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 .
Status of Claims
This is in response to applicant’s filing date of September 5, 2024. Claims 1-30 are currently pending.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority to Application JP2023-144944, filed on September 07, 2023. The certified copy of the application as required by 37 CFR 1.55 has been received.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on October 10, 2024, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections -- 35 U.S.C. § 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-10 and 22-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TAKEHIRO et al (JP-2012169689-A)(“Takehiro”), machine translation of JP2012169689A is attached hereto, and Takehiro SHINDO (US-20190355599-A1)(“Shindo). ”)
As per claim 1, Takehiro discloses a robot arranged in a housing having a front wall having an opening for access to a cassette storing a wafer and a back wall facing the front wall (Figure 1a), the robot comprising:
a first base (Takehiro at Figure 4, transfer robot 8 on body 14, and Para. [0014] disclosing that the conveyance apparatus is positioned on a base:” body 14 is generally composed of a plate 28 provided with an elevating mechanism 20, and a moving unit 48 including an arm driving unit 18 and an upper and lower unit 19.”.);
a first movable portion which has a first arm having a proximal end side connected to the first base to be rotatable about a first rotation shaft in a vertical plane (Takehiro at Figure 1, first arm 12 and θ1 axis which shows arm rotation in the vertical plane, and Para. [0014] describing the first arm and its rotation:” first arm 12 is rotatably attached to the upper surface of the arm drive unit 18. The arm drive unit 18 has a box shape, and a motor (not shown) is accommodated therein.”) and a second arm having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the first arm to be rotatable about a second rotation shaft in the vertical plane (Takehiro at Figure 1, second arm 13 and θ2 axis which shows arm rotation in the vertical plane, and Para. [0006] describing the second arm and connectivity to the first arm:” the first arm 12 is rotatably mounted on the body 14, and the second arm 13 is rotatably connected to the tip of the first arm 12.”);
a second movable portion which has a second base having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the second arm to be rotatable about a third rotation shaft in the vertical plane (Takehiro at Figure 4, arm 13 has a distal attached to hand 10, and Para. [0013] describing that a hand is attached for conveying a wafer:” arm 13 and the hand 10 having a proximal end attached to the distal end of the second arm 13 so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction. The substrate 3 is mounted on the hand 10.”), a third arm having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the second base to be rotatable about a fourth rotation shaft (Takehiro at Figure 4, third arm with attached hand 10, and Para. [0006] describing the movement of the third arm:” third arm is further rotatably connected to the tip, and the hand 10 is rotatably connected to the tip of the third arm.”) and a hand having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the third arm to be rotatable about a fifth rotation shaft and holding the wafer (Takehiro at Figure 4, hand 10 holding wafer 2, and Para. [0015] disclosing that in total there are five degrees of rotation of the robot arm and hand:” the rotation axes θ3 and θ4 axes of the upper and lower hands 10, and the moving unit 48. It is configured with a total of 5 degrees of freedom of the Z-axis of the lift axis.”); and
Takehiro does not explicitly disclose a control unit that holds the wafer inside an operation region, to open and close the cassette for the wafer, and to hold the hand parallel to a horizontal plane.
Shindo discloses a substrate manufacturing apparatus that conveys a wafer to various substrate processing modules using a transfer arm. See Abstract and Figures 2 & 5.
Takehiro does not disclose but Shindo discloses a control unit (Shindo at Figure 5, control part 100.) which controls the first movable portion and the second movable portion so as to convey the wafer in a state where the wafer held by the hand is located inside an operation region defined in a space between the front wall and the back wall so as not to overlap an open/close region for a cassette opener (Shindo at Figure 3, processing regions W1 & W2, and Para. [0055] disclosing the extension/contraction operation of the arms so as to be within the operation region that does not overlap the open close region at transfer port 42:” transfer mechanism 6 is controlled by the control part 100 … the extension/contraction operation of the articulated arm is performed by making the width dimensions of the transfer module 9 different from each other in the height direction, rotating the articulated arm inside the second transfer chamber 9b which is the lower region with a relatively large width dimension, and obliquely moving the articulated arm inside the first transfer chamber 9a which is the upper region with a relatively small width dimension. In this way, the wafers W are transferred.”), which is provided at a position corresponding to the opening of the front wall (Shindo at Figure 2 and Para. [0039] discloses providing the wafer to an opening of the front wall of the chamber:” transfer arm 5 is provided in the EFEM 2. The transfer arm 5 transfers the wafers W between FOUPs 20 and the load lock modules 3A and 3B. The EFEM 2 includes load ports 7 into which the wafers W are loaded. The FOUPs 20 are mounted on the respective load ports 7. Each of the load ports 7 includes an opening/closing door 21 implemented according to a front-opening interface mechanical standard (FIMS) standard.”), to open and close the cassette (Shindo at Figure 2, control 100 and valve 41, and Para. [0044] disclosing the opening and closing of transfer port 42:” opening and closing the transfer ports 42 with the gate valves 41”.), and to cause the hand to access the opening of the front wall in a state where the hand is parallel to a horizontal plane (Shindo at Para. [0040] discloses controlling the hand to access the port to place or remove the wafer:” control part 100 configured to control the transfer of the wafers W and the processing of the wafers W. The control part 100 controls various operations of the substrate processing apparatus 1, such as the film forming process or the like performed in the processing modules 4, the switching of atmosphere performed in the load lock modules 3A and 3B, the transfer operation of the wafers W by the transfer mechanism 6, and the like.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Takehiro further in view of Shindo to allow for conveying a substrate by folding the various arms of the conveyor system to operate within a region in a chamber so as to not interfere with the opening and closing of the processing modules. Motivation to do so would allow for reducing negative effects of service waiting time by limiting the interference with the access port of the substrate processing module by reducing the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus (Shindo at Para. [0076]).
