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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
1. With respect to applicant’s remarks filed on 05/28/26 regarding rejected claims on pages 5-8, the new added limitation “moving the optical device by the robot arm inside the space along a second direction intersected with the first direction” has been found in reference of Hu et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0067057), ([0045, 0058]).
2. Further, current specification and drawings do not disclose clearly the limitation “moving the optical device by the robot arm inside the space along a second direction intersected with the first direction”. It is not clear what/where are the first direction and the second direction in the specification and in the drawings? In the other words, the current specification and drawings are objected.
3. Grounds for the rejection of claims are provided below as necessitated by amendment.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
4. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/28/26 has been entered.
Drawings/Specification
5. The drawings filed on 04/04/26 and specification filed on 03/11/26 are objected because some elements in the specification are not described clearly in drawings. Current specification and drawings do not disclose clearly the new added limitation “moving the optical device by the robot arm inside the space along a second direction intersected with the first direction”. It is not clear what/where are the first direction and the second direction in the specification and in the drawings?
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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 of this title, 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.
7. Claim(s) 9-10, 12-14, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wendel (U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0203201) in view of Hu et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0067057). Hereafter “Wendel” and “Hu”.
Regarding Claim 9, Wendel teaches an inspecting method, ([0002]) comprising:
to insert the optical device along a first direction at least partially into a space of a front opening unified pod (FOUP), (figure 1, the combination of reflector element 120, and light source 100, and camera 140 is not different from an inspecting module. The reflector element 120 is not different from an optical device, and the reflector element 120 is at least partially inserting along a first direction along the walls 21, 22, into the interior space 30 of the front opening unified pod container body 20); and
inspecting an inner surface of the FOUP through obtaining an image of the inner surface by the optical device (Abstract, [0009], lines 8-16; [0021, 0026, 0042-0044]), to identify any protrusion on the inner surface ([0022, 0026, 0028]. Wendel discloses “determining damages and/or defects to FOUPs, … to identify certain contaminants on surfaces, such as, for example, broken pieces of a wafer or of the container itself … container bodies not conforming to these specifications can be safely identified”. These limitations are not different from to identify any protrusion on the inner surface).
However, Wendel does not teach moving an optical device of an inspecting module by a robot arm, moving the optical device by the robot arm inside the space along a second direction intersected with the first direction. Hu teaches moving an optical device of an inspecting module by a robot arm ([0045]; figures 1A, 1B, moving an optical device camera 120, a robot arm 110), moving the optical device by the robot arm inside the space along a second direction intersected with the first direction ([0045], figures 1A, 1B, moving the optical device camera 120 by the robot arm 110 inside the space of wafer carrier. It is inherent that robot arm 110 can move the camera 120 along any of the six directions, this includes a second direction different from the first intersected direction). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Wendel by moving the optical device by the robot arm inside the space along a second direction intersected with the first direction in order to capture images of the inside of the inspected object at different locations and from different angles, (Hu, [0045]).
Regarding Claim 10, Wendel as modified by Hu, teaches an inspecting method according to claim 9 as stated above except for analyzing the image obtained. Wendel further teaches analyzing the image obtained (Abstract, lines 7-11; [0009], lines 11-16; [0015]).
Regarding Claim 12, Wendel as modified by Hu, teaches an inspecting method according to claim 9 as stated above except for obtaining a profile of the inner surface; and analyzing the profile obtained. Wendel further teaches obtaining a profile of the inner surface; and analyzing the profile obtained ([0028]).
Regarding Claim 13, Wendel as modified by Hu, teaches an inspecting method according to claim 9 as stated above except for the robot arm is further configured to at least partially rotate the optical device. Hu also teaches the robot arm is further configured to at least partially rotate the optical device ([0026, 0045]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Wendel by having the robot arm at least partially rotating the optical device in order to capture images of the inside of the inspected object at different locations and from different angles, (Hu, [0045]).
Regarding Claim 14, Wendel as modified by Hu, teaches an inspecting method according to claims 9 and 12 as stated above except for identifying a protrusion on the inner surface when a variation of the profile obtained exceeds a predetermined value. Wendel further teaches identifying a protrusion on the inner surface when a variation of the profile obtained exceeds a predetermined value ([0022, 0026, 0028]. Wendel discloses “comparing images generated by the at least one camera with images of containers conforming to a desired specification, i.e. reference images, container bodies not conforming to these specifications can be safely identified”. These limitations are not different from a variation of the profile obtained exceeds a predetermined value).
8. Claim(s) 11, 16, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wendel (U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0203201) in view of Hu et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0067057), further in view of Ahsan et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0289935). Hereafter “Wendel”, “Hu”, “Ahsan”.
Regarding Claim 11, Wendel as modified by Hu, teaches an inspecting method according to claims 9 and 10 as stated above except for analyzing by artificial intelligence. Ahsan teaches analyzing by artificial intelligence, ([0038]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Wendel and Hu by analyzing by artificial intelligence in order to independently analyze different physical parameters effectively.
Regarding Claim 16, Wendel as modified by Hu, teaches an inspecting method according to claim 9 as stated above except for partially rotating the inspecting module. Ahsan teaches partially rotating the inspecting module, ([0043, 0044, 0046, 0048], [0058], lines 18-23). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Wendel and Hu by partially rotating the inspecting module in order to operate detecting system effectively.
Other references
9. The reference of Wilkinson et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2023/0106516) also teach the limitation “inserting an optical device of an inspecting module at least partially into a space of a front opening … and inspecting an inner surface … through obtaining an image of the inner surface by the inspecting module optical device”, (figure 2, insert the cameras 120, 122 into the pipe 106, these cameras can capture images of the inside surface 107 of the object pipe 106). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify Wendel by inserting an optical device into a space of a front opening of the object in order to capture images of the inside surface of the object.
Fax/Telephone Information
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michelle Iacoletti can be reached on (571)270-5789. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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