Patent ID: 7838801

Claim:
A heating apparatus comprising: a heating chamber having a load/unload port of a substrate formed on one side; a hot plate provided in said heating chamber, for heating the substrate from below; a plurality of wires provided in a manner extending along a direction of transfer of the substrate and wound around pulleys provided at opposing ends of a transfer path of the substrate, for transferring the substrate between a cooling position of the substrate adjacent to the load/unload port of the heating chamber and a position above the hot plate; a groove portion provided in a surface portion of the hot plate for passage of at least one of said plurality of wires; and a gap forming member provided on said one wire for mounting the substrate, such that the substrate is in a state floating above the surface of the hot plate with a gap therefrom when the substrate is located above the hot plate; and a drive mechanism for driving said plurality of wires on which the substrate is mounted only in a horizontal direction, wherein said substrate loaded from outside to said cooling position is transferred only in the horizontal direction, subjected to heat treatment in the heating chamber while the substrate is mounted on said plurality of wires, and thereafter transferred only in the horizontal direction to return to said cooling position.