Patent ID: 8033781

Claim:
Method for loading and unloading a transport device for transporting elongated substrates having opposite ends through a vacuum coating system, comprising an essentially rectangular frame, a first group and a second group of substrate holding inserts, rotatably mounted, respectively, on opposite sides of the frame in such a manner that a pair of opposite substrate holding inserts can be connected to the opposite ends of a substrate, and, a first retainer bar operatively connected to the first group of inserts in such a manner that the inserts of the first group are moveable in order to selectively increase or decrease their distance from the inserts of the second group, comprising the steps of: releasing a connection between the first retainer bar and the frame, moving the first retainer bar and the first group of inserts that are connected to said first retainer bar, in order to increase the distance from the second group of inserts, until the inserts of the first group are released from the elongated substrates, removing the elongated substrates from the transport device, inserting a new batch of elongated substrates into the transport device, moving the first retainer bar and the first group of inserts that are connected to said first retainer bar, in order to decrease the distance from the second group of inserts, until the inserts of the first group are connected with the new batch of elongated substrates, and producing a connection between the first retainer bar and the frame.