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 Objections
Claims 3 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities: “a pad selected from a bellows pad, a ball joint pad and a gyro pad” should be a pad selected from a bellows pad, a ball joint pad or a gyro pad as the applicant’s specification only shows using a single buffer pad (Applicant’s Specification Paragraph 30). Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 6, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park et al. (KR 101935408 B1, hereafter Park).
Regarding Claim 1, Park discloses a semiconductor chip alignment apparatus that comprises a semiconductor package (Figure 7: 215);
an inspector inspecting an alignment state of the semiconductor package (Figure 3: vision unit 600 is part of the posture aligning unit 400, Paragraph 58: vision unit includes a posture aligning unit, Paragraph 52: posture aligning unit controls picker tip to correct position on posture of chip);
a protrusion on a top surface of the tray and extending in a Z direction that is a vertical direction, the protrusion surrounding a side surface of the semiconductor package when the semiconductor package is in an aligned state wherein the semiconductor package overlaps at least a portion of the protrusion in the Z direction when the semiconductor package is in a misaligned state (Figure 1: the tray 10 has vertical protrusions and semiconductor element 3 overlaps a portion of the protrusion when misaligned, Paragraphs 6 and 9);
an under vision camera (Figure 3: there are multiple under vision cameras the first camera 610 and second camera 620) detecting a rotation angle of the semiconductor package with respect to an X-Y plane defined in a first horizontal direction X and a second horizontal direction Y that cross the Z direction (Figures 4 and 5: the chips 215 and 255 are photographed by the vision unit and reoriented, Paragraph 46 and 88);
and a picker moving the semiconductor package between the tray and an area above the under vision camera (Figure 4: picker tip 355, vision unit 600, Paragraph 96: picker places semiconductor in tray).
Regarding Claim 4, Park discloses the limitations of claim 1 in addition to disclosing the picker is rotatable around a Z axis extending in the Z direction (Figure 4: picker 330 and picker tip 335 are in the z axis toward and away from the chip, Paragraph 52).
Regarding Claim 6, Park discloses the limitations of claim 1 in addition to disclosing the inspector determines whether the semiconductor package overlaps the protrusion in the vertical direction (Paragraph 59: posture information generated from vision unit is interlocked with operation of tray loader, Paragraph 94: the tray loader changes the posture of the tray based on the posture information so the semiconductor chip can be stored without being collided with the partition wall, the inspector controls the tray loader so it ensures the semiconductor does not overlap with the protrusion).
Regarding Claim 10, Park discloses the limitations of claim 1 in addition to disclosing a controller (Figure 10: posture aligning unit 400) controlling movement of the semiconductor package that is in the misaligned state by the picker to correct a positional relationship between the semiconductor package and the tray based on a value detected by each of the inspector and the under vision camera (Figure 3: vision unit 600, posture aligning unit 400, Paragraph 58: vision unit includes a posture aligning unit, Paragraph 52: posture aligning unit controls picker tip to correct position on posture of chip).
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.
Claim(s) 7 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (KR 101935408 B1, hereafter Park)
Regarding Claim 7, Park discloses the limitations of claim 1 in addition to disclosing a picker capable of moving the semiconductor package between stations (Figures 3 and 4: picker 330, rotary shaft 320, Paragraph 44: rotary shaft can rotate the picker between stations)
and a station rotatable around a Z axis extending in the Z direction (Figure 3: tray rotating units 530 and 570, trays 512 and 552, Paragraph 72) to allow the chips to be accurately stored in the tray without colliding to the partition wall (Paragraph 95).
Park additionally discloses a posture aligning unit that adjusts the posture of the chip before loading for the purpose of allowing the chips to be housed in trays (Paragraph 64). Park does not disclose station spaced apart from the tray.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to
modify the invention of Park by including a station spaced apart from the tray with the ability to rotate around a z axis extending in the z direction to adjust the posture of the chip before loading for the purpose of allowing the chips to be accurately stored in the tray without colliding to the partition wall.
