Patent ID: 7789609

Claim:
A lid opening and closing system that detaches a lid of a storage container having a substantially box-like body having an opening on one side thereof that can store an object to be stored in the interior thereof and the lid that can be detached from said body and closes said opening to form a closed space in cooperation with said body, to open said opening thereby enabling to bring said object to be stored into/out of said storage container, comprising: a support table on which said storage container is to be placed; a mini-environment disposed adjacent to said support table in which a mechanism for transferring said object to be stored under particle control is housed; a first opening portion having a substantially rectangular shape formed on a wall adjacent to said support table that defines a part of said mini-environment, said first opening portion being provided at a position at which it can be just opposed to said opening of said storage container that is placed on said support table; a door that can hold said lid and substantially close said first opening portion, said door bringing said opening and said first opening portion into communication by opening said first opening portion while holding said lid; an enclosure provided in said mini-environment continuously with said first opening portion to enclose a space in which the door moves and define a second mini-environment, said enclosure having a second opening portