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 § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-6, 8, 9, 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (abstract idea) without significantly more.
Under Step 1 of the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, the claims are directed to a process (claims 1 and 20, a method) or a machine (claim 13, a system), which are statutory categories.
However, evaluating claim 1, under Step 2A, Prong One, the claim is directed
to the judicial exception of an abstract idea using the grouping of a mathematical relationship/mental process. The limitations include:
determining, based at least in part on the first value of the first property, a second value of the first property inside the first substrate carrier.
The claim recites a judicial exception, namely determining a second value of a property based on a first measured value, which constitutes a mental process and /or mathematical concept (i.e., data analysis and correlation between values).
Next, Step 2A, Prong Two evaluates whether additional elements of the claim “integrate the abstract idea into a practical application” in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception, such that the claim is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception. The claim does not recite additional elements that integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
The additional elements, including “receiving a first substrate carrier”, “supplying a fluid, at a first flow rate, through an inlet of the first substrate carrier; at least partially purging the fluid through an outlet of the first substrate carrier for a first period of time”, and “measuring, using a first sensor disposed at the outlet, a first value of a first property of an exhaust from the substrate carrier at the outlet of the first substrate carrier”, merely collect and provide data for use in the abstract determination and constitute insignificant extra-solution activity (i.e., data gathering and environment setup). These elements do not apply the determined value in any manner that improves the functioning of the substrate carrier, the senor, or any other technology, nor do they effect a transformation or control of a physical system based on the result. Instead, the claim terminates in the generation of information (i.e., “second value”), which is insufficient to confer eligibility.
Therefore, the claim is directed to an abstract idea.
At Step 2B, consideration is given to additional elements that may make the abstract idea significantly more. Under Step 2B, there are no additional elements that make the claim significantly more than the abstract idea.
The additional elements of “gas purging” and “sensor measurement” are well-understood routine, and conventional in the field of semiconductor processing and deriving an internal value from an outlet measurement is itself the abstract idea and cannot supply significantly more. Accordingly, the claim amounts to no more than the application of an abstract idea using conventional techniques and is therefore not directed to patent-eligible subject matter.
The limitations have been considered individually and as a whole and do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself.
Dependent claims 2-6, 8, 9, 11 and 12 do not add anything which would render the claimed invention a patent eligible application of the abstract idea. The claims merely refine or further define the abstract idea recited in the base claim without integrating it into a practical application. Specifically, these claims add limitations such as use of a model or machine learning (claims 2-4), training or updating the model based on correlated data (claim 3), calculating additional values such as leak rate (claim 6), specifying types of measured properties (claim 8), or transmitting messages or alerts (claims 5, 9, and 11). These additional elements constitute data manipulations, analysis, or post-solution activity, which are themselves abstract or amount to insignificant extra-solution activity (e.g., reporting results). Furthermore, the recited hardware elements (e.g., substrate carrier, sensors, MEMS devices) are used in their ordinary capacities to gather data and do not reflect any improvement to the functioning of the device of to another technology. As such, the dependent claims 2-6, 8, 9, 11 and 12 do not add an inventive concept or otherwise integrate the judicial exception into a practical application, and therefore remain ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
Claims 13 and 20 are rejected 35 USC § 101 for the same rationale as in claim
1.
Dependent claims 14-19 do not add anything which would render the claimed invention a patent eligible application of the abstract idea. The claims recite determining a value of a property inside a substrate carrier based on a measured value at an outlet, which constitutes a mental process and/or mathematical concept (i.e., data analysis and correlation). The additional elements, including a FOUP, sensors, and controller, are used in their ordinary capacities to collect and process data and do not integrate the exception into practical application. Dependent claims 14-16 further recite use of a model, including machine learning and training, which merely implement the abstract idea using generic computational techniques. Claims 17-19 add limitations such as transmitting a message or specifying sensor type or placement, which constitute insignificant extra-solution activity or field of use limitations. None of these claims recite using the determined value to control or modify operation of the substrate carrier or any other physical system.