Regarding Claim 18, Park discloses a semiconductor chip alignment system that includes providing a tray having a plurality of semiconductor packages seated thereon (Figure 7: tray 512, semiconductor package 215);
inspecting an alignment state of the plurality of semiconductor packages (Figure 4: picker 330, Paragraph 63: vision unit is fixed on the picker so it would inspect the semiconductor packages when the picker is over the tray);
identifying a misaligned semiconductor package that is seated on the tray in a misaligned state based on the inspection (Paragraph 88 the vision unit can identify a misaligned chip and arrange it to be fitted into a reference position);
separating the misaligned semiconductor package from the tray by using a picker (Paragraph 43: picker is capable of picking semiconductor packages);
calculating correction values respectively for XY coordinates defined in a first horizontal direction X and a second horizontal direction Y and a rotation angle of the separated semiconductor package with respect to an X-Y plane defined in the first horizontal direction X and the second horizontal direction Y through the camera (Figures 5 and 6, Paragraph 88);
and seating the separated semiconductor package at a target position on the tray based on the calculated correction values (Paragraph 94),
wherein the tray includes a protrusion surrounding each of the plurality of semiconductor packages thereon (Figure 7: the tray 512 has vertical protrusions, Paragraphs 6 and 9),
the misaligned semiconductor package overlaps the protrusion in a Z direction that is a vertical direction crossing the first horizontal direction X and second horizontal direction Y (Figure 1: semiconductor element 3 overlaps a portion of the protrusion on the tray 10 when misaligned, Paragraphs 6 and 9), and
the target position is a position where the semiconductor package does not overlap the protrusion in the Z direction (Paragraph 94).
Park does not disclose moving the separated semiconductor package to an area above an under vision camera.
Park discloses an embodiment where the under vision unit is installed on the base body and can image the chip (Figure 4: vision unit 600, picker 330, Paragraph 61). In this embodiment the picker picks a chip brings it to the vision unit and aligns the chip. This is done for the purpose of being able to image the chip in the direction from the bottom to the top (Paragraph 63).
It would It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Park by including the vision unit installed on the base body disclosed by Park for the purpose of being able to image the chip in the direction from the bottom to the top.
Claim(s) 2, 3, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (KR 101935408 B1, hereafter Park) in view of Karako et al. (US 2022/0203549 A1, hereafter Karako).
Regarding Claim 2, Park discloses the limitations of claim 1 but does not disclose the picker includes a buffer directly contacting a top surface of the semiconductor package.
Karako discloses a suction pad picking device that uses a deformable bellows suction pad which acts as a buffer between the picked object and the support holding the pad (Figure 5A: bellows suction pad 112, support 126) for the purpose of allowing precision detection of whether the suction pad is in contact with an object (Paragraph 62).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to
modify the invention of Park by including the deformable bellows suction pad disclosed by Karako into the picker for the purpose of allowing precision detection of whether the suction pad is in contact with an object.
Regarding Claim 3, Park in view of Karako disclose the limitations of claim 2. The combination as applied in claim 2 discloses the buffer includes a pad selected from a bellows pad, a ball joint pad and a gyro pad (Karako, Paragraph 62).
Regarding Claim 20, Park in view of Park disclose the limitations of claim 18. The combination as applied in claim 18 does not disclose the picker includes a buffer directly contacting a top surface of the semiconductor package, the buffer includes a bellows pad, and the picker is rotatable around a Z axis extending in the Z direction.
Karako discloses a suction pad picking device that uses a deformable bellows suction pad which acts as a buffer between the picked object and the support holding the pad (Figure 5A: bellows suction pad 112, support 126) for the purpose of allowing precision detection of whether the suction pad is in contact with an object (Paragraph 62).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to
modify the combination as applied in claim 18 by including the deformable bellows suction pad disclosed by Karako into the picker for the purpose of allowing precision detection of whether the suction pad is in contact with an object.
