Patent ID: 7611124

Claim:
A vacuum processing apparatus, comprising: a plurality of vacuum chambers in each of which vacuum processing is applied to an object to be processed; a vacuum transfer chamber connected to said vacuum process chambers via gate valves; a transfer mechanism that transfers the object to be processed in said vacuum transfer chamber and includes a grease inlet opening into said vacuum transfer chamber; a grease supply mechanism provided in said vacuum transfer chamber and includes a grease storage part and a grease supply port through which grease stored in the grease storage part is supplied; and a control mechanism which moves said transfer mechanism to bring the grease inlet into contact with the grease supply port of said grease supply mechanism, and causes the grease stored in the grease storage part to be supplied to the grease inlet wherein said transfer mechanism includes a ball screw and a ball nut provided in said vacuum transfer chamber, and the grease supplied to the grease inlet is supplied to the ball screw and the ball nut.