The examiner notes that the element “using a machine learning algorithm” is considered performing mathematical calculation which falls within the “mathematical concept” grouping of abstract ideas (see Example 47, in the 2024 Guidance Update on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility, Including on Artificial Intelligence).
Accordingly, the claims do not amount to significantly more than the judicial exception and are not directed to patent-eligible subject matter.
Claims 7 and 10 are considered to be directed to patent-eligible subject matter
under 35 U.S.C. § 101. While these claims recite determining a value based on measured data, they further recite using the determined value to control a physical component of the substrate carrier, specifically by opening a door of the substrate carrier in response to the determined condition. This limitation integrates any judicial exception into a practical application, as the computed information is applied to effect a real-world change in the operation of the device. The claims therefore do not merely recite the abstract idea of data analysis, but instead use that information to control access to the substrate carrier based on environmental conditions, which constitutes a meaningful application in the field of semiconductor handling.
Accordingly, the claims as a whole amount to significantly more than the judicial exception and are eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aggarwal (Pub. No. US 2004/0182472) in view of Liao et al. (Pub. No. US 2023/0366081) (hereinafter Liao).
As per claim 1, Aggarwal teaches receiving a first substrate carrier; supplying a fluid, at a first flow rate, through an inlet of the first substrate carrier; at least partially purging the fluid through an outlet of the first substrate carrier for a first period of time (see Abstract, and ¶¶ [0006]-[0009], i.e., substrate carrier (FOUP) configured to receive purge gas through an inlet and discharge gas through an outlet during purging).
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly teach measuring, using a first sensor disposed at the outlet, a first value of a first property of an exhaust from the substrate carrier at the outlet of the first substrate carrier; and determining, based at least in part on the first value of the first property, a second value of the first property inside the first substrate carrier.
Liao, however, teaches measuring properties (e.g., gas concentration and temperature) of exhaust at an outlet and determining a system condition based on those measurements (see ¶¶ [0031]-[0035] and [0039]). Further ¶ [0041] of Liao teaches using a machine learning model to determine an internal condition of the system (e.g., level of cleanliness within the chamber) based on measured exhaust properties, thereby establishing a relationship between outlet measurements and internal system conditions. Further, Liao teaches that cleaning gas introduced into the processing chamber where it reacts with materials within the chamber to generate chemical compounds, and the resulting gas exits the chamber through an outlet into a foreline where it is measured (see ¶¶ [0029]-[0032]). Thus, the measured exhaust gas contains reaction products formed within the chamber and corresponds to gas that has passed through the internal volume of the system. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to apply the exhaust-based sensing and model-based determination of Liao to the substrate carrier of Aggarwal and to determine a value of a property inside the carrier based on the measured outlet value because Liao teaches that outlet measurements are predictive of internal conditions and the exhaust gas originates from and reflects the internal environments, thereby enabling inference of internal properties from outlet measurements. Further, It would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to express the determined internal condition as a value of the same property being measured at the outlet, rather than as a derived condition such as cleanliness, because this constitutes a predictable implementation of the taught model-based relationship consistent with known state-estimation techniques, thereby yielding the claimed determination of the second value of the property inside the substrate carrier based on the measured outlet value.
As per claim 2, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above. Liao further teaches that using a model, including a machine learning model, to determine a system condition based on measured values, wherein measured parameters are provided as input to the model and the model outputs a corresponding condition (see ¶ [0041]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to input the measured outlet value into the model that outputs a corresponding value because Liao teaches model-based mapping between input measurements and output conditions, thereby enabling determination of a value from sensor data using a model, as recited.
As per claims 3 and 4, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
Aggarwal, further teaches substrate carriers (FOUPs) configured to purge operations (see Abstract and ¶ [0024]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to perform the same purge process on a second substrate carrier because repeating a known process on another instance of the same device is a routine and predictable use, thereby enabling collection of additional data.
