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 .
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 1-20 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.
Claims 1, 11, and 20 each recite the limitation “a storage and transfer unit disposed in the module body” and “wherein a pair of the storage and transfer units are provided”. It is unclear whether a two more additional storage and transfer units are provided in addition to the original recitation of a storage and transfer unit or there are only two storage and transfer units provided. For the purposes of examining, it understood that storage and transfer module comprises a pair of storage and transfer units without an additional unit. For example claim 1 is understood as follows:
A storage and transfer module comprising: a module body; a pair of storage and transfer units disposed in the module body, each of the storage and transfer units including a liftable transfer portion, and a storage portion disposed on the outside of the transfer portion, each of the storage portions having a storage space therein; and a transfer target portion in which a substrate is transferred by each of the transfer portions, wherein each of the storage and transfer units.
For each of the dependent claims, reference to the “liftable transfer portion”, “storage portion”, and “storage space” is understood to be a plurality, because the transfer module comprises a pair of storage and transfer units. The remaining claims depend therefrom.
Claim 1, 4, 5, 9, 11, 14, 18, and 20 recite the limitation of “the transfer portion”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The term transfer portion is a generic term that can be interpreted as the liftable transfer portion or transfer target portion of claims 1, 11 and 20, or the vertical transfer portion of claims 4, 5, and 14. For purposes of examining, any recitation of “the transfer portion” is understood to be the “liftable transfer portion”.
Claim 19, depending from claim 10, repeats the subject matter of claim 10: “a heat treatment chamber portion heating or cooling the substrate; and a substrate inspection module inspecting a [defective] state of the substrate”. It is unclear whether new chamber portions are being introduced or elements of claim 10 are being recalled. For the purposes of examining the claim in understood to depend from independent claim 11.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-9 and 11-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enokida et al. [US 2013/0078059] in view of Nakashima [US 2015/0096682].
For claims 1 and 11, Enokida teaches a substrate treatment apparatus comprising:
a loading port including a substrate loading portion (carrier placement 15A-15D with doors 13, see Figs. 2 and 3) in which a substrate is disposed;
a buffer module including a frame and a plurality of buffers disposed in the frame, the plurality of buffers arranged in a vertical direction (buffer modules BU within the tower unit 31 along the height direction, see [0088] and Fig. 3, frame is inherent to maintain the position of the modules along the tower 31);
a storage and transfer module (S1, see Fig. 1) comprising:
a module body (S1);
a storage and transfer unit (41, see Figs. 1 and 4) disposed in the module body, the storage and transfer unit including a liftable transfer portion (40); and
a transfer target portion (tower 31) in which a substrate is transferred by the transfer portion,
wherein a pair of the storage and transfer units are provided (41 and 42), the pair of storage and transfer units are disposed to oppose each other with the transfer target portion interposed therebetween (see Figs. 1 and 4), and
wherein, the substrate loading portion is disposed on one side of the storage and transfer units (see Figs. 2 and 3).
Enokida fails to teach a storage portion disposed on the outside of the transfer portion, the storage portion having a storage space therein.
Nakashima teaches a storage portion disposed on the outside of the transfer portion, the storage portion having a storage space therein (D2e, see Figs. 13 and 16, transfer and chemical block are partitioned from each other, see [0099]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the storage portion as taught by Nakashima in the storage and transfer unit as taught by Enokida in order to provide space for storage and automated exchange of chemical liquids used during the manufacturing process to reduce down time for the exchange and maintain throughput.
For claims 2 and 12, in the combination of Enokida and Nakashima, Enokida teaches the pair of the storage and transfer units are disposed in a row in one direction (see direction in Fig. 1), and Nakashima teaches the storage portion is disposed on each of opposite outer sides of the pair of storage and transfer units disposed in a row (outside portions D2e, see Fig. 16).
For claims 3 and 13, in the combination of Enokida and Nakashima, Nakashima teaches in the storage space, a plurality of support plates are disposed in multiple stages in a vertical direction, and at least one treatment liquid container is supported on each of the support plates (the arrangement of supports in the vertical direction for supporting the containers 50, see Fig. 4).
For claims 4 and 14, Enokida teaches the transfer portion includes a guide portion extending in the vertical direction (44, see Fig. 4), a vertical transfer portion slidably connected to the guide portion (45), and a hand portion that is rotatable (on rotation table 46) and capable of selectively gripping the substrate (first holding arm 47 thus constituted above is configured to hold a portion of a lower surface of a wafer W).
For claim 5, Enokida teaches the transfer portion is disposed between the hand portion and the vertical transfer portion, and further includes a horizontal transfer portion, linearly moving the hand portion toward the transfer target portion or the substrate loading portion (first holding arm 47 is configured to be able to advance and retreat along its longitudinal direction above the rotating table 46. When the extending direction of the first holding arm 47 is supposed as a back and forth direction, see [0088]).
