DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “mechanical orifice” of Claim 4 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). 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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claims 6-7, the claims appear to be numbered out of numerical sequence. Claim 6 is dependent upon Claim 10, and Claim 7 is dependent on Claim 11. The numbering renders the claims indefinite as it is unknown if this is a typographical error, and if so, what Applicant actually intends to be the scope of these claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1, 8, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Senn et al. (US 2025/0093890, with priority to 7 January 2022).
Regarding Claim 1, Senn et al. discloses a substrate container system comprising:
a container body (Senn et al. discloses equipment front end module (EFEM) 208 at para 59 and Fig 2, and/or 302 at para 65 and Fig 3) comprising:
- an opening (per at least para 52, the disclosed EFEM is used to transfer substrates between front opening unified pods (FOUP) 204 and "one or more load locks" 212. Although the term "an opening" is not used in the Senn reference, it is clear from this teaching that "an opening" exists. See also the structure of Fig 2, Examiner's annotations),
- a door adapted to be placed over and removed from the opening (Applicant admits that an opening on a container body, and "a removable door that is adapted to cover the opening to enclose the interior with an air-tight seal" is known to the prior art, per Applicant's Specification, para 4. Since the Senn reference discloses a enclosed container body and opening as shown above, Examiner asserts that the existence and use of a door is also known),
- an interior (enclosure 252 / 302) defined by the container body,
- substrates supported within the interior (see at least para 52),
- a container atmosphere within the interior (provided by "filtered gas" per at least para 52. The filtered gas is provided by the EFEM Composition Mixture Control System, shown as item 250 in Fig 2 and shown in greater detail as "mixture control system 300) at Fig 3 and at least paras 64-70 ),
- a purge gas inlet at the interior (via "fan filter module 305" see Fig 3 and para 65),
- a source of purge gas (multiple gas sources 312, see at least paras 66-69) comprising:
- a source of clean dry air (para 69), and
- a source of nitrogen gas (para 69), and
- a purge gas flow control system (paras 66-68, "composition controller 314", which controls mass flow controllers 310) that combines a flow of the clean dry air and a flow of the nitrogen gas to produce a purge gas mixture (paras 66: "multiple mass flow controllers 310 control flow of gases from the gas sources 312 to a manifold 315". Para 68: "The manifold 315 mixes gases received from the gas mass flow controllers 310...The manifold 315 is configured to mix the gases received from the mass flow controllers 310 and direct the resultant gas mixture to the enclosure 302 in the equipment front end module 303").
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Regarding Claim 8, similarly, Senn et al. also discloses a substrate container system comprising (see the rejection of Claim 1 above):
- a container body (208) comprising an opening (para 52),
- a door adapted to be placed over and removed from the opening (admitted as known by Applicant; see the rejection of Claim 1 above),
- an interior (enclosure 252 / 302) defined by the container body,
- a purge gas inlet (305) connected to the interior,
- a relative humidity sensor (para 122),
- a source of purge gas (312), and
- a control system (314) to control a density of purge gas dispensed through the purge gas inlet to the interior (paras 66-68; see also Examiner's rationale above in the rejection of Claim 1).
Regarding Claim 15, similarly, Senn et al. discloses a method of purging a substrate container with purge gas, the substrate container comprising a method (the normal use of the apparatus as described in the rejections of Claim 1 and/or Claim 8 above) of purging a substrate container with purge gas, the substrate container comprising:
- a container body (208) comprising an opening (para 52 and Examiner's explanation in the rejection of Claim 1 above),
- a door adapted to cover the opening (admitted as known by Applicant; see the rejection of Claim 1 above),
- an interior (enclosure 252 / 302) defined by the container body,
- substrates supported within the interior (see at least para 52),
- a container atmosphere within the interior (provided by "filtered gas" per at least para 52. The filtered gas is provided by the EFEM Composition Mixture Control System, shown as item 250 in Fig 2 and shown in greater detail as "mixture control system 300) at Fig 3 and at least paras 64-70),
- one or more purge gas inlets at the interior (via "fan filter module 305" see Fig 3 and para 65);
the method (through the use of the apparatus as described in the rejections of Claim 1 and or Claim 8) comprising dispensing purge gas through the one or more inlets to the interior, the purge gas comprising:
- clean dry air received from a source of clean dry air (para 69), and
- nitrogen gas received from a source of nitrogen gas (para 69).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Senn et al.
