DETAILED ACTION
This action is a non-final, first office action on the merits in response to applicant’s communication filed on 8/15/2024, wherein claims 1-10 are currently pending.
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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d) based upon an application filed in Germany. The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. DE102023122173.6, filed on August 18, 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 10/7/2024 is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as containing an informality. Claim 1 recites “a first drive” (Y) and “a second drive” (second slide, X) but labels the first slide’s X actuator merely “a drive.” The examiner suggests conforming to “first/second/third drive” for clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
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 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 6 recites “a first slide having a membrane holder” on the further cross member and a “further slide” carrying a needle head, and then recites that “the further slide being movable on the further cross member in the X direction independently for the first slide.” Because claim 1 already introduced “a first slide,” and claim 6 introduces a second structure also denominated “a first slide,” the term “the first slide” in the final clause of claim 6 lacks a clear antecedent: it is indeterminate whether independence is recited relative to the first slide on the original cross member (claim 1) or the newly recited first slide on the further cross member. The metes and bounds of the limitation therefore cannot be ascertained. By dependency, Claims 7 and 8 inherit the same rejection.
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.
Claims 1, 4, and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawashima (US 6662437 B2) in view of Huska et al. (EP 3271937 A1) (Cited on the IDS of 10/28/2024), hereinafter “Huska.”
Regarding Claim 1, Kawashima discloses:
An apparatus for transferring electronic components (See Fig. 1, electronic component fed by component feeding units 4),
said apparatus comprising a cross member (See Fig. 1, beam 8),
which can be moved on two rails (See Fig. 1, guide 9); (See Col. 7, Line 3: “the beam traveling on a pair of guides 9”),
wherein the cross member can be moved on the rails in the Y direction (See Fig. 4, beam 8 and its X-moving units move together in the Y direction); (See Col. 3, Line 22: “A beam 8 is placed in the X direction, and travels above the print circuit board P and the component feeding units 3, especially the pick-up positions of electronic components thereof, along the Y direction on a guide 9”),
by means of a first drive (See Col. 3, Line 32: “Each X-moving unit has a vertical-axis motor 14 for vertically moving a head block 15, thereby changing the vertical position of the mounting head 7”),
and the first slide (See Fig. 3, first X-moving unit 13)); (See Col. 7, Line 33: “the two X-moving units 13 having the mounting heads 7 simultaneously move”),
can be moved on the cross member in the X direction by means of a drive (See Fig. 3, X-axis linear motor 11),
and wherein a second slide is arranged on the cross member (See Fig. 3, first and second X-moving units movable along beam 8 in the X direction by X-axis linear motor 11); (See Col. 3, Line 30: “As shown in FIG. 3, which is a view being viewed form the direction shown by the arrow A in FIG. 1, the beam 8 has two X-moving units which move independently on the guide 12 along the X direction, which is the longitudinal direction of the beam 8, driven by an X-axis linear motor 11”), and
wherein the second slide (See Fig. 3, second X-moving unit 13;) (See Col. 7, Line 33: “the two X-moving units 13 having the mounting heads 7 simultaneously move”),
can be moved on the cross member in the X direction independently of the first slide by means of a second drive); (See Col. 3, Line 32: “two X-moving units which move independently on the guide 12 along the X direction, which is the longitudinal direction of the beam 8, driven by an X-axis linear motor 11. For a viewing convenience, only one X-moving unit is shown in the figure.”).
However, Kawashima does not expressly disclose the apparatus wherein the first slide has a membrane holder attached, or that the second slide carries a needle head for transferring electronic components from a membrane. The X-moving units of Kawashima instead carry mounting heads (See Fig. 3, mounting head 7).