As per claim 2, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the first movable portion and the second movable portion so as to convey the wafer in a state where the wafer held by the hand is located inside the operation region further defined so as not to overlap a region of which a distance from an opening of the back wall is less than or equal to a predetermined distance (Shindo at Figure 2, region RA, and Para. [0046] disclosing an operating range (RA) where is defined so as to not overlap the port of the processing module:” a dashed double-dotted line RA drawn inside the transfer module 9 indicates a swingable range of the third arm 63a in a state where the articulated arm is folded. In the case where the wafer W is held on the leading end of the third arm 63a, the tip end of the wafer W protrudes beyond the leading end of the third arm 63a in a normal state. Therefore, the dashed double-dotted line RA represents a trajectory of the tip end of the wafer W mounted on an extended line obtained by connecting the base end portion of the third arm 63a and the leading end portion thereof.”).
As per claim 3, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 1, wherein a trajectory of the fourth rotation shaft when the wafer is conveyed is shifted toward the back wall from a center line of a width, in a direction perpendicular to the vertical plane, of a trajectory of the second movable portion when the wafer is conveyed (Shindo at Figure 4B, wafer loading W, and Para. [0050] discloses conveying and inserting the wafer into the processing module:” the third arm 63a cannot be in the parallel state. As such, the third arm 63a of the articulated arm operates while moving obliquely with respect to the first width W1 inside the first transfer chamber 9a so as to load the wafers W into the processing module 4 via the transfer port 42 or unload the wafers W from the processing module 4.”).
As per claim 4, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 3, wherein the control unit controls the first movable portion and the second movable portion so as to convey the wafer while maintaining a state where a first angle between a vector parallel to a direction in which the wafer is conveyed in the operation region and a vector parallel to a straight line passing through the fourth rotation shaft and the fifth rotation shaft and perpendicular to the fourth rotation shaft and the fifth rotation shaft is a predetermined offset angle (Shindo at Figure 4B and Para. [0051] discloses bringing arms into a parallel state where the rotation angles (65 .. 67) are an offset angle:” when the third arm 63a is rotated inside the first transfer chamber 9a, the inner wall of the first transfer chamber 9a and the tip end of the wafer W interfere with each other when the third arm 63a is brought into the parallel state. Therefore, as illustrated in situations (c-4) and (d-2) of FIG. 4B, the transfer mechanism 6 is lowered by the elevating mechanism 68 to be accommodated in the second transfer chamber 9b from the first transfer chamber 9a.”).
As per claim 5, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 1, wherein a trajectory of the fourth rotation shaft when the wafer is conveyed is shifted toward the front wall from a center line of a width, in a direction perpendicular to the vertical plane, of a trajectory of the second movable portion when the wafer is conveyed (Shindo at Figure 4B, C-4 to C-6, and Para. [0054] disclosing how the arm is moved through various trajectories to move the wafer perpendicular to the vertical plane at 42:” in a state where the third arm 63a is kept obliquely with respect to the parallel state in this way, the third arm 63a enters a subsequent processing module 4 through the transfer port 42 of the first transfer chamber 9a to mount the wafers W in the subsequent processing module 4. Thereafter, the third arm 63 is withdrawn from the subsequent processing module 4.”).
As per claim 6, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 1, wherein a length of the hand and the wafer in a state where the hand holds the wafer is longer than a width of the operation region in a direction perpendicular to the vertical plane (Shindo at Figures 2 & 4B and Para. [0046] disclosing that hand enters or exits the processing module it is longer than the width of the operation region (w1):” length L is larger than the first width W1 of the first transfer chamber 9a and smaller than the second width W2 of the second transfer chamber 9b (see the situation (c-4) of FIG. 4B).”).
As per claim 7, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 6, wherein a length of the third arm is shorter than the width of the operation region in the direction perpendicular to the vertical plane (Shindo at Figure 6, third arm 63a and W1 width of operating region, and Para. [0068] disclosing that the third arm is smaller in certain configurations:” in this modification, the length L from the base end portion of each of the third arm 63a and the fourth arm 63b to the tip end of the outermost wafer W mounted on the respective extended line is smaller than the first width W1 as illustrated in FIG. 6.”) .
