Patent ID: 8585346

Claim:
A crucible handling device for sandwiching and moving a quartz glass crucible, comprising: a frame having a beam extending in a horizontal direction and a pair of arms protruding from the beam in a direction perpendicular to a central axis direction of the beam such that at least one of the arms is able to move in the central axis direction of the beam; a pair of sandwiching means assembled with the pair of the arms to face each other, configured for sandwiching and holding a body of the quartz glass crucible in a radial direction of the quartz glass crucible; engagement means provided adjacent to each sandwiching means and formed by a pair of tongues movable to approach or be separated from each other in a central axis direction of the quartz glass crucible, configured for sandwiching and holding the quartz glass crucible between the tongues in the central axis direction of the quartz glass crucible; driving means configured for causing the frame to reciprocate along the central axis of the quartz glass crucible; and pivoting means attached to each of the arms, configured for pivoting the quartz glass crucible around an imaginary line passing through the pair of sandwiching means and extending in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of the crucible; wherein the pivoting means is configured such that a rotating motor is linked with a shaft rod provided within the beam; a toothed wheel is mounted to the shaft rod; a toothed wheel is mounted to a base portion of the sandwiching means and the engagement means on the arm side; and the toothed wheels are coupled with each other via a toothed belt; and wherein at least one of the pair of tongues is swingable with respect to the central axis direction of the quartz glass crucible.