Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status Rejections
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 110, 111, 120, 121, 511B.
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the peripheral concave shape must be shown or the feature canceled from the claim 7. No new matter should be entered.
Figures 5(a), 5(b) do not clearly show an absorbing unit has a concave shape (520A, 520B) with a hole being able to fit the concave shape (510A,511B). Figures show a square/rectangular shape for the absorbing unit.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 2,4,5-7,9,10 are objected to because of the following informalities: written as “according to the claim”, it should be “according to claim”. Appropriate correction is required.
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 2-11 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.
Claim 2-10 states ‘an end effector’ while claim 1 already established ‘an end effector’. For examination purposes, the examiner will interpret the ‘an end effector’ in claims 2-10 as the same feature.
Claim 6, which depends from claim 2, and claim 2 depends from claim 1, recites “a hole”, however claim 1 recites “a plurality of holes”. It is unclear if a “a hole” is one of the “plurality of holes”.
Claim 7 has same ambiguity as claim 6.
Claim 7 also states in line 1 ‘absorbing unit has a concave shape’ while line 3 has ‘the protrusion of the inner side of the hole is configured to fit into a concave shape of the absorbing unit’. It is unclear if it is different. It should recite “the concave shape of the absorbing unit” in line 3.
Claim 11 states in preamble ‘transporting a substrate’, while line 2 in body has ‘arm configured to move a substrate’. For examination purposes, the examiner will treat it as the same feature.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-6, 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being anticipated by Kroetz et al.
Regarding claim 1:
Kroetz et al. teaches an end effector (100) used for transporting a substrate, comprises:
a paddle (102) configured to support a substrate (101) and the paddle being flat;
a blade part (107) connected to the paddle at a first end of the paddle, wherein a distal end
of the blade part is provided with a front protrusion (1090) for positioning the substrate;
and a plurality of pads (108) disposed in each of a plurality of holes, wherein the plurality of
pads contact the substrate when transporting the substrate and wherein the plurality of
holes are disposed in the paddle and the blade part.
Regarding claim 2:
Kroetz et al. teaches an end effector according to the claim 1, further comprises: a joint section (654) connected to the paddle at a second end of the paddle and configured to be attached to a robotic arm.
Regarding claim 3:
Kroetz et al. teaches an end effector according to claim 2, wherein a number of the holes is equal to or greater than three (3) (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 4:
Kroetz et al. teaches an end effector according to the claim 2, wherein the blade part comprises at least one blade (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 5:
Kroetz et al. teaches an end effector according to the claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of pads comprises:
a supporting unit (210) configured to support the substrate on its top side when transporting the substrate;
and an absorbing unit (218) configured to encircle a lower side of the supporting unit and fitted into a hole, wherein the absorbing unit is elastic and flexible to be able to absorb shocks and seal the supporting unit and the hole.
Regarding claim 6:
Kroetz et al. teaches an end effector according to the claim 5, wherein the absorbing unit is an O-ring; and an inner side of the hole has a concave shape, wherein the O-ring is configured to fit into the concave shape of the inner side of the hole (FIG. 3B).
Regarding claim 9:
Kroetz et al. teaches an end effector according to the claim 5, wherein the supporting unit is configured to have a round top shape (208H).
Regarding claim 10:
Kroetz et al. teaches an end effector according to the claim 5, wherein the supporting unit is made of ceramics (page 2, 0027, last sentence), and the absorbing unit is made of elastomer (page 3, 0034, last sentence).
Regarding claim 11:
Kroetz et al. teaches a backend robot (653) for transporting a substrate, comprises:
a robotic arm comprising at least two arm parts, the robotic arm configured to move a substrate from one place to another place;
and an end effector connected to the robotic arm, and configured to move the substrate placed on the end effector, wherein the end effector comprises:
a paddle configured to support the substrate and the paddle being flat;
a blade part connected to the paddle at a first end of the paddle, wherein a distal end of the blade part is provided with a front protrusion for positioning the substrate;
and a plurality of pads disposed in each of a plurality of holes, wherein the plurality of pads contact the substrate when transporting the substrate and wherein the plurality of holes are disposed in the paddle and the blade part.
