Appeal No. 2002-0936
Application 09/946,920
the breadth of the claims. The mere breadth of a claim, however,
does not equate to indefiniteness. In re Miller, 441 F.2d 689,
693, 169 USPQ 597, 600 (CCPA 1971).
In light of the foregoing, we shall not sustain the standing
35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, rejection of claims 1, 2 and 4
through 25.
II. The 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) rejection of claims 1, 2, 5 through
12, 16 and 18 through 21 as being anticipated by Araki
Araki discloses a semiconductor wafer treatment unit 12 (see
Figure 4) comprising a plurality of treatment sections 30, 32,
34, 36 and 38, and a transfer robot 40 for transferring wafers
into and out of the treatment sections. The robot 40 (see
Figures 5 and 6) includes a movable pedestal 44, a rotatable and
vertically adjustable shaft 46 projecting upwardly from the
pedestal, a driving block 48 on the upper end of the shaft, and
three horseshoe-shaped, wafer-supporting arms 52, 54 and 56
operatively associated with the driving block. As described by
Araki,
[e]ach arm 52, 54 or 56 can perform a horizontal
stroke by which it can move to and from a position
under a wafer placed in a treatment section. Further,
the driving block 48 can perform a vertical stroke
which covers the range from a position in which the
lowest arm 52 can start the transfer of a wafer, to a
position in which the uppermost arm 56 can start to
raise a wafer.
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