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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I and Species A1 in the reply filed on February 2, 2026, is acknowledged.
Claims 10-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention and species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on February 2, 2026.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “126” has been used to designate both the bottom heater and the melt-gas interface in ¶[0037] of the specification.
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. 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 Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Recitation of “in fluid communication with nozzle” in ll. 6-7 of claim 4 should be corrected to “in fluid communication with the nozzle” to correct a grammatical error.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-9 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “a single crystal silicon ingot” in l. 5. It is unclear whether this is the same as or a different single crystal silicon ingot as that recited in ll. 1-2 of the claim. It is assumed applicants intended to recite “the single crystal silicon ingot” in l. 5 to correct for antecedent basis. Dependent claims 2-9 are similarly rejected due to their dependence on claim 1.
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.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Korean Patent No. KR 100746375 B1 (hereinafter “the KR ‘375 patent”).
Regarding claim 1, The KR ‘375 patent teaches an ingot puller apparatus for producing a single crystal silicon ingot (see the Abstract, Figs. 1-4, and entire reference which teach an embodiment of a Czochralski crystal growth system (100) for producing a Si single crystal) comprising:
a crucible assembly for holding a silicon melt (see Fig. 1 and pp. 2-3 of the Tech-Solution section which teach a crucible (7) for holding a Si melt (10));
an ingot puller housing that defines a growth chamber for pulling a single crystal silicon ingot from the silicon melt, the crucible assembly being disposed within the growth chamber (see Fig. 1 and pp. 2-3 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that the crucible (7) is located in the lower chamber (2) of the growth apparatus (100)),
the ingot puller housing comprising:
a lower segment that defines a lower segment chamber, the crucible assembly being disposed in the lower segment chamber (see Fig. 1 and pp. 2-3 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that the crucible (7) is located in a lower chamber (2) of the growth apparatus (100)); and
an upper segment disposed above the lower segment that defines an upper segment chamber (see Fig. 1 and pp. 2-3 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that an upper chamber (3) is disposed above the lower chamber (2)); and
an isolation valve that is moveable between an open position in which the lower segment chamber is in fluid communication with the upper segment chamber and a closed position in which the lower segment chamber is sealed from the upper segment chamber (see Fig. 1 and pp. 3-4 of the Tech-Solution section which teach a blocking member (20) which may be in the form of a gate valve that moves between an open and closed position in order to unseal and seal the opening between the lower (2) and upper (3) chambers);
a process gas feed assembly comprising:
an inlet that extends through the ingot puller housing for introducing a process gas into the growth chamber (see Figs. 1-3 and pp. 4-5 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that the bottom of the blocking member (20) may be provided with a gas inlet (11) which extends through the sidewall of the growth apparatus (100) in order to introduce a process gas into the growth chamber); and
a nozzle in fluid communication with the inlet for directing process gas into the lower segment chamber (see Figs. 2-3 and pp. 4-5 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that the gas inlet (11) includes a plurality of discharge ports (20A) which direct process gas into the lower chamber (2)).
Regarding claim 2, the KR ‘375 patent teaches that the nozzle has a discharge axis, the discharge axis forming an angle with a pull axis of the ingot puller apparatus, the angle being 45° or less (see Figs. 2-3 and pp. 4-5 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that the plurality of discharge ports (20A) direct process gas directly downward (i.e., their axis is perpendicular to ground) and, as such, the angle with the pull axis is 0°).
Regarding claim 3, the KR ‘375 patent teaches that the nozzle has a discharge axis, the discharge axis being parallel to pull axis of the ingot puller apparatus (see Figs. 2-3 and pp. 4-5 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that the plurality of discharge ports (20A) direct process gas directly downward (i.e., their axis is perpendicular to ground) and, as such, are parallel to the pull axis of the growth apparatus (100)).
Regarding claim 4, the KR ‘375 patent teaches an annular process gas manifold, the manifold being disposed below the isolation valve relative to a pull axis of the ingot puller apparatus, the manifold comprising a process gas plenum therein, the process gas plenum being in fluid communication with nozzle (see Figs. 2-3 and pp. 4-5 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that the gas inflow line (11) is in the form of an annular gas manifold which may be disposed below the blocking member (20) and includes a plenum that is in communication with the discharge ports (20A)).
Regarding claim 5, the KR ‘375 patent teaches that the annular process gas manifold comprises one or more outlets that extend through an inner surface of the manifold and that are in fluid communication with the process gas plenum, the nozzle being aligned with an outlet of the process gas manifold (see Figs. 2-3 and pp. 4-5 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that the discharge ports (20A) necessarily extend through an inner surface of the annular gas manifold such that they are aligned with and in fluid communication with an outlet from the annular gas manifold).
Regarding claim 6, the KR ‘375 patent teaches at least two, at least four, or at least 10 nozzles in fluid communication with the inlet for directing process gas into the lower segment chamber (see Figs. 2-3 and pp. 4-5 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that there are more than 10 discharge ports (20A) which are in fluid communication with the gas inflow line (11) for discharging process gas into the lower chamber (2)).
Regarding claim 7, the KR ‘375 patent teaches that the nozzle comprises a nozzle inlet and a nozzle outlet, the nozzle inlet having a cross-sectional area greater than a cross-sectional area of the nozzle outlet (see Fig. 2 and pp.4-5 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that the gas inflow line (11) includes an inlet at a side of the housing and a plurality of discharge ports (20A) which form outlets with the outlets to the discharge ports (20A) having the smallest diameter at the lowermost end thereof in order to produce a constant flow density).
Regarding claim 8, the KR ‘375 patent teaches that the inlet is a first inlet (see Figs. 2-3 and pp. 4-5 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that the gas inflow line (11) and discharge ports (20A) constitute a first inlet), the ingot puller apparatus comprising a second inlet that extends through the ingot puller housing for introducing a process gas into the upper segment chamber (see Fig. 1 and pp. 4-5 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that there is a second inlet (11) at a top of the growth apparatus (100) which extends through the housing of the upper chamber (3) in order to introduce a process gas into the upper chamber (3)).
Regarding claim 9, the KR ‘375 patent teaches that the lower segment includes a dome-shaped section and the upper segment is cylindrical, the upper segment having a diameter less than a diameter of the lower segment (see Fig. 1 and pp. 2-3 of the Tech-Solution section which teach that that the lower chamber (2) has a dome-shaped top section while the upper chamber (3) has a smaller diameter than the lower chamber (2) and is cylindrical in order to accommodate the extracted Si ingot (8)).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNETH A BRATLAND JR whose telephone number is (571)270-1604. The examiner can normally be reached Monday- Friday, 7:30 am to 4:30 pm EST.
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/KENNETH A BRATLAND JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1714