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 . In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to 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.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-19 are currently pending and are being hereby examined herein. Claims 1-2, 8, 10-11, 16, and 18 are amended.
Response to Amendment / Remarks
Any reference to the prior office action refers to the final rejection dated 30 October 2025.
The claim objections from the prior office action are withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments, filed 7 January 2026, with respect to the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 from the prior office action have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues no motivation to add the chambers of Ebbing to the disclosure of Birkner was provided. Additionally, applicant argues “The mere fact that possible arrangements exist in the prior art does not provide a reason…to combine…”. These arguments are not persuasive. The examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). In this case, the examiner notes that the chambers of Ebbing were not added to Birkner for the combination, so motivation for adding of the chambers was required. Instead, Ebbing was used to teach the limitation transferring the object to be transferred by the transfer robot and placing the object to be transferred in the storage part, one of ordinary skill would understand the storage part is within a chamber of Ebbing and the actual location to which the wafers were being transferred, and therefore the chambers themselves are not a necessary part of the combination. Additionally, the examiner notes that Birkner is not silent with respect to chambers (see at least [0390]: “ The semi-conductor industry machine may also contain a vacuum chamber. It is understood that the methods as per the invention can also be executed within vacuum chambers, provided the components, such as the acquisition unit or the lighting, if necessary, and/or if they are located within a vacuum chamber, are designed to be suitable for vacuums.”), and so transferring into a chamber would not teach away from Birkner. Furthermore, examiner cited column 1 of Ebbing as providing the motivation to combine, stating “this transferring is necessary for the processing of substrates in a robot system”, which is knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art who would understand that in a typical processing system the wafer would be placed in a storage part by a robot before it is removed from the robot system after processing is complete. Specifically, column 1 lines 27-38 of Ebbing state “Once the cluster tool has been set up with a desired set of chambers and auxiliary equipment for performing certain process steps, the cluster tool will typically process a large number of substrates by continuously passing them through a series of chambers and process steps. The process recipes and sequences will typically be programmed into a microprocessor controller that will direct, control, and monitor the processing of each substrate through the cluster tool. Once an entire cassette of wafers has been successfully processed through the cluster tool, the cassette may be passed to yet another cluster tool or stand alone tool, such as a chemical mechanical polisher, for further processing”. Finally, examiner cited sections of Birkner that suggest the transfer, providing another reason for the combination. Therefore, the examiner has shown it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the invention, with a reasonable expectation of success, to one having ordinary skill in the art to combine Ebbing and Birkner to arrive at the independent claims and has shown the arguments are not persuasive.
Joint Inventors
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim Interpretation
In Claims 4 and 13, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the term “blocked” is interpreted to include any amount of light blockage (does not require total blockage).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 5, 7, 9-10, 14, and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0352835 (hereinafter, Birkner) in view of U.S. Patent No. 6,155,773 (Ebbing et al., hereinafter, Ebbing).
Regarding Claims 1 and 10, (which are similar in scope, and therefore the following rejection applies to Claim 1 and Claim 10) Birkner discloses A processing system (see at least [0244]: “The invention generally concerns a semi-conductor industry machine for processing a substrate, in particular a wafer, a photolithographic mask or a flat panel display. The processing can concern the transport of a substrate between two or more stations, for example a deposit location or a processing station, or also the processing of a substrate.”) comprising:
a transfer system including a transfer robot configured to transfer an object to be transferred (see at least [0245]: “The invention also concerns a handling system, wherein the handling system comprises a robot or a moving element, preferably a robot arm and/or an end effector, and/or a positioning unit, and wherein the handling system preferably has means for gripping, transporting and/or depositing a substrate. The handling system can concern the transport of a substrate between two or more stations, for example a deposit location or a processing station, or also the processing of a substrate.”),
a storage part that is a first processing module or a substrate storage case and that is configured to store the object to be transferred by the transfer robot (see at least [0055], [0090], [0101]-[0102], and [0249]-[0250]: “storage 10 in the form of an opened cassette for receiving substrates 12”; “ The substrate can also be located in cassettes and/or on trays and/or on an end effector and/or on a chuck and/or on a processing station of the machine and/or on a positioning unit.”), and
