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 § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 10, 13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chung et al. (2008/0038020) in view of Lin et al. (8,636,907).
Re claims 1 and 10, Chung et al. a chamber (7) defining a chamber cavity; a substrate carrier (6) movable in a first direction inside the chamber cavity (Fig. 2) with magnets (4).
Chung et al. does not disclose a filter disposed inside the chamber cavity (42), defining an opening through which the substrate carrier (in this case a contaminated stream) passes, and including a magnet filter disposed in the opening and being rotatable.
Lin et al. disclose a filter disposed inside the chamber cavity, defining an opening through which the substrate carrier passes, and including a magnet filter (13) disposed in the opening and being rotatable (Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chung et al. and Lin et al. to enable the magnetic filter to be added to Chung et al.’s apparatus as taught by Lin et al. in order to remove magnetic and non-magnetic contaminants.
Re claim 13, the combination of Chung and Lin discloses wherein passing the substrate carrier (6 in Chung), includes the magnet filter collecting metal foreign substances (disclosed in Lin) disposed on the substrate carrier.
Re claim 15, Lin et al. disclose wherein the magnet filter includes a first magnet (9) forming an outer surface.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-9, 11, 12, 14 and 16-20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Pending the correction of issues outlined in the rejection above, the following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art does not disclose or fairly suggest the following in combination the remaining limitations recited in each claim:
wherein the magnet filter extends in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and has a polygonal column shape including n side surfaces, wherein where n is a natural number greater than or equal to three, as recited in claim 2;
wherein the magnet filter is rotatable by 360/n° around an axis that is directed parallel to the second direction, wherein where n is a natural number equal to or greater than three, as recited in claim 3;
wherein the filter includes a gear disposed at a first end and a second end of the magnet filter, as recited in claim 4;
wherein the magnet filter includes a first magnet forming an outer surface, as recited in claim 5;
wherein the first magnet includes a south pole and a north pole alternately arranged, as recited in claim 6;
wherein the substrate carrier includes a second magnet disposed on one surface located adjacent to the magnet filter, as recited in claim 7;
wherein the second magnet includes a south pole and a north pole alternately arranged, as recited in claim 8;
wherein the magnet filter is rotated by a magnetic force between the first magnet and the second magnet; as recited in claim 9;
wherein the magnet filter extends in one direction, and has a polygonal column shape including n side surfaces, wherein n is a natural number greater than or equal three, as recited in claim 11;
wherein the magnet filter is rotatable by 360/n° around an axis that is directed parallel to the one direction, as recited in claim 12;
wherein rotating a magnet filter includes maintaining the chamber cavity in a vacuum state, as recited in claim 14;
wherein the substrate carrier includes a second magnet disposed on one surface located adjacent to the magnet filter, as recited in claim 16;
wherein each of the first magnet and the second magnet includes a south pole and a north pole alternately arranged, as recited in claim 17;
wherein rotating a magnet filter includes, rotating the magnet filter by a magnetic force located between the first magnet and the second magnet, as recited in claim 18;
wherein rotating a magnet filter includes, maintaining an atmospheric pressure state within the chamber cavity, as recited in claim 19;
wherein the filter includes a gear disposed at a first end and a second end of the magnet filter, as recited in claim 20.
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US 2020/0129895 A1, US 2016/0221000 A1 disclose a similar configuration for a substrate treating apparatus.
Conclusion
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/MICHELLE MANDALA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893 February 18, 2026