Patent ID: 9583370
Date: 2017-02-28
CPC Classifications: H01L

Claim:
1. An article transport facility comprising: an article transport vehicle configured to travel along a travel rail suspended from a ceiling to transport a container wherein the article transport vehicle includes a support portion for supporting the container; an inactive gas supplying device having an eject portion for ejecting inactive gas such that the eject portion is located to a side of, or below, a travel path along which the article transport vehicle is configured to travel; a connecting actuator device for moving the eject portion relative to the support portion to change a positional relationship between the support portion and the eject portion between a connecting positional relationship in which the eject portion is connected to the container supported by the support portion and a separating positional relationship in which the eject portion is separated from the container supported by the support portion, wherein the inactive gas supplying device is configured to eject the inactive gas from the eject portion with a connection between the eject portion and the container maintained after the positional relationship between the support portion and the eject portion is changed to the connecting positional relationship by the connecting actuator device, wherein the connecting actuator device is provided to the inactive gas supplying device and is configured to move only the eject portion, out of the eject portion and the support portion, to change the positional relationship between the support portion and the eject portion between the connecting positional relationship and the separating positional relationship, wherein the eject portion is located directly below the travel path, and wherein the connecting actuator device is configured to raise and lower the eject portion linearly to change the positional relationship between the support portion and the eject portion between the connecting positional relationship and the separating positional relationship.