Appeal No. 2002-1760
Serial No. 09/355,509
THE INVENTION
The appellants’ claimed invention is directed toward
semiconductor processing apparatus having multiple reactors and a
boat transfer mechanism in the same processing chamber. Claim 31
is illustrative:
31. A semiconductor processing system for batch processing
of substrates in boats, comprising a substrate handling chamber,
a boat transfer mechanism occupying a defined footprint within a
process chamber sealable from the substrate handling chamber, at
least two reactor vessels occupying the same defined footprint,
and a boat lift mechanism for lifting boats from the boat
transfer mechanism into one of the reactor vessels.
THE REFERENCES
Nishi 5,178,639 Jan. 12, 1993
Zinger 5,407,449 Apr. 18, 1995
Ohsawa 5,464,313 Nov. 7, 1995
THE REJECTIONS
Claims 8-14, 20-32, 34 and 35 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as being unpatentable over Zinger alone or in view of
Ohsawa or Nishi.
OPINION
We reverse the aforementioned rejections.
Rejection over Zinger
The claims on appeal include three independent claims, i.e.,
claims 8, 20 and 31, each of which claims a semiconductor
processing apparatus. Claim 8 requires a processing chamber
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