Patent ID: 7790004

Claim:
A coating system, comprising: a coating chamber; at least one spindle, located within said coating chamber, rotatable about respective spindle axes; a latch on an end of said spindle, located within said coating chamber, including a mounting surface structurally configured for mounting a substrate holder to said spindle within said coating chamber; and a substrate holder selectively connectable and disconnectable to said mounting surface of said latch when the latch is in a latched position and when the latch is in an unlatched position, respectively, said substrate holder including a base and a cover mounted on an end face of the base for supporting a substrate; wherein the cover includes an opening to expose the substrate, a lip surrounding the opening for holding an edge of the substrate against the base, and a protective region covering the end face of the base for protecting the base from stray coating material, an annular flange extending substantially perpendicularly from said protective region for protecting the base from stray coating material; wherein the cover is made of a sheet metal; wherein the outer free end of the annular flange forms a resilient clip for releasably attaching the cover to said base for removal therefrom; wherein said latch is a magnetic latch which is configured to selectively magnetically connect and disconnect said substrate holder to said mounting surface, and wherein said latch is configured to be operable such that said latch magnetizes and demagnetizes said mounting surface; and wherein said latch includes a first section and a second section and wherein said second section is moveable between a first and a second position, wherein when said second section is in said first position, said mounting surface is magnetized and wherein when said second section is in said second position, said mounting surface is demagnetized.