As per claim 8, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the first movable portion and the second movable portion so as to convey the wafer while maintaining a state where a first angle between a vector parallel to a direction in which the wafer is conveyed in the operation region (Shindo at Figure 4B, angles at 65 and 66 are parallel to each other and direction of travel, and Para. [0050] disclosing positioning of the arms to cause a parallel state with the direction of movement:” when the third arm 63a is rotated inside the first transfer chamber 9a, the inner wall of the first transfer chamber 9a and the tip end of the wafer W interfere with each other when the third arm 63a is brought into the parallel state. Therefore, as illustrated in situations (c-4) and (d-2) of FIG. 4B, the transfer mechanism 6 is lowered by the elevating mechanism 68 to be accommodated in the second transfer chamber 9b from the first transfer chamber 9a.”) and a vector parallel to a straight line passing through the fourth rotation shaft and the fifth rotation shaft and perpendicular to the fourth rotation shaft and the fifth rotation shaft is a predetermined offset angle (Shindo at Figure 4B, C-8, and Para. [0054] discloses an offset (oblique) angle with hand angle:” illustrated in situations (c-6) and (c-8) of FIG. 4B, in a state where the third arm 63a is kept obliquely with respect to the parallel state in this way, the third arm 63a enters a subsequent processing module 4 through the transfer port 42 of the first transfer chamber 9a to mount the wafers W in the subsequent processing module 4. Thereafter, the third arm 63 is withdrawn from the subsequent processing module 4.”).
As per claim 9, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 8, wherein the control unit controls the first movable portion and the second movable portion so as to convey the wafer while maintaining a state where a second angle between the vector parallel to the direction in which the wafer is conveyed in the operation region and a vector parallel to a center line of the hand perpendicular to the fifth rotation shaft and passing through the fifth rotation shaft is a predetermined angle (Shindo at Figure 4B and Para. [0055] disclosing that the various configurations of the arms and hand are commanded by control part 100:” operation of the articulated arm of the transfer mechanism 6 is controlled by the control part 100. According to the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the extension/contraction operation of the articulated arm is performed by making the width dimensions of the transfer module 9 different from each other in the height direction, rotating the articulated arm inside the second transfer chamber 9b which is the lower region with a relatively large width dimension, and obliquely moving the articulated arm inside the first transfer chamber 9a which is the upper region with a relatively small width dimension. In this way, the wafers W are transferred.”).
As per claim 10, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the first movable portion and the second movable portion so as to cause the hand to access an access target while maintaining a state where a second angle between a vector parallel to a direction in which the wafer is conveyed in the operation region and a vector parallel to a center line of the hand perpendicular to the fifth rotation shaft and passing through the fifth rotation shaft satisfies a predetermined angle condition (Shindo at Figure 5, control part 100 and arm configurations, and Para. [0055] disclosing the extension/contraction operation of the arms so as to be within the operation region that does not overlap the open close region at transfer port 42:” transfer mechanism 6 is controlled by the control part 100 … the extension/contraction operation of the articulated arm is performed by making the width dimensions of the transfer module 9 different from each other in the height direction, rotating the articulated arm inside the second transfer chamber 9b which is the lower region with a relatively large width dimension, and obliquely moving the articulated arm inside the first transfer chamber 9a which is the upper region with a relatively small width dimension. In this way, the wafers W are transferred.”).
As per claim 22, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 1, wherein a width, in a direction perpendicular to the vertical plane, of a trajectory of the first movable portion when the wafer is conveyed in the operation region falls within a width, in the direction perpendicular to the vertical plane, of a trajectory of the wafer being conveyed (Shindo at Figures 6 & 7, widths W1 and W2, Para. [0046] discloses a swing radius when the conveyance robot is operating within certain regions having widths (W1 & W2) as measured perpendicular to the vertical walls as shown in Figure 6:” a swing radius indicated by the dashed double-dotted line RA corresponds to the length L from the rotary shaft 67 provided in the base end portion of the third arm 63a to the tip end of the wafer W disposed on the leading end portion of the third arm 63a. The length L is larger than the first width W1 of the first transfer chamber 9a and smaller than the second width W2 of the second transfer chamber 9b (see the situation (c-4) of FIG. 4B).”).
As per claim 23, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 1, wherein the first arm and the second arm have a structure in which a trajectory of the first arm and a trajectory of the second arm overlap each other when the first arm and the second arm rotate (Shindo at Figure 2, arms 61 & 62 and rotation points 65 & 66, and Para. [0033] disclosing that these arms are rotationally couple to each other which reasonably would cause partial and complete overlapping:” base end portion of the second arm 62 is rotatably connected to a leading end portion of the first arm 61 via a rotary shaft 66. A base end portion of the third arm 63a is rotatably connected to a leading end portion of the second arm 62 via a rotary shaft 67.”).
As per claim 24, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 23, wherein a width of the trajectory of the first arm in a direction perpendicular to the vertical plane falls within a width of the trajectory of the second arm in the direction perpendicular to the vertical plane (Shindo at Figure 2, trajectory of arms 61 & 62 is maintained within dimension W1, and Para, [0060] disclosing the trajectory of the arms within the defined region W1:” the operation of orienting the leading end portion of the third arm 63a from one of the two processing modules 4 arranged side by side on the long side or the same side of the first transfer chamber 9a to the transfer port 42 of the other processing module 4 may be performed inside the first transfer chamber 9a as long as the first arm 61 and the second arm 62 are swingable in a large range without interfering with the inner wall of the transfer chamber 9a”.).
As per claim 25, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 23, wherein a width of the trajectory of the second arm in a direction perpendicular to the vertical plane falls within a width of the trajectory of the first arm in the direction perpendicular to the vertical plane (Shindo at Figures 2 & 7 and Para. [0046] disclosing a swing radius (RA) liming the trajectory of the first and second arms:” a swing radius indicated by the dashed double-dotted line RA corresponds to the length L from the rotary shaft 67 provided in the base end portion of the third arm 63a to the tip end of the wafer W disposed on the leading end portion of the third arm 63a.”) .
