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 .
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
Claims 1-6, 9, 10 and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakiboglu et al. [WO 2021/013441 A1].
Regarding claims 1, 15 and 18, Nakiboglu et al. discloses a cooling device / a method (Fig. 4) for cooling a position-sensitive component of a lithography apparatus (Figs. 1 and 2, see also paragraphs [0068]-[0069] teaches conditioning system to control the temperature of a component of a lithographic apparatus), comprising:
a cooling line (401) having a liquid space configured to transport a cooling liquid to the position-sensitive component (paragraph [0080]) and a gas space (402) configured to receive a gas, wherein the cooling line (401) is a pipeline defining a constant cooling line cross section in a flow direction of the cooling liquid in the cooling line (paragraphs [0080]-[0085] teaches the conduit to supply a path of the liquid to a temperature controlled component), a nd
an elastic separation membrane (403) arranged within the cooling line (401) and separating the gas space (402) from the liquid space (paragraph [0083] teaches the separation of gas and liquid).
Regarding claim 2, Nakiboglu et al. discloses wherein the elastic separation membrane (403) is a pressure membrane configured to deform in response to a change in pressure of the cooling liquid such that a volume of the gas space changes in accordance with the pressure change (paragraphs [0081] and [0085] teaches wherein the membrane is controllable by controlling the pressure of the gas).
Regarding claim 3, Nakiboglu et al. discloses wherein, in the cross section of the cooling line, the gas space separated by the elastic separation membrane is rotationally symmetric (paragraphs [0083]-[0084]).
Regarding claim 4, Nakiboglu et al. discloses wherein, in the cross section of the cooling line, the liquid space and the gas space that is separated from the liquid space by the elastic separation membrane are arranged coaxially (paragraphs [0083]-[0084]).
Regarding claim 5, Nakiboglu et al. discloses wherein, in the cross section of the cooling line and in relation to the liquid space, the gas space is an interior gas space or an exterior gas space (paragraphs [0083]-[0084]).
Regarding claim 6, Nakiboglu et al. discloses further comprising an elastic tube that comprises the elastic separation membrane and forms the gas space (as shown in Figs. 4 and 10).
Regarding claim 9, Nakiboglu et al. discloses further comprising a securing element configured to attach the elastic separation membrane to an inner wall of the cooling line (as shown in Figs. 4 and 10).
Regarding claim 10, Nakiboglu et al. discloses further comprising equipment configured to set a pressure of a gas contained in the gas space (paragraphs [0081] and [0085] teaches wherein the membrane is controllable by controlling the pressure of the gas).
Regarding claims 16-17, Nakiboglu et al. discloses a lithography apparatus, comprising an illumination system configured to illuminate an object field and a projection system configured to project the object field into an image field, wherein the illumination system and/or the projection system comprises a cooling device and configured to propagate extreme ultraviolet radiation (as shown in Figs. 1 and 2).
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 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakiboglu et al. in view of El Mallawany et al. [US 2022/0195840 A1].
Regarding claims 7 and 8, Nakiboglu et al. discloses the cooling device (as applied above).
Nakiboglu et al. does not teach further comprising at least one spacer arranged between the elastic separation membrane and an inner wall of the cooling line, and wherein the at least one spacer comprises a plurality of spacers that are formed by nubs arranged on an outer side of the elastic separation membrane.
However, El Mallawany et al. discloses a fluid flow device comprising at least one spacer arranged between the elastic separation membrane and an inner wall of the cooling line, and wherein the at least one spacer comprises a plurality of spacers that are formed by nubs arranged on an outer side of the elastic separation membrane (as shown in Figs. 3A-3D).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide spacers, as taught by El Mallawany et al. in the cooling device of Nakiboglu et al. because such a modification provides support for enabling constant flow.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-14 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claim 11, neither Nakiboglu et al. nor El Mallawany et al. either alone or in combination teaches “wherein the elastic separation membrane comprises at least two elastic separation membranes that are arranged within the cooling line and correspondingly form at least two gas spaces that are separated from one another and from the liquid space.”
With respect to claim 14, neither Nakiboglu et al. nor El Mallawany et al. either alone or in combination teaches “further comprising a foam and/or sponge element with a plurality of bubbles and an elastic material surrounding the plurality of bubbles, wherein the gas space is formed by the plurality of bubbles of the foam and/or sponge element, and the separation membrane is formed by the elastic material that surrounds the plurality of bubbles.”
Claims 12 and 13 are objected to because of their dependency.
Conclusion
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/DEORAM PERSAUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882
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