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 .
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 (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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a as being anticipated by Shinohara (JP 2022051029).
With regards to claim 1 and 8, Shinohara teaches a substrate cleaning apparatus and method (figures 16-18 teach the method/steps of the cleaning apparatus), comprising: a first substrate holding part (10A, 10B) holding an outer peripheral end of a substrate (w); a cleaning tool (51) coming into contact with a lower surface of the substrate and cleaning the lower surface of the substrate; and a relative moving part (30) relatively moving the cleaning tool (via pedestal 32) and the substrate held by the first substrate holding part, wherein the relative moving part moves at least one of the cleaning tool and the substrate held by the first substrate holding part so that the cleaning tool in a state of being separated from the lower surface of the substrate (figure 11; B-B) comes into contact (figure 12; B-B) with a first partial region (figure 12; where element 51 contacts the wafer) of the lower surface of the substrate when cleaning of a lower surface central region of the substrate is started, so that the cleaning tool in a state of being in contact (figure 12; B-B) with the lower surface of the substrate is separated (figure 13; B-B) from a second partial region (figure 13, wherein 51 is below the wafer; first and second partial region are the same region just one is when in contact and one is when not in contact) of the lower surface of the substrate when cleaning of the lower surface central region of the substrate is completed, and so that the cleaning tool is in contact with the lower surface central region (figure 7; cleaning tool is in the middle of wafer 51) of the substrate during at least a part of a cleaning tool contact period from when the cleaning tool comes into contact with the lower surface of the substrate to when the cleaning tool is separated from the lower surface of the substrate, and at least one of the first partial region and the second partial region does not overlap the lower surface central region of the substrate (when placing figure 7 and figure 8 next to each other, it is clear that both the first and second partial regions do not overlap the central region).
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With regards to claim 2 and 9, a second substrate holding part (21) that rotates the substrate around an axis in an up-down direction (figure 10/11) while sucking and holding the lower surface central region after cleaning the lower surface central region of the substrate with the cleaning tool, wherein the relative moving part relatively moves the cleaning tool and the substrate held and rotated by the second substrate holding part so that the cleaning tool comes into contact with a lower surface outer region (any portion outside the central region) that surrounds the lower surface central region of the substrate, and at least one of the first partial region and the second partial region overlaps a part of the lower surface outer region of the substrate (the first and second partial regions include the outer region).
With regards to claim 3 and 10, the first partial region does not overlap the lower surface central region (as shown in the figure above), and the relative moving part moves the cleaning tool from the first partial region toward the lower surface central region in a first period of the cleaning tool contact period (figure 5 to figure 6).
With regards to claim 4 and 11, the second partial region does not overlap the lower surface central region (as shown in figure above), and the relative moving part moves the cleaning tool from the lower surface central region toward the second partial region in a second period of the cleaning tool contact period (figure 7 to figure 8).
With regards to claim 5 and 12, none of the first partial region and the second partial region overlaps the lower surface central region (as shown in figure above), and the relative moving part moves the cleaning tool from the first partial region toward the lower surface central region in a first period of the cleaning tool contact period (figure 5 to figure 6), and moves the cleaning tool from the lower surface central region toward the second partial region in a second period of the cleaning tool contact period (figure 7 to figure 8).
With regards to claim 6 and 13, a cleaning tool rotation driving part (54) that rotates the cleaning tool around an axis in an up-down direction, wherein the first substrate holding part is configured to hold the outer peripheral end of the substrate without rotating the substrate, and the cleaning tool rotation driving part rotates the cleaning tool at a first time point when the cleaning tool comes into contact with the first partial region of the substrate (figure 12), a second time point when the cleaning tool is separated from the second partial region of the substrate (figure 13), and during the cleaning tool contact period (when actually in contact with is essentially the same as the first contact period).
With regards to claim 7 and 14, the relative moving part moves the cleaning tool so that a gap region, which the cleaning tool does not contact, is formed respectively between the first partial region and the outer peripheral end of the substrate and between the second partial region and the outer peripheral end of the substrate during the cleaning tool contact period.
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAY LYNN KARLS whose telephone number is (571)272-1268. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th (6am-5pm).
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/SHAY KARLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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