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 .
PRELIMINARY AMENDMENT
The applicant/s filed preliminary amendments to the claims and specifications on 06/21/2024. The Examiner acknowledges the preliminary amendments and examined the claims accordingly.
Claims 6 and 19 have been cancelled and claim 16 has been amended. Claims 1 – 5 and 7 – 18 are currently pending.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, fifth limitation recites “the camera images a image”. There is a grammatical error. It should recite as “the camera images an image”.
Claim 7, fourth limitation recites “the camera images a image”. There is a grammatical error. It should recite as “the camera images an image”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(g)(1) during the course of an interference conducted under section 135 or section 291, another inventor involved therein establishes, to the extent permitted in section 104, that before such person’s invention thereof the invention was made by such other inventor and not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed, or (2) before such person’s invention thereof, the invention was made in this country by another inventor who had not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed it. In determining priority of invention under this subsection, there shall be considered not only the respective dates of conception and reduction to practice of the invention, but also the reasonable diligence of one who was first to conceive and last to reduce to practice, from a time prior to conception by the other.
A rejection on this statutory basis (35 U.S.C. 102(g) as in force on March 15, 2013) is appropriate in an application or patent that is examined under the first to file provisions of the AIA if it also contains or contained at any time (1) a claim to an invention having an effective filing date as defined in 35 U.S.C. 100(i) that is before March 16, 2013 or (2) a specific reference under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c) to any patent or application that contains or contained at any time such a claim.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1 – 2, 4 – 5, 7 – 9, 11 – 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kanbe et al. (See Machine Translation for JP 2018170498 A; hereafter referred to as Kanbe).
Regarding Claim 1, Kanbe teaches:
A positioning device that performs positioning of a first component retained by a joint head and a second component placed on a stage when the first component is mounted on the second component (Kanbe, page 11, para 2, FIG. 8, the crimping apparatus 50 includes a stage 51 for holding and positioning the organic EL panel P in which the electronic parts W are temporarily crimped via the anisotropic conductive tape F , A final pressure bonding head 52 for final pressure bonding of the electronic component W to the organic EL panel P, a main compression bonding head 52 disposed opposite the final pressure bonding head 52 on the lower side of the final pressure bonding head 52”), the positioning device comprising:
a prism including a first reflection surface and a second reflection surface (Kanbe, page 6, para 2, “FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a prism used in the position recognition unit shown in FIG. 4. 1 is a plan view showing an organic EL panel and an electronic component applied to a mounting apparatus according to an embodiment”; prism 43 e);
a camera (Kanbe, Page 6, para 2, “FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a captured image of an alignment mark imaged by a camera of the position recognition unit shown in FIG. 4. FIG”; camera 43 a); and
a processor (Kanbe, page 5, para 4, “a control device for controlling the stage and the thermocompression bonding head”; page 11, para 1, “The obtained relative position data is transmitted to the control device 110. The functions of the image processing unit 43 d of the first and second imaging devices 43 ⟨/ b⟩ A and 43 ⟨/ b⟩ B may be carried out by a control device 110),
wherein in a case where the prism is disposed between the joint head and the stage, the first reflection surface reflects, to a side of the camera, light incident from a side of the joint head, and the second reflection surface reflects, to the side of the camera, light incident from a side of the stage (Kanbe, page 10, para 2, “The lens barrel portion 43 b is provided with a rectangular prism 43 e as a light guiding optical member for simultaneously guiding the upper and lower images into the imaging area of the camera 43 a… The rectangular prism 43e is formed such that the center of the ridge line 43e3 formed by the two reflecting surfaces 43e1 and 43e2 is located on the optical axis L of the camera 43a, one reflecting surface 43e1 faces upward, the other reflecting surface 43e2 faces downward And is attached to the lens barrel portion 43b so that the surface corresponding to the bottom side of the isosceles triangle is perpendicular to the XY plane”; the "electronic component W" corresponds to the "first component", the "stage 42" to the "stage," the "organic EL panel P" to the "second component"),
the camera images a image including a first image that is an image on the side of the joint head and a second image that is an image on the side of the stage based on light incident from the prism (Kanbe, the "image of the electronic component W" corresponds to the "first image", and the "image of the organic EL panel P" corresponds to the "second image"; page 10, para 5, “FIG. 7, in the captured image H of the camera 43 a, the ridgeline 43 e 3 of the prism 43 e is imaged so as to horizontally cross the center of the prism 43 e, and the image of the ridgeline 43 e 3 is taken as the boundary, The image of the electronic component W (the alignment mark WM of the electronic component W) is imaged in the first region H 1, the organic EL panel P (the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P) is imaged in the lower region (second region) H 2”), and
the processor obtains a position of the first component and a position of the second component based on the camera image (Kanbe, page 6, para 2, “FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a prism used in the position recognition unit shown in FIG. 4. 1 is a plan view showing an organic EL panel and an electronic component applied to a mounting apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a captured image of an alignment mark imaged by a camera of the position recognition unit shown”; Kanbe, page 7, para 5, “The electronic part W is punched from the carrier tape T by vertically moving the upper mold 12 a in a state where the carrier tape T is supplied and positioned with respect to such a mold apparatus 12).
