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
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 July 14th, 2026, has been entered.
By the amendment claims 1-2, 6-8, and 10-13 are pending with claims 1 and 6 being amended, claims 3-5 and 9 being canceled, and new claims 10-13 being added.
Claim Interpretation
Terms such as “first,” “second,” “third” are interpreted as labels differentiating different components.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 10-13 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 10, line 7-8 recites wherein the first path and the second path cross each other at a crossing point such that the first pivot axis is able to move up, down, left, and right from the crossing point. The specification is silent to movement in an up and down direction. There is no vertical movement recited in the specification. The specification only details latitudinal and longitudinal movement.
Claims 11-13 are rejected by virtue of their dependencies.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6-8, and 10-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hayashi et al. (US 20020044860), hereafter Hayashi.
With regards to claim 1, Hayashi discloses a substrate transfer apparatus (Abstract) comprising: a moving plate(conveyance chamber 6); a load lock chamber (transfer parts 43, 44) disposed at one end of the moving plate; a plurality of processing chambers disposed in a longitudinal direction at both ends of the moving plate (processing parts 11-15); and an arm (robot arm 26) connected with the moving plate (via conveying units 21, 26) and configured to transfer a substrate between one processing chamber among the plurality of processing chambers and the load lock chamber (Fig. 5), wherein the arm includes a first region (262) and a second region rotatably (263) coupled to the first region, the first region pivots about a first pivot axis with respect to the moving plate (P045, L10-13), and the second region pivots about a second pivot axis with respect to the first region (P045, L13-14), wherein the moving plate provides a first path (33) along which the first pivot axis, about which the first region pivots with respect to the moving plate, linearly moves in a lateral direction on the moving plate, wherein the moving plate provides a third path (34e) along which the first pivot axis linearly moves in an oblique direction on the moving plate.
With regards to claim 2, Hayashi discloses all the elements of claim 1 as outlined above. Hayashi further discloses wherein a position of the first pivot axis on the first path is determined based on a position of the one processing chamber relative to the moving plate (Fig. 5).
With regards to claim 6, Hayashi discloses all the elements of claim 1 as outlined above. Hayashi further discloses wherein the third path crosses the first path (Fig. 5).
With regards to claim 7, Hayashi discloses all the elements of claim 1 as outlined above. Hayashi further discloses wherein the first path includes a rail (P045, L16-19).
With regards to claim 8, Hayashi discloses all the elements of claim 1 as outlined above. Hayashi further discloses wherein the first path includes a plurality of links (links are points along the path) and the first pivot axis is disposed at one of the plurality of links to transfer the substrate from the one processing chamber (end of segment 34c in Fig. 5).
With regards to claim 10, Hayashi discloses a substrate transfer apparatus (Abstract) comprising: a moving plate (conveying chamber 6); a load lock chamber (transfer parts 43, 44) disposed at one end of the moving plate; a plurality of processing chambers (processing parts 11-18) disposed in a longitudinal direction at both ends of the moving plate; and an arm (robot arm 26) connected with the moving plate (via conveying units 21, 26) and configured to transfer a substrate between one processing chamber among the plurality of processing chambers and the load lock chamber (Fig. 4),wherein the arm includes a first region (262) and a second region rotatably coupled to the first region (263), the first region pivots about a first pivot axis with respect to the moving plate (P045, L10-13), and the second region pivots about a second pivot axis with respect to the first region(P045, L13-14), wherein the moving plate provides a first path (31a) along which the first pivot axis, about which the first region pivots with respect to the moving plate, linearly moves in a lateral direction on the moving plate, wherein the moving plate provides a second path (3) along which the first pivot axis linearly moves in the longitudinal direction on the moving plate, wherein the first path and the second path cross each other at a crossing point such that the first pivot axis is able to move up, down, left, and right from the crossing point (Fig. 4).
With regards to claim 11, Hayashi discloses all the elements of claim 10 as outlined above. Hayashi further discloses wherein a position of the first pivot axis on the first path is determined based on a position of the one processing chamber relative to the moving plate (Fig. 4).
With regards to claim 12, Hayashi discloses all the elements of claim 10 as outlined above. Hayashi further discloses wherein the first path includes a rail (P045, L16-19).
With regards to claim 13, Hayashi discloses all the elements of claim 10 as outlined above. Hayashi further discloses wherein the first path includes a plurality of links, and the first pivot axis is disposed at one of the plurality of links (links are just points along the path) to transfer the substrate from the one processing chamber (shown in Fig. 4 near processing part 11)
Response to Arguments
The applicant’s arguments are rendered moot. New grounds of rejection are presented above.
Conclusion
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/J.L.B./Examiner, Art Unit 3653
/MICHAEL MCCULLOUGH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3653
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