-side heating resistor 30” pr. 54. See Rejections below for further details.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2019/0341279, herein referenced as Umeki.
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Figure 1 of Umeki
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Figure 9 of Umeki
Regarding Claim 1, Umeki discloses a ceramic heater comprising:
a ceramic base member (10 fig. 1) including: an upper surface (10a fig. 1) and a lower surface (10b fig. 1) opposite to the upper surface in an up-down direction (see fig. 1);
a plurality of heating elements (see top-side second resistive portion 32 in fig. 4 and resistive portions 41 and 42 for bottom side heating resistor 40 in fig. 9; the top-side first resistive portion 31 which includes top-side first resistive elements 31a and 31b can be interpreted as not being a heating element since the “top-side first resistive element 31 a, 31 b is wide in area as mentioned above and thus is low in electrical resistance. Accordingly, the amount of Joule heat generated from the top-side first resistive element 31 a, 31 b by current supply thereto becomes small. This leads to the effect that, in the occupation region of the bottom-side heating resistor 40 (in top view), uniformity of heat would not be interfered with by heat generation from the top-side heating resistor 30” pr. 54, this would be similar rationale that Applicant uses in pr. 32 of the instant application where the 112a heater portion is interpreted as a heating element while the conduction portion 112b may not be interpreted as such) embedded in the ceramic base member (see fig. 1); and
a plurality of temperature sensors (see “temperature sensor parts (indicated by black dots in FIG. 9)” pr. 68) each including a temperature sensing portion embedded in the ceramic base member (since the black dots representing the temperature sensor parts in fig. 9 would at least be at the same level as the bottom resistor 40, which is shown to be embedded in fig. 1, the temperature sensor parts would also be embedded in the ceramic substrate 10 fig. 1), wherein
the temperature sensing portion of at least one of the plurality of temperature sensors (see black dots in fig. 9) is positioned in a location not overlapping with the plurality of heating elements (32 fig. 4 and 41,42 in fig. 9) in the up-down direction (the location of the black dots in fig. 9 is shown not to overlap with the resistive portions 41,42 in fig. 9 and would not overlap with the resistive portion 32 in fig. 4 given that it is provided along the periphery).
the plurality of heating elements includes:
an outer heating element (32 fig. 4) embedded in a peripheral portion of the ceramic base member (32 is shown to be provided in a peripheral portion and embedded in the ceramic substrate in figs. 1 and 4); and
an inner heating element (see resistive portions 41 and 42 for bottom side heating resistor 40 in fig. 9 which are shown to be embedded in the ceramic substrate 10 in fig. 1) embedded in an inner portion of the ceramic base member and below the outer heating element (the resistive portions 41,42 of 40 are shown to be provided radially inside the dimensions of 32 in figs. 1, 4 and 9 as well as being provided below 32 in fig. 1).
the ceramic heater further comprises a conduction portion (see the top-side first resistive portion 31 which includes 31a and 31b can be interpreted as not being a heating element since the “top-side first resistive element 31 a, 31 b is wide in area as mentioned above and thus is low in electrical resistance. Accordingly, the amount of Joule heat generated from the top-side first resistive element 31 a, 31 b by current supply thereto becomes small. This leads to the effect that, in the occupation region of the bottom-side heating resistor 40 (in top view), uniformity of heat would not be interfered with by heat generation from the top-side heating resistor 30” pr. 54, this would be similar rationale that Applicant uses in pr. 32 of the instant application where the 112a heater portion is interpreted as a heating element while the conduction portion 112b may not be interpreted as such) located at a same plane as the outer heating element in the up-down direction (shown in figs. 1 and 4), connected to the outer heating element (see top-side connecting portion 33 (comprised of connecting resistive elements 33a,33b) in fig. 4), and overlapped with the inner heating element in the up-down direction (shown to overlap with each other in figs. 4 and 9; “the top-side first resistive portion 31 is located so as to overlap the bottom-side heating resistor 40” pr. 52), and
the temperature sensing portion of at least one of the plurality of temperature sensors is positioned in a location not overlapping with the conduction portion in the up-down direction (see at least the upper and lower black dots in fig. 9 which are shown to be provided on a split line between the left and right sides in fig. 9, the top-side first resistive portion 31 is shown to have a void centrally located as well as a void/gap along a split line between the left and right first resistive elements 31a,31b in fig. 4; at least the top and bottom black dots in fig. 9 would be provided at these voids/gaps such that they do not overlap with the top-side first resistive elements 31a,31b of the top-side first resistive portion).