Regarding Claim 2, Kanbe teaches the positioning device according to Claim 1, further comprising a first light source that irradiates, with light, at least one of the first component retained by the joint head and the second component placed on the stage (Kanbe, page 9, last para “ne imaging region is an area set in the camera 43 a as a range in which an image pickup element formed by arranging light receiving elements arranged in a matrix fetches an image at a time. Therefore, this region may be constituted by all the light receiving elements of the image pickup element, or may be constituted by some light receiving elements”).
Regarding Claim 4, Kanbe teaches the positioning device according to Claim 1, further comprising a plurality of the cameras, wherein the plurality of cameras are arranged to image a plurality of the camera images in positions different from one another in the joint head and the stage (Kanbe, page 9, last para, “The cameras 43a of the first and second image pickup devices 43A and 43B are arranged so that the optical axis L thereof is parallel to the X axis direction which is the horizontal direction shown in FIG. Coaxial illumination is incorporated in the camera 43a”; page 11, para 4, “The position recognition unit 54 has a first camera 54 a, a second camera 54 b, and an image processing unit. The first and second cameras 54a and 54b are attached downward with a predetermined interval above the moving range of the organic EL panel P by the stage 51. The electronic components W of the organic EL panel P are temporarily And images the alignment marks provided in the vicinity of both end portions of the crimped edge portion… An image processing unit (not shown) recognizes the alignment mark by a known pattern matching process on the basis of the captured image of the alignment mark of the organic EL panel P captured by the first and second cameras 54a and 54b, and the alignment mark”).
Regarding Claim 5, Kanbe teaches the positioning device according to Claim 1, wherein
the prism is provided with a third reflection surface including a predetermined width between the first reflection surface and the second reflection surface (Kanbe, page 10, para 2, “a rectangular prism 43 e as a light guiding optical member for simultaneously guiding the upper and lower images into the imaging area of the camera 43 a. As shown in FIG. 5, the rectangular prism 43e is a prism formed in a triangular prism forming an isosceles triangle (right isosceles triangle) with an apex angle of 90 °, and corresponds to two sides having equal lengths And the two side faces function as reflecting surfaces 43 e 1 and 43 e 2. The rectangular prism 43e is formed such that the center of the ridge line 43e3 formed by the two reflecting surfaces 43e1 and 43e2 is located on the optical axis L of the camera 43a, one reflecting surface 43e1 faces upward, the other reflecting surface 43e2 faces downward… the image including the alignment mark MW of the electronic component W is led to the first area of the image pickup element of the camera 43 a by the reflection surface 43 e 1, the image of the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P is reflected on the reflection surface (Different from the first area) of the image pickup element of the camera 43a at the same time. …, between the surface corresponding to the bottom side of the prism 43e and the vertical surface at the tip of the lens barrel portion 43b, a fine feed screw, a micrometer or the like capable of three-dimensionally adjusting the mounting angle of the prism 43e An inclination adjustment mechanism used is provided”),
the camera image displays a boundary corresponding to the third reflection surface between the first image and the second image (Kanbe, page 10, para 2, “the image including the alignment mark MW of the electronic component W is led to the first area of the image pickup element of the camera 43 a by the reflection surface 43 e 1, the image of the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P is reflected on the reflection surface (Different from the first area) of the image pickup element of the camera 43a at the same time. …, between the surface corresponding to the bottom side of the prism 43e and the vertical surface at the tip of the lens barrel portion 43b, a fine feed screw, a micrometer or the like capable of three-dimensionally adjusting the mounting angle of the prism 43e An inclination adjustment mechanism used is provided”), and
the processor obtains a position of the first component and a position of the second component with reference to the boundary of the camera image (Kanbe, page 10, para 4, “FIG. 7, the image processing unit 43 d receives the image pickup signal of the camera 43 a, and as shown in FIG. 7, the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P and the electronic component W , And detects data relating to the relative positions of both alignment marks PM and WM (hereinafter referred to as "relative position data"). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, in the captured image H of the camera 43 a, the ridgeline 43 e 3 of the prism 43 e is imaged so as to horizontally cross the center of the prism 43 e, and the image of the ridgeline 43 e 3 is taken as the boundary, The image of the electronic component W (the alignment mark WM of the electronic component W) is imaged in the first region H 1, the organic EL panel P (the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P) is imaged in the lower region (second region) H 2”).