Liao further teaches measuring properties of gas using sensors disposed at different locations within a system and at an exhaust (see ¶¶ [0033]-[0035] and [0045]-[0048]), which suggests obtaining measurements from multiple locations including within the system and at the outlet. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to provide a sensor inside the substrate carrier to obtain an internal measurement and a sensor at the outlet to obtain an outlet measurement because Liao teaches flexible sensor placement to capture system conditions, thereby enabling acquisition of multiple related measurements from the same system.
Further, Liao teaches training and updating a model based on relationships between measured parameters and system conditions using operational and historical data (see ¶ [0042]). This establishes that Liao determines relationships between measured values and used those relationships to update a model. Although Liao expresses the relationship between measured exhaust parameters and a system condition (e.g., cleanliness), a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention would have recognized that the same training approach can be applied to determine a relationship between different but related measured values, including an internal measurement and a corresponding outlet measurement, because both values are derived from the same system and are physically related through the flow of gas passing through the internal volume and exiting at the outlet, thereby enabling determination of a relationship between the internal and outlet values. It would have been further obvious to update the model based on that relationship because Liao teaches refining models using relationships derived from measured data, thereby enabling calibration of the model using paired internal and outlet measurements as recited.
As per claim 5, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly teach determining the second value of the first property inside the first substrate carrier is greater than a threshold value; and transmitting a message to a load port unit (LPU) of a processing chamber comprising the first substrate carrier.
Liao, however, teaches determining a condition based on sensor data and providing notification or control signals vis a controller (see ¶¶ [0036] and [0039]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to compare the determined value to a threshold and transmit a message to a processing system because threshold-based monitoring and notification are conventional in process control systems, thereby enabling response communication based on detected conditions.
As per claim 6, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
Liao further teaches collecting sensor data over time and determining system status based on variations in measured values during operation (see ¶¶ [0052]-[0057]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to determine a value of the property at a first time (i.e., the claimed third value) and compare it to a value at a later time (i.e., the claimed second value), and to determine a difference between those values, because Liao teaches monitoring changed in measured properties over time to assess system conditions, thereby enabling comparison of values at different times. It would have been further obvious to determine the elapsed time between the measurements because time-based monitoring inherently involves associating measurements with the time intervals, thereby enabling temporal analysis or system behavior. It would have been further obvious to determine a leak rate based on the difference between the values and the elapsed time because calculating a rate of change of a measured property over time (i.e., Δvalue/Δtime) is a well-known and predictable diagnostic technique for identifying leakage or loss in a contained system, particularly in systems involving gas flow and sealed volumes, thereby enabling estimation of leakage conditions of the substrate carrier as recited.
As per claim 7, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
Aggarwal further teaches a substrate carrier (FOUP) having a closable front opening (door) for loading and unloading substrates, the door being opened and closed during normal operation of the carrier (see ¶ [0027]).
Liao further teaches measuring gas properties (e.g., concentration, temperature) and determining system conditions based on those measurements, as well as using thresholds and controller logic to initiate actions or notifications (see ¶¶ [0031]-[0033], [0036], and [0039]).
Although Liao fails to explicitly teach relative humidity (RH), it teaches measuring gas-related properties and evaluating environmental conditions within a system. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to select relative humidity as the monitored property because relative humidity is a well-known environmental parameter indicative of moisture content in gas and is commonly monitored in enclosed systems, thereby enabling assessment of environmental suitability using a known alternative property. It would have been further obvious to determine whether the measured or derived RH satisfies a threshold condition because Liao teaches evaluating measured values to determine system status, thereby enabling identification of when a threshold is met.
It would have been further obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to open the FOUP door when the threshold condition is satisfied because the FOUP is a container having a door that is opened under controlled conditions during normal operation, and applying threshold-based control to actuate such a component is a routine and predictable implementation of controller logic, thereby enabling access to the substrate carrier when environmental conditions are suitable, as recited.
As per claim 8, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
Liao further teaches measuring a property od a gas at an outlet, including determining a concentration of a chemical compound in a gas (see ¶¶ [0031] and [0039]), which corresponds to an amount of the gas.
