Patent ID: 8147241

Claim:
A method for transferring an object to be treated in a vertical heat treatment system having a holder supporting mechanism, the hold supporting mechanism comprising: a holder mounting table for mounting thereon a holder for holding a plurality of objects to be heat-treated, in a stacked state; and a holder position adjusting mechanism including a plurality of protruding portions corresponding to the shape of a bottom plate of the holder, and a distance varying mechanism for varying the distance between the plurality of protruding portions, said method comprising: a mounting step of causing the holder to be mounted on a holder mounting table; a positioning step of moving said holder, which is mounted on said holder mounting table at said mounting step, together with said holder mounting table, on a plane along a holder mounting surface of said holder mounting table to position said holder at a predetermined position by varying the distance between the plurality of protruding portions with the distance varying mechanism; a transfer step of transferring said objects to said holder which is positioned at said positioning step; and a returning step of removing said holder, to which said objects are transferred at said transfer step, from said holder mounting table to return said holder mounting table to a predetermined position.