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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1449. These IDS have been considered.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
4. The examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 01/23/2024 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Response to Arguments
5. Applicant’s arguments, see the remarks, filed on 07/06/2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 1, 16 and 20 under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of Shinozaki (JP 2004-364111).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. 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 of this title, 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.
8. Claims 1-4 and 6-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Verheijen et al. (US Pub. Nº 2019/0023003), in view of Shinozaki (JP 2004-364111).
9. Regarding independent claim 1: Verheijen et al. disclosed an apparatus ([0041], line 1; also see Fig. 1, reference 10) for processing a substrate ([0043], line 1; also see Fig. 2, reference W) comprising:
a process processing unit including a stage ([0043], line 1; also see Fig. 1, reference 14) supporting a substrate (Fig. 2, reference W) and configured to move the substrate on the stage ([0046], lines 1-3; also see Fig. 1, reference 18);
an inkjet head unit configured to discharge a substrate processing liquid onto the substrate ([0045], lines 1-3; also see Fig. 1, reference 16);
a gantry unit configured to move the inkjet head unit ([0046], lines 4-5; also see Fig. 1, reference 21); and
a jetting driver configured to control discharge of the substrate processing liquid ([0047], lines 1-2; also see Fig. 1, reference 22),
wherein a first signal controlling a position of the substrate ([0047], lines 7-8; also see Fig. 1; the control signal from the control unit of printing motion assembly 18 of stage 14) and a second signal controlling a position of the inkjet head unit ([0047], lines 7-8; also see Fig. 1; the control signal from the control unit of printing motion assembly 20 of printing head 16) are synchronized ([0047], lines 8-10; the drive signal from the drive unit for the positioning of the stage 14 and the drive signal from the drive unit for the positioning of the head unit 16 are coordinated (synchronized) by the master controller 24).
Verheijen et al. are silent about the substrate position control signal and the head position control signal being synchronized through control signal synchronization performed directly between a first control unit that generates the first signal and a second control unit that generates the second signal.
Shinozaki disclosed synchronizing a substrate position control signal and a head position control signal with each other ([0021], lines 2-6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Shinozaki with those of Verheijen et al. by synchronizing the substrate position control signal and the head position control signal with each other in order to improve the accuracy of the printed image to a level such as what is required in the printing of a conductive pattern as disclosed by Shinozaki in paragraph [0021].
10. Regarding claim 2: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first control unit is configured to recognize and control a position of the substrate (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 7-8; the control unit of printing motion assembly 18 of stage 14 (not shown)), and the second control unit is configured to control the jetting driver (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 1-2; also see Fig. 1, reference 22).
11. Regarding claim 3: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first control unit or the second control unit recognizes and controls a position of the inkjet head unit (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 1-3).
12. Regarding claim 4: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 2, wherein a transmission signal between the first control unit and the second control unit is a digital signal (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 8-10; communication between controllers of an inkjet apparatus is based on a digital signal. Also see [0002], lines 2-4).
13. Regarding claim 6: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first control unit and the second control unit perform signal synchronization (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 8-10).
14. Regarding claim 7: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the jetting driver operates when signals are synchronized (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 1-4 and 8-10).
15. Regarding claim 8: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 1, wherein a position of each discharge point on the substrate and a position of each nozzle within the inkjet head unit are synchronized in real time (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 1-4 and 8-10).
16. Regarding claim 9: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 1, wherein a third signal controlling the jetting driver is synchronized with the first signal and/or the second signal (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 1-4 and 8-10).
17. Regarding claim 10: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first control unit recognizes a position of the substrate using a first camera sensor or a plurality of sensors disposed on one or both sides of the stage (Verheijen et al. [0055], lines 1-4; also see Fig. 1, references 26).
18. Regarding claim 11: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first camera sensor is disposed above the substrate (Verheijen et al. Fig. 1, cameras 26 are disposed above the substrate W placed on the stage 14 (Verheijen et al. see Fig. 2 for further clarifications)).
19. Regarding claim 12: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first control unit calculates a position of each discharge point on the substrate based on information about a size of the substrate and information about a vertex of the substrate (Verheijen et al. [0019] – [0023]).
20. Regarding claim 13: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second control unit recognizes a position of the inkjet head unit using a second camera sensor or a plurality of sensors disposed on a side surface of the gantry unit (Verheijen et al. [0066], lines 1-2; also see Fig. 1, reference 30).
21. Regarding claim 14: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second camera sensor is disposed lower than the inkjet head unit (Verheijen et al. [0066], lines 1-2; also see Fig. 1, camera 30 is disposed lower than the inkjet head unit 16).
22. Regarding claim 15: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second control unit calculates a position of each nozzle in the inkjet head unit based on information about a size of the inkjet head unit and information about a vertex of the inkjet head unit (Verheijen et al. [0019] – [0023]).
23. Claims 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Verheijen et al. (US Pub. Nº 2019/0023003), in view of Shinozaki (JP 2004-364111).
24. Regarding claim 16: Verheijen et al. disclosed a method for processing a substrate ([0028], line 1) comprising:
recognizing a position of a substrate ([0074, lines 1-3 and [0075], lines 1-3);
recognizing a position of an inkjet head unit ([0078], lines 1-2) for discharging a substrate processing liquid on the substrate ([0075], lines 3-7);
synchronizing ([0047], lines 8-10; the drive signal from the drive unit for the positioning of the stage 14 and the drive signal from the drive unit for the positioning of the head unit 16 are coordinated (synchronized) by the master controller 24) a first signal controlling a position of the substrate ([0047], lines 7-8; also see Fig. 1; the control signal from the control unit of printing motion assembly 18 of stage 14) and a second signal controlling a position of the inkjet head unit ([0047], lines 7-8; also see Fig. 1; the control signal from the control unit of printing motion assembly 20 of printing head 16); and
controlling discharge of the substrate processing liquid based on synchronization of the first signal and the second signal ([0075], lines 3-7).
Verheijen et al. are silent about the synchronizing being performed using a first control unit that performs control signal synchronization directly with a second control unit, the first control unit generating the first signal and the second control unit generating the second signal.
Shinozaki disclosed synchronizing a substrate position control signal and a head position control signal with each other ([0021], lines 2-6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Shinozaki with those of Verheijen et al. by synchronizing the substrate position control signal and the head position control signal with each other in order to improve the accuracy of the printed image to a level such as what is required in the printing of a conductive pattern as disclosed by Shinozaki in paragraph [0021].
25. Regarding claim 17: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the method of claim 16, wherein position control of the substrate and position control of the inkjet head unit are related to a first control unit (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 8-10; also see Fig. 1, reference 24), and discharge of the substrate processing liquid is related to a second control unit (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 6-7; also see Fig. 1, reference 22).
26. Regarding claim 18: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the method of claim 17, wherein a transmission signal between the first control unit and the second control unit is a digital signal (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 8-10; communication between controllers of an inkjet apparatus is based on a digital signal. Also see [0002], lines 2-4).
27. Regarding claim 19: The combination of Verheijen et al. and Shinozaki disclosed the method of claim 16, wherein position control of the substrate is related to a first control unit (Verheijen et al. [0047], lines 7-8), and position control of the inkjet head unit is related to a second control unit ([0047], lines 6-7; also see Fig. 1, reference 22).
Allowable Subject Matter
28. Claim 5 is 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.
29. Claim 20 is allowed.
Conclusion
30. 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).
31. 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.
32. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YAOVI M. AMEH whose telephone number is (571)272-4578. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
33. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
34. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, RICARDO MAGALLANES can be reached at (571)272-5960. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YAOVI M AMEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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