Regarding Claim 7, Kanbe teaches:
A positioning method for performing positioning of a first component and a second component when the first component is mounted on the second component (Kanbe, page 11, para 2, FIG. 8, the crimping apparatus 50 includes a stage 51 for holding and positioning the organic EL panel P in which the electronic parts W are temporarily crimped via the anisotropic conductive tape F , A final pressure bonding head 52 for final pressure bonding of the electronic component W to the organic EL panel P, a main compression bonding head 52 disposed opposite the final pressure bonding head 52 on the lower side of the final pressure bonding head 52”), the positioning method comprising:
retaining the first part by a joint head (Kanbe, page 5, Summary, para 3, “A step of holding an electronic component having flexibility on a thermocompression bonding head; a step of positioning the electronic component held by the thermocompression bonding head at a position above the edge portion supported by the support portion”; Kanbe, page 7, last para “a holding head 24 that attracts and holds the electronic component W is provided”);
placing the second component on a stage (Kanbe, page 8, para 3, “a stage 42 for holding and positioning the organic EL panel P, an electronic component W held by the organic EL panel P held on the stage 42 and the temporary pressure bonding head 41”);
disposing a prism between the joint head and the stage (page 6, para 2, “FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a prism used in the position recognition unit shown in FIG. 4. 1 is a plan view showing an organic EL panel and an electronic component applied to a mounting apparatus according to an embodiment”; prism 43 e);
reflecting, to a side of a camera, light incident from a side of the joint head by a first reflection surface of the prism, and reflecting, to the side of the camera, light incident from a side of the stage by a second reflection surface of the prism (page 10, para 2, “The lens barrel portion 43 b is provided with a rectangular prism 43 e as a light guiding optical member for simultaneously guiding the upper and lower images into the imaging area of the camera 43 a… The rectangular prism 43e is formed such that the center of the ridge line 43e3 formed by the two reflecting surfaces 43e1 and 43e2 is located on the optical axis L of the camera 43a, one reflecting surface 43e1 faces upward, the other reflecting surface 43e2 faces downward And is attached to the lens barrel portion 43b so that the surface corresponding to the bottom side of the isosceles triangle is perpendicular to the XY plane”; the "electronic component W" corresponds to the "first component", the "stage 42" to the "stage," the "organic EL panel P" to the "second component"),
imaging, by the camera, a image including a first image that is an image on the side of the joint head and a second image that is an image on side of the stage based on light incident from the prism (the "image of the electronic component W" corresponds to the "first image", and the "image of the organic EL panel P" corresponds to the "second image"; page 10, para 5, “FIG. 7, in the captured image H of the camera 43 a, the ridgeline 43 e 3 of the prism 43 e is imaged so as to horizontally cross the center of the prism 43 e, and the image of the ridgeline 43 e 3 is taken as the boundary, The image of the electronic component W (the alignment mark WM of the electronic component W) is imaged in the first region H 1, the organic EL panel P (the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P) is imaged in the lower region (second region) H 2”), and
obtaining, by a processor, a position of the first component and a position of the second component based on the camera image (Kanbe, page 5, para 4, “a control device for controlling the stage and the thermocompression bonding head”; page 11, para 1, “The obtained relative position data is transmitted to the control device 110”; Kanbe, page 6, para 2, “FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a prism used in the position recognition unit shown in FIG. 4. 1 is a plan view showing an organic EL panel and an electronic component applied to a mounting apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a captured image of an alignment mark imaged by a camera of the position recognition unit shown”; page 7, para 5, “The electronic part W is punched from the carrier tape T by vertically moving the upper mold 12 a in a state where the carrier tape T is supplied and positioned with respect to such a mold apparatus 12).
