Patent ID: 7107911

Claim:
An overhead transport apparatus, comprising: a guide rail unit, comprising: a main rail having a pair of rail members, a branch rail, and a branching region, the branch rail branching off the main rail at the branching region; an auxiliary guide rail provided along the branch rail at an upper part of the branching region; a transport vehicle comprising: a vehicle body, a pair of wheels attached to the vehicle body and moving along the guide rail unit, and a driving motor mounted on the vehicle body and driving the wheels; a single roller provided in the transport vehicle, to move in a first direction to move the transport vehicle toward the branch rail via the auxiliary guide rail, or to move in a second direction opposite to the first direction in order to move the transport vehicle toward the main rail; a control part to control movement of the roller in the first and second directions; and a supporting shaft rotatably supporting the roller and formed with a male thread on an outer surface thereof, wherein the vehicle body comprises: a vehicle body cover which the supporting shaft passes through and is engaged therewith, a shaft driving motor driving the supporting shaft to move in the first and second directions, and a supporter engaged to the vehicle body cover and formed with a female thread engaged with the male thread of the supporting shaft.