Claim(s) 5, 9, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (KR 101935408 B1, hereafter Park) in view of Kong (WO 2015/109555 A1).
Regarding Claim 5, Park discloses the limitations of claim 1 and additionally discloses an inspector (Figure 3: vision unit 600) that photographs the chips to generate attitude information, and determines the shifts in the X and Y directions and rotations needed to match a reference position (Figures 5 and 6, Paragraph 88 and 89). Park does not explicitly disclose that the inspector determines center coordinates of the semiconductor package.
Kong discloses a robotic pick and place system that uses cameras to calculate the center coordinate of an object (Figure 9: first camera 103, second camera 901, Figure 10: S1016, Paragraph 59) for the purpose of determining a mismatch in the alignment of the picked object and performing an adjustment regarding the mismatch relative to a target position (Paragraph 60).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to
modify the invention of Park by including the step of calculating the center coordinates of the semiconductor package disclosed by Kong for the purpose of determining a mismatch in the alignment of the picked object and performing an adjustment regarding the mismatch.
Regarding Claim 9, Park discloses the limitations of claim 1 and additionally discloses the under vision camera measures an X-coordinate difference defined in the first horizontal direction X and a Y-coordinate difference defined in the second horizontal direction Y between the semiconductor package and a target position of the semiconductor package (Figures 5 and 6, Paragraph 88). Park does not explicitly disclose the difference is defined in the second horizontal direction Y between center coordinates of the semiconductor package and center coordinates of a target position of the semiconductor package.
Kong discloses a robotic pick and place system that uses cameras to calculate the center coordinate of an object (Figure 9: first camera 103, second camera 901, Figure 10: S1016, Paragraph 59) for the purpose of determining a mismatch in the alignment of the picked object and performing an adjustment regarding the mismatch relative to a target position (Paragraph 60).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to
modify the invention of Park by including the step of calculating the center coordinates of the semiconductor package disclosed by Kong for the purpose of determining a mismatch in the alignment of the picked object and performing an adjustment regarding the mismatch.
Regarding Claim 11, Park discloses the limitations of claim 10 and additionally discloses the controller corrects the positional relationship between the semiconductor package and the tray of the semiconductor package defined in the first horizontal direction X and the second horizontal direction Y and the rotation angle of the semiconductor package with respect to the X-Y plane (Figures 5 and 6, Paragraph 88). Park does not explicitly disclose the positional relationship is based on the center coordinates of the semiconductor package.
Kong discloses a robotic pick and place system that uses cameras to calculate the center coordinate of an object (Figure 9: first camera 103, second camera 901, Figure 10: S1016, Paragraph 59) for the purpose of determining a mismatch in the alignment of the picked object and performing an adjustment regarding the mismatch relative to a target position (Paragraph 60).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to
modify the invention of Park by including the step of calculating the center coordinates of the semiconductor package disclosed by Kong for the purpose of determining a mismatch in the alignment of the picked object and performing an adjustment regarding the mismatch.
Claim(s) 8, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (KR 101935408 B1, hereafter Park) in view of Hwang et al. (KR 102441250 B1, hereafter Hwang).
Regarding Claim 8, Park discloses the limitations of claim 1 but does not disclose a vibrator vibrating the tray.
Hwang discloses a moving substrate with a tray for storing a plurality of individualized chips between raised boundary portions (Figure 3 and 4: moving substrate 20, tray 30, individualized chips 31, raised boundary portion 30a). The moving substrate has a vibrating unit for the purpose of allowing a plurality of individualized chips can be seated on the loading protrusion by minute vibration (Paragraph 28).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to
modify the invention of Park by including the vibrating unit disclosed by Hwang into the tray for the purpose of allowing a plurality of individualized chips can be seated on the loading protrusion by minute vibration.
Regarding Claim 19, Park in view of Park disclose the limitations of claim 18. The modified invention as applied in claim 18 does not disclose vibrating the tray after identifying the misaligned semiconductor packages.