Regarding Claim 2, as shown above, the disclosure of the Senn reference teaches gas sources 312 and a control system comprising composition controller 314. Said control system is configured to "operate similarly" to "composition controller 620" of "control circuit 608" (as taught at para 99) and comprises:
- a first flow meter (control circuit 608 includes flow meter(s) 606, see para 99 and Fig 6) to control a flow of the clean dry air to the purge gas inlet,
- a second flow meter (a duplicate of flow meter 606) to control a flow of the nitrogen gas to the purge gas inlet.
Examiner recognizes Fig 6 appears to only show a single flow meter 606. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would simply duplicate the flow meter 606 to control the flow of clean dry air from a second source 312; the court has held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. In the present case, the duplication of flow meter 606 as taught by Senn et al. would have the obvious result of additional control over all gas sources.
Regarding Claim 3, Senn et al. as modified above teaches a substrate container system comprising: a temperature control device to control a temperature of the purge gas (controller 314 monitors temperature and "limits a moister set point of the EFEM to prevent a dew-point set point" that results in condensation in the EFEM, based on temperature readings from temperature sensors "configured to detect levels of respective gases". See paras 72, 103, 122-123 and 129).
Claims 4-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Senn et al., in view of Shirley (US 2002/0002944).
Note: the following claims are presented in order of dependency as filed by Applicant, and not in numerical order. Please see the rejection of the claims under 35 USC 112(b) above.
Regarding Claim 4, Senn et al. teaches the claimed invention, to include a temperature control device (as monitored by controller 314 and explained in the rejection of Claim 1 above). However, the Senn reference is silent on the temperature control device (being) a mechanical orifice.
However, it is known to control temperature by control of air flow through an orifice. Shirely teaches a temperature control device (that) is a mechanical orifice (orifice 55a, as taught at least at 15, 18 23, and Claim 26).
The Senn and Shirley references each teach methods for controlling the temperature for a substrate. While the Senn reference only mentions general temperature control, the Shirley reference provides specific guidance, and the advantageous ability to heat or cool different portions of the substrate at different rates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to supplement the general temperature control guidance of Senn et al. with the specific guidance of Shirley (to include the use of orifice 55a), in order to gain the advantages of heating or cooling different portions of the substrate at different rates.
Regarding Claim 5, Senn et al. as modified above teaches a substrate container system comprising: a relative humidity sensor (see Senn et al., para 122), wherein the purge gas flow control system selects a flow rate of the clean dry air, or a flow rate of the nitrogen gas, or flow rates of the clean dry air and the nitrogen gas based on a measured relative humidity of the system (see Senn et al., the combination of Claims 13-15, where the "composition mixture control system…comprises a plurality of sensors configured to monitor parameters related to the composition in …the enclosure...wherein the monitored parameters comprise constituent levels of the gases...wherein the monitored parameters comprise an oxygen level and a relative humidity level in... the enclosure).
Regarding Claim 9, Senn et al. teaches the claimed invention, to include a temperature control device (as monitored by controller 314 and explained in the rejection of Claim 1 above). However, the Senn reference is silent on the temperature control device (being) a mechanical orifice.
However, it is known to control temperature by control of air flow through an orifice. Shirely teaches a temperature control device (that) is a mechanical orifice (orifice 55a, as taught at least at 15, 18 23, and Claim 26).
