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 Objections
Claims 1-6 are objected to because of the following informalities: The preamble of claim 1 reads “A three-side conveyor equipment for silicon wafers”. The collective noun “equipment” makes the claims slightly awkward to read. It should probably say “A three-side conveyor for silicon wafers”, but there are several ways that this could be fixed.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chinese Patent Application CN 204384268 U (hereinafter W. Feng) in view of Chinese Patent Application CN 114883233 A (Hereinafter Gu).
Regarding claim 1, W. Feng discloses a bottom conveyor belt (Fig 1, No. 2) two side conveyor belts arranged opposite to each other above the bottom conveyor belt (Fig. 1, No. 3), that the bottom conveyor belt is connected to the side conveyor belts through a transmission assembly (Fig. 1, Nos. 4 & 5). It inherently discloses that the belts operate at the same linear speed, since they are all connected through a single transmission assembly via bevel gears (Fig. 1, No. 5)
However, W. Feng does not disclose an insertion container, a movable bracket that drives the side belts to clamp or loosen, or any pushing assemblies.
Gu discloses an insertion container (Fig 1, No. 1), a movable bracket (Fig. 4, No. 3-7) pushing assembly (Fig. 4, No. 3-1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the main structure of W. Feng with the insertion container, brackets, and pushing assemblies of Gu. The motivation would be to hold the apparatus all together, and to create an adaptable wafer transporting device that could accommodate small variances in the size of the wafers without causing damage.
Regarding claim 2, W. Feng and Gu disclose the conveyor equipment of claim 1. Additionally, Gu discloses an additional rotational shaft, (Fig. 5, No. 4-3), and that the additional rotational shaft is connected via a belt (Fig. 5, No. 4-5) and a spur gear (Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 3, W. Feng and Gu disclose the conveyor equipment of claim 2. W. Feng discloses the driving assembly comprising the motor (Claim 1), and the bevel gears (Fig. 1, No. 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the conveyor equipment driven by one motor of W. Feng and Gu with the additional rotational shaft, belt, and gear of Gu. The motivation would be to increase the efficiency of the system by causing it to be powered by one source, and eliminating the need for multiple sets of side conveyors, further increasing the efficiency the process.
Regarding claim 4, W. Feng and Gu disclose the conveyor equipment of claim 1. W. Feng does not disclose any cylinders. In claim 4, Gu discloses that the pushing assemblies are a plurality of cylinders fixed on the insertion container (Fig 4. No 3-1, claim 5), and a piston rod protruding from each of the pneumatic cylinders is fixedly connected to one of the movable brackets (claim 5).
Regarding claim 5, neither W. Feng nor Gu discloses what type of cylinders are required. However, since no type of cylinder is specified, this indicates that any cylinder could work, including a pneumatic cylinder with a plurality of guide rods.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the conveyor equipment of W. Feng and Gu with the further cylinders of Gu. The motivation would be that cylinders of many types, including pneumatic cylinders with guide rods, are well known to provide consistent and stable pushing forces.
Claims 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over W. Feng in view of Gu, further in view of Chinese Patent Application CN 213546288 U (Hereinafter Z. Feng).
W. Feng and Gu disclose the conveyor equipment of claim 2. However, they do not disclose any sort of tensioning device.
Z. Feng discloses a tensioner on the main conveyor belt but nowhere else (Fig 1, No. 4). However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a tensioner pulley on the belt that connects the first and third rotational shafts. The motivation would be that tensioner pulleys are a common method of preserving the life of any sort of belt, including connection belts, and so could reasonably be included by one of ordinary skill in the art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMARI JADAN MEDDLING whose telephone number is (571)272-8178. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gene Crawford can be reached at 5712726911. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AMARI J MEDDLING/ Examiner, Art Unit 3651
/GENE O CRAWFORD/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3651