Hwang discloses a moving substrate with a tray for storing a plurality of individualized chips between raised boundary portions (Figure 3 and 4: moving substrate 20, tray 30, individualized chips 31, raised boundary portion 30a). The moving substrate has a vibrating unit for the purpose of allowing a plurality of individualized chips can be seated on the loading protrusion by minute vibration (Paragraph 28).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to
modify the combination as applied in claim 18 by including the vibrating unit disclosed by Hwang into the tray for the purpose of allowing a plurality of individualized chips can be seated on the loading protrusion by minute vibration.
Claim(s) 12, 13, 15, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (KR 101935408 B1, hereafter Park) in view of Hwang et al. (KR 102441250 B1, hereafter Hwang) and Karako et al. (US 2022/0203549 A1, hereafter Karako).
Regarding Claim 12, Park discloses a semiconductor chip alignment apparatus that comprises a semiconductor package (Figure 7: 215);
a tray having the semiconductor package seated thereon (Figure 7: 512);
an inspector inspecting an alignment state of the semiconductor package (Figure 3: vision unit 600 is part of the posture aligning unit 400, Paragraph 58: vision unit includes a posture aligning unit, Paragraph 52: posture aligning unit controls picker tip to correct position on posture of chip);
a protrusion on a top surface of the tray and extending in a Z direction that is a vertical direction, the protrusion surrounding a side surface of the semiconductor package when the semiconductor package is in an aligned state, wherein the semiconductor package overlaps at least a portion of the protrusion in the Z direction when the semiconductor package is in a misaligned state (Figure 1: the tray 10 has vertical protrusions and semiconductor element 3 overlaps a portion of the protrusion when misaligned, Paragraphs 6 and 9);
an under vision camera (Figure 3: there are multiple under vision cameras the first camera 610 and second camera 620) detecting a rotation angle of the semiconductor package with respect to an X-Y plane defined in a first horizontal direction X and a second horizontal direction Y that cross the Z direction (Figures 4 and 5: the chips 215 and 255 are photographed by the vision unit and reoriented, Paragraph 46 and 88);
and a picker moving the semiconductor package between the tray and an area above the under vision camera (Figure 4: picker tip 355, vision unit 600, Paragraph 96: picker places semiconductor in tray);
and a controller (Figure 10: posture aligning unit 400) controlling movement of the semiconductor package that is in the misaligned state by the picker to correct a positional relationship between the semiconductor package and the tray based on a value detected by each of the inspector and the under vision camera (Figure 3: vision unit 600 is part of the posture aligning unit 400, Paragraph 58: vision unit includes a posture aligning unit, Paragraph 52: posture aligning unit controls picker tip to correct position on posture of chip).
Park does not disclose a vibrator vibrating the tray and the picker includes a buffer directly contacting a top surface of the semiconductor package.
Hwang discloses a moving substrate with a tray for storing a plurality of individualized chips between raised boundary portions (Figure 3 and 4: moving substrate 20, tray 30, individualized chips 31, raised boundary portion 30a). The moving substrate has a vibrating unit for the purpose of allowing a plurality of individualized chips can be seated on the loading protrusion by minute vibration (Paragraph 28).
Karako discloses a suction pad picking device that uses a deformable bellows suction pad which acts as a buffer between the picked object and the support holding the pad (Figure 5A: bellows suction pad 112, support 126) for the purpose of allowing precision detection of whether the suction pad is in contact with an object (Paragraph 62).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to
modify the invention of Park by including the vibrating unit disclosed by Hwang into the tray for the purpose of allowing a plurality of individualized chips can be seated on the loading protrusion by minute vibration and the deformable bellows suction pad disclosed by Karako into the picker for the purpose of allowing precision detection of whether the suction pad is in contact with an object.
