Patent ID: 6203268
Filing Date: 2001-03-20
Classification: H01L,Y10S

Abstract:
An apparatus for positioning substrates to be processed, comprising:a substrate cassette for horizontally supporting therein a plurality of substrates at intervals in a vertical direction without regard for whether the center of each substrate is aligned with the center of any other substrate, said substrate cassette having side walls defining a plurality of side apertures in a shape which allows outer peripheral edges of the substrates supported in said cassette to be exposed outside the cassette; andpushing mechanisms disposed outside said substrate cassette and provided to move toward and away from said side apertures, each of said pushing mechanisms having a pair of vertically and parallelly extending rotatable rollers having a vertical length engageable with the exposed outer peripheral edges of all of the substrates in the cassette to press and position the substrates whereby the center of each substrate comes into alignment with the center of each other substrate in said cassette to define a common vertical axis through the substrates when the pushing mechanism moves to one of said apertures,wherein said pushing mechanisms are provided on opposite sides of the substrate cassette, respectively, to move toward and away from each other.