Patent ID: 6857838

Claim:
A substrate processing system comprising: a substrate processing unit that performs a predetermined process to process a substrate; and an aligner that aligns a cut-away portion formed in a peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed by the substrate processing unit to a designated angle; wherein the aligner includes: a first support device adapted to hold a peripheral portion of a substrate, without holding a central portion of the substrate, in a horizontal posture at a first level; a first actuator adapted to rotate the first support device about a vertical axis; a sensor adapted to detect the cut-away portion of the substrate supported on the first support device; a second support device adapted to lift up the substrate supported on the first support device stopped at the predetermined angular position to a second level higher than the first level; a second actuator adapted to vertically move the second support device; and a controller configured to control operations of the first actuator for driving the first support device for rotation, configured to control the first actuator so that the first support device supporting the substrate is stopped at a predetermined angular position when the cut-away position is detected, and configured to control the second actuator to position the second support device at a level lower than the first support device so that the aligner receives the substrate to be aligned by using the first support device when the substrate to be aligned by the aligner is delivered to the aligner, and so that the substrate, having been aligned by the aligner and placed on the first support device, is removed from the aligner when the substrate having been aligned by the aligner leaves the aligner so as to be processed by the processing unit.