Regarding Claim 5, Umeki discloses the ceramic heater according to claim 1, wherein
the plurality of heating elements is arranged to form a plurality of gaps (see plurality of gaps formed between adjacent resistive elements in fig. 9),
the temperature sensing portion of the at least one of the temperature sensors is arranged to overlap in the up-down direction with a crossing region in which the plurality of gaps intersects (see uppermost black circle/dot representing a temperature sensor part in fig. 9; the uppermost black circle/dot is shown to be at a crossing region between a vertically orientated gap and a slanted gap in fig. 9).
Regarding Claim 6, Umeki discloses the ceramic heater according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of heating elements includes an opening (see opening, i.e. gap or free space, formed by the wavy/bent shape of the innermost pair of bottom-side second resistive elements 42a for the right temperature sensor part indicated by the black dot/circle in fig. 9; “innermost pair of bottom-side second resistive elements 42 a are formed in a wavy, bent or meandering shape to avoid the temperature sensor parts as in the case of the bottom-side first resistive elements 41 a and 41 b” pr. 68), and
the temperature sensing portion of the at least one of the plurality of temperature sensors is arranged to overlap with the opening (the temperature sensor part (black dot/circle) on the right in fig. 9 is shown to overlap with the vertical position of the opening, i.e. gap or free space, formed by the wavy/bent shape of 42a in fig. 9) in the up-down direction.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 2-4 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Umeki, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of JP2003297531A (first cited in the Office Action of 02/26/2026), herein referenced as Ito.
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Figure 6 of Ito
Regarding Claim 2, Umeki discloses the ceramic heater according to claim 1, but fails to explicitly anticipate wherein a distance D1 in the up-down direction between the upper surface of the ceramic base member and the temperature sensing portion of the at least one of the plurality of the temperature sensors satisfies 1 mm≤D1≤4 mm.
Umeki and Ito are analogous art since they both relate to the field of endeavor of heating assemblies.
Ito teaches wherein a distance D1 in the up-down direction between the upper surface of the ceramic base member and the temperature sensing portion (see up-down distance between the heating/top surface 31a of ceramic substrate 31 in figs. 5-6 tips of temperature measuring elements 18 in fig. 6) of the at least one of the plurality of the temperature sensors satisfies 1 mm≤D1≤4 mm (“The distance between the bottom of the bottomed hole 14 and the heating surface 11a is preferably 0.1 mm to 1/2 the thickness of the ceramic substrate” pr. 50, the position of the bottom of the bottomed holes 14,34 is analogous to the position of the elements 18 as shown in fig. 6; “More preferably, [the thickness of the ceramic substrate of the ceramic heater] is greater than 1.5 and equal to or less than 5 mm.” in pr. 48; this range of D1 being from 0.1 mm to ½ of the thickness of the ceramic substrate 31, and the range of the ceramic substrate thickness being 1.5mm to 5mm, overlaps with the claimed range for D1).