Regarding Claim 8, Kanbe teaches the positioning method according to Claim 7, wherein the processor obtains the position of the first component and the position of the second component based on the camera images in which the first image and the second image are imaged at an identical timing or different timings (page 9, last para “The first and second imaging devices 43 A and 43 B include a camera (imaging unit) 43 a such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera having an imaging device that images the alignment marks PM and WM as still images, a camera A lens barrel section 43b for integrally capturing upper and lower images in one imaging area of the camera 43a and simultaneously capturing the imaging area in two vertically divided states, a camera 43a and a lens barrel section 43b And an X-axis moving device 43 c that supports the X-axis direction reciprocatingly in the X-axis direction.”; page 11, para 3, “When the organic EL panel P and the electronic component W are positioned at the temporary crimping position, the first and second imaging devices 43A and 43B of the position recognition unit 43 move from the retreat position to the imaging position, respectively. In this state, the first and second imaging devices 43 A, 43 B simultaneously capture the images of the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P and the alignment mark WM of the electronic component W”).
Regarding Claim 9, Kanbe teaches the positioning method according to Claim 7, wherein the camera images a plurality of the camera images in positions different from one another, and the processor obtains the position of the first component and the position of the second component based on the plurality of camera images. (Kanbe, page 9, last para, “The cameras 43a of the first and second image pickup devices 43A and 43B are arranged so that the optical axis L thereof is parallel to the X axis direction which is the horizontal direction shown in FIG. Coaxial illumination is incorporated in the camera 43a”; page 11, para 4, “The position recognition unit 54 has a first camera 54 a, a second camera 54 b, and an image processing unit. The first and second cameras 54a and 54b are attached downward with a predetermined interval above the moving range of the organic EL panel P by the stage 51. The electronic components W of the organic EL panel P are temporarily And images the alignment marks provided in the vicinity of both end portions of the crimped edge portion… An image processing unit (not shown) recognizes the alignment mark by a known pattern matching process on the basis of the captured image of the alignment mark of the organic EL panel P captured by the first and second cameras 54a and 54b, and the alignment mark”).
Regarding Claim 11, Kanbe teaches the positioning method according to Claim 7, wherein
the prism is provided with a boundary line between the first reflection surface and the second reflection surface (Kanbe, page 10, para 4, “as shown in FIG. 7, in the captured image H of the camera 43 a, the ridgeline 43 e 3 of the prism 43 e is imaged so as to horizontally cross the center of the prism 43 e, and the image of the ridgeline 43 e 3 is taken as the boundary”),
the camera image displays a boundary corresponding to the boundary line between the first image and the second image (Kanbe, Fig. 7, page 10, para 4, “as shown in FIG. 7, in the captured image H of the camera 43 a, the ridgeline 43 e 3 of the prism 43 e is imaged so as to horizontally cross the center of the prism 43 e, and the image of the ridgeline 43 e 3 is taken as the boundary… The image of the electronic component W (the alignment mark WM of the electronic component W) is imaged in the first region H 1, the organic EL panel P (the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P) is imaged in the lower region (second region) H 2,”), and
the processor obtains the position of the first component and the position of the second component with reference to the boundary of the camera image (Kanbe, page 9, para 4, “the position recognition unit 43 includes a first imaging device 43 ⟨/ b⟩ A and a second imaging device 43 ⟨/ b⟩ B. The first imaging device 43 ⟨/b⟩ A is for imaging the left alignment marks PM, WM out of the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P and the alignment mark WM of the electronic component W. The second imaging device 43 ⟨/ b⟩ B is for imaging the right alignment marks PM, WM out of the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P and the alignment mark WM of the electronic component W”).
Regarding Claim 12, Kanbe teaches the positioning method according to Claim 11, wherein the boundary line is formed as a third reflection surface including a predetermined width between the first reflection surface and the second reflection surface (Kanbe, page 10, para 4, “As shown in FIG. 7, the image processing unit 43 d receives the image pickup signal of the camera 43 a, and as shown in FIG. 7, the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P and the electronic component W , And detects data relating to the relative positions of both alignment marks PM and WM (hereinafter referred to as "relative position data"). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, in the captured image H of the camera 43 a, the ridgeline 43 e 3 of the prism 43 e is imaged so as to horizontally cross the center of the prism 43 e, and the image of the ridgeline 43 e 3 is taken as the boundary”).
