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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 4-8, 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suguru et al. (U.S. Patent ‘929).
Regarding claim 1, Suguru et al. discloses a substrate processing apparatus (1), comprising: a carry-in/out block (A1) having a container placement section in which multiple containers (A1-A4) each configured to accommodate therein a substrate are placed; and a processing block (A2), disposed to be adjacent to the carry-in/out block in a width direction, having multiple processing modules (B1-B6) each configured to perform a process on the substrate, wherein the carry-in/out block further comprises: a transit block (40) in which transit modules configured to deliver the substrate are provided on a processing block side to deliver the substrate to/from the processing block; and a first transfer mechanism (41) configured to transfer the substrate between the container placement section and the transit block, the processing block further comprises a second transfer mechanism (42) configured to transfer the substrate between the transit block and the processing module, and the first transfer mechanism has a support (44) configured to support the substrate, and is configured to allow the substrate supported by the support to pass through the transit block in a depth direction intersecting with the width direction, when viewed from a top.
Regarding claim 2, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the first transfer mechanism performs a delivery of the substrate to/from the transit block only from the depth direction.
Regarding claim 4, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1, wherein in the carry-in/out block, the container placement section is provided on an opposite side to the processing block in the width direction.
Regarding claim 5, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 4, wherein the first transfer mechanism is configured to perform a delivery of the substrate to/from the container placement section from the processing block side in the width direction.
Regarding claim 6, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 4, wherein the first transfer mechanism further comprises a first guide member (47) configured to guide a movement of the support in a vertical direction; and a second guide member (48) configured to guide a movement of the first guide member in the depth direction, and a size of a gap between the container placement section and the transit block in the width direction is greater than a length of the first guide member and less than a length of the support.
Regarding claim 7, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the second transfer mechanism performs a delivery of the substrate to/from the transit block from the width direction.
Regarding claim 8, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the processing block is divided into multiple sub-blocks in a vertical direction, each of the sub-blocks is equipped with the second transfer mechanism, and the transit block is configured to deliver the substrate to/from the second transfer mechanisms of all of the multiple sub-blocks (61A, 61B).
Regarding claim 10, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the processing block is divided into multiple division blocks in the width direction, and each division block is provided with the multiple processing modules and a shuttle transfer mechanism (51) configured to transfer the substrate only linearly in the width direction.
Regarding claim 11, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 10, wherein the processing block further comprises an intermediate block (CPL) between the neighboring division blocks, the intermediate block comprises the transit block, and the shuttle transfer mechanism transfers the substrate linearly in the width direction between the transit blocks.
Regarding claim 12, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 10, wherein the multiple division blocks are arranged side by side in the width direction, and the shuttle transfer mechanism transfers the substrate linearly in the width direction between the transit module within the division block provided with the shuttle transfer mechanism and the transit module within an additional division block adjacent to the division block provided with the shuttle transfer mechanism.
Regarding claim 13, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 12, wherein a linear transfer path of the substrate by the shuttle transfer mechanism and the transit module to/from which the shuttle transfer mechanism transfers the substrate overlaps with the processing module when viewed from the top (Fig 11).
Regarding claim 14, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 12, wherein the first transfer mechanism transfers the substrate to the transit module, which is provided within the division block on a carry-in/out block side in the width direction, to/from which the shuttle transfer mechanism transfers the substrate.
Regarding claim 15, Suguru et al. discloses the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 14, wherein the first transfer mechanism performs a delivery of the substrate to/from the transit block only from one side in the depth direction, and the transit module, to/from which the shuttle transfer mechanism transfers the substrate (Fig 23), within the division block on the carry-in/out block side in the width direction is provided on the one side more than the transit block of the carry-in/out block in the depth direction.
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 3 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suguru et al. (U.S. Patent ‘929), in view of Fukutomi et al. (JP ‘728).
Regarding claim 3, Suguru et al. teaches all of the elements of the current invention as stated above except the substrate processing apparatus having a first blower configured to supply a clean gas into a first transfer space where the first transfer mechanism is provided of the carry-in/out block.
On the other hand, Fukutomi et al. teaches the first blower unit (61) have gas into the transfer space with the first transfer mechanism (A1) of the carry-in/out block.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date, to modify, Suguru et al. in view of Fukutomi et al. to include a first blower unit. Doing so would enable the substrate processing apparatus to supply a clean gas into a first transfer space of the carry-in/out block.
Regarding claim 9, Suguru et al. teaches all of the elements of the current invention as stated above except the substrate processing apparatus having a first blower configured to supply a clean gas into a second transfer space where the second transfer mechanism is provided of the carry-in/out block.
On the other hand, Fukutomi et al. teaches the second blower unit (67) have gas into the transfer space with the second transfer mechanism (A2) of the carry-in/out block.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date, to modify, Suguru et al. in view of Fukutomi et al. to include a second blower unit. Doing so would enable the substrate processing apparatus to supply a clean gas into a second transfer space of the carry-in/out block.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Matsuyama et al. (U.S. Patent ‘085) and Nakajima (JP ‘450) disclose other substrate processing apparatuses with different configurations with various processing mechanisms.
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/SAUL RODRIGUEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3652
/ELIA AHADI/Examiner, Art Unit 3652
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