As per claim 26, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 1, wherein the first base has a first side surface portion which supports the first movable portion and a second side surface portion which faces the first side surface portion (Takehiro at Figure 4, transfer robot 8, and Para. [0014] describing a first and second surface at the base:” convenience of explanation, the plate 28 side in FIG. 4 is referred to as the back side of the transfer robot 8, and the vertical unit 19 and the arm drive unit 18 side are referred to as the front side of the transfer robot 8.”), and a maximum value of a width between an outer surface of the first side surface portion and an outer surface of the second side surface portion in a direction perpendicular to the vertical plane falls within a width of the operation region in the direction perpendicular to the vertical plane (Takehiro at Para. [0003] the dimensions of the based is limited by the size operating range of the chamber:” the transfer robot 8 has to access a large number of locations such as the cassette opener 4 and the aligner device 7 in a limited space in the locally cleaned housing 1. On the other hand, since there is a demand for downsizing the housing 1 for the purpose of reducing the footprint of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the transfer robot 8 installed in the housing 1 is small and clean and necessary and sufficient. It is required to have a proper operating range.”).
As per claim 27, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 1, wherein the first base is detachably arranged with respect to a bottom portion of the housing (Takehiro at Figures 6A-6C and Para. [0018] disclosing that the panels and arms are attached to a frame forming the base of the transfer robot:” as shown in FIG. 6B, a thin plate-like plate cover 54 is provided on the upper surface of the upper and lower unit frames 35 and on the rear surface of the arm drive unit 18. The plate cover 54 covers the linear guide 25 and the ball screw 22 so that they are not exposed in appearance when the moving unit 48 such as the upper and lower units 19 is positioned at the lowest position. The plate cover 54 moves up and down together with the moving unit 48.”).
As per claim 28, Takehiro discloses a system (Figure 4) comprising:
the robot according to claim 1 (See above text concerning how the elements of claim1 are disclosed by Takehiro and Shindo); and
the housing (Takehiro at Para. [0003] the dimensions of the based is limited by the size operating range of the chamber:” the transfer robot 8 has to access a large number of locations such as the cassette opener 4 and the aligner device 7 in a limited space in the locally cleaned housing 1. On the other hand, since there is a demand for downsizing the housing 1 for the purpose of reducing the footprint of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the transfer robot 8 installed in the housing 1 is small and clean and necessary and sufficient. It is required to have a proper operating range.”).
As per claim 29, Takehiro discloses a control method executed by a robot which is arranged in a housing having a front wall having an opening for access to a cassette storing a wafer and a back wall facing the front wall (Figure 1), the robot including:
a first base (Takehiro at Figure 4, transfer robot 8 on body 14, and Para. [0014] disclosing that the conveyance apparatus is positioned on a base:” body 14 is generally composed of a plate 28 provided with an elevating mechanism 20, and a moving unit 48 including an arm driving unit 18 and an upper and lower unit 19.”.);
a first movable portion which has a first arm having a proximal end side connected to the first base to be rotatable about a first rotation shaft in a vertical plane (Takehiro at Figure 1, first arm 12 and θ1 axis which shows arm rotation in the vertical plane, and Para. [0014] describing the first arm and its rotation:” first arm 12 is rotatably attached to the upper surface of the arm drive unit 18. The arm drive unit 18 has a box shape, and a motor (not shown) is accommodated therein.”) and a second arm having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the first arm to be rotatable about a second rotation shaft in the vertical plane (Takehiro at Figure 1, second arm 13 and θ2 axis which shows arm rotation in the vertical plane, and Para. [0006] describing the second arm and connectivity to the first arm:” the first arm 12 is rotatably mounted on the body 14, and the second arm 13 is rotatably connected to the tip of the first arm 12.”);
a second movable portion which has a second base having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the second arm to be rotatable about a third rotation shaft in the vertical plane (Takehiro at Figure 4, arm 13 has a distal attached to hand 10, and Para. [0013] describing that a hand is attached for conveying a wafer:” arm 13 and the hand 10 having a proximal end attached to the distal end of the second arm 13 so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction. The substrate 3 is mounted on the hand 10.”), a third arm having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the second base to be rotatable about a fourth rotation shaft (Takehiro at Figure 4, third arm with attached hand 10, and Para. [0006] describing the movement of the third arm:” third arm is further rotatably connected to the tip, and the hand 10 is rotatably connected to the tip of the third arm.”) and a hand having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the third arm to be rotatable about a fifth rotation shaft and holding the wafer (Takehiro at Figure 4, hand 10 holding wafer 2, and Para. [0015] disclosing that in total there are five degrees of rotation of the robot arm and hand:” the rotation axes θ3 and θ4 axes of the upper and lower hands 10, and the moving unit 48. It is configured with a total of 5 degrees of freedom of the Z-axis of the lift axis.”); and
Takehiro does not explicitly disclose a control unit that holds the wafer inside an operation region, to open and close the cassette for the wafer, and to hold the hand parallel to a horizontal plane.
Shindo discloses a substrate manufacturing apparatus that conveys a wafer to various substrate processing modules using a transfer arm. See Abstract and Figures 2 & 5.