Regarding Claim 14, Kanbe teaches the positioning method according to Claim 11, further comprising disposing a second light source on at least one of the side off the joint head and the side of the stage of the prism and irradiating the prism with light by the second light source (Kanbe, page 18, para 2, “an illumination device may be built in the support surface 42 f of the support portion 42 b of the stage 42. Specifically, when an illumination device is incorporated in a portion of the support surface 42 f that faces the alignment mark PM of the organic EL panel P, and when imaging the alignment mark PM with the first and second imaging devices 43 A and 43 B, Light is irradiated from the lower side of the alignment mark PM”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-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.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Kanbe et al. (See Machine Translation for JP 2018170498 A; hereafter referred to as Kanbe) in view of Suzuki et al. (See Machine Translation for JP 2001108863 A; hereafter referred to as Suzuki).
Regarding Claim 3, Kanbe teaches the positioning device according to Claim 1, further comprising a lens disposed between the camera and the prism (Kanbe, page 9, last para , “camera A lens barrel section 43b for integrally capturing upper and lower images in one imaging area of the camera 43a and simultaneously capturing the imaging area in two vertically divided states, a camera 43a and a lens barrel section 43b”),
However, Kanbe fails to explicitly teach:
wherein the prism is disposed with a distance between the prism and the first component and a distance between the prism and the second component becoming shorter than a distance between the prism and the lens.
In the same field of endeavor, Suzuki teaches:
wherein the prism is disposed with a distance between the prism and the first component and a distance between the prism and the second component becoming shorter than a distance between the prism and the lens (Suzuki, claim 2, A prism or a reflection mirror, which is disposed between the positions where the joint surfaces of the two optical module components held by the component holding section face each other and is mounted on the moving stage, and the prism or the reflection mirror, One CCD camera that alternately images the joint surfaces of the components, and the CCD camera captures the measurement points of the joint surfaces of the respective components, and then the prism or the reflecting mirror mounted on the moving stage A means for moving and retracting the joint surfaces of the two parts from the opposite positions, and an inclination of the joint surfaces of the two parts based on the image data captured by the CCD camera and the focusing distance at which the imaging target is focused. A means for driving the moving stage provided in the component holder according to the optical coupling position to join the two optical module components by aligning the inclination and the optical coupling position on the opposing bonding surfaces”).
Kanbe and Suzuki are considered analogous art as they are reasonable pertinent to the same field of endeavor of positioning components using image processing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kanbe with the invention of Suzuki to make the invention that disposes the prism with a distance between the prism and the first component and a distance between the prism and the second component becoming shorter than a distance between the prism and the lens; doing so can efficiently adjust the alignment of the joined surfaces of the components and the optical axis positions (Suzuki, claim 2); thus one of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the references.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Kanbe et al. (See Machine Translation for JP 2018170498 A; hereafter referred to as Kanbe) in view of Yamauchi (US 20210313211 A1; hereafter referred to as Yamauchi).
Regarding Claim 10, Kanbe teaches the positioning method according to Claim 7, adjusting relative position (Kanbe, page 5, summary, para 3, “The relative position of the thermocompression bonding head is adjusted and the electronic component is thermocompression-bonded to the display panel by the thermocompression bonding head in an adjusted positional relationship Sea urchin, and a control device for controlling the stage and the thermocompression bonding head”) and moving the joint head and the stage (Kanbe, page 14, para 4, “After correcting the positional deviation between the organic EL panel P and the electronic part W, the pressing tool 41 a is lowered by the driving of the tool driving part 41 b”), it fails to explicitly teach:
calculating, by the processor, a position correction amount of the first component and a position correction amount of the second component based on the position of the first component and the position of the second component that have been obtained;
moving the joint head and the stage based on the position correction amounts having been calculated;
imaging again, by the camera, the camera image;
obtaining again, by the processor, a position of the first component and a position of the second component based on the camera image, and calculating again the position correction amount of the first component and the position correction amount of the second component; and
performing a mounting operation when the position correction amounts again fall within a predetermined value.
