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
The information disclosure statement filed 8/19/2025 has been considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings filed 2/9/2024 are approved by the examiner.
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)(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 1-3, 6 and 11-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Safrani et al (United States Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0074567).
With respect to claim 1, Safrani et al disclose: An alignment device for use in a wafer processing system [ taught by figures 2A, 2B, 3 and 4 ], the alignment device comprising: a substrate having a through-hole [ taught by teaching substrate (200); paragraph [0039] states, “…Alternatively, the teaching substrate 200 may have respective holes through which the top-mounted cameras 203 and/or 208 capture images of regions below the teaching substrate 200…” ]; a sensor mounted on a first surface of the substrate, the sensor configured to capture, via the through-hole, information relating to a position of the alignment device in the wafer processing system [ taught by cameras (203) and (208) ]; and a transmitter mounted on the first surface of the substrate and coupled to the sensor, the transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the information captured by the sensor [ taught by wireless transceiver (207) ].
Claim 2 is taught by top mounted cameras (203 and 208).
With regard to claim 3, Safrani et al disclose: a reflecting element mounted on the first surface of the substrate above the through-hole [ figure 20A shows a mirror element (2006) mounted proximate a through hole ], the reflecting element being mounted at an angle to the first surface of the substrate such that light incident on the reflecting element through the through-hole is receivable by the sensor [ figure 20A shows the mirror element (2006) at an angle that reflects light to the camera (203) and a detector (205) ].
Claim 6 is taught by battery (202).
With respect to claim 11, Safrani et al disclose: A method of aligning a wafer handling robot in a wafer processing system [ figure 1 and paragraph [0036] disclose moving a teaching substrate (102) in order to train movement in a tool (100) ], the method comprising: placing an alignment device in the wafer handling robot, the alignment device being at a first position in the wafer processing system [ taught by using teaching substrate (200) in the teaching process ], and the alignment device comprising a substrate having a through-hole and a sensor mounted on a first surface of the substrate [ paragraph [0039] states, “…Alternatively, the teaching substrate 200 may have respective holes through which the top-mounted cameras 203 and/or 208 capture images of regions below the teaching substrate 200…” ] ; capturing, utilizing the sensor via the through-hole, information relating to the first position of the alignment device [ paragraph [0039] states, “…mounted cameras 203 and/or 208 capture images of regions below the teaching substrate 200…”]; wirelessly transmitting, to a receiver by use of a transmitter of the alignment device, the information relating to the first position of the alignment device [ taught by operation of wireless transceiver (207); figure 10 ]; determining, based on the information relating to the first position, whether the alignment device at the first position is within a threshold distance from a target position in the wafer processing system [ figure 9 teaches receiving data from the teaching substrate (916) and analyzing the data (918) – an analysis requires a determination of a position within a distance tolerance ]; and when the alignment device at the first position is beyond the threshold distance from the target position, determining, based on the first position and the target position [ figure 9 teaches a step (920) determining if more teaching is required – a position beyond a distance tolerance would create a negative determination require more training ], a first updated position for the alignment device in the wafer processing system, and moving the wafer handling robot to move the alignment device from the first position to the first updated position [ met by updating the position of the teaching substrate via feedback to steps 912 to 920 in figure 9 ].
Claim 12 is met by step 922 in figure 9.
Claim 13 is met by the operation of cameras (203 and 208) and wireless transceiver (207).
Claim 14 is met by step 920 in figure 9.
Claim 15 is met by the feedback loop through steps 912 to 918 in figure 9 as require by negative determination in step 920.
Claim 16 is met by step 922 of figure 9.
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.
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Safrani et al (United States Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0074567) in view of Svoen et al (AU 2009357245 A1).
Svoen et al teaches that it was known before the effective filing date of the present application to have mounted a battery (7), transceiver (14) and indicator light (4) inside a protective cover (3) wherein the indicator light is visible to an external user, thus mandating a through hole.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to have had a reasonable expectation of success in modifying the device of Safrani et al to have met claims 7 and 8, when seeking to protect components, as taught by Svoen et al.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Safrani et al (United States Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0074567) in view of Ramsey et al (KR 20070009600 A).
The abstract of Ramsey et al teaches that it was known before the effective filing date of the present application to have used aluminum as a substrate material in wire-less sensors in order to reduce weight.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to have used aluminum as the teaching substrate material in the device of Safrani et al, when seeking to reduce weight, as taught by Ramsey et al.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5 and 9 are 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.
Claims 17-20 are allowed.
The cited prior art, taken alone or in combination, does not teach or suggest the combination of a base in a rings shape and a plurality of radial arms, as set forth in the entire context of claim 17.
Claims 18-20 depend on claim 17.
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to MARK HELLNER at telephone number (571)272-6981.
Examiner interviews are available via a variety of formats. See MPEP § 713.01. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
/MARK HELLNER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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