Takehiro does not disclose but Shindo discloses the control method (Shindo at Figure 5, control part 100.) comprising controlling the first movable portion and the second movable portion so as to convey the wafer in a state where the wafer held by the hand is located inside an operation region defined in a space between the front wall and the back wall so as not to overlap an open/close region for a cassette opener (Shindo at Figure 3, processing regions W1 & W2, and Para. [0055] disclosing the extension/contraction operation of the arms so as to be within the operation region that does not overlap the open close region at transfer port 42:” transfer mechanism 6 is controlled by the control part 100 … the extension/contraction operation of the articulated arm is performed by making the width dimensions of the transfer module 9 different from each other in the height direction, rotating the articulated arm inside the second transfer chamber 9b which is the lower region with a relatively large width dimension, and obliquely moving the articulated arm inside the first transfer chamber 9a which is the upper region with a relatively small width dimension. In this way, the wafers W are transferred.”), which is provided at a position corresponding to the opening of the front wall (Shindo at Figure 2 and Para. [0039] discloses providing the wafer to an opening of the front wall of the chamber:” transfer arm 5 is provided in the EFEM 2. The transfer arm 5 transfers the wafers W between FOUPs 20 and the load lock modules 3A and 3B. The EFEM 2 includes load ports 7 into which the wafers W are loaded. The FOUPs 20 are mounted on the respective load ports 7. Each of the load ports 7 includes an opening/closing door 21 implemented according to a front-opening interface mechanical standard (FIMS) standard.”), to open and close the cassette (Shindo at Figure 2, control 100 and valve 41, and Para. [0044] disclosing the opening and closing of transfer port 42:” opening and closing the transfer ports 42 with the gate valves 41”.), and to cause the hand to access the opening of the front wall in a state where the hand is parallel to a horizontal plane (Shindo at Para. [0040] discloses controlling the hand to access the port to place or remove the wafer:” control part 100 configured to control the transfer of the wafers W and the processing of the wafers W. The control part 100 controls various operations of the substrate processing apparatus 1, such as the film forming process or the like performed in the processing modules 4, the switching of atmosphere performed in the load lock modules 3A and 3B, the transfer operation of the wafers W by the transfer mechanism 6, and the like.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Takehiro further in view of Shindo to allow for conveying a substrate by folding the various arms of the conveyor system to operate within a region in a chamber so as to not interfere with the opening and closing of the processing modules. Motivation to do so would allow for reducing negative effects of service waiting time by limiting the interference with the access port of the substrate processing module by reducing the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus (Shindo at Para. [0076]).
As per claim 30, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having recorded thereon a program that causes a computer mounted with a robot to perform a control method, wherein the robot, which is arranged in a housing having a front wall having an opening for access to a cassette storing a wafer and a back wall facing the front wall (Fig 1 and Figure 9), includes:
a first base (Takehiro at Figure 4, transfer robot 8 on body 14, and Para. [0014] disclosing that the conveyance apparatus is positioned on a base:” body 14 is generally composed of a plate 28 provided with an elevating mechanism 20, and a moving unit 48 including an arm driving unit 18 and an upper and lower unit 19.”.);
a first movable portion which has a first arm having a proximal end side connected to the first base to be rotatable about a first rotation shaft in a vertical plane (Takehiro at Figure 1, first arm 12 and θ1 axis which shows arm rotation in the vertical plane, and Para. [0014] describing the first arm and its rotation:” first arm 12 is rotatably attached to the upper surface of the arm drive unit 18. The arm drive unit 18 has a box shape, and a motor (not shown) is accommodated therein.”) and a second arm having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the first arm to be rotatable about a second rotation shaft in the vertical plane (Takehiro at Figure 1, second arm 13 and θ2 axis which shows arm rotation in the vertical plane, and Para. [0006] describing the second arm and connectivity to the first arm:” the first arm 12 is rotatably mounted on the body 14, and the second arm 13 is rotatably connected to the tip of the first arm 12.”);
a second movable portion which has a second base having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the second arm to be rotatable about a third rotation shaft in the vertical plane (Takehiro at Figure 4, arm 13 has a distal attached to hand 10, and Para. [0013] describing that a hand is attached for conveying a wafer:” arm 13 and the hand 10 having a proximal end attached to the distal end of the second arm 13 so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction. The substrate 3 is mounted on the hand 10.”), a third arm having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the second base to be rotatable about a fourth rotation shaft (Takehiro at Figure 4, third arm with attached hand 10, and Para. [0006] describing the movement of the third arm:” third arm is further rotatably connected to the tip, and the hand 10 is rotatably connected to the tip of the third arm.”) and a hand having a proximal end side connected to a distal end side of the third arm to be rotatable about a fifth rotation shaft and holding the wafer (Takehiro at Figure 4, hand 10 holding wafer 2, and Para. [0015] disclosing that in total there are five degrees of rotation of the robot arm and hand:” the rotation axes θ3 and θ4 axes of the upper and lower hands 10, and the moving unit 48. It is configured with a total of 5 degrees of freedom of the Z-axis of the lift axis.”); and
Takehiro does not explicitly disclose a control unit that holds the wafer inside an operation region, to open and close the cassette for the wafer, and to hold the hand parallel to a horizontal plane.
Shindo discloses a substrate manufacturing apparatus that conveys a wafer to various substrate processing modules using a transfer arm. See Abstract and Figures 2 & 5.
