Appeal No. 2004-2277
Application No. 09/886,760
DISCUSSION
It is not disputed that the admitted prior art wafer
cassette handling apparatus and method meet all of the
limitations in independent claims 1 and 9 except for those
pertaining to the laser beam projectors, the energy receiving
means and the measurement and control signals related thereto.
To overcome these deficiencies, the examiner turns to Thomas.
Thomas discloses a multi-axis position measuring system
useful in machine tool calibration and a variety of other
industrial applications:
[m]any critical positioning applications other
than machining will also benefit from the present
precision positioning apparatus, including operations
related to rail transport, autonomous materials
handling vehicles and robotic workstations. The
present invention has potential uses as either open-
loop or closed-loop feedback in assembly operations,
docking maneuvers, micromachining, laser machining,
material deposition, and inspection camera positioning
[column 3, lines 27 through 34].
The Thomas system includes an emitter unit 3 and a sensor
unit 5 mounted on relatively movable parts of a machine, and a
processing unit 7. The emitter unit consists of multiple laser
beam emitters 13, 15, and the sensor unit consists of multiple
CCD or photodetector arrays 21 for detecting the laser beams.
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