Regarding claim 12:
Kroetz et al. teaches a substrate processing apparatus (600) comprising:
a reaction chamber (655) for processing a substrate;
a substrate handling chamber (648) attached to the reaction chamber;
a backend robot disposed in the substrate handling chamber and the backend robot comprises a robotic arm and an end effector attached to the robotic arm;
and a load lock chamber (656) attached to the substrate handling chamber and configured to load or unload the substrate, wherein the end effector comprises:
a paddle configured to support the substrate and the paddle being flat;
a blade part connected to the paddle at a first end of the paddle, wherein a distal end of the blade part is provided with a front protrusion for positioning the substrate;
and a plurality of pads disposed in each of a plurality of holes, wherein the plurality of pads contact the substrate when transporting the substrate and wherein the plurality of holes are disposed in the paddle and the blade part.
Claims 1-2, 5-6, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being anticipated by Bonora et al.
Regarding claim 1:
Bonora et al teaches an end effector used for transporting a substrate, comprises: a paddle (110) configured to support a substrate and the paddle being flat; a blade part (112) connected to the paddle at a first end of the paddle, wherein a distal end of the blade part is provided with a front protrusion (118) for positioning the substrate; and a plurality of pads (114) disposed in each of a plurality of holes, wherein the plurality of pads contact the substrate when transporting the substrate and wherein the plurality of holes are disposed in the paddle and the blade part.
Regarding claim 2:
Bonora et al teaches an end effector according to the claim 1, further comprises: a joint section (104) connected to the paddle at a second end of the paddle and configured to be attached to a robotic arm.
Regarding claim 5:
Bonora et al teaches an end effector according to the claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of pads comprises: a supporting unit configured to support the substrate on its top side when transporting the substrate; and an absorbing unit configured to encircle a lower side of the supporting unit and fitted into a hole, wherein the absorbing unit is elastic and flexible to be able to absorb shocks and seal the supporting unit and the hole (paragraph 8, line 40-41).
Regarding claim 6:
Bonora et al teaches an end effector according to the claim 5,wherein the absorbing unit is an O-ring (148); and an inner side of the hole has a concave shape, wherein the O-ring is configured to fit into the concave shape of the inner side of the hole.
Regarding claim 8:
Bonora et al. teaches an end effector (102) according to claim 6, wherein the supporting unit (146) is configured to tilt to a certain degree in a same direction as a direction of a substrate movement when the substrate slides.
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 1-2,5, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. (WO 2022045479) in view of Kroetz et al. (US 20200273826).
Regarding claim 1:
Chang et al. discloses an end effector (130) used for transporting a substrate, comprises: a paddle (131) configured to support a substrate and the paddle being flat; a blade part (135) connected to the paddle at a first end of the paddle, and a plurality of pads disposed in each of a plurality of holes (140), wherein the plurality of pads contact the substrate when transporting the substrate and wherein the plurality of holes are disposed in the paddle and the blade part.
Chang et al. does not disclose an end effector with a blade part connected to the paddle at a first end of the paddle, wherein a distal end of the blade part is provided with a front protrusion for positioning the substrate.
On the other hand, Kroetz et al. teaches an end effector (100) used for transporting a substrate, comprises:
a paddle (102) configured to support a substrate (101) and the paddle being flat;
a blade part (107) connected to the paddle at a first end of the paddle, wherein a distal end
of the blade part is provided with a front protrusion (1090) for positioning the substrate;
and a plurality of pads (108) disposed in each of a plurality of holes, wherein the plurality of
pads contact the substrate when transporting the substrate and wherein the plurality of
holes are disposed in the paddle and the blade part.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chang et al. in view of Kroetz et al. to include protrusion on end effector. Doing so would allow for a substrate to be more secure when processing and transporting.
Regarding claim 2:
Chang et al. discloses an end effector according to the claim 1, further comprises: a joint section (111) connected to the paddle at a second end of the paddle and configured to be attached to a robotic arm (120).
Regarding claim 5:
Chang et al. discloses an end effector according to the claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of pads comprises: a supporting unit (141) configured to support the substrate on its top side when transporting the substrate; and an absorbing unit (145) configured to encircle a lower side of the supporting unit and fitted into a hole, wherein the absorbing unit is elastic and flexible to be able to absorb shocks and seal the supporting unit and the hole.
Regarding claim 7:
Chang et al. discloses an end effector according to the claim 5 wherein the absorbing unit (145) has a concave shape around its side and an inner side of the hole has a protrusion; and the protrusion of the inner side of the hole (1351) is configured to fit into a concave shape of the absorbing unit .
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's
disclosure.
Arai et al. (US 9343350) and Lee et al. (US 11935779) disclose other configurations
for the end effector.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIA AHADI whose telephone number is (571)270-3145. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-430pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Saul Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 272-7097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ELIA AHADI/Examiner, Art Unit 3652
/GREGORY W ADAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3652
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