Takehiro does not disclose but Shindo discloses the control method (Shindo at Figure 5, control part 100.) comprising controlling the first movable portion and the second movable portion so as to convey the wafer in a state where the wafer held by the hand is located inside an operation region defined in a space between the front wall and the back wall so as not to overlap an open/close region for a cassette opener (Shindo at Figure 3, processing regions W1 & W2, and Para. [0055] disclosing the extension/contraction operation of the arms so as to be within the operation region that does not overlap the open close region at transfer port 42:” transfer mechanism 6 is controlled by the control part 100 … the extension/contraction operation of the articulated arm is performed by making the width dimensions of the transfer module 9 different from each other in the height direction, rotating the articulated arm inside the second transfer chamber 9b which is the lower region with a relatively large width dimension, and obliquely moving the articulated arm inside the first transfer chamber 9a which is the upper region with a relatively small width dimension. In this way, the wafers W are transferred.”), which is provided at a position corresponding to the opening of the front wall (Shindo at Figure 2 and Para. [0039] discloses providing the wafer to an opening of the front wall of the chamber:” transfer arm 5 is provided in the EFEM 2. The transfer arm 5 transfers the wafers W between FOUPs 20 and the load lock modules 3A and 3B. The EFEM 2 includes load ports 7 into which the wafers W are loaded. The FOUPs 20 are mounted on the respective load ports 7. Each of the load ports 7 includes an opening/closing door 21 implemented according to a front-opening interface mechanical standard (FIMS) standard.”), to open and close the cassette (Shindo at Figure 2, control 100 and valve 41, and Para. [0044] disclosing the opening and closing of transfer port 42:” opening and closing the transfer ports 42 with the gate valves 41”.), and to cause the hand to access the opening of the front wall in a state where the hand is parallel to a horizontal plane (Shindo at Para. [0040] discloses controlling the hand to access the port to place or remove the wafer:” control part 100 configured to control the transfer of the wafers W and the processing of the wafers W. The control part 100 controls various operations of the substrate processing apparatus 1, such as the film forming process or the like performed in the processing modules 4, the switching of atmosphere performed in the load lock modules 3A and 3B, the transfer operation of the wafers W by the transfer mechanism 6, and the like.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Takehiro further in view of Shindo to allow for conveying a substrate by folding the various arms of the conveyor system to operate within a region in a chamber so as to not interfere with the opening and closing of the processing modules. Motivation to do so would allow for reducing negative effects of service waiting time by limiting the interference with the access port of the substrate processing module by reducing the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus (Shindo at Para. [0076]).
Claims 11-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takehiro and Shindo as applied to claims 1 & 10 above, and further in view of KOBAYASHI TAKUMI (JP-2020170744-A)(“Takumi), machine translation of JP2020170744A is attached hereto.
As per claim 11, Takehiro and Shindo disclose a robot according to claim 10, further comprising:
a (Shindo at Para. [0041] discloses using instructions/program to cause various articulation of the arm which likely include angular ranges and the like:” the CPU reads and executes a program for causing the articulated arm of the transfer mechanism 6 or the transfer arm 5 to transfer the wafers W from the RAM, and controls the transfer of the wafers W performed between the FOUPs 20, the EFEM 2, the load lock modules 3A and 3B, the transfer module 9 and the processing modules 4.”); and
a (Shindo at Para. [0056] discloses moving the arms to predetermined positions to lower the footprint making it easier to navigate in the operation region:” the transfer module 9 and the processing modules 4 have regions overlapping each other by the width of Ar when viewed from the top. Each of the processing modules 4 can be arranged inward of the transfer module 9 by a width of (W2-W1). This makes it possible to suppress the footprint of the substrate processing apparatus 1.”), wherein the control unit controls the first movable portion and the second movable portion so as to cause the hand to access the access target while maintaining a state where the angle condition selected by the (Shindo at Figure 6, arms 61-64 at different orientations, and Para. [0070] discloses modifying the orientation of the different arms to accomplish the task of mounting or unmounting the substrate in the processing module:” in this modification, the first transfer chamber 9a accommodates the third arm 63a and the fourth arm 63b. On the other hand, the second transfer chamber 9b accommodates the first arm 61 and the second arm 62. Furthermore, each of the third arm 63a and the fourth arm 63b is an example of a fork located at the leading end of the articulated arm.”).
Takehiro and Shindo do not disclose a condition storage unit and a condition selection unit to select conditions to be performed by the robot when conveying an article such as a semiconductor wafer.
Takehiro and Shindo do not disclose but Takumi discloses a condition storage unit (Takumi at Para. [0050] discloses that storage 47 stores conditions for the robot to follow:” condition from the storage unit 47.”).
Takehiro and Shindo do not disclose but Takumi discloses a condition selection unit (Takumi at Para. [0042] discloses a selection unit for selecting from storage 43 the maneuver to be performed by the robot:” selection unit 43 selects the determination condition corresponding to the operation mode determined by the determination unit 42. For example, when the determination unit 42 determines that "manual operation of each axis" is set, the selection unit 43 selects the first condition. When the determination unit 42 determines that the "straight line manual operation" is set, the selection unit 43 selects the first condition and the second condition.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the carrier robot as taught by Takehiro and modified by Shindo with the automated transfer robot as taught by Takumi with a reasonable expectation of success in order for the one or more method steps to perform certain maneuvers during conveyance of a substrate. The teaching suggestion/motivation to combine is that by automating certain maneuvers, negative effects to the robot and substrate wafer can be mitigated by preventing interference between the hand of the transfer robot and its surroundings during substrate transfer as taught by Takumi at Para. [0007].