Ito further teaches that their cited distance between the bottomed hole 14 and the heating surface 11a “brings the temperature measurement location closer to the heating surface 11a than to the resistance heating element 12, making it possible to measure the temperature of the semiconductor wafer more accurately” in pr. 50. Ito further teaches that “if the thickness is greater than 5 mm, heat will not propagate easily and heating efficiency will tend to decrease, while if the thickness is 1.5 mm or less, the heat propagating through the ceramic substrate will not be diffused sufficiently, which may result in temperature variations on the heating surface, and the strength of the ceramic substrate may decrease, leading to breakage” in pr. 48. Ito also teaches that “when a resistance heating element is formed inside the ceramic substrate, it is desirable that the resistance heating element be formed at a position 60% or less in the thickness direction from the surface opposite the heating surface. If it exceeds 60%, the heat propagating within the ceramic substrate will not be sufficiently diffused due to the proximity to the heating surface, resulting in temperature variations on the heating surface” in pr. 120
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Umeki to have the cited distance between the bottomed hole (i.e. temperature measuring element(s)) and the upper/heating surface of the ceramic base member as well as the cited thickness of the ceramic base member disclosed by Ito, so as to obtain the benefit of ‘bringing the heating surface 11a closer to the to the heating surface than the heating element to make temperature measuring more accurate and to ensure that thickness of the ceramic base member allows for proper heat propagation and efficiency, ensuring that heat diffuses sufficiently, and that the ceramic substrate is sufficiently strong’ as taught by Ito. Additionally, it would have also been obvious before the effective filing date of invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Umeki such that the bottom hole (i.e. temperature measuring element(s)) is closer in an up-down direction to the upper/heating surface than to the heating element(s), as disclosed by Ito, to obtain the benefit of ‘making it possible to measure the temperature of the semiconductor wafer more accurately’ as taught by Ito. Additionally, it would have also been obvious to have modified the heating elements of Umeki such that the heating elements are positioned 60% or less in the thickness direction from the surface opposite the heating surface (i.e. positioned 40% or more of the thickness from the heating surface of the ceramic substrate), as disclosed by Ito, to obtain the benefit of ‘heat propagating within the ceramic substrate being sufficiently diffused so as to avoid temperature variations of the heating surface’ as taught by Ito.
In the combination of Umeki and Ito above, the ranges taught by Ito overlap with the claimed range for D1 thus rendering the claim obvious.
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Umeki and Ito comprises the ceramic heater according to claim 2, wherein
a length D0 in the up-down direction of the ceramic base member (see up-down length/thickness of ceramic substrate 10 between top surface 10a and bottom surface 10b in fig. 1 of Umeki), the distance D1 (see up-down distance between the heating/top surface 31a of ceramic substrate 31 in figs. 5-6 tips of temperature measuring elements 18 in fig. 6 of Ito, as used to modify Umeki above), and a distance D2 in the up-down direction between the upper surface of the ceramic base member and at least one of the plurality of heating elements (see up-down distance between the top surface 10a and the outer heating element 32 of 30 in figs. 1 and 4 of Umeki) satisfy D2/D0≤0.4 (“the resistance heating element be formed at a position 60% or less in the thickness direction from the surface opposite the heating surface” pr. 120 of Ito, as used to modify Umeki, i.e. positioned 40% or more of the thickness from the heating surface of the ceramic substrate; this would mean that the position of the see top-side second resistive portion 32 in fig. 4 of Umeki, as modified by Ito, can be positioned at 60% of the thickness from the bottom surface, where D2/D0 = 0.4) and 1 mm≤D1≤D2 (1 mm≤D1 is taught by the combination of Umeki and Ito as described in the rejection of claim 2 above; D1≤D2 is also taught by the combination, “this brings the temperature measurement location closer to the heating surface 11a than to the resistance heating element 12, making it possible to measure the temperature of the semiconductor wafer more accurately” in pr. 50 of Ito, as used to modify Umeki above, establishing that the sensing portion can be provided closer to the heating surface than to the heating element for the combination).