The Senn and Shirley references each teach methods for controlling the temperature for a substrate. While the Senn reference only mentions general temperature control, the Shirley reference provides specific guidance, and the advantageous ability to heat or cool different portions of the substrate at different rates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to supplant the general temperature control guidance of Senn et al. with the specific guidance of Shirley (to include the use of orifice 55a), in order to gain the advantages of heating or cooling different portions of the substrate at different rates.
Regarding Claim 10, Senn et al. as modified above teaches a substrate container system, wherein the source of purge gas (Senn et al., multiple gas sources 312, see at least paras 66-69 and Examiner's rationale in the rejection of Claim 1 above) comprises:
- a source of clean dry air (para 69), and
- a source of nitrogen gas (para 69), and
- the control system (314, 620, and 608; see Examiner's rationale in the rejection of Claim 2 above) comprises:
- a flow meter (606) to control a flow of the clean dry air to the purge gas inlet,
- a flow meter (a duplicate of 606) to control a flow of the nitrogen to the purge gas inlet.
Regarding Claim 6, Senn et al. as modified above teaches a substrate container system further comprising: a pressure sensor (Senn et al., disclosed at para 122 as part of a residual gas analyzer) and a temperature sensor (also disclosed at para 122).
Regarding Claim 11, Senn et al. as modified above teaches a substrate container system (see Senn et al.), the source of purge gas consisting of a source of clean dry air (para 69), the control system comprising a temperature control device to control a temperature of the clean dry air (controller 314 monitors temperature and "limits a moister set point of the EFEM to prevent a dew-point set point" that results in condensation in the EFEM, based on temperature readings from temperature sensors "configured to detect levels of respective gases" See paras 72, 103, 122-123 and 129).
Regarding Claim 7, Senn et al. as modified above teaches a substrate container system (see Senn et al.), wherein
- the humidity sensor (see para 122) measures a humidity, the pressure sensor (see para 122) measures a pressure, and the temperature sensor (see para 122) measures a temperature of the container atmosphere and
- the control system forms a purge gas mixture from amounts of the clean dry air and the nitrogen based on the humidity, pressure, or temperature of the container atmosphere (see the combination of Claims 13-15, where the "composition mixture control system…comprises a plurality of sensors configured to monitor parameters related to the composition in …the enclosure...wherein the monitored parameters comprise constituent levels of the gases...wherein the monitored parameters comprise an oxygen level and a relative humidity level in... the enclosure).
Regarding Claim 12, Senn et al. as modified above teaches a substrate container system (see Senn et al.), wherein
- the source of purge gas consisting of a source of nitrogen gas (para 69),
- the control system comprising a temperature control device to control a temperature of the nitrogen gas (controller 314 monitors temperature and "limits a moister set point of the EFEM to prevent a dew-point set point" that results in condensation in the EFEM, based on temperature readings from temperature sensors "configured to detect levels of respective gases." This would include nitrogen. See paras 72, 103, 122-123 and 129).
Regarding Claim 13, Senn et al. as modified above teaches a substrate container system further comprising: a pressure sensor and a temperature sensor (Senn et al., both sensors disclosed at para 122).
Regarding Claim 14, Senn et al. as modified above teaches a substrate container system (see Senn et al.), wherein
- the humidity sensor measures a humidity, the pressure sensor measures a pressure, and the temperature sensor measures a temperature of the container atmosphere (as taught at least at para 122) and
- the control system forms a purge gas mixture from amounts of the clean dry air and the nitrogen based on the humidity, pressure, or temperature of the container atmosphere (see the combination of Claims 13-15, where the "composition mixture control system…comprises a plurality of sensors configured to monitor parameters related to the composition in …the enclosure...wherein the monitored parameters comprise constituent levels of the gases...wherein the monitored parameters comprise an oxygen level and a relative humidity level in... the enclosure).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Senn et al., in view of Oosterlaken et al. (US 2005/0170662).