Aggarwal further teaches that environmental conditions within a substrate carrier, including the presence of oxygen and moisture, are important factors affecting the condition of substrates stored therein (see ¶¶ [0009]; [0020]; and [0022]), thereby identifying specific gas species of interest within the carrier environment. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to measure an amount of a gas comprising oxygen or moisture within the substrate carrier because Aggarwal identifies these gases as relevant environmental constituents within the carrier, and Liao teaches measuring gas concentration to determine system conditions, thereby enabling monitoring of specific gas species within the substrate carrier environment. Further, it would have been obvious to select other gas constituents such as aerosol particles or volatile organic compounds (TVOC) because selecting particular gas species for monitoring is a routine extension of measuring gas concentration depending on the desired environmental condition to be evaluated, thereby enabling detection of environmental parameters as recited.
As per claims 9 and 11, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly teach determining the second amount of the first gas inside the first substrate carrier is greater than a threshold value; and transmitting a message to a load port unit (LPU) of a processing chamber comprising the first substrate carrier.
Liao, however, teaches determining a condition based on sensor data and providing notification or control signals vis a controller (see ¶¶ [0036] and [0039]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to compare the determined value to a threshold and transmit a message to a processing system because threshold-based monitoring and notification are conventional in process control systems, thereby enabling response communication based on detected conditions.
As per claim 10, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
Aggarwal teaches a substrate carrier (FOUP) having a closable front opening (door) used for loading and unloading substrates, the door being opened and closed during normal operation of the carrier (see ¶ [0027]).
Liao teaches measuring temperature of gas at an outlet and determining system conditions based on measured temperature (see ¶¶ [0032]-[0033]), and further teaches evaluating measured values using controller logic to determine system status (¶¶ [0036] and [0039]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to determine whether the measured temperature satisfies a threshold condition because Liao teaches evaluating measured parameters to determine system conditions, thereby enabling identification of when a threshold is met. It would have been further obvious to open the FOUP door when the temperature satisfies the threshold condition because the FOUP is a container having a door that is opened under controlled conditions during normal operation, and applying threshold-based control to actuate such component is a routine and predictable implementation of controller-based system control, thereby enabling access to the substrate carrier when environmental conditions are within acceptable limits, as recited.
As per claim 12, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
Aggarwal teaches a substrate carrier comprising front opening unified pod (FOUP) used to store and transport semiconductor substrates and further identified environmental conditions within the carrier, including moisture, as relevant to substrate integrity (see ¶¶ [0007]-[0009]).
Liao teaches measuring properties of gas at an outlet using sensors, including gas concentration and temperature sensors (see ¶¶ [0033]-[0035]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention for the first substrate carrier to comprise a FOUP because Aggarwal explicitly teaches the use of FOUP-type substrate carriers, thereby providing the claimed carrier structure. It would have been further obvious to implement the first sensor as a MEMS sensor because MEMS-based environmental sensors are widely used for compact and accurate measurement of gas properties in confined environments, thereby enabling integration of sensing functionality within the substrate carrier system.
Although Liao fails to explicitly disclose measuring relative humidity (RH), Aggarwal teaches that moisture within the substrate carrier is an important environmental parameter (see ¶ [0025]), and moisture in gas corresponds to water vapor content, which is commonly quantified as relative humidity. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to measure RH at the outlet and /or inside the substrate carrier because RH is a well-known parameter for quantifying moisture in gas-phase environments, and Liao teaches measuring gas properties and using those measurements to determine system condition, thereby enabling monitoring of moisture-related conditions within the substrate carrier as recited.
As per claims 13 and 14, Aggarwal teaches a substrate carrier comprising a front opening unified pod (FOUP) configured to receive and contain substrates and to allow gas flow through the carrier, including introduction of fluid and purging through an outlet (see Abstract), thereby teaching a FOUP having an inlet and an outlet for fluid flow.
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly disclose a sensor disposed at the outlet configured to measure a property of a gas or a controller configured to determine an internal environmental property of the FOUP based on a measured outlet value.
