Patent ID: 7927058

Claim:
A pod clamping unit for fixing a pod to a support table in a load port, said pod including a pod body which stores a wafer in the interior thereof and having an opening through which the wafer is to be taken out of/brought into the interior thereof and a lid attached to said pod body to close/open said opening, said load port having a pod opener that opens/closes the opening with said lid, the pod clamping unit comprising: a first engagement portion; a second engagement portion provided on a lower surface of the pod body; a restricting unit; and a clamping unit, the clamping unit including: a clamp portion; a vertical cylinder rod; a first vertical cylinder that drives the vertical cylinder rod to move vertically; a horizontal cylinder rod connected to the first vertical cylinder; and a horizontal cylinder that horizontally drives the horizontal cylinder rod, wherein the clamp portion is fixed on an upper end of the vertical cylinder rod that is extendable and retractable in a vertical direction passing through an aperture formed on the support table, wherein the restricting unit has a bar-shaped restriction pin and a second vertical cylinder configured to move the restriction pin up and down, the restriction pin is fixed on a piston received in the second vertical cylinder that extends vertically through the support table, and wherein while the restriction pin having been moved up by the second vertical cylinder is abutted to the second engagement portion, the first vertical cylinder is configured to drive the clamp portion to move up until a lower surface of the clamp portion is positioned above an upper surface of the first engagement portion.