Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Priority
The applicant’s priority to provisional application 63407473filed on September 16th, 2022 has been accepted.
Drawings
Figures 1-3 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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, 3, 7-8, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kinugawa (US 10242898).
With regards to claim 1, Kinugawa discloses an automated wafer carrying pod alignment system (Abstract) comprising: an alignment frame (support mechanism 24) including one or more geometric features (pressing portion 24c) that locate the alignment frame at a pre-determined position relative to a wafer-in-progress (WIP) carrying pod in more than one degree of freedom when the alignment frame is in contact with the WIP carrying pod (Col. 4, L50-61); a digital image capture device (imaging device 13) coupled to the alignment frame, the digital image capture device having a field of view oriented in a direction opposite the WIP carrying pod when the alignment frame is in contact with the WIP carrying pod (Fig. 7. Col. 6, L40-42); one or more computing systems coupled to the alignment frame, the one or more computing systems (control portions, 11a 11b) configured to: receive an image captured by the digital image capture device, wherein an overhead hoist transport (OHT) vehicle is within the field of view of the digital image capture device (Col. 7, L2-11); determine a location of the OHT vehicle within the image (Col. 14, L15-17); determine a positioning error of the OHT vehicle relative to the alignment frame based on the location of the OHT vehicle within the image (Col. 14, L15-17); and communicate the positioning error to the OHT vehicle (Col. 14, L41-45).
With regards to claim 3, Kinugawa discloses all the elements of claim 1 as outlined above. Kinugawa further discloses the one or more computing systems including a wireless communication device (communication portion 10b), the wireless communication device communicatively linked to the overhead transportation vehicle (Col. 6, L47-52), wherein the positioning error is communicated from the wireless communication device to the OHT vehicle (Col. 14, L41-45).
With regards to claim 7, Kinugawa discloses A method (Abstract) comprising: locating an alignment frame (support mechanism 24) on a wafer-in-progress (WIP) carrying pod (Wa in the Figures) at a pre- determined position relative to a wafer-in-progress (WIP) carrying pod (Fig. 1); capturing a digital image (via imaging device 13) including an overhead hoist transport (OHT) vehicle located above the WIP carrying pod (Col. 7, L2-11), wherein the digital image is captured by a digital image capture device coupled to the alignment frame (Col. 14, L12-15); determining a location of the OHT vehicle within the captured image (Col. 14, L15-17); determining a positioning error of the OHT vehicle relative to the alignment frame based on the location of the OHT vehicle within the image (Col. 14, L15-17); and communicating the positioning error to the OHT vehicle (Col. 14, L41-45).
With regards to claim 8, Kinugawa discloses all the elements of claim 7 as outlined above. Kinugawa further discloses adjusting a positioning set point of the OHT vehicle based on the positioning error if the positioning error exceeds a predetermined threshold value (Col. 15, 46-51).
With regards to claim 10, Kinugawa discloses all the elements of claim 7 as outlined above. Kinugawa further discloses wherein the communicating of the positioning error to the OHT vehicle involves a wireless communication device coupled to the alignment frame and communicatively linked to the OHT vehicle (Col. 14, L41-45).
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.
Claim(s) 2, 5-6, 9 and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinugawa.
With regards to claims 2 and 9, Kinugawa discloses all the elements of claims 1 and 7, respectively above. Kinugawa does not directly disclose that the power for the OHT and its components comes from a rechargeable battery. However, the examiner takes Official notice that the use of rechargeable batteries of OHT devices is known in the art and is therefore obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention in order to make the device be usable in different environments by not having to be plugged in.
With regards to claims 5 and 12, Kinugawa discloses all the elements of claims 1 and 7, respectively above. Kinugawa does not directly disclose wherein the determining of the location of the OHT vehicle involves extracting one or more geometric features of the OHT vehicle from the image and determining the pixel locations associated with the one or more features in the image. However, the examiner takes Official notice that detection of object locations via pixels is known in the art and is therefore obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention in order to more accurately determine and object’s position.
With regards to claim 6 and 13, Kinugawa discloses all the elements of claim 5 and 12 as outlined above. Kinugawa further discloses wherein the one or more geometric features of the OHT vehicle includes one or more geometric features that locate a gripper assembly of the OHT vehicle at a pre-determined position relative to the wafer-in-progress (WIP) carrying pod in more than one degree of freedom when the gripper assembly is in contact with the WIP carrying pod (gripping claws 24a with pressing portion 24c in between).
Claim(s) 4 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinugawa as applied to claims 1 and 7, respectively above, and further in view of Shimizu et al. (US 20240128113), hereafter Shimizu.
With regards to claims 4 and 11, Kinugawa discloses all the elements of claims 1 and 7, respectively above. Kinugawa does not disclose wherein the digital image capture device is a stereo camera.
However, Shimizu discloses an alignment system for an OHT (Abstract) where the digital image capture device is a stereo camera. It would have been obvious to make the imaging device disclosed by Shimizu a stereo camera to reduce interference with other sensors (P0010)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA LYNN BURKMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5824. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am to 6:00pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael McCullough can be reached at (571)272-7805. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J.L.B./Examiner, Art Unit 3653
/MICHAEL MCCULLOUGH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3653