Patent ID: 8070145

Claim:
A holding unit that holds an object that contains a magnetic substance at least partially, the holding unit comprising: a base; a plurality of microcoils arranged in the base that works with the magnetic substance to make the object exert an electromagnetic force; a control unit that connects to the plurality of microcoils and performs switching between supplying current to each of the microcoils and stopping the supply of current; and a levitation force mechanism that gives levitation force with respect to the base, to the object, wherein the levitation force is a force to restrain or prevent a surface force acting on the object when the object is mounted on the base from becoming larger than a volume force, the control unit is configured to control the levitation force mechanism based on the surface force acting on the object, and the base includes a wiring board on an upper surface of which the plurality of microcoils are disposed, and an insulation member arranged in a gap between the plurality of microcoils on the wiring board.