Regarding Claim 13, Park in view of Hwang and Karako disclose the limitations of claim 12. The combination as applied in claim 12 discloses the inspector determines whether the semiconductor package overlaps the protrusion in the Z direction (Park, Paragraph 59: posture information generated from vision unit is interlocked with operation of tray loader, Paragraph 94: the tray loader changes the posture of the tray based on the posture information so the semiconductor chip can be stored without being collided with the partition wall, the inspector controls the tray loader so it ensures the semiconductor does not overlap with the protrusion).
Regarding Claim 15, Park in view of Hwang and Karako disclose the limitations of claim 12. The combination as applied in claim 12 discloses the protrusion includes a first protrusion and a second protrusion, the first protrusion and the second protrusion are separated from each other in a horizontal direction (Park, Figure 7: square shaped pockets 515 are formed by multiple partition walls each separated from each other in a horizontal direction).
Regarding Claim 17, Park in view of Hwang and Karako disclose the limitations of claim 12. The combination as applied in claim 12 discloses the buffer adsorbs a top surface of the semiconductor package via vacuum adsorption and includes one pad selected from a bellows pad, a ball joint pad, and a gyro pad (Karako, Figure 5A: bellows suction pad 112, support 126, Paragraph 62).
Claim(s) 14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (KR 101935408 B1, hereafter Park) in view of Hwang et al. (KR 102441250 B1, hereafter Hwang) and Karako et al. (US 2022/0203549 A1, hereafter Karako) in further view of Kong (WO 2015/109555 A1).
Regarding Claim 14, Park in view of Hwang and Karako disclose the limitations of claim 12. Park additionally discloses the under vision camera measures an X-coordinate difference defined in the first horizontal direction X and a Y-coordinate difference defined in the second horizontal direction Y between the semiconductor package and a target position of the semiconductor package (Park, Figures 5 and 6, Paragraph 88). Park does not explicitly disclose the difference is defined in the second horizontal direction Y between center coordinates of the semiconductor package and center coordinates of a target position of the semiconductor package.
Kong discloses a robotic pick and place system that uses cameras to calculate the center coordinate of an object (Figure 9: first camera 103, second camera 901, Figure 10: S1016, Paragraph 59) for the purpose of determining a mismatch in the alignment of the picked object and performing an adjustment regarding the mismatch relative to a target position (Paragraph 60).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to
modify the invention of combination as applied in claim 12 by including the step of calculating the center coordinates of the semiconductor package disclosed by Kong for the purpose of determining a mismatch in the alignment of the picked object and performing an adjustment regarding the mismatch.
Regarding Claim 16, Park in view of Hwang and Karako disclose the limitations of claim 12. Park additionally discloses the controller corrects the positional relationship between the semiconductor package and the tray of the semiconductor package defined in the first horizontal direction X and the second horizontal direction Y and the rotation angle of the semiconductor package with respect to the X-Y plane (Park, Figures 5 and 6, Paragraph 88). Park does not explicitly disclose the positional relationship is based on the center coordinates of the semiconductor package.
Kong discloses a robotic pick and place system that uses cameras to calculate the center coordinate of an object (Figure 9: first camera 103, second camera 901, Figure 10: S1016, Paragraph 59) for the purpose of determining a mismatch in the alignment of the picked object and performing an adjustment regarding the mismatch relative to a target position (Paragraph 60).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to
modify the invention of combination as applied in claim 12 by including the step of calculating the center coordinates of the semiconductor package disclosed by Kong for the purpose of determining a mismatch in the alignment of the picked object and performing an adjustment regarding the mismatch.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. DeFant et al (US 10821611 B1) discloses a suction cup pick and place robot that uses a vision system, Han et al (US 9459315 B2) discloses a semiconductor tray that uses an air position-aligning unit.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN TRAC whose telephone number is (571)272-8528. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30-5:00.
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, Michael McCullough can be reached at (571) 272-7805. 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.
/J.K.T./Examiner, Art Unit 3653
/MICHAEL MCCULLOUGH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3653
Prosecution Insights