In the field of endeavor, Huska teaches:
An apparatus for transferring electronic components from a membrane, comprising a membrane holder (See Fig. 2A, wafer tape holder frame 224 holding wafer tape 218 (membrane) bearing dies 220 (electronic components)),
and a needle head; (See Fig. 2A/2B, needle 226 driven by needle actuator 228 to pulse-transfer a component from the membrane to a product substrate beneath).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to equip the first and second independently X-movable slides of Kawashima with, respectively, the membrane holder and the needle head of Huska, in order to adapt the known two-slide gantry to transfer electronic components from a membrane as taught by Huska. The modification is a combination of known prior-art elements according to known methods, and a simple replacement of Kawashima’s mounting heads with Huska’s component-transfer end effectors, each performing its established function, to yield the predictable result of a gantry in which the membrane holder and needle head are independently positionable in the X direction. See KSR; MPEP § 2143(I)(A),(B).
Moreover, Applicant admits (Spec., Background) that an apparatus having a cross member movable on two rails, a slide carrying a membrane holder movable in X, and a needle head whose needle moves in Z to transfer components from a membrane was already known in the art; this admitted state of the art confirms that equipping the slides of Kawashima with Huska’s membrane holder and needle head is no more than the predictable use of prior-art elements according to their established functions with the sole difference over the admitted apparatus being the second, independently X-movable slide supplied by Kawashima. Furthermore, in regard to the independent drives, the Applicant also admits that “the cross member can be moved on the rail in a Y direction by means of a drive.”
Regarding Claim 4, Kawashima in view of Huska discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the membrane holder can be moved relative to the cross member in a Z direction, which is perpendicular to the X direction and the Y direction, by means of an additional drive. (See Kawashima Fig. 3 and Col. 3, Line 36: “Each X-moving unit has a vertical-axis motor 14 for vertically moving a head block 15.” The first X-moving unit, the slide carrying Huska’s membrane holder per Claim, in thereby moved by an additional drive (motor 14) in the vertical (Z) direction. That vertical (Z) direction is perpendicular to both the X direction (the longitudinal direction of beam 8) and the Y direction (the horizonal travel direction of beam 8). (See also Huska, Par. [0043]: the frame carrying the membrane is conveyed in “two directions in the horizontal plane and vertically,” confirming the vertical (Z) direction is perpendicular to the horizontal X-Y plane.)
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that, in the combination of claim 1, the slide carrying Huska’s membrane holder is moved in the Z direction by Kawashima’s vertical-axis motor 14, since Kawashima provides that motor on each X-moving unit to vertically move whatever the slide carries. Providing the membrane holder with such Z-direction movement predictably permits setting and adjusting the transfer gap between the membrane and the substrate.
Regarding Claim 5, Kawashima in view of Huska discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the needle head can be moved relative to the cross member in a Z direction, which is perpendicular to the X direction and the Y direction, by means of an additional drive. (See Huska Figs. 2A/2B and Par. [0029]: needle 226 is driven toward the membrane by needle actuator 228 (a motor connected to the needle), i.e., in the vertical Z direction); (See Kawashima Col. 3, Line 36: “Each X-moving unit has a vertical-axis motor 14 for vertically moving a head block 15”). The vertical (Z needle stroke is perpendicular to the horizontal X direction (longitudinal direction of beam 8) and the horizontal Y direction (travel direction of beam 8) in which the slides move; (See Huska [0043]).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide an additional drive permitting Z-direction movement of the needle head relative to the cross member, as taught by Huska (needle actuator 228) and Kawashima (vertical-axis motor 14), in order to actuate the needle stroke toward and away from the membrane to effect transfer, yielding a predictable result. See KSR; MPEP § 2144.04.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawashima (US 6662437 B2) in view of Huska et al. (EP 3271937 A1), in further view of Yoshikawa (US 9387562 B2).
Regarding Claims 2 and 3, Kawashima in view of Huska discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 1.
However, Kawashima/Huska does not expressly disclose the apparatus wherein the membrane holder (and needle head) can be moved relative to the cross member in the X direction and/or in the Y direction by means of an additional drive.