Liao teaches providing sensors at an outlet to measure properties of gas, including concentration and temperature, and determining system conditions based on those measurements (see ¶¶ [0031]-[0035] and [0039]), thereby teaching a sensor disposed at an outlet configured to determine a property of gas.
Although Liao fails to explicitly disclose measuring relative humidity (RH), Aggarwal teaches that moisture within the substrate carrier is an important environmental parameter (see ¶ [0025]), and moisture in gas corresponds to water vapor content, which is commonly quantified as relative humidity. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention for the first sensor to determine RH or an amount of a gas at the outlet because RH and gas concentration are well-known measures of environmental conditions in gas-phase systems, thereby enabling monitoring of conditions within the FOUP.
Liao further teaches determining system conditions based on measured gas properties and using models to relate measured values to internal conditions of the system (see ¶¶ [0039] and [0041]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to configure the controller to determine a second RH or a second amount of the gas inside the FOUP based on the measured outlet value because Liao teaches using measured exhaust properties to infer internal system conditions and to establish relationships between measured values and internal states, thereby enabling determination of internal environmental properties of the FOUP based on outlet measurements as recited.
As per claims 15 and 16, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
Aggarwal teaches a substrate carrier (FOUP) system including fluid flow through an inlet and outlet (see ¶¶ [0006]-[0007]).
Liao teaches sensors disposed at an outlet and within the system, as well as a controller configured to determine system conditions based on measured values (see ¶¶ [0033]-[0035], [0039], and [0045]-[0048]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to configure the system to include sensors disposed at multiple locations, including inside the substrate carrier and at the outlet, to obtain corresponding internal and outlet measurements because Liao teaches placement of sensors at different locations within the system to monitor conditions, thereby enabling acquisition of multiple related measurements from the same system.
Further, Liao teaches training and updating a model based on relationships between measured parameters and system conditions using operational and historical data (see ¶ [0042]). This establishes that Liao determines relationships between measured values and uses those relationships to update a model. Although Liao expresses the relationship between measured exhaust parameters and a system condition (e.g., cleanliness), one having ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the same training approach can be applied to determine a relationship between different but related measured values, including an internal measurement and a corresponding outlet measurement, because both values are derived from the same system and are physically related through the flow of gas passing through the internal volume and exiting at the outlet, thereby enabling determination of a relationship between the internal and outlet values. It would have been further obvious to update the model based on that relationship because Liao teaches refining models using relationships derived from measured data, thereby enabling calibration of the model using paired internal and outlet measurements in a system implementation, as recited.
As per claim 17, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above.
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly teach determine the second RH inside the first FOUP is greater than a threshold value; and transmit a message to a load port unit (LPU) of a processing chamber comprising the first FOUP.
Liao, however, teaches evaluating measured gas properties using controller logic to determine system conditions and to generate signals or notifications based on those conditions (see ¶¶ [0036] and [0039]). Although Liao does not explicitly disclose RH, Liao teaches evaluating gas-related properties against conditions indicative of system status. As discussed above, it would have been obvious to use RH as the monitored property based on Aggarwal’s teaching that moisture is a relevant environmental parameter within a FOUP, where moisture corresponds to water vapor content commonly quantified as RH. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to determine whether the internal RH exceeds a threshold value because threshold-based evaluation of measured or derived environmental parameters is a standard technique for determining whether system conditions are acceptable, thereby enabling identification of out-of-spec conditions.
It would have been further obvious to transmit a message to a load port unit (LPU) of a processing chamber in response to the threshold determination because Liao teaches generating signals or notifications based on evaluated conditions, and communicating such information to associated system components is a routine and predictable implementation in integrated semiconductor processing environments, thereby enabling coordination between the FOUP and the processing chamber equipment based on environmental conditions as recited.
As per claim 18, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above except that the first sensor comprises a micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor.
Liao, however, teaches the use of sensors to measure properties of gas, including concentration and temperature, at an outlet (see ¶¶ [0033]-[0035])., but does not limit the sensor implementation to any particular sensor technology. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the first sensor as a MEMS sensor because MEMS-based sensors are widely used for measuring environmental parameters such as gas concentration, temperature, and humidity in compact and integrated systems, particularly where space constraints and integration with electronic control systems are important, thereby enabling a compact and efficient sensor implementation within the substrate carrier system as recited.