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Umeki and Ito comprises the ceramic heater according to claim 2, wherein
a length D0 in the up-down direction of the ceramic base member (see thickness of ceramic substrate 10 between top surface 10a and bottom surface 10b in fig. 1 of Umeki) and a distance D2 in the up-down direction between the upper surface of the ceramic base member and at least one of the plurality of heating elements (see up-down distance between top surface 10a and the bottom side resistor 40 in fig. 1 of Umeki) satisfy 0.5≤D2/D0≤0.9 (the distance between the top surface 10a and the bottom side resistors 40 relative to the overall up-down thickness of the ceramic substrate 10 is shown in fig. 1 of Umeki to be comfortable between 50% and 90% of the overall up-down thickness of the ceramic substrate 10).
Regarding Claim 10, Umeki discloses the ceramic heater according to claim 1, but fails to anticipate wherein a distance in the up-down direction between the temperature sensing portion of the at least one of the plurality of the temperature sensors and the outer heating element is smaller than a distance in the up-down direction between the temperature sensing portion of the at least one of the temperature sensors and the inner heating element.
Umeki and Ito are analogous art since they both relate to the field of endeavor of heating assemblies.
Ito teaches that “the distance between the bottom of the bottomed hole 14 and the heating surface 11a is preferably 0.1 mm to 1/2 the thickness of the ceramic substrate” in pr. 50. Ito further teaches that “this brings the temperature measurement location closer to the heating surface 11a than to 24-02-2026 - Page 34 the resistance heating element 12, making it possible to measure the temperature of the semiconductor wafer more accurately” in pr. 50.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the position of the temperature measurement locations of Umeki such that they are arranged closer to the heating/top surface than to the resistance heating element(s), as disclosed by Ito, so as to obtain the benefit of ‘measuring the temperature of the semiconductor wafer more accurately as taught by Ito. This modification would result in the vertical distance between the temperature sensing portion of the at least one of the plurality of the temperature sensors and the outer heating element is smaller than a distance in the up-down direction between the temperature sensing portion of the at least one of the temperature sensors and the inner heating element (since the outer heating element 32 of 30 is shown to be vertically closer to the top/heating surface than 41,42 of 40 in figs. 1, 4 and 9 of Umeki, the temperature sensing portion of the at least one temperature sensor would be vertically closer to the outer heating element than the inner heating element since it is provided even closer to the heating/top surface in Umeki as modified by Ito).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Umeki, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2021/0242053, herein referenced as Matsushita.
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Figure 3 of Matsushita
Regarding Claim 7, Umeki discloses the ceramic heater according to claim 1, further comprising a shaft joined to the lower surface of the ceramic base member (see shaft 50 joined to bottom surface of ceramic substrate 10 in fig. 1).
However, Umeki fails to anticipate wherein the plurality of temperature sensors is wired in an area located inside of an outer diameter of the shaft.
Umeki and Matsushita are analogous art since they both relate to the field of endeavor of heating assemblies.
Matsushita teaches wherein the plurality of temperature sensors (50 and 48 fig. 2) is wired in an area located inside of an outer diameter of the shaft (see wiring of 50 and 48 provided within the shaft 40 in fig. 2). This disclosure from Matsushita establishes that it is known in the art to have temperatures sensors wired in an area within the outer diameter of the shaft.
The prior art discloses each of the elements claimed with the only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art being the lack of actual combination of the elements in a single prior art reference. One of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods and each element performs the same function as it does separately. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Umeki the temperatures sensors being wired in an area within the outer diameter of the shaft, as disclosed by Matsushita, to obtain the predictable result of a functional heating device with functional temperature sensors. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make this modification so as to the wiring of the sensors within a housing as well as it being a rather direct route to where the temperature sensors are to be located given their central position. See MPEP 2143 A. “Combining Prior Art Elements According to Known Methods To Yield Predictable Results”.
Claim(s) 1 and 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Umeki in view of Matsushita.
