Appeal No. 1997-2016 Page 4
Application No. 08/196,126
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given careful consideration to the
appellants' specification and claims, to the applied prior art references, and to the respective
positions articulated by the appellants and the examiner. As a consequence of our review, we
make the determinations which follow.
Hentz discloses an apparatus for positioning and adhering a plurality of extremely small
semiconductor devices (10) to sites (16) on a translucent alumina substrate (18), which has a
thin-film printed circuit (20) and fiducial marks (22, 24) formed thereon (column 3, lines 21-23
and 31-33). The apparatus comprises a base (30) having a plurality of inverted pyramid-shaped
cavities (28) with square cross sections formed therein which are wide enough at their upper
ends to accommodate the largest device and narrower at their lower ends than the smallest
device and a tube (26) coaxially mounted for vertical movement within each cavity. A bore
(40) in each tube communicates with a vacuum chamber to provide a suction gripping force at
the tip of each tube. The devices (10) are placed in their approximate proper location and
orientation on the ends of tubes 26 when the tubes are in their raised positions. The tubes are
then lowered into the cavities, thereby causing any off-center or skewed devices (10) to contact
the walls of the cavities such that they are guided into the proper location and alignment on the
tubes (see column 4, lines 34-57). The substrate (18) is disposed on the base (30), where it is
forced against rotatable guide collars (60). As best seen in Figures 3 and 5, indicator marks
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