As per claim 12, Takehiro, Shindo and Takumi disclose a robot according to claim 11, wherein the condition selection unit selects the first candidate condition as the angle condition of the access processing in a case where the access target is positioned on a side wall side of the housing and is accessible by the hand only when the second angle is included in the first angular range (Shindo at Para. [0051] discloses causing the second angle arm 62 at Figure 5 to withing a certain range to handle the wafer relative to the processing modules 4:” the inner wall of the first transfer chamber 9a and the tip end of the wafer W interfere with each other when the third arm 63a is brought into the parallel state. Therefore, as illustrated in situations (c-4) and (d-2) of FIG. 4B, the transfer mechanism 6 is lowered by the elevating mechanism 68 to be accommodated in the second transfer chamber 9b from the first transfer chamber 9a.”).
As per claim 13, Takehiro, Shindo and Takumi disclose a robot according to claim 12, wherein the condition selection unit selects the first candidate condition as the angle condition of the access processing when the access target is a pre-aligner (PA) (Shindo at Figure 4B, C-4 initial positioning aligns the arms and the wafer, and Para. [0050] discloses positioning the arms to change the profile of the transfer hand:” illustrated in situation (c-4) of FIG. 4B, since the first width W1 of the first transfer chamber 9a is smaller than the length L, as illustrated in situation (a-2) of FIG. 1A, the third arm 63a cannot be in the parallel state. As such, the third arm 63a of the articulated arm operates while moving obliquely with respect to the first width W1 inside the first transfer chamber 9a so as to load the wafers W into the processing module 4 via the transfer port 42 or unload the wafers W from the processing module 4.”).
As per claim 14, Takehiro, Shindo and Takumi disclose a robot according to claim 11, wherein in a case where the first candidate condition is selected as the angle condition of first access processing, the condition selection unit selects the first candidate condition as the angle condition of second access processing which is access processing subsequent to the first access processing when the hand is capable of accessing an access target of the second access processing in a state where the second angle is included in the first angular range (Shindo Figure 4B, C-5 positioning arm to access the port of a module such as processing module 4, and Para. [0053] disclosing orientation of the hand and arms in preparation to deliver the wafer:” the leading end portion of the third arm 63a is moved from the lower left to the upper left while being oriented toward the left side of the transfer module 9 (see situation (c-5) of FIG. 4B). Furthermore, the leading end portion of the third arm 63a is moved to the right side of the transfer module 9 by inverting the direction of the third arm 63a oriented toward the left side of the transfer module 9 to the right side (see situation (c-7) of FIG. 4B).”), and selects the second candidate condition as the angle condition of the second access processing when the hand is incapable of accessing the access target of the second access processing in a state where the second angle is included in the first angular range (Shindo at Figure 4B, situations (c-6) and (c-8), abd Para. [0054] disclosing the movement of the arms to choose a module in either opposite directions:” in a state where the third arm 63a is kept obliquely with respect to the parallel state in this way, the third arm 63a enters a subsequent processing module 4 through the transfer port 42 of the first transfer chamber 9a to mount the wafers W in the subsequent processing module 4. Thereafter, the third arm 63 is withdrawn from the subsequent processing module 4.”).
As per claim 15, Takehiro, Shindo and Takumi disclose a robot according to claim 14, wherein when the condition selection unit selects the second candidate condition as the angle condition of the second access processing, the control unit controls the first movable portion and the second movable portion so as to change the second angle in a portion of the housing for changing the second angle from the first angular range to the second angular range (Shindo at Para. [0058] discloses maneuvering the arms and hand to different orientation to operate withing a defined region:” in the state in which the orientation of the third arm 63a is kept in situation (c-4) of FIG. 4B, in the case where the operation (situation (c-5) of FIG. 4B) in which the leading end portion of the third arm 63a is oriented in another direction and the operation (situation (c-7) of FIG. 4B) in which the orientation of the third arm 3a is in an inverted direction with respect to situation (c-4) of FIG. 4B are performed, when the third arm 63a is rotated inside the first transfer chamber 9a, the inner wall of the first transfer chamber 9a and the tip end of the wafer W has been described to interfere with each other when the third arm 63a is in a parallel state.”.
As per claim 16, Takehiro, Shindo and Takumi disclose a robot according to claim 15, wherein the control unit controls the hand so as to change the second angle in the portion of the housing from the first angular range to the second angular range by rotating only the hand (Takehiro at Para. [0002] discloses that the hand is rotated to place or remove the wafer from the cassette:” second arm 13 is provided at the tip and is rotatably connected in the horizontal direction, and the hand 10 is rotatably connected to the tip of the second arm 13 and places the substrate 3 thereon. The transport robot 8 transports the substrate 3 mounted on the hand 10 to a target position while moving the upper arm 11 up and down from the body 14 and the first arm 12 and rotating each arm by the lifting mechanism.”).