a state detection sensor configured to detect positional misalignment of the object to be transferred stored in the storage part (see at least [0061], [0080]-[0081], [0101], [0105], [0110], [0116]-[0118], [0130], [0304], [0354], and Fig. 15b: “In addition, the information data set may also comprise at least information that can be used to determine or derive the spatial location of the substrate with respect to a slot, or to a tray, or to a robot, or to an end effector, or to another location where the substrate may be located in the semi-conductor industry machine.”; “ The substrate can also be located in cassettes and/or on trays and/or on an end effector and/or on a chuck and/or on a processing station of the machine and/or on a positioning unit”; “In one embodiment of the invention, at least one acquisition unit is installed in a fixed location with respect to the machine. This makes it possible to always obtain the same perspective or viewing direction while taking the images, regardless of the machine's operating state, so that even the slightest changes or deviations from a target position of the substrate can be reliably detected.”; “The acquisition unit may comprise an optical sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a distance sensor, a reflex sensor, a radar sensor, an imaging camera or video camera, or an infrared camera.”; “It may be advantageous here, for example, to install one first acquisition unit, for example a camera, to be stationary on the machine that takes an image of the substrate or location, and another, second acquisition unit, for example a camera or a video camera, which is located on a moving element of the machine, such as on the end effector or the positioning unit.”; “The artificial neural network can be included or integrated in a processing unit as a component of a computer architecture, wherein the computer architecture can also comprise computer hardware and an operating system of the computer as additional key components in addition to other components or elements”; the “at least one acquisition unit is installed in a fixed location with respect to the machine” and the computer systems containing “the artificial neural network” and any other acquisition units not specifically part of a position detection sensor are a state detection sensor);
a second processing module to which the object to be processed is transferred via the transfer system (see at least [0054]-[0055] and [0383]: “The processing can concern the transport of a substrate between two or more stations, for example a deposit or a processing station”; “The term ‘semi-conductor industry machine’ refers to general systems and equipment that are used in the semi-conductor industry. This means that the term ‘semi-conductor industry machine’ also refers to or includes a robot that can include a moving element, preferably a robot arm and/or an end effector. In addition, the term ‘semi-conductor industry machine’ also refers to a positioning unit that can be used to move or transport the substrate. Moreover, this may also be understood to include trays, processing stations or cassettes.”; “A robot 212 with the end effector 150 can be used to remove substrates 12 from the storage 10 and transport them further to the processing station 213.”); and
a controller configured to control an operation of the transfer robot (see at least [0075], [0130]-[0133], and [0328]: “For example, the end effector can be moved to a slot of a cassette for wafers. The control command may also be an instruction to grip the substrate, to transport the substrate to a designated deposit location and/or to deposit the substrate at the designated deposit location.”; “In a centrally organized embodiment of the invention, these components can thus be integrated in a system controller of the semi-conductor industry machine, for example in a robot or in an end effector of a robot, or in a robot controller. The computer architecture can also be integrated in a control system at a higher level than the machine.”),
wherein the transfer robot has a position detection sensor configured to detect a position of the object to be transferred placed in the storage part (see at least [0081], [0106]-[0107], [0110]-[0118], [0304], [0324]-[0326], and [0354]: “In addition, the information data set may also comprise at least information that can be used to determine or derive the spatial location of the substrate with respect to a slot, or to a tray, or to a robot, or to an end effector, or to another location where the substrate may be located in the semi-conductor industry machine.”; “It is also possible that at least one acquisition unit is located on moving elements of the machine, for example on a robot arm or a moving element, such as on an end effector of a robot, or on a positioning unit. This makes it possible to take images of the substrate or of the intended location during operation from different viewing directions, which can be advantageous if parts of the image are obscured in views from certain viewing directions, making the image taken incomplete.”; “That is why a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention provides for the artificial neural network creating and recording at least one additional image of the location in the case of unclear statements or unclear assignments, wherein advantageously this second, additional image differs from the first in at least one aspect, such as the viewing direction.”; “The acquisition unit may comprise an optical sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a distance sensor, a reflex sensor, a radar sensor, an imaging camera or video camera, or an infrared camera.”; “The radar sensor makes it possible to generate distance values of objects or of individual points of objects to the sensor in the two-dimensional area detected by the sensor, which, combined with the third spacing dimension, can constitute a three-dimensional profile of the detected area, which is used for training or teaching in place of the optical image, or is also used for applying the artificial neural network.”; “It may be advantageous here, for example, to install one first acquisition unit, for example a camera, to be stationary on the machine that takes an image of the substrate or location, and another, second acquisition unit, for example a camera or a video camera, which is located on a moving element of the machine, such as on the end effector or the positioning unit.”; “In the application, i.e. during operation of the semi-conductor industry machine 80, the camera in the end effector 81 imports the images and transfers them to the robot controller 83, where the artificial neural network then performs the analysis.”), and
the controller controls:
