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.
Claim 22 is 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 22 recites the limitation "the inlet" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 7-13, 16-18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beary et al. (20160288239) in view of Fickett et al. (20040211358) and Satake (EP0786648A1).
Regarding claim 1, Beary discloses a granular material flow control system, comprising: a granular material supply (132); a discharge head (132c) in fluid communication with the granular material supply; a pan (128) positioned beneath the discharge head to receive granular material discharged from the discharge head, the pan comprising a first end portion (128a) and a second end portion (128b); a flow regulator conduit (140), the flow regulator conduit having an inlet opening and an outlet opening; and a vibratory feeder (130) coupled to the pan and configured to vibrate the pan to induce granular material in the pan to flow off of an edge (the inlet of 140) of the second end portion into the flow regulator conduit.
Beary DIFFERS in that is does not disclose the flow regulator conduit coupled to a weight sensor and the second end portion of the pan being received in the inlet opening of the flow regulator conduit.
Fickett discloses a flow regulator conduit (54) and a weight sensor (par. 0041), the flow regulator conduit having an inlet opening and an outlet opening, the second end portion of a pan (40) being received in the inlet opening of the flow regulator conduit (Figs. 4 and 6).
Satake discloses a flow regulator conduit (2, 3) coupled to a weight sensor (4, 5).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to arrange the second end portion of the pan in the inlet opening of the flow regulator conduit and couple the flow regulator conduit to a weight sensor for the purpose of sensing and controlling the amount of material fed over a given time (par. 0041 of Fickett).
Regarding claim 2, the discharge head comprises an inlet and an outlet and defines a longitudinal axis (Fig. 8B of Beary).
Beary discloses the claimed invention except for the outlet is oriented at an angle to the longitudinal axis. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to arrange the outlet at an angle to the longitudinal axis since Applicant has not disclosed that doing so provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem. One of ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with the discharge head of Beary because it is designed to perform the same function as the claimed discharge head (i.e., delivering material from the supply to the pan). Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify Beary to obtain the invention as specified in the claim.
Regarding claim 7, the first end portion of the pan comprises a bay that is at least partially enclosed (Fig. 8B of Beary).
Regarding claim 8, the outlet of the discharge head is oriented toward the bay of the pan (Fig. 8B of Beary).
Regarding claim 9, the flow regulator conduit comprises one or a plurality of angled interior surfaces spaced apart along a longitudinal axis of the conduit (Fig. 1 of Satake).
Regarding claim 10, the flow regulator conduit comprises a plurality of baffles that define the angled interior surfaces (see 9 and angled portion of 2 in Fig. 1 of Satake).
Regarding claim 11, the discharge head is coupled to a support frame (par. 0094 of Beary), and the support frame supports a weight of the granular material in the discharge head and in the granular material supply.
Regarding claim 12, the pan, the flow regulator conduit, and the vibratory feeder are mounted inside a sealed enclosure (22 of Fickett).
Regarding claim 13, at least the outlet of the discharge head is located inside the sealed enclosure (Fig. 6 of Fickett).
Regarding claim 16, the apparatus further comprising a controller (66 of Fickett) in communication with the weight sensor to receive a signal from the weight sensor and control an amplitude and/or frequency of the vibratory feeder based at least in part on the signal from the weight sensor.
Regarding claim 17, the flow regulator conduit is suspended from the weight sensor (Fig. 1 of Satake).
Regarding claim 18, the pan, the flow regulator conduit, and the vibratory feeder are mounted inside a sealed enclosure (22 of Fickett); and the weight sensor is outside the sealed enclosure (Fig. 4 of Fickett; Fig. 1 of Satake).
Regarding claim 20, Beary discloses a method, comprising flowing a granular material through the granular material flow control system of claim 1 (par. 0006 of Beary; Fig. 1 of Satake; Fig. 6 of Fickett).
Claim(s) 14-15 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beary et al. in view of Fickett et al. and Satake as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gruebl et al. (20180148267).
Regarding claim 14, the discharge head, the pan, and the flow regulator conduit define a flow path for the granular material (Fig. 6 of Fickett)
Beary DIFFERS in that it does not disclose the granular material is granular polysilicon and interior surfaces of the flow path comprise silicon (Si) and/or silicon carbide (SiC). Attention, however, is directed to Gruebl, which discloses a supply of granular material is granular polysilicon and interior surfaces of a flow path comprise silicon and/or silicon carbide (par. 0024 and 0028).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a supply of polysilicon and a flow path comprising silicon and/or silicon carbide for the purpose of manufacturing semiconductors and solar cells (par. 0003 of Gruebl).
Regarding claim 15, the vibratory feeder controls a flow rate of granular polysilicon through the supply (Fig. 8B of Beary).
Beary DIFFERS in that it does not disclose the granular material is granular polysilicon and the granular material supply is an annealer. Attention, however, is directed to Gruebl, which discloses granular polysilicon material supplied by an annealer (par. 0004 and 0024).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a supply of polysilicon from an annealer for the purpose of manufacturing semiconductors and solar cells (par. 0003 of Gruebl).
Regarding claim 21, Beary discloses a silicon crystal growing system comprising the granular material flow control system of claim 1 (par. 0002-0004 of Gruebl).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6, 19, and 23 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 22 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art to the claimed invention is Beary et al. Beary fails to teach or suggest the second end portion of the pan being received in the inlet opening of the flow regulator conduit; and the discharge head further comprises vent passages to vent gas from the granular material, the vent passages being in fluid communication with the internal chamber of the discharge head.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DONNELL ALAN LONG whose telephone number is (571)270-5610. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8AM-5PM.
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, PAUL DURAND can be reached at 571-272-4459. 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.
/DONNELL A LONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754
Prosecution Insights