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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1–11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the recitation that the yokes shares the same member and is integrated is indefinite. There is insufficient antecedent basis for the same member in the claim, as no “member” is previously recited. It is further unclear how the recited yokes can each constitute a separate “yoke” and simultaneously “share the same member and [be] integrated” as a single member. For purposes of examination, and consistent with the specification (see ¶ [0048]; FIG. 11, composite yoke member 803), the limitation is interpreted as requiring that the yokes of the first, second, and third motors be formed as a single, integrated member. Clarification is required.
Regarding claim 1, the recitation “wherein each of the yokes that shares the same member and is integrated is disposed at both ends of a table in the second direction” is indefinite. It is unclear whether each individual yoke is disposed at both ends of the table, or whether the integrated member formed by the shared yokes is disposed at both ends of the table. A single yoke cannot be disposed at “both ends” of the table; the recitation conflates the individual yokes with the integrated member. For purposes of examination, the limitation is interpreted as requiring that the integrated member be disposed at both ends of the table in the second direction. Clarification is required.
Regarding claim 3, the recitations the each of motors and shares the same member are indefinite for the same reasons set forth above with respect to claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, the recitation that the X yoke, the Y yoke, and the Z yoke are disposed at both ends of a Y table is indefinite. Claim 1, from which claim 3 depends, recites that the yokes are disposed at both ends of “a table.” It is unclear whether the Y table of claim 3 is the same as, or different from, the “table” of claim 1. For purposes of examination, the “Y table” of claim 3 is interpreted as the “table” of claim 1. Clarification is required.
Regarding claim 10, the recitation that the X axis motor and the Y axis motor “are disposed so that heights of the X axis motor and the Y axis motor are staggered at height” is indefinite. The phrase staggered at height is redundant and does not clearly define the spatial relationship between the X axis motor and the Y axis motor. For purposes of examination, and consistent with the specification (¶ [0067]), the limitation is interpreted as requiring that the X axis motor and the Y axis motor be offset from one another in height. Clarification is required.
Claims 2-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) by virtue of their dependency (directly or indirectly) from claim 1 and their incorporation of the indefinite subject matter set forth above. See MPEP § 2173.05(g).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1–11 would be allowable if amended to overcome the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth above.
Examiner’s Statement of Reasons for Indication of Allowable Subject Matter
The closest prior art of record is Takahashi (WO 2022/264287 A1), Hoshi (US 2012/0086287 A1), and Kimura (US 2015/0277229 A1), each cited in the Information Disclosure Statement of record. Citations to Takahashi below are to the English-language machine translation of WO 2022/264287 A1 of record.
(a) Regarding claim 1, the closest prior arts of Takahashi (WO 2022/264287 A1), Hoshi (US 2012/0086287 A1), and Kimura (US 2015/0277229 A1) do not teach or fairly suggest a stage device in which, of a first motor, a second motor, and a third motor of a magnetic levitation mechanism, the yokes on the non-levitation side corresponding to each of the motors “share the same member and [are] integrated,” with the integrated member being “disposed at both ends of a table in the second direction” and a side of each yoke in the first direction fixed to the table.
Takahashi (WO2022/264287A1), directed to a magnetic levitation stage having X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis motors, discloses three separate yoke members rather than a single integrated member: the yoke of the X-axis motor (816) and the yoke of the Y-axis motor (836) are separate members each fixed to a Y-table (809), while the yoke of the Z-axis motor (826) is fixed to a water-cooling jacket (858) that constitutes the levitating portion — that is, on the levitation side rather than the non-levitation side (Takahashi, ¶ [0040]; FIG. 8). Takahashi does not teach or suggest the yokes of all three motors sharing the same integrated member on the non-levitation side.
Hoshi (US 2012/0086287 A1) discloses a single field-magnet yoke shared by two magnet rows that drive a stage in two orthogonal in-plane directions (Hoshi, ¶¶ [0019]–[0020]; FIGS. 2A–2B), but is limited to a biaxial planar linear motor having only two magnet rows and lacks any third (Z-axis) motor and any magnetic levitation mechanism. Hoshi accordingly has no non-levitation side and no third yoke available for integration.
Kimura (US 2015/0277229 A1) discloses a magnetic levitation stage having separate magnet units for the X, Y, and Z axes, each magnet unit having its own yoke, all disposed on the moving (levitation) side of the stage (Kimura, ¶¶ [0023]–[0026]) — rather than a single shared member on the non-levitation side.
(b) Claims 2–11 would each be allowable for the reasons set forth above with respect to claim 1, by virtue of their dependency (directly or indirectly) from claim 1, and further recite limitations not taught or fairly suggested by the prior art of record, including the U-shaped cross-section of the integrated member (claim 5), the use of lower surfaces of the integrated member for magnetic attraction of the Z-axis motor (claim 6), the collective coil-molding of the coils of the three motors (claim 7), the X-axis and Y-axis motor coils being flush and disposed on the back side of the U-shaped yokes (claim 8), and the X-axis and Y-axis motors being overlapped in the vertical direction with a vertically reversed-symmetric relationship (claim 9).
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMED QURESHI whose telephone number is (571)-272-8310. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tulsidas Patel can be reached on 571-272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pairdirect. uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/MOHAMMED AHMED QURESHI/ Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/TULSIDAS C PATEL/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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