determining, after said placing the object to be transferred, whether or not the object to be transferred is collectable based on a detection result of the state detection sensor (see at least [0099], [0120], [0348], and [0365]: “An important aspect of the invention is to obtain information for substrate processing as to whether the substrate can be processed or transported, or not, for example due to an incorrect position. The information regarding possible incorrect positions, for example, can provide a statement about whether the incorrect position concerns a substrate lying across several levels of a tray (“cross-slotted”), for example whether the substrate is on the provided support points of this tray, and/or whether the incorrect position concerns at least two directly overlaid substrates (“double-slotted”) on one support point, i.e. whether there is more than one substrate on the support points or the tray, in particular if only one substrate is provided at this support point.”; “For example, a slightly skewed substrate that is therefore not located completely correctly can still be processed under certain conditions, for example by specifying certain control commands to the machine's control unit to be able to still grip the substrate that is slightly skewed.”; “So, for example, it is conceivable that a new end effector is installed on the semi-conductor industry machine, which also has an additional controllable rotational axis, and which makes it possible to grip and transport even slightly skewed substrates 12. If this makes it possible to grip substrates, for example, up to a skewed position of the substrate at an angle of up to 2°, 5° or 7° with respect to the horizontal, to correct the skewed position or to transport them, then these types of new rules can be very easily defined and stored.”; “Camera 161b can be used to easily determine if there is an offset when picking up or depositing the substrate 12, or whether the substrate 12 is in a position, such as a skewed position of 5°, which still allows for processing.”);
operating the transfer robot and detecting the position of the object to be transferred by the position detection sensor when it is possible to collect the object to be transferred (see at least [0348]: “So, for example, it is conceivable that a new end effector is installed on the semi-conductor industry machine, which also has an additional controllable rotational axis, and which makes it possible to grip and transport even slightly skewed substrates 12. If this makes it possible to grip substrates, for example, up to a skewed position of the substrate at an angle of up to 2°, 5° or 7° with respect to the horizontal, to correct the skewed position or to transport them, then these types of new rules can be very easily defined and stored.”); and
moving the transfer robot based on the position of the object to be transferred and collecting the object to be transferred by the transfer robot (see at least [0075]-[0077] and [0348]: “The artificial neural network can use it to generate an information data set comprising information about the determined presence and/or position and/or orientation and/or type of the substrate. This information data set can be used to directly control the semi-conductor industry machine or it can be used by the machine's control system. The information data set can also be passed on to a higher-level control system.”; “The information data set can, for example, generate a control command or a control command can be generated by evaluating the information data set, which comprises an instruction to move a system unit of the semi-conductor industry machine, for example to move a robot and/or the movable element of the robot, preferably the robot arm or the end effector of the robot, or a positioning unit.”; “For example, the end effector can be moved to a slot of a cassette for wafers. The control command may also be an instruction to grip the substrate, to transport the substrate to a designated deposit location and/or to deposit the substrate at the designated deposit location.”; “So, for example, it is conceivable that a new end effector is installed on the semi-conductor industry machine, which also has an additional controllable rotational axis, and which makes it possible to grip and transport even slightly skewed substrates 12. If this makes it possible to grip substrates, for example, up to a skewed position of the substrate at an angle of up to 2°, 5° or 7° with respect to the horizontal, to correct the skewed position or to transport them, then these types of new rules can be very easily defined and stored”).
Birkner suggests (see at least [0016]-[0017], [0056], [0061], [0077], [0250] and [0253]-[0254]: “Methods for teaching in or controlling a robot for moving a wafer or a mask or a flat panel display are known”; “These methods can be used together with or in machines or systems in the semi-conductor industry, which are used to process wafers, masks or flat panel displays”; “The semi-conductor industry machine can, as a result, include means for gripping, holding, transporting and/or depositing a substrate.”; “The location can typically be a pick-up or deposit location or a deposit for substrates, a storage for substrates, such as a cassette for the pick-up and storage of wafers.”; “The image may therefore show a substrate on or in a pick-up or deposit location, which is properly and flawlessly deposited.”; “the end effector can be moved to a slot of a cassette for wafers. The control command may also be an instruction to grip the substrate, to transport the substrate to a designated deposit location and/or to deposit the substrate at the designated deposit location.”; “The semi-conductor industry machine may comprise a robot that can comprise a moving element, preferably a robot arm and/or an end effector. In addition, the semi-conductor industry machine can also comprise a positioning unit that can be used to move or transport the substrate.”; “the semi-conductor industry machine can comprise a device for picking up and/or moving and/or depositing a substrate”; “The example only shows one section of the storage 10, which has a total of 25 individual deposit locations 11 or slots for receiving an individual substrate 12 each.”) but does not explicitly disclose transferring the object to be transferred by the transfer robot and placing the object to be transferred in the storage part.