For claims 6 and 15, in the combination of Enokida and Nakashima, Nakashima teaches the plurality of support plates are disposed to be spaced apart from each other at a regular interval (see Figs. 4 and 16), and Enokida teaches from a lower end of the guide portion to an upper end of the guide portion (vertical extent of the frame 44, see Figs. 2 and 4).
For claims 7 and 16, in the combination of Enokida and Nakashima, Nakashima teaches a plurality of storage portions are provided and arranged in the vertical direction (container mounting modules 6, see Fig . 4), and further includes an opening/closing portion disposed to be openable and closable at a position opposing each of the support plates (providing an opening/closing door (shutter) at a front end of the container mounting module 6, see [0089]).
For claims 8 and 17, Enokida teaches the substrate loading portion includes at least two mounting tables, and the at least two mounting tables are disposed to be spaced apart from each other in a row in the vertical direction (15A and 15C or 15B and 15D, see Fig. 2).
For claims 9 and 18, in the combination of Enokida and Nakashima, Nakashima teaches a partition wall is disposed between the transfer portion and the storage portion, such that the transfer portion and the storage portion are respectively disposed in spaces partitioned from each other by the partition wall (wafer transfer space is partitioned from chemical liquid space, see [0099]).
Claims 10, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enokida and Nakashima as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Watanabe et al. [US 2022/0165597].
For claims 10 and 19, Enokida teaches one of a buffer module in which the substrate is stored (BU, see [0088]), a heat treatment chamber portion heating or cooling the substrate (SCPL, see [0085]); and wherein one of the buffer module, the heat treatment chamber portion (BU, SCPL, see Fig. 3), and the substrate inspection module is disposed in the transfer target portion.
Enokida fails to teach a substrate inspection module inspecting a defective state of the substrate.
Watanabe teaches a substrate inspection module inspecting a defective state of the substrate (abnormality determination by module 41, see [0039]-[0040] and Fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the inspection device as taught by Watanabe in the tower unit as taught by Enokida in order to identify defects prior to processing to mitigate processing errors that result in defective components.
For claim 20, In the same combination for claims 1 and 11 above, Enokida teaches a substrate treatment apparatus comprising:
a loading port including a cassette in which a substrate is accommodated, and a plurality of mounting tables on which the cassette is loaded (carrier C placement 15A-15D with doors 13, see Figs. 2 and 3);
a heat treatment chamber portion including a baking chamber (shelf units U1 to U5 are formed by stacking heating modules for heating a wafer W at two levels);
a buffer module including a frame and a plurality of buffers disposed in the frame, the plurality of buffers arranged in the vertical direction (buffer modules BU within the tower unit 31 along the height direction, see [0088] and Fig. 3, frame is inherent to maintain the position of the modules along the tower 31); and
a storage and transfer module (S1, see Fig. 1) including a module body (S1), a storage and transfer unit (41, see Figs. 1 and 4) disposed in the module body, the storage and transfer unit including a liftable transfer portion (40), and a transfer target portion (tower 31) in which a substrate is transferred by the transfer portion,
wherein a pair of the storage and transfer units are provided (41 and 42), the pair of storage and transfer units are disposed to oppose each other with the transfer target portion interposed therebetween (see Figs. 1 and 4), and a plurality of mounting tables (15A and 15C or 15B and 15D, see Fig. 2) are disposed on one side of the storage and transfer units (see Figs. 1-3), the plurality of mounting tables respectively oppose the pair of storage and transfer units, and are disposed in a row in the vertical direction (see Fig. 2),
and one of the buffer module and the heat treatment chamber portion is selectively disposed in the transfer target portion (BU, SCPL, see Fig. 3).
Nakashima teaches a storage portion having a storage space therein (D2e, see Figs. 13 and 16, transfer and chemical block are partitioned from each other, see [0099]), the storage and transfer unit in which a partition wall disposed between the transfer portion and the storage portion (wafer transfer space is partitioned from chemical liquid space, see [0099]), in the storage space, a plurality of support plates are disposed in multiple stages in the vertical direction, and at least one treatment liquid container is supported on each of the support plates (the arrangement of supports in the vertical direction for supporting the containers 50, see Fig. 4).
Enokida fails to teach a plurality of heating plates disposed in the baking chamber; the plurality of heating plates stacked in a vertical direction.
Watanabe teaches a plurality of heating plates disposed in the baking chamber; the plurality of heating plates stacked in a vertical direction (heating modules 54 is a module for performing the above-described PEB and includes a hot plates 55, see Fig. 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the hot plates as taught by Watanabe in the heating units as taught by Enokida in order to provide the heat for post exposure bake.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ueda et al. [US 6,402,400], Nishimura et al. [US 7,665,415], Dauendorffer et a. [US 2015/0078870], Hashimoto et al. [US 2020/0357630], Watanabe et al. [US 2023/0106927], Ogata et al. [US 2024/0094644], and Tanaka et al. [US 2024/0152052] each teach liquid container storage as part of the track.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Steven H Whitesell whose telephone number is (571)270-3942. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM (MST).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Duane Smith can be reached at 571-272-1166. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Steven H Whitesell/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759