Reasonably pertinent to the problem of reliably locating tools for deposition/placement in gantry-like constructions, Yoshikawa teaches:
wherein the membrane holder and needle head [taught by Huska] can be moved relative to the cross member in the X direction and/or in the Y direction by means of an additional drive (See Fig. 6, head unit base 21 is carried on XYθ stage 37); (See Col. 8, Line 4: “The XY stage 30 is fixedly mounted on the θ-direction movable portion and can be moved by the XYθ stage 37 to target positions in the X-, and Y-directions and at a target rotary angle in the θ-direction” providing fine X/Y positioning of a head in addition to its main pitch-feed travel).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide an additional drive permitting X- and/or Y-direction movement relative to the cross member, as taught by Yoshikawa, of the membrane holder and needle head of Huska, in order to enable fine positioning/alignment of each element independent of the main slide travel, yielding the predictable result of improved placement and transfer accuracy. Applying this known additional-stage technique to the membrane holder and to the needle head of the combination is the use of a known technique to improve similar devices in the same way. See KSR; MPEP § 2143(I)(C).
Claims 6, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawashima (US 6662437 B2) in view of Huska et al. (EP 3271937 A1), in further view of Mitsumochi (EP 1986484 B1).
Regarding Claim 6, Kawashima in view of Huska discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 1.
However, Kawashima/Huska does not expressly disclose the apparatus wherein at least one further cross member is provided which can be moved on the two rails independently of the first cross member and on which a first slide having a membrane holder is attached, with the slide being movable on the further cross member in the X direction by means of a first drive, and with a further slide, at which a needle head is located, being arranged on the further cross member, with the further slide being movable on the further cross member in the X direction independently of the first slide by means of a further drive.
In the field of endeavor, Mitsumochi teaches:
apparatus wherein at least one further cross member is provided which can be moved on the two rails independently of the first cross member (See Par. [0010]: “a pair of beams 4A and 4B movable in one direction by drive sources, and mounting heads 6 each having suction nozzles 5 and movable along the beams 4A and 4B by drive sources respectively.”)
and on which a first slide having a membrane holder is attached, with the slide being movable on the further cross member in the X direction by means of a first drive, and with a further slide, at which a needle head is located, being arranged on the further cross member, with the further slide being movable on the further cross member in the X direction independently of the first slide by means of a further drive. (The two-slide arrangement on the further cross member is supplied by Kawashima, Fig. 3 (two independently X-movable units), carrying the membrane holder (Huska, wafer tape holder frame 224) and needle head (Huska, needle 226/needle actuator 228) as applied to the further beam of Mitsumochi.)
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided at least one further cross member, movable on the same two rails independently of the first cross member and likewise equipped with a membrane-holder slide and an independently X-movable needle-head slide, as taught by Mitsumochi in view of Kawashima and Huska, in order to nearly double production throughput by operating two transfer cross members on the same rails, because such modification is a mere duplication of working parts and an application of a known multi-beam technique yielding the predictable result of increased output. See KSR; MPEP § 2143(I)(A); MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B).
Regarding Claims 7 and 8, Kawashima in view of Huska and Mitsumochi discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 6, as set forth in the rejection above.
Claims 7 and 8 further recite, respectively, the apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the membrane holders and needle heads are arranged between two cross members in a plan view, and wherein only one membrane holder and only one needle head are arranged between two cross members in a plan view. (See Kawashima, Fig. 4, and Mitsumochi, Figs. 1-11, showing the plan-view arrangements of the holders/heads relative to the cross members).
The combination does not expressly recite the particular plan-view placement; however, the relative arrangement of the membrane holders and needle heads between two cross members in a plan view is an obvious matter of engineering layout, selected from a finite number of predictable arrangements (the holders/head positioned inside versus outside the cross members), absent a showing of criticality or unexpected result.
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have arranged the membrane holders and needle heads between two cross members in a plan view, or to have arranged only one membrane holder and only one needle head between two cross members in a plan view, as an obvious rearrangement of working parts utilizing the space between the cross members. See MPEP § 2143(E); MPEP 2144.04(VI)(C).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawashima (US 6662437 B2) in view of Huska et al. (EP 3271937 A1), in further view of Senoo et al. (US 5705016 A), hereinafter “Senoo.”
