Patent ID: 7537425

Claim:
A wafer processing apparatus for processing a wafer transferred from a clean box including an access opening to allow for accessing an inside of the clean box and a lid to close the access opening, wherein the inside of the clean box is separated from a circumstance of the outside of the clean box by closing the access opening with a lid, said wafer processing apparatus comprising: a chamber; a first opening formed on a wall of said chamber, said first opening allowing for accessing the inside of the clean box when the clean box is placed beside the chamber so that the access opening confronts said first opening; and a door member capable of holding the lid of the clean box so as to open or close the access opening and said first opening from an inside of said chamber, said door member having a first edge portion and a second edge portion, wherein in a condition where said door member closes said first opening, the first edge portion overlaps a part of an inside wall of said chamber at a periphery of said first opening to contact the inside wall of said chamber and the second edge portion does not overlap an inside wall of said chamber at the periphery of said first opening, and wherein the second edge portion forms an aperture defined by an edge portion of said first opening in which the second edge portion does not overlap the inside wall of said chamber at the periphery of said first opening and the second edge portion of said door member, the aperture allowing a gas-fluidic communication between the inside of said chamber and the outside of said chamber in the condition where said door member closes said first opening.