Patent ID: 6988612

Claim:
A device for conveying and holding a plate-like member, said device comprising: a first rail-like holding member and a second rail-like holding member, each including a conveying member for conveying the plate-like member so that the plate-like member can be carried in and out and held; a ball screw shaft extending in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the first rail-like holding member and the second rail-like holding member, and operable to move the second rail-like holding member or operable to move the first rail-like holding member and the second rail-like holding member in parallel; a rotation drive unit for rotating the ball screw shaft; a first nut rotatably attached to the first rail-like holding member and screw-threaded with the screw shaft; a second nut fixedly attached to the second rail-like holding member and screw-threaded with the screw shaft; and a selective lock mechanism operable to alternatively engage the first nut of the first rail-like holding member to stop rotation of the first nut and release the engagement with the first nut of the first rail-like holding member to allow the first nut to rotate relatively to the first rail-like holding member, wherein the selective lock mechanism, the first rail-like holding member, the second rail-like holding member, the first nut, the second nut, and the ball screw shaft are arranged such that, after the selective lock mechanism releases the engagement with the first nut of the first rail-like holding member to allow the first nut to rotate relatively to the first rail-like holding member, only the second rail-like holding member is moved by rotating the screw shaft, and a position of the second rail-like holding member relative to the first rail-like holding member is changed, while, after the selective lock mechanism is engaged with the first nut of the first rail-like holding member, the first rail-like holding member and the second rail-like holding member are integrally moved in parallel by rotating the screw shaft.