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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending in the application.
Examiner’s Note: The examiner has cited particular passages including column and line numbers, paragraphs as designated numerically and/or figures as designated numerically in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claims, other passages, paragraphs and figures of any and all cited prior art references may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing an eventual response, to fully consider the context of the passages, paragraphs and figures as taught by the prior art and/or cited by the examiner while including in such consideration the cited prior art references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention. MPEP 2141.02 VI: “PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS."
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.
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(s) 11-13, 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsieh et al. US Pub. No. 2004/0001206 (“Hsieh”) in view of Ranish US Pub. No. 2018/0345215.
Regarding claim 11, teaches a method, comprising:
moving a substrate [blade 50] into a chamber [46+44+38 – fig. 1 and 3];
An apparatus for monitoring the Z-axis position of a transfer blade on a wafer transfer robot which transfers wafers among multiple chambers in a semiconductor fabrication facility. The invention comprises a CCD laser displacement sensor which measures the height or Z-axis position of the transfer blade and generates an analog voltage the value of which depends on the height of the transfer blade. An analog controller connected to the CCD laser displacement sensor converts the analog voltage signal to physical distance, which may be displayed on an LCD display on the analog controller. [ABS].
detecting, by a first sensor [CCD sensor]
[0026] The Z-axis monitoring apparatus of the present invention is generally indicated by reference numeral 34 in the schematic of FIG. 5 and includes a CCD sensor housing 52 (FIG. 4) which, as illustrated in FIG. 3, is mounted directly above a viewing port 47a in the transfer chamber lid 46 adjacent to the loadlock chamber 38. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the CCD sensor housing 52 contains a CCD (charge-coupled device) displacement sensor 58, which may be a CCD sensor manufactured and sold by the Keyence Co., Ltd. A laser diode 54 is included in the CCD sensor housing 52, and a pair of spaced-apart optical lenses 56 is positioned directly beneath the laser diode 54. The laser diode 54 and optical lenses 56 are located along a common vertical axis 55. A set of condenser lenses 57, which may be three in number, is provided in adjacent relationship to the CCD displacement sensor 58. The condenser lenses 57 and CCD displacement sensor 58 are located along a common reflection axis 59 that is disposed at an angle with respect to the vertical axis 55. The vertical axis 55 indicates the path of laser light emitted from the laser diode 54 and through the optical lenses 56 and the viewing port 47a (FIG. 3) in the transfer chamber lid 46, to the transfer blade 50, in application of the present invention as hereinafter further described. Some of the laser light is reflected from the transfer blade 50, back through the viewing port 47a and through the condenser lenses 57 to the CCD displacement sensor 58, respectively, along the path indicated by the reflection axis 59.
[0029] Referring next to FIGS. 4 and 5, in typical application the Z-axis monitoring apparatus 34 of the present invention is capable of monitoring the Z-axis position of the transfer blade 50 inside the transfer chamber 44 of the integrated cluster tool 36 in order to prevent inaccurate insertion of the transfer blade 50 in a wafer cassette (not shown) contained in the loadlock chamber 38 and scratching wafers (not shown) upon removal of the wafers from the cassette. To this end, the CCD displacement sensor 58 is capable of detecting a Z-axis distortion of the transfer blade 50 to within about 1 .mu.m.
when see par. 0029-0030, 0035].
[0035] In the event that the transfer blade 50 is distorted and the reflective portion of the transfer blade 50 is located at a Z-axis position which is lower than the ideal position, the analog controller 60 sends the analog voltage signal from the CCD sensor 58 and laser sensor controller 66 to the LL signal port 61 or LO signal port 61 thereof, as appropriate. The LL or LO signal port 61 then sends the analog voltage signal to the interface PCB 62 at the "signal low" port thereof, in which case the wafer sensor signal sent from the "signal out" port of the interface PCB to the WIS port of the system controller 68 decreases from 24 volts to 0 volts. This prompts the system controller 68 to display a "wafer on blade" alarm message and terminate operation of the transfer robot 48 and movement of the transfer blade 50 until the transfer blade 50 can be adjusted, fixed or replaced.
Hsieh does not teach a second sensor. In other words, Hsieh only teaches one sensor configured to detecting the position of the substrate.
Ranish teaches a processing chamber for processing a substrate. Specifically, Ranish teaches detecting, by a first sensor and a second sensor [116 – fig. 1], a position of the substrate, the first and the second sensors are positioned at a top of a side wall, and configured to measure, by the first and the second sensors, the distance/position of the substrate.
[0032] The RTP chamber 100 also includes one or more sensors 116, which are generally adapted to detect the elevation of the substrate support 104 (or substrate 140) within the interior volume 120 of the chamber body 102. The sensors 116 may be coupled to the chamber body 102 and/or other portions of the RTP chamber 100 and are adapted to provide an output indicative of the distance between the substrate support 104 and the top portion 112 and/or bottom portion 110 of the chamber body 102, and may also detect misalignment of the substrate support 104 and/or substrate 140.