Regarding Claim 1, Umeki discloses a ceramic heater comprising:
a ceramic base member (10 fig. 1) including: an upper surface (10a fig. 1) and a lower surface (10b fig. 1) opposite to the upper surface in an up-down direction (see fig. 1);
a plurality of heating elements (see top-side second resistive portion 32 in fig. 4 and resistive portions 41 and 42 for bottom side heating resistor 40 in fig. 9; the top-side first resistive portion 31 which includes 31a and 31b can be interpreted as not being a heating element since the “top-side first resistive element 31 a, 31 b is wide in area as mentioned above and thus is low in electrical resistance. Accordingly, the amount of Joule heat generated from the top-side first resistive element 31 a, 31 b by current supply thereto becomes small. This leads to the effect that, in the occupation region of the bottom-side heating resistor 40 (in top view), uniformity of heat would not be interfered with by heat generation from the top-side heating resistor 30” pr. 54, this would be similar rationale that Applicant uses in pr. 32 of the instant application where the 112a heater portion is interpreted as a heating element while the conduction portion 112b may not be interpreted as such) embedded in the ceramic base member (see fig. 1); and
a plurality of temperature sensors (see “temperature sensor parts (indicated by black dots in FIG. 9)” pr. 68) each including a temperature sensing portion embedded in the ceramic base member (since the black dots representing the temperature sensor parts in fig. 9 would at least be at the same level as the bottom resistor 40, which is shown to be embedded in fig. 1, the temperature sensor parts would also be embedded in the ceramic substrate 10 fig. 1), wherein
the plurality of heating elements includes:
an outer heating element (32 fig. 4) embedded in a peripheral portion of the ceramic base member (32 is shown to be provided in a peripheral portion and embedded in the ceramic substrate in figs. 1 and 4); and
an inner heating element (see resistive portions 41 and 42 for bottom side heating resistor 40 in fig. 9 which are shown to be embedded in the ceramic substrate 10 in fig. 1) embedded in an inner portion of the ceramic base member and below the outer heating element (the resistive portions 41,42 of 40 are shown to be provided radially inside the dimensions of 32 in figs. 1, 4 and 9 as well as being provided below 32 in fig. 1),
the ceramic heater further comprises a conduction portion (see the top-side first resistive portion 31 which includes 31a and 31b can be interpreted as not being a heating element since the “top-side first resistive element 31 a, 31 b is wide in area as mentioned above and thus is low in electrical resistance. Accordingly, the amount of Joule heat generated from the top-side first resistive element 31 a, 31 b by current supply thereto becomes small. This leads to the effect that, in the occupation region of the bottom-side heating resistor 40 (in top view), uniformity of heat would not be interfered with by heat generation from the top-side heating resistor 30” pr. 54, this would be similar rationale that Applicant uses in pr. 32 of the instant application where the 112a heater portion is interpreted as a heating element while the conduction portion 112b may not be interpreted as such) located at a same plane as the outer heating element in the up-down direction (shown in figs. 1 and 4), connected to the outer heating element (see top-side connecting portion 33 (comprised of connecting resistive elements 33a,33b) in fig. 4), and overlapped with the inner heating element in the up-down direction (shown to overlap with each other in figs. 4 and 9; “the top-side first resistive portion 31 is located so as to overlap the bottom-side heating resistor 40” pr. 52), and
However, Umeki fails to anticipate the temperature sensing portion of at least one of the plurality of temperature sensors is positioned in a location not overlapping with the plurality of heating elements in the up-down direction,
the temperature sensing portion of at least one of the plurality of temperature sensors is positioned in a location not overlapping with the conduction portion in the up-down direction.
Umeki and Matsushita are analogous art since they both relate to the field of endeavor of heating assemblies.
