Patent ID: 7891936

Claim:
A substrate aligner apparatus comprising: a frame adapted to allow an edge gripping substrate transporter to transport a substrate to and from the aligner apparatus; and an edge gripping chuck system connected to the frame, the edge gripping chuck system including a rotatable edge gripping chuck including substrate supports for stably holding the substrate and at least one sensor located thereon, the at least one sensor being configured to detect a position determining feature of the substrate where the edge gripping chuck including the substrate supports and the at least one sensor are rotatable as a unit on a common axis of rotation, and a rotationally fixed edge gripping transfer system, the edge gripping chuck system being configured for holding and rotationally positioning the substrate to a predetermined post alignment substrate orientation resulting in the edge gripping chuck system having a corresponding post alignment position relative to the transporter; wherein the chuck system is configured to effect predetermined post alignment substrate orientation independent of the transporter so that regardless of the predetermined post alignment substrate orientation relative to the transporter and the resultant post alignment edge gripping chuck system position, post alignment transfer of the substrate to the transporter can be effected without rotational repositioning of the substrate.