Ebbing, in the same field of wafer processing, and therefore analogous art, teaches transferring the object to be transferred by the transfer robot and placing the object to be transferred in the storage part (see at least column 9 lines 63-67, column 10 lines 1-10, column 10 lines 50-55, and FIG. 1: “In operation, the robot 10 rotates about its axis within the transfer chamber 406 to align the wafer handling members 60 with the various chambers 404 attached to the transfer chamber 406. Once aligned with a chamber 402 and 404, the robot arms 42 extend, by relative rotation of the first and second struts, 44 and 45, moving the wafer handling member 60 and the wafers 302 resting thereon into the chamber 404 for transfer. To facilitate faster transfer of the wafers 302 between the chambers 404, the wafers 302 are clamped on the wafer handling members 60 when resting thereon. The clamp wrist 80 used to facilitate this clamping operates as follows. Please note that the following description refers to only a single robot arm 42, clamp wrist 80, and workpiece handling blade 64 for ease of description.”; “As the robot arms 42 extend into the chamber 404 to complete the transfer between the robot 10 and the chamber 404”).
It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the invention, with a reasonable expectation of success, to one having ordinary skill in the art, to combine the disclosures of Birkner and Ebbing because this transferring is necessary for the processing of substrates in a robot system (see at least Ebbing column 1).
Regarding Claims 5 and 14, the Birkner and Ebbing combination teaches the limitations of Claims 1 and 10. Birkner further discloses wherein the state detection sensor includes:
a correction determining sensor configured to detect whether or not a correction for eliminating the misalignment of the object to be transferred by collecting the object to be transferred is necessary (see at least [0119]-[0122]: “Another preferred embodiment provides as a supplement or alternative for improving the reliability of determination by the artificial neural network and therefore the quality of the information data set if, for example, the artificial neural network cannot obtain an unambiguous statement about the presence of a substrate”; “According to the invention, an embodiment provides in a second step for analyzing at least one characteristic determined by the artificial neural network by using another method of image recognition after being analyzed by the artificial neural network. For this purpose, a classic method of image recognition can be used, in particular a rule-based method. This may, for example, be a method for detecting edges via (classic) image processing. The originally acquired image can be used for this purpose. Moreover, sensors which are not based on image acquisition can also be used as a supplement.”; “the originally acquired image” is from part of a correction determining sensor – which also includes the components of the computer as stated above for the state detection sensor);
and a collection determining sensor configured to detect whether or not the object to be transferred is collectable (see at least [0119]-[0122]: “According to the invention, an embodiment provides in a second step for analyzing at least one characteristic determined by the artificial neural network by using another method of image recognition after being analyzed by the artificial neural network. For this purpose, a classic method of image recognition can be used, in particular a rule-based method. This may, for example, be a method for detecting edges via (classic) image processing. The originally acquired image can be used for this purpose. Moreover, sensors which are not based on image acquisition can also be used as a supplement.”; “The two-stage approach outlined here can be used to check the reliability of information from the artificial neural network and/or to improve it by combining the first step with the second step.”; “For example, a slightly skewed substrate that is therefore not located completely correctly can still be processed under certain conditions, for example by specifying certain control commands to the machine's control unit to be able to still grip the substrate that is slightly skewed”; the “sensors which are not based on image acquisition” in combination with computer components can be considered a collection determining sensor; this can be a “supplement” to having two image-gathering acquisition units), and
the controller executes:
detecting the position of the object to be transferred when it is determined that the correction for eliminating the positional misalignment of the object to be transferred is necessary and that the object to be transferred is collectable (see at least [0213]: “It is also possible to not only detect the recognition of the object, i.e. the presence of the object (classification), or to detect its orientation, but also to detect its position, especially its approximate position (detection). For detection then, a so-called “bounding box,” for example, can be first taught by the artificial neural network for the detected object, and then the at least approximate position of the object can be marked in the application with the “bounding box.”; since the position may be detected regardless of when it is possible to collect the misaligned object to be transferred, it is also detected in the disclosed condition).