Regarding Claim 16, the Senn reference discloses the claimed invention, to include a method of combining the clean dry air with the nitrogen gas to produce a purge gas mixture (via gas sources 312 as shown above in the rejections of Claims 1 and 15). Examiner recognizes the Senn reference is silent on density. Regardless, since both the clean dry air and nitrogen gases inherently have "a density", the teachings of Senn et al. are considered to read upon Applicant’s limitation of “combining the clean dry air with the nitrogen gas to produce a purge gas mixture that has a gas mixture density”, as claimed by Applicant at Claim 16.
Additionally, the Senn reference teaches dispensing the purge gas mixture through an inlet (via "fan filter module 305" see Fig 3 and para 65), as also claimed by Applicant.
However, the Senn reference is considered silent on the remainder of Applicant’s claim, namely “controlling the purge gas mixture density to approximate a density of the container atmosphere.”
Oosterlaken et al., however, teaches a method of purging a substrate container with purge gas, comprising controlling the purge gas mixture density to approximate a density of the container atmosphere.
Specifically, the Oosterlaken reference teaches that changing the atmosphere within the chamber "can introduce undesirable transition effects" (this is known to the prior art), and presents "methods for effectively removing gases and changing atmospheres in a reaction chamber, while minimizing the impact of atmosphere changes on process results." See paras 5-9. The method of the Oosterlaken reference uses first and second purge gases with first and second densities (see at least para 26) to accomplish this goal. See also the purge process described at paras 26-35 and FIgs 2-4, where purge gas (or a mixture of purge gases per para 35) is introduced into the chamber such that "the above-discussed molecular weight and density relationship is preferably maintained, e.g., by reference to the weighted average molecular weights of the gas mixtures" (also taught at para 35).
The Senn and Oosterlaken references each teach the processing of substrates utilizing purge gases. The Oosterlaken reference teaches that maintaining a constant atmosphere is preferred by the industry, and also provides a way to avoid undesirable effects caused by atmospheric changes during purging. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to supplement the disclosure of Senn et al. with the teachings of the Oosterlaken reference, and modify the control system of Senn et al to monitor gas densities and control gas mixtures using those densities, in order to obtain the industry-recognized advantageous result of processing substrates within a constant atmosphere.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-20 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art fails to disclose or render obvious a method of purging a substrate container with purge gas, wherein
- (Claim 17) the purge gas mixture density is within 5 percent of the container atmosphere density, or
- (Claim 20) the purge gas mixture has a density in a range from 1.15 to 1.21 kilograms per cubic meter.
in combination with the other limitations set forth in the independent claims.
Senn et al. (US 2025/0093890) and Oosterlaken et al. (US 2005/0170662) are the closest prior art of record. However, the Seen and Oosterlaken references are silent on these above recited features. Furthermore, it would not have been obvious to modify the Seen and Oosterlaken references to arrive at these above recited features without improper hindsight reasoning. In addition, amending the Seen and Oosterlaken references to include the above recited features would improperly change the principles of operation of the Seen and Oosterlaken references.
Specifically, although the Oosterlaken reference teaches maintaining a constant atmosphere through the monitoring of purge gas densities and subsequent mixture control, the reference is silent on how effective said control is on the atmosphere surrounding the substrate. The reference does not discuss monitoring purge gas densities in terms of a percentage of the container gas density, nor density ranges (in terms of kilograms per cubic meter) of the purge gas mixture. The Oosterlaken reference and the base Senn reference are therefore silent on the limitations of Applicant’s Claims 17 and 20.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20050170306 A1 teaches processing a semiconductor substrate within a chamber utilizing a mixture of purge gases, wherein said gases are selected with regard to their densities. However, the ‘306 reference is silent on the particular criteria of Applicant’s Claims 17 and 20.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER M AFFUL whose telephone number is (571)272-8421. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday: 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Craig Schneider can be reached at 5712723607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER M AFFUL/Examiner, Art Unit 3753