Appeal 2007-0908
Application 10/152,077
at 3:15-18.) Thus, the broadest reasonable interpretation of the "while also"
condition does not require simultaneous or continuous provision of rinsing
fluid and STRA.
The drying step requires [3a] "rotating the device at a predetermined
speed" long enough to dry the device, and, [3b] during "an initial portion of
the drying step," [3b1] introducing a drying gas into the chamber, "while
also" [3b2] "continuing to supply" the STRA into the chamber. Three
aspects of the drying step merit emphasis. First, condition [3b1] merely
requires that a drying gas be directed into the processing chamber; it need
not be directed at the device. Second, the condition in [3b2], "while also
continuing to supply the STRA," requires that the gaseous STRA be
supplied continuously9 from at least the end of the rinsing step through at
least the initial portion of the drying step. This construction is consistent
with the description in the Specification at 13:5-11. (FF 11.) Finally, the
recited drying step does not exclude additional ways of removing the rinsing
fluid from the water, including ways generally taught in Christenson's
Specification, including exposure to organic materials (Specification
at 12:24-28; FF 10).
The Examiner found that Ueno describes a method meeting all the
limitations of claims 1-5, 8, 11, and 45 but for the creation of an atmosphere
comprising gas. Specifically, regarding claim 1, the Examiner relied on the
specific disclosure by Ueno of an embodiment of the "second aspect" of the
invention, in which IPA vapor is used as the "replacing medium,"
9 Continuous supply is problematic if the STRA is supplied in a pulsed,
alternating mode during the rinsing step, but that possibility is not presented
by the prior art of record, so we need not dwell on it.
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