Regarding Claims 7 and 16, the Birkner and Ebbing combination teaches the limitations of Claims 1 and 10. Birkner further discloses further comprising:
a retreat module to which the object to be transferred is stored (see at least [0055] and [0383]: “A robot 212 with the end effector 150 can be used to remove substrates 12 from the storage 10 and transport them further to the processing station 213.”; “The term ‘semi-conductor industry machine’ refers to general systems and equipment that are used in the semi-conductor industry. This means that the term ‘semi-conductor industry machine’ also refers to or includes a robot that can include a moving element, preferably a robot arm and/or an end effector. In addition, the term ‘semi-conductor industry machine’ also refers to a positioning unit that can be used to move or transport the substrate. Moreover, this may also be understood to include trays, processing stations or cassettes.”; for Claim 16 specifically, as the “semi-conductor industry machine” may include “processing stations” as a plural, one can be a retreat module, and one can be the processing module of Claim 10), and
the controller executes:
transferring, after said collecting the object to be transferred by the transfer robot, the collected object to be transferred to the retreat module (see at least [0055] and [0383]: “A robot 212 with the end effector 150 can be used to remove substrates 12 from the storage 10 and transport them further to the processing station 213.”).
Regarding Claims 9 and 17, the Birkner and Ebbing combination teaches the limitations of Claims 1 and 10. Birkner further discloses wherein the object to be transferred is one of a substrate, an edge ring, and a cover ring (see at least [0043]: “the invention concerns a method for processing a substrate”).
Regarding Claim 18, Birkner discloses A transfer method comprising (see at least [0043]: “The invention concerns a method for processing a substrate”):
determining, after said placing the object to be transferred, whether or not the object to be transferred is collectable based on a detection result of a state detection sensor (see at least [0099], [0120], and [0348]: “An important aspect of the invention is to obtain information for substrate processing as to whether the substrate can be processed or transported, or not, for example due to an incorrect position. The information regarding possible incorrect positions, for example, can provide a statement about whether the incorrect position concerns a substrate lying across several levels of a tray (“cross-slotted”), for example whether the substrate is on the provided support points of this tray, and/or whether the incorrect position concerns at least two directly overlaid substrates (“double-slotted”) on one support point, i.e. whether there is more than one substrate on the support points or the tray, in particular if only one substrate is provided at this support point.”; “For example, a slightly skewed substrate that is therefore not located completely correctly can still be processed under certain conditions, for example by specifying certain control commands to the machine's control unit to be able to still grip the substrate that is slightly skewed.”; “So, for example, it is conceivable that a new end effector is installed on the semi-conductor industry machine, which also has an additional controllable rotational axis, and which makes it possible to grip and transport even slightly skewed substrates 12. If this makes it possible to grip substrates, for example, up to a skewed position of the substrate at an angle of up to 2°, 5° or 7° with respect to the horizontal, to correct the skewed position or to transport them, then these types of new rules can be very easily defined and stored.”);
operating the transfer robot and detecting a position of the object to be transferred by a position detection sensor when it is possible to collect the object to be transferred (see at least [0348]: “So, for example, it is conceivable that a new end effector is installed on the semi-conductor industry machine, which also has an additional controllable rotational axis, and which makes it possible to grip and transport even slightly skewed substrates 12. If this makes it possible to grip substrates, for example, up to a skewed position of the substrate at an angle of up to 2°, 5° or 7° with respect to the horizontal, to correct the skewed position or to transport them, then these types of new rules can be very easily defined and stored.” Since the position is detected regardless of whether it is possible to collect the misaligned object to be transferred, it is also detected when it is possible to collect the misaligned object to be transferred); and
moving the transfer robot based on the position of the object to be transferred and collecting the object to be transferred by the transfer robot (see at least [0075]-[0077] and [0348]: “The artificial neural network can use it to generate an information data set comprising information about the determined presence and/or position and/or orientation and/or type of the substrate. This information data set can be used to directly control the semi-conductor industry machine or it can be used by the machine's control system. The information data set can also be passed on to a higher-level control system.”; “The information data set can, for example, generate a control command or a control command can be generated by evaluating the information data set, which comprises an instruction to move a system unit of the semi-conductor industry machine, for example to move a robot and/or the movable element of the robot, preferably the robot arm or the end effector of the robot, or a positioning unit.”; “For example, the end effector can be moved to a slot of a cassette for wafers. The control command may also be an instruction to grip the substrate, to transport the substrate to a designated deposit location and/or to deposit the substrate at the designated deposit location.”; “So, for example, it is conceivable that a new end effector is installed on the semi-conductor industry machine, which also has an additional controllable rotational axis, and which makes it possible to grip and transport even slightly skewed substrates 12. If this makes it possible to grip substrates, for example, up to a skewed position of the substrate at an angle of up to 2°, 5° or 7° with respect to the horizontal, to correct the skewed position or to transport them, then these types of new rules can be very easily defined and stored.”).