Matsushita teaches a plurality of temperature sensors (see inner-peripheral-side thermocouple 48 and outer-peripheral-side thermocouple 50 in fig. 3; also see outer-peripheral-side thermocouple 150 in fig. 7) each including a temperature sensing portion embedded in the ceramic base member (see temperature measurement portion 48a of 48 and temperature measurement portion 50a in figs. 2-3; alternatively, or additionally, see temperature measurement portion 150a of 150 in fig. 7), wherein
the temperature sensing portion (see 50a of 50 in fig. 3; or see 150a in fig. 7) of at least one of the plurality of temperature sensors is positioned in a location not overlapping with the plurality of heating elements (see 22 and 24 in fig. 3; the temperature measuring portion 50a shown to not overlap in the up-down direction in the view present in fig. 3) in the up-down direction. Matsushita further teaches that “the outer-peripheral-side thermocouple 50 for measuring a temperature near the outer periphery of the ceramic plate 20” in pr. 37 and that “electric power supplied to the outer-peripheral-side resistance heating element 24 is adjusted such that the temperature detected by the outer-peripheral-side thermocouple 50 is kept at a predetermined outer-peripheral-side target temperature. Thus, the temperature of the wafer W is controlled to be kept at a desired temperature” in pr. 38.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Umeki to include the outer-peripheral side thermocouple temperature sensor disclosed by Matsushita to obtain the benefit of ‘measuring a temperature near the outer periphery of the ceramic plate and to be capable of adjusting power supplied to the outer peripheral-side resistance heating element(s) based upon temperature sensed by the outer peripheral-side thermocouple so as to keep the temperature at a desired temperature’ as taught by Matsushita.
In the combination of Umeki and Matsushita above, the temperature sensing portion of at least one of the plurality of temperature sensors is positioned in a location not overlapping with the conduction portion in the up-down direction (since the outer-peripheral-side thermocouple 50 of Matsushita, as used to modify Umeki, is position in an outer periphery, it would be in a location for the combination where it would not overlap with the top-side first resistive elements 31a, 31b in fig. 4 of Umeki as that is provided in a central/inner portion).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Umeki and Matsushita discloses the ceramic heater according to claim 1, wherein
the ceramic base member includes a plurality of holes in which the plurality of temperature sensors is arranged (the combination of Umeki and Matsushita would have a plurality of holes/cavities to have the temperature sensors provided within the ceramic base member; see passage 26 and recess 49 which house 48 or 50 therein in figs. 2-3 of Matsushita, as used to modify Umeki), and
a hole, among the plurality of holes, in which the at least one of the temperature sensors is arranged (see passage 26 which has the thermocouple 50 arranged therein in fig. 3 of Matsushita, as used to modify Umeki) includes a first curved portion extending in a curved or polygonal line in a horizontal direction orthogonal to the up-down direction (see curved portion 26c which extends curved in fig. 3 of Matsushita, as used to modify Umeki, the curved portion 26c is shown to extend in a plane that extends in the horizontal direction orthogonal to the up-down direction in said figure).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Umeki and Matsushita discloses ceramic heater according to claim 1, wherein
the ceramic base member includes a plurality of holes in which the plurality of temperature sensors is arranged (the combination of Umeki and Matsushita would have a plurality of holes/cavities to have the temperature sensors provided within the ceramic base member; see passage 126 in fig. 7 and recess 49 in fig. 2 of Matsushita, as used to modify Umeki above, which are shown to house 48 or 50 therein), and
a hole, among the plurality of holes, in which the at least one of the temperature sensors is arranged (see passage 126 which has thermocouple 150 arranged therein in fig. 7 of Matsushita, as used to modify Umeki above) includes a second curved portion extending in a curved or polygonal line in the up-down direction (see curved portion 126c which extends curved and is also shown to extend in a plane that includes the up-down direction in fig. 7 of Matsushita, as used to modify Umeki above).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
JP2018046079A – discloses a ceramic heating plate with a temperature sensor embedded therein, the temperature sensor provided in a hole/passage within the ceramic plate which has a curved portion which is curved in a plane which contains the up-down direction.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/W.L.F./Examiner, Art Unit 3745
/COURTNEY D HEINLE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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