[0033] The one or more sensors 116 are coupled to the controller 124 that receives the output metric from the sensors 116 and provides a signal or signals to the one or more actuator assemblies 122 to raise or lower at least a portion of the substrate support 104. The controller 124 may utilize a positional metric obtained from the sensors 116 to adjust the elevation of the stator 118 at each actuator assembly 122 so that both the elevation and the planarity of the substrate support 104 and substrate 140 seated thereon may be adjusted relative to and a central axis of the RTP chamber 100 and/or the radiant heat source 106. For example, the controller 124 may provide signals to raise the substrate support by action of one actuator 122 to correct axial misalignment of the substrate support 104, or the controller may provide a signal to all actuators 122 to facilitate simultaneous vertical movement of the substrate support 104.
[0034] The one or more sensors 116 may be ultrasonic, laser, inductive, capacitive, or other type of sensor capable of detecting the proximity of the substrate support 104 within the chamber body 102. The sensors 116, may be coupled to the chamber body 102 proximate the top portion 112 or coupled to the side walls 108, although other locations within and around the chamber body 102 may be suitable, such as coupled to the stator 118 outside of the RTP chamber 100. In one embodiment, one or more sensors 116 may be coupled to the stator 118 and are adapted to sense the elevation and/or position of the substrate support 104 (or substrate 140) through the side walls 108. In this embodiment, the side walls 108 may include a thinner cross-section to facilitate positional sensing through the side walls 108.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Hsieh with a second sensor of Ranish. The motivation for doing so would has been to improve accuracy and flexibility. By providing more than one sensor, the system would able to detect not only the vertical position of the substrate but also misalignment of the substrate. Thus, help prevent damage to the substrate.
Regarding claim 12, Ranish teaches the first and the second sensor are positioned opposite to teach other in a horizontal direction [see fig. 1].
Regarding claim 13, Hsieh teaches the sensor continuously detecting the position of the substrate while the movement of the substrate [see par. 0026, 0029].
Regarding claim 15, Ranish teaches one or more sensors 116 capable of detecting the proximity of the substrate support 104 within the chamber body 102. Therefore, it would be obvious to one skill in the art that the system of Ranish would include a third sensor and a fourth sensor.
Regarding claim 16, Hsieh in view of Ranish teaches adjusting the position of the substrate according to the first distance and the second distance after the movement of the substrate is terminated [par. 0035 of Hsieh - terminate operation of the transfer robot 48 and movement of the transfer blade 50 until the transfer blade 50 can be adjusted, fixed or replaced.].
Regarding claim 17, Hsieh in view of Ranish teaches the first sensor and the second sensor emit laser beams toward the substrate and determine the height of the substrate according to a reflection of the laser beams [par. 0026 of Hsieh; par. 0034 of Ranish].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10, 18-20 are allowed.
Claim 14 is 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claims 1-10, 18-20 are considered allowable since when reading the claims in light of the specification, as per, MPEP §2111.01 or Toro Co. v. White Consolidated Industries Inc., 199 F.3d 1295, 1301, 53 USPQ2d 1065, 1069 (Fed. Cir. 1999), none of the references of record alone or in combination disclose or suggest the combination of limitations specified in the independent claim(s). Specifically, the prior art of record does not teach or suggest either individually or in combination the method of step “when the height of the substrate is greater than the first threshold but less than a first preset value, keep moving the substrate and performing a first adjustment to adjust the position of the blade according to the height of the substrate”.
Claim 14 are considered allowable since, when reading the claims in light of the specification, none of the references of record alone or in combination disclose or suggest the combination of subject matter specified in the dependent claim(s).
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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Pub. No. 2009/0050270 to Bagley et al. teaches an apparatus and method incorporating at least two sensors that continuously detect the presence of a substrate chip, crack, and/or misalignment along two parallel edges of a moving substrate. The apparatus includes a load lock chamber that equipped with at least two sensors 140A, 140B proximate the entry/exit slots (not shown) of the load lock adjacent the factory interface 110. The load lock chamber 160 preferably includes one or more vertically-stacked, environmentally-isolatable substrate transfer chambers that may be individually pumped down to hold a vacuum and vented to contain an ambient condition therein. Each of the one or more vertically-stacked environmentally-isolatable chambers has one or more entry/exit slots to allow passage of the substrate therethrough. The arrangement of these sensors 140A, 140B allows detection of substrate breakage and/or substrate misalignment prior to the substrate 106 entering the load lock chamber 160 for subsequent transfer to the transfer chamber 120 and processing. Sensors 140A and 140B are mounted in a spaced-apart relationship such that each of the beams emitted from sensors 140A, 140B pass through a substrate near its parallel edges as the substrate passes the sensors during substrate transfer into or out of a slot of the load lock chamber 160. This spaced-apart sensor arrangement is applicable to any size load lock chamber 160 having any number of slots.
US Pub. No. 2025/0236020 to Yu et al. teach a system includes a vertically oriented sensor within the chamber, the vertically oriented sensor to detect a presence of one or more of the plurality of links. The system further includes a controller, to perform for each link to cause the robot to move the link through a field of view of the vertically oriented sensor. The controller further determines a zero horizontal position for the link based on the position of the link at which the link was detected by the vertically oriented sensor. The controller further automatically calibrates the robot within the chamber based on the zero horizontal position determined for each of the plurality of links.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VINCENT HUY TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7210. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00-4:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kamini S Shah can be reached at 571-272-2279. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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VINCENT H TRAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2115
/VINCENT H TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2115
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