Birkner suggests (see at least [0250] and [0253]-[0254]: “The semi-conductor industry machine may comprise a robot that can comprise a moving element, preferably a robot arm and/or an end effector. In addition, the semi-conductor industry machine can also comprise a positioning unit that can be used to move or transport the substrate.”; “the semi-conductor industry machine can comprise a device for picking up and/or moving and/or depositing a substrate”; “The example only shows one section of the storage 10, which has a total of 25 individual deposit locations 11 or slots for receiving an individual substrate 12 each.”) but does not explicitly disclose transferring an object to be transferred by a transfer robot and placing the object to be transferred in a storage part that is a processing module or a substrate storage case.
Ebbing, in the same field of wafer processing, and therefore analogous art, teaches transferring an object to be transferred by a transfer robot and placing the object to be transferred in a storage part that is a processing module or a substrate storage case (see at least column 9 lines 63-67, column 10 lines 1-10, column 10 lines 50-55, and FIG. 1: “In operation, the robot 10 rotates about its axis within the transfer chamber 406 to align the wafer handling members 60 with the various chambers 404 attached to the transfer chamber 406. Once aligned with a chamber 402 and 404, the robot arms 42 extend, by relative rotation of the first and second struts, 44 and 45, moving the wafer handling member 60 and the wafers 302 resting thereon into the chamber 404 for transfer. To facilitate faster transfer of the wafers 302 between the chambers 404, the wafers 302 are clamped on the wafer handling members 60 when resting thereon. The clamp wrist 80 used to facilitate this clamping operates as follows. Please note that the following description refers to only a single robot arm 42, clamp wrist 80, and workpiece handling blade 64 for ease of description.”; “As the robot arms 42 extend into the chamber 404 to complete the transfer between the robot 10 and the chamber 404”).
It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the invention, with a reasonable expectation of success, to one having ordinary skill in the art, to combine the disclosures of Birkner and Ebbing because this transferring is necessary for the processing of substrates in a robot system (see at least Ebbing column 1).
Regarding Claim 19, the Birkner and Ebbing combination teaches the limitations of Claim 18. Birkner further discloses wherein the object to be transferred is one of a substrate, an edge ring, and a cover ring (see at least [0043]: “the invention concerns a method for processing a substrate”).
Claims 2-4 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birkner in view of Ebbing in further view of U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0083073 (Yoshida et al., hereinafter, Yoshida).
Regarding Claims 2 and 11, the Birkner and Ebbing combination teaches the limitations of Claims 1 and 10. Birkner further discloses wherein the transfer robot has a bifurcated pick (see at least [0356] and Fig. 16: “The system 1 comprises an end effector 150 with the arms 162a, 162b via which a substrate 12, in the example a mask or a wafer, can be deposited on and/or picked up from a deposit 160”); however, the Birkner and Ebbing combination does not explicitly teach the other limitations of Claims 2 and 11. Yoshida, in the same field of robotic controls for the semiconductor industry, and therefore analogous art, teaches wherein the transfer robot has a bifurcated pick (see at least [0027] and FIG. 2: “The hand 5 includes a hand base portion 51 coupled to a distal end of the arm 7 via the wrist joint A3 and a blade 52 coupled to the hand base portion 51. The blade 52 is a thin plate member having Y-shaped (or U-shaped) branched distal end portions”), and has the position detection sensor disposed at an inner side of the bifurcated pick (see at least [0029] and FIG. 2: “The light projector 41 includes a light source for projecting light serving as a detection medium. The light receiver 42 includes a light receiving element which receives the projection light from the light projector 41 and converts the projection light into an electric signal. The light projector 41 and the light receiver 42 are opposed to each other, and the light emitted from the light projector 41 advances linearly and enters a light entering window of the light receiver 42. In FIG. 2, an optical axis 43 of the light emitted from the light projector 41 is indicated by a chain line. The photoelectric sensor 4 outputs a detection signal to the controller 6 when detecting that an object has passed through the optical axis 43 and the amount of light incident on the light receiver 42 has decreased.”), and
in said detecting the position of the object to be transferred, an operation of vertically moving the transfer robot to pass through a height position of the object to be transferred and then horizontally moving the transfer robot by a predetermined movement pitch is repeated to bring the position detection sensor close to the object to be transferred (see at least [0036]-[0040], FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6: “Subsequently, the controller 6 causes the robot body 10 to perform a detection operation (step S2). In the detection operation, the controller 6 sets a series of movements including the following (1) to (4) as one forward cycle and operates the robot body 10 such that the optical axis 43 (hand 5) repeats the forward cycle until the edge of the target body 30 is detected by the photoelectric sensor 4. The initial position may be set such that the edge of the target body 30 is detected after the forward cycle is performed once or more”; “(A1) lifting (or lowering) passing through the height level of the target body 30”; “(A2) forward movement by a predetermined first movement amount in a predetermined horizontal scanning direction toward the target body 30”; “(A3) lowering (or lifting) passing through the height level of the target body 30”; “(A4) forward movement by the first movement amount in a scanning direction toward the target body 30.”).