Regarding Claim 9, Kawashima in view of Huska discloses:
The apparatus according to claim 1, including a membrane holder that is a frame (Huska, wafer tape holder frame 224).
However, Kawashima/Huska does not expressly disclose the apparatus wherein the membrane holder is a rectangular frame.
In the field of endeavor, Senoo teaches:
wherein the membrane holder is a rectangular frame as a well-known and art-recognized alternative to a round frame (See Col. 1, Line 21: “a dicing sheet for fixing a wafer is stuck to a circular or square frame known as a ring frame, a semiconductor wafer is stuck on this dicing sheet and dicing is carried out every circuit to thereby obtain semiconductor chips”).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the membrane holder of the combination as a rectangular frame, as taught by Senoo, because a change in the shape of a known component is a matter of obvious design choice absent persuasive evidence that the particular shape is significant or yields an unexpected result. MPEP 2144.04(IV)(B).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawashima (US 6662437 B2) in view of Huska et al. (EP 3271937 A1), in further view of Senoo et al. (US 5705016 A), and further in view of Yamamoto (US 7896047 B2).
Regarding Claim 10, Kawashima in view of Huska discloses:
A method of mounting a membrane holder for an apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
The combination in view of Huska further teaches wherein a membrane is located on a frame and is provided at one side with electronic components (See Huska Fig. 2A, water tape 218 (membrane) bearing dies 220 (electronic components) on a holder frame (wafer tape holder frame 224)).
However, Kawashima/Huska does not expressly disclose the membrane is transferred from a round frame to a rectangular frame, and wherein a rectangular frame is used that is inscribed with its outer contour in the round frame, and wherein the rectangular frame is adhesively bonded to the membrane located in the round frame and the membrane projecting beyond the rectangular frame is subsequently cut off.
In the field of endeavor, Senoo teaches:
wherein a rectangular frame is used that is inscribed with its outer contour in the round frame (See Col 1, Line 21: “a dicing sheet for fixing a wafer is stuck to a circular or square frame known as a ring frame” which establishes round and rectangular ring frames as art-recognized, interchangeable alternatives for holding a component-bearing film).
Further in the field of endeavor, Yamamoto teaches:
wherein the rectangular frame is adhesively bonded to the membrane located in the round frame and the membrane projecting beyond the rectangular frame is subsequently cut off (See Figs. 8-11, Col. 11., Line 32: a joining roller 35 joins the adhesive film (dicing tape DT) to the ring frame f, and a cutter 61 of the tape cutting mechanism 32 is operated to “cut the dicing tape DT along the outer periphery of the ring frame f,” whereby the film is retained on the frame and the projecting excess is removed).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to bond a rectangular frame to the membrane and cut off the projecting excess, as taught by Yamamoto, and to select that frame rectangular and inscribed within the round frame, as taught by Senoo. Because claim 10 defines the recited transfer as accomplished by that bonding and cutting – not by a separate step – the Yamamoto operation effects the claimed transfer. Bonding a film to a frame and trimming it to the frame’s contour is a known technique yielding predictable results; substituting a rectangular form for a round one is an obvious change of shape, particularly given the Cartesian X/Y gantry on which the holder is used; and inscribing the rectangular frame within the round-frame diameter optimizes a result-effective dimension. See MPEP § 2143(C); MPEP 2144.04(IV)(B); MPEP 2144.05.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 11373975 B2, Electronic Component Mounting Device, relates to a structure of an electronic component mounting device that thermocompression-bonds an electronic component such as a semiconductor die to a substrate.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Fathi Abdelsalam whose telephone number is (571) 270-0380. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 6 PM ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at (571) 270-5565. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/ERNESTO A SUAREZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3655
/FATHI K. ABDELSALAM/Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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