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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on 11/25/2024 has been considered. An initialed copy of form 1449 is enclosed herewith.
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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 15 recite a first track and a second track; both, are configured to provide a movement path for the transfer robot wherein a moving body is configured to move along the first track and the second track; however, the claims are silence with regard to the gap between both tracks; whether there is a continuity or discontinuity during the transition movement from one track to another. Thus, these limitations recited in claims 1 and 15 renders the claims indefinite, because the claims includes elements and functions not actually disclosed (those encompassed by the range of the values of the absolute value of the power source), thereby rendering the claims confusing, vague, and indefinite.
Claims 1 and 15 recite a first scale mounted along the first track and a second scale configured to be connected to the first scale and a second scale configured to be connected to the first scale. However, the claims also recite an interval between the first scale and the second scale. Thus, these limitations recited in claims 1 and 15 renders the claims indefinite, because the claims includes elements and functions not actually disclosed (those encompassed by the interval distance between the scales), thereby rendering the claims confusing, vague, and indefinite.
Claims 2- 14 and 16- 20 are rejected by virtue of its dependency on claims 1 and 15, thereby containing all the limitations of the claims on which they depend.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
5. 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1, 2 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Hoey et al. (US 20100329827 A1).
Re. claims 1 and 15, Hoey disclose a semiconductor manufacturing facility (Fig. 4) comprising:
a loader module configured to accommodate a cassette configured to receive a substrate (load lock 35);
a load lock chamber configured to temporarily store the substrate (load lock compartment);
a transfer module (transport chamber 32) configured to provide a space to allow a transfer robot (robot arm 41) transferring the substrate to travel therethrough; and
a plurality of processing modules (processing chambers 31) arranged on opposite sides of the transfer module, the plurality of processing modules being configured to process the substrate,
wherein the transfer module comprises a first transfer module (see first vacuum partition in transport chamber 32) coupled to the load lock chamber (Fig. 4) and a second transfer module (see second vacuum partition in transport chamber 32) configured to be detachably coupled to the first transfer module (Fig. 4 shows the two partitions are detachably coupled),
wherein the first transfer module comprises:
a first track (part of track 43) configured to provide a movement path for the transfer robot (robot arm 41); and
a first scale (encoding 57c) mounted along the first track, the first scale comprising markers arranged for determination of a position of the transfer robot (“for example, the encoder 57a may be an optical encoder reading encoding provided on linear track 46.” ¶. [0054]),
wherein the second transfer module comprises:
a second track (part of track 43) configured to be connected to the first track (Fig. 4); and
a second scale (encoding 57c) configured to be connected to the first scale (¶. [0054]- [0055]),
wherein the transfer robot comprises:
a moving body (41) configured to move along the first track and the second track (43);
an encoder module ( encoder 57a and encoder 57b) configured to detect the first scale mounted along the first track and the second scale mounted along the second track to generate a position signal (¶. [0054]- [0055]);
a controller configured to detect a position of the transfer robot based on the position signal (¶. [0054]- [0055]); and
a servo system (motor 52) configured to control driving of the moving body in accordance with the detected position (¶. [0054]- [0055]);
wherein the encoder module comprises a first encoder and a second encoder mounted with an interval therebetween along the first track and in a longitudinal direction of the second track ( encoder 57a and encoder 57b are both provided on linear track 46; hence, there is an interval between them ), and
wherein the interval between the first encoder and the second encoder is greater than an interval between the first scale and the second scale (Fig. 7B shows encoding 57c as one of the scales positioned near encoder 57a; however, distance between the interval between the first encoder and the second encoder and interval between the first scale and the second scale is not shown. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention place the two encoders separated from each other by distance that is greater than the interval between the first scale and the second scale in order to provide different readings when the moving part crosses from first track to the second track and vice versa.
Re. claim 2, Hoey, Fig. 7B shows encoding 57c as one of the scales positioned near encoder 57a; however, distance between the interval between the first encoder and the second encoder and interval between the first scale and the second scale is not shown. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention place the two encoders separated from each other by distance that is greater than the interval between the first scale and the second scale in order to provide different readings when the moving part crosses from first track to the second track and vice versa.
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 3- 14 and 16- 20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAID BOUZIANE whose telephone number is (571)272-7592. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 6:00-15:00.
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/SAID BOUZIANE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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