As per claim 17, Takehiro, Shindo and Takumi disclose a robot according to claim 15, wherein the control unit controls the hand and the first movable portion so as to change the second angle in the portion of the housing from the first angular range to the second angular range by causing the hand and the first movable portion to perform a cooperative operation (Takehiro at Para. [0015] discloses using different angular ranges to change the orientation of the hand and arms to convey the wafer:” the transfer robot 8 according to the present embodiment includes the θ1 axis of the first arm rotation axis, the θ2 axis of the second arm rotation axis, the rotation axes θ3 and θ4 axes of the upper and lower hands 10, and the moving unit 48. It is configured with a total of 5 degrees of freedom of the Z-axis of the lift axis.”).
As per claim 18, Takehiro, Shindo and Takumi disclose a robot according to claim 17, wherein the control unit controls the hand and the first movable portion so as to change the second angle in the opening of the front wall from the first angular range to the second angular range by causing the hand and the first movable portion to perform a cooperative operation (Shindo at Figure 4A, C-1 a first angle and C-2 a second angle when the first is rotated upward, and Para. [0048] disclosing the angular changes of the arms and hand:” illustrated in situations (c-1) and (d-1) of FIG. 4A, the first arm 61, the second arm 62, and the third arm 63a are raised up to the first transfer chamber 9a by the elevating mechanism 68. The third arm 63a enters the processing module 4 arranged on the lower left in situation (c-1) of FIG. 4A via the transfer port 42 to mount unprocessed wafers W at predetermined positions inside the processing module 4. Thereafter, the third arm 63a is withdrawn from the processing module 4. Once a predetermined processing is performed on the wafers W, as illustrated in situations (c-2) and (c-3) of FIG. 4A, the third arm 63a enters the processing module 4 through the transfer port 42 to unload the processed wafers W from the processing module 4.”).
As per claim 19, Takehiro, Shindo and Takumi disclose a robot according to claim 15, wherein when the hand is capable of accessing an access target of third access processing which is access processing subsequent to the second access processing in a state where the second angle is included in the first angular range, the condition selection unit selects the first candidate condition as the angle condition of the third access processing (Shindo at Figure 4B, C-4 to C-5 or C-7, and Para. [0058] disclosing conditions undertaken by the robotic arms for accessing a third (c-7) access processing from a second access point:” in the state in which the orientation of the third arm 63a is kept in situation (c-4) of FIG. 4B, in the case where the operation (situation (c-5) of FIG. 4B) in which the leading end portion of the third arm 63a is oriented in another direction and the operation (situation (c-7) of FIG. 4B) in which the orientation of the third arm 3a is in an inverted direction with respect to situation (c-4) of FIG. 4B are performed, when the third arm 63a is rotated inside the first transfer chamber 9a, the inner wall of the first transfer chamber 9a and the tip end of the wafer W has been described to interfere with each other when the third arm 63a is in a parallel state.”).
As per claim 20, Takehiro, Shindo and Takumi disclose a robot according to claim 15, wherein when the hand is capable of accessing an access target of third access processing which is access processing subsequent to the second access processing in a state where the second angle is included in the second angular range, the condition selection unit selects the second candidate condition as the angle condition of the third access processing (Shindo at Figure 4B, C-4 to C-7 and C-8, and Para. [0058] disclosing conditions undertaken by the robotic arms for accessing a third (c-6) access processing from a second access point by including a second angular range:” which the leading end portion of the third arm 63a is oriented in another direction and the operation (situation (c-7) of FIG. 4B) in which the orientation of the third arm 3a is in an inverted direction with respect to situation (c-4) of FIG. 4B”).
As per claim 21, Takehiro, Shindo and Takumi disclose a robot according to claim 11, wherein the first angular range corresponds to a state where a distal end side of the hand is positioned on a right side of the proximal end side of the hand (Shindo at Para. [0063] discloses rotating the hand/third arm to be within a certain range relative to wall of the chamber:” the base end portion of the third arm 63a and a base end portion of a fourth arm 63b are rotatably connected to the leading end portion of the second arm 62 via the rotary shaft 67 at an interval in the height direction.”), and the second angular range corresponds to a state where the distal end side of the hand is positioned on a left side of the proximal end side of the hand (Shindo at Figure 5, arms 63a and 63b, and Para.[0064] discloses the strategic rotation of the distal end based on the location of the access point of the processing module:” third arm 63a and the fourth arm 63b are identical to each other in configuration and are rotated independently of each other around the rotation shaft 67.”) .
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Hagino; Takashi et al. (US-10403514-B1) Substrate transporting system, storage medium and substrate transporting method;
Masui; Yoji et al. (US-9579794-B2) Articulated robot and method for controlling the same;
HASHIMOTO YASUHIKO et al. (JP-2017017355-A) SUBSTRATE TRANSFER ROBOT;
JHON; Chol-Min et al. (US-20140325772-A1) LOAD PORT MODULE;
Yazawa; Takayuki et al. (US-20130202390-A1) INDUSTRIAL ROBOT;
FURUICHI; Masatoshi (US-20130195598-A1) TRANSFER ROBOT;
HASHIMOTO YASUHIKO (JP-2008028134-A) WAFER TRANSFER DEVICE AND SUBSTRATE TRANSFER DEVICE;
Koyama, Yoshihiro et al. (US-20030123971-A1) Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELLIS B. RAMIREZ whose telephone number is (571)272-8920. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 am to 5:00pm.
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/ELLIS B. RAMIREZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3658