In the same field of endeavor, Yamauchi teaches:
calculating, by the processor, a position correction amount of the first component and a position correction amount of the second component based on the position of the first component and the position of the second component that have been obtained (Yamauchi, [0147] “the chip mounting system 1 according to the present embodiment, images of the alignment marks MC1a, MC1b, MC2a, and MC2b are imaged at the same time by the imaging devices 35a and 35b with the chip CP in contact with the substrate WT, and relative positional deviation amounts between the substrate WT and the chip CP are calculated from the imaged images. In this processing, when the relative positional deviation amounts between the substrate WT and the chip CP are greater than preset positional deviation amount threshold values, the chip mounting system 1 detaches the chip CP from the substrate WT and, based on the calculated positional deviation amounts, relatively moves the chip CP with respect to the substrate WT in a direction in which the positional deviation amounts decrease. The chip mounting system 1 repeats bringing the chip CP into contact with the substrate WT, imaging the alignment marks MC1a, MC1b, MC2a, and MC2b, calculating positional deviation amounts, detaching the chip CP from the substrate WT, and correcting the position of the chip CP until the calculated positional deviation amounts fall within the positional deviation amount threshold values. This configuration enables the chip CP to be mounted on the substrate WT with high positional precision”);
moving the joint head and the stage based on the position correction amounts having been calculated (Yamauchi, [0147] “when the relative positional deviation amounts between the substrate WT and the chip CP are greater than preset positional deviation amount threshold values, the chip mounting system 1 detaches the chip CP from the substrate WT and, based on the calculated positional deviation amounts, relatively moves the chip CP with respect to the substrate WT in a direction in which the positional deviation amounts decrease”);
imaging again, by the camera, the camera image (Yamauchi, [0147] “The chip mounting system 1 repeats bringing the chip CP into contact with the substrate WT, imaging the alignment marks MC1a, MC1b, MC2a, and MC2b”);
obtaining again, by the processor, a position of the first component and a position of the second component based on the camera image, and calculating again the position correction amount of the first component and the position correction amount of the second component (Yamauchi, [0147] “The chip mounting system 1 repeats bringing the chip CP into contact with the substrate WT, imaging the alignment marks MC1a, MC1b, MC2a, and MC2b, calculating positional deviation amounts, detaching the chip CP from the substrate WT, and correcting the position of the chip CP until the calculated positional deviation amounts fall within the positional deviation amount threshold values. This configuration enables the chip CP to be mounted on the substrate WT with high positional precision”); and
performing a mounting operation when the position correction amounts again fall within a predetermined value (Yamauchi, [0147] “The chip mounting system 1 repeats bringing the chip CP into contact with the substrate WT, imaging the alignment marks MC1a, MC1b, MC2a, and MC2b, calculating positional deviation amounts, detaching the chip CP from the substrate WT, and correcting the position of the chip CP until the calculated positional deviation amounts fall within the positional deviation amount threshold values. This configuration enables the chip CP to be mounted on the substrate WT with high positional precision”).
Kanbe and Yamauchi are considered analogous art as they are reasonable pertinent to the same field of endeavor of positioning components using image processing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kanbe with the invention of Yamauchi to make the invention that calculates a position correction amount of the first component and a position correction amount of the second component; moves the joint head and the stage based on the position correction amounts; repeats the imaging and position correction calculations and performs a mounting operation when the position correction amounts again fall within a predetermined value; doing so can mount the chip on the substrate with high positional precision (Yamauchi, [0147]); thus one of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the references.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Kanbe et al. (See Machine Translation for JP 2018170498 A; hereafter referred to as Kanbe) in view of Hayata et al. (US 20170154864 A1; hereafter referred to as Hayata).
Regarding Claim 15, Kanbe teaches the positioning method according to Claim 11, but fails to explicitly teach:
further comprising disposing a reflection plate on at least one of the side of the joint head and the side of the stage of the prism and reflecting, to the prism, light incident by the reflection plate.
In the same field of endeavor, Hayata teaches:
further comprising disposing a reflection plate on at least one of the side of the joint head and the side of the stage of the prism and reflecting, to the prism, light incident by the reflection plate (Hayata, [0073] “The mirror 16 is a member configured such that a reflective material is applied to a back surface of a glass plate, and the glass back surface to which the reflective material is applied constitutes a reflecting surface. When the reflecting surface is seen obliquely, the virtual image 60 of the capillary 24 is shown virtually on the back side of the reflecting surface opposite to the side on which the capillary 24 is present”).
Kanbe and Hayata are considered analogous art as they are reasonable pertinent to the same field of endeavor of positioning components using image processing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kanbe with the invention of Hayata to make the invention that replaces the second light source with a reflecting plate; doing so can yield predictable results of accurately positioning the components (Hayata, [0001]); thus one of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the references.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13, and 16 – 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
JP 2005032988 A APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PACKAGING ELECTRONIC COMPONENT, AND CALIBRATION JIG
US 20110173793 A1 MOUNTING APPARATUS AND MOUNTING METHOD
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VAISALI RAO. KOPPOLU
Examiner
Art Unit 2664
/JENNIFER MEHMOOD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2664