As per claim 19, the combination of Aggarwal and Liao teaches the system as stated above except that the second sensor is disposed on one or more slots of the second FOUP.
However, Aggarwal teaches a FOUP configured to hold substrates in a plurality of slots within the carrier (see ¶ [0021]) and Liao teaches placing sensors at various locations within a system to measure properties of gas (see ¶¶ [0045]-[0048]). It would have been obvious to dispose the second sensor on one or more slots of the FOUP because sensor placement within different regions of the system, including near or on structural elements, is a routine design choice to obtain representative or localized measurements of environmental conditions, thereby enabling measurement of conditions in proximity to substrates stored in the slots as recited.
As per claim 20, Aggarwal teaches supplying a fluid through an inlet of a substrate carrier and purging the fluid through an outlet (see Abstract and ¶¶ [0006]-[0009]), thereby teaching the recited fluid flow through the substrate carrier.
However, Aggarwal fails to explicitly teach providing sensors to determine values of a property inside the substrate carrier and at the outlet, determining a relationship between such values, or updating a model based on that relationship.
Liao, however, teaches measuring properties of gas using sensors disposed at an outlet and at various locations within a system (see ¶¶ [0033]-[0035] and [0045]-[0048]), thereby suggesting obtaining measurements corresponding to internal and outlet conditions od a system. Liao further teaches using a model to determine system conditions based on measured values (see ¶ [0041]) and training and updating the model using relationships between measured parameters and system conditions based on operational and historical data (see ¶ [0042]).
Although Liao expresses the learned relationship between measured exhaust properties and system condition (e.g., cleanliness), one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention would have recognized that the same training approach can be applied to determine a relationship between different related measured values, including a value measured inside the substrate carrier and a corresponding value measured at the outlet, because both values are derived from the same system and are physically related through the flow of gas passing through the carrier and exiting at the outlet, thereby enabling determination of a relationship between internal and outlet values. It would have been further obvious to update the model based on that relationship because Liao teaches refining models using relationships derived from measured data, thereby enabling estimation of internal properties of a new substrate carrier as recited.
Prior art
The prior art made record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s
disclosure:
Ito et al. [‘292] discloses a transfer abnormality detection system capable of receiving information from a container transfer device configured to transfer a transfer container and a mounting device configured to load the transfer container that is transferred by the container transfer device, the system including: a determination part configured to: record which container transfer device is transferring the transfer container based on a container identification ID assigned to each transfer container and a transfer device identification ID assigned to each transfer device; and determine an abnormality in either or both of the container transfer device and the transfer container by combining vibration detection information of the container transfer device obtained by a vibration detection part provided in the container transfer device and state detection information of the transfer container obtained by a container state detection part provided in the mounting device.
Huang et al. [‘778] discloses systems and methods for reducing the humidity within a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) when loaded on an EFEM (Equipment Front End Module) for transfer of a semiconductor wafer substrate during fabrication processes. A deflector of specified structure is placed inside the EFEM above the load port of the FOUP. The deflector directs airflow in the EFEM away from the load port. The deflector includes a body with a plurality of apertures in the deflector body, and with a sloped front surface. Thus, the degree of penetration of high-humidity air from the EFEM into the FOUP is reduced.
Kuan [’000] discloses a front opening unified pod (FOUP) includes a container, a plurality of wafer slots, at least one inlet pipe, and at least one outlet pipe. The wafer slots, the inlet pipe, and the outlet pipe are disposed in the container. The inlet pipe has a plurality of exhale openings arranged along the inlet pipe. The outlet pipe has a plurality of inhale openings arranged along the outlet pipe.
Contact information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to MOHAMED CHARIOUI whose telephone number is (571)272-2213. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 6 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrew Schechter can be reached on (571) 272-2302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Mohamed Charioui
/MOHAMED CHARIOUI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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