It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the invention, with a reasonable expectation of success, to one having ordinary skill in the art, to combine the Birkner and Ebbing combination with Yoshida in order to “teach the position of the edge of the target body to the robot regardless of the thickness of the plate-shaped target body” (see at least Yoshida [0006]).
Regarding Claims 3 and 12, the Birkner, Ebbing, and Yoshida combination teaches the limitations of Claims 2 and 11. Yoshida further teaches, wherein in said detecting the position of the object to be transferred,
a first search operation in which the transfer robot is moved horizontally by a first movement pitch to obtain a first positional misalignment amount is performed (see at least [0036]-[0042], FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6: “The edge of the target body 30 is detected by the photoelectric sensor 4 while the optical axis 43 (hand 5) repeats the forward cycle. When the edge of the target body 30 is detected by the photoelectric sensor 4 (YES in step S3), the controller 6 acquires and stores a posture of the robot body 10 (rotation position detected by each position detector) (step S4) and obtains a position of a detected point of the edge of the target body 30 from these values to record the position (step S5).”) and, then, a second search operation in which the transfer robot is moved horizontally by a second movement pitch smaller than the first movement pitch to obtain a second positional misalignment amount is performed (see at least [0043]-[0051], FIG. 5, and FIG. 6: “Through the processing of steps S1 to S5, the position of the edge of the target body 30 can be automatically taught to the substrate transfer robot 1. However, when the processing after step S6 described below is further added, a more highly reliable and detailed position of the edge of the target body 30 can be automatically taught to the substrate transfer robot 1.”; “The controller 6 causes the robot body 10 to perform a detection operation (step S7). In the detection operation, as shown in FIG. 6, the controller 6 sets a series of movements of the following (B1) to (B4) as one backward cycle and operates the robot body 10 such that the optical axis 43 (hand 5) repeats the backward cycle until there is no detection of the edge of the target body 30 with the photoelectric sensor 4. The above-mentioned predetermined position may be set such that the edge of the target body 30 is not detected after the backward cycle is performed once or more.”; “(B1) lifting (or lowering) passing through the height level of the target body 30”; “(B2) backward movement by a predetermined second movement amount in the scanning direction so as to approach the edge of the target body 30”; “(B3) lowering (or lifting) passing through the height level of the target body 30”; “(B4) backward movement by a second movement amount in the scanning direction so as to approach the edge of the target body 30”; “the direction of “backward movement” is opposite to the direction of “forward movement” described above. Further, in the above description, the “second movement amount” is an arbitrary extremely small value that is equal to or smaller than the first movement amount. It is desirable that the second movement amount is smaller than the first movement amount. Although the second movement amount of (B2) and the second movement amount of (B4) are basically the same value, they may be different values.”; “The detection of the edge of the target body 30 with the photoelectric sensor 4 is stopped while the optical axis 43 (hand 5) repeats the backward cycle. When the detection of the edge of the target body 30 with the photoelectric sensor 4 is stopped (YES in step S8), the controller 6 acquires and stores a posture of the robot body 10 (rotation position detected by each position detector) (step S9) and obtains a position of a second detected point of the edge of the target body 30 from these values to record the position (step S10)”).
Note: the motivation to combine is the same as Claims 2 and 11.
Regarding Claims 4 and 13, the Birkner, Ebbing, and Yoshida combination teaches the limitations of Claims 2 and 11. Yoshida further teaches, wherein the position detection sensor includes a light transmitting portion configured to emit detection light, and a light receiving portion configured to receive the detection light at a position facing the light transmitting portion (see at least [0029] and FIG. 2: “The light projector 41 includes a light source for projecting light serving as a detection medium. The light receiver 42 includes a light receiving element which receives the projection light from the light projector 41 and converts the projection light into an electric signal. The light projector 41 and the light receiver 42 are opposed to each other, and the light emitted from the light projector 41 advances linearly and enters a light entering window of the light receiver 42. In FIG. 2, an optical axis 43 of the light emitted from the light projector 41 is indicated by a chain line. The photoelectric sensor 4 outputs a detection signal to the controller 6 when detecting that an object has passed through the optical axis 43 and the amount of light incident on the light receiver 42 has decreased.”), and
the controller detects the position of the object to be transferred based on a position of the transfer robot when the detection light is blocked by the object to be transferred (see at least [0029], [0036], and [0042]: “In FIG. 2, an optical axis 43 of the light emitted from the light projector 41 is indicated by a chain line. The photoelectric sensor 4 outputs a detection signal to the controller 6 when detecting that an object has passed through the optical axis 43 and the amount of light incident on the light receiver 42 has decreased”; “In the detection operation, the controller 6 sets a series of movements including the following (1) to (4) as one forward cycle and operates the robot body 10 such that the optical axis 43 (hand 5) repeats the forward cycle until the edge of the target body 30 is detected by the photoelectric sensor 4”; “The edge of the target body 30 is detected by the photoelectric sensor 4 while the optical axis 43 (hand 5) repeats the forward cycle. When the edge of the target body 30 is detected by the photoelectric sensor 4 (YES in step S3), the controller 6 acquires and stores a posture of the robot body 10 (rotation position detected by each position detector) (step S4) and obtains a position of a detected point of the edge of the target body 30 from these values to record the position (step S5)”).
Note: the motivation to combine is the same as Claims 2 and 11.
Claims 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birkner in view of Ebbing in further view of U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0164790 (hereinafter, Liu).
Regarding Claims 6 and 15, the Birkner and Ebbing combination teaches the limitations of Claims 5 and 14. The Birkner and Ebbing combination does not explicitly teach the limitations of Claims 6 and 15. Liu, in the same field of wafer transport, and therefore analogous art, teaches wherein a projection detection sensor, the correction determining sensor and the collection determining sensor are sequentially located in a direction distant from the object to be transferred stored in the storage part (see at least Fig. 3B: an array of sensors is shown).
It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the invention, with a reasonable expectation of success, to one having ordinary skill in the art, to combine the disclosures of Birkner and Ebbing with Liu because the specific positioning of sensors in Liu “produce[s] error data that indicates that a wafer is not at the wafer position” (see at least Liu [0021]).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birkner in view of Ebbing in further view of U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0252694 (hereinafter, Toyomaki).
Regarding Claim 8, the Birkner and Ebbing combination teaches all the limitations of Claim 1. The Birkner and Ebbing combination does not explicitly teach the additional limitations of Claim 8.
Toyomaki, in the same field of wafer processing, and therefore analogous art, teaches wherein the transfer robot is configured to attract and hold the object to be transferred (see at least [0057] and FIG. 6: the wafer W can be adhered, by vacuum attraction, to pick 34), and
in said collecting the object to be transferred by the transfer robot, the controller executes:
stopping an attraction of the object to be transferred (see at least [0039], FIG. 6, and FIG. 11: “The valve 34h is opened when the teaching method of the transfer device 31 to be described later is performed or during a period from immediately before the transfer device 31 receives the wafer W from one module to immediately after the wafer W is loaded to another module. The valve 34h is closed at other times. Accordingly, the suction of gas from the suction holes 34e is performed during the teaching operation of the transfer device 31 and during the period from immediately before the transfer device 31 holds the wafer W to immediately after the wafer W is released.”).
It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the invention, with a reasonable expectation of success, to one having ordinary skill in the art, to combine the disclosures of Birkner, Ebbing, and Toyomaki with the motivation of having vacuum attraction to hold the wafer in place (see at least Toyomaki [0057]).
Birkner, Ebbing, nor Toyomaki explicitly teach operating the transfer robot at a speed lower than a speed of placing the object to be transferred in the storage part; however, this would be obvious to try as this is one of only three options for the speed (the same, lower, and higher) and Ebbing teaches the motivation of optimizing the speed of the robot for wafer transfer (see at least column 2: “the desire for speed must be balanced against the possibility of damaging the substrate or the films formed thereon” and “the robot speed and acceleration increase, the amount of time spent handling each substrate and delivering each substrate to its next destination is decreased”) .
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
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.
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/A.R.M./Examiner, Art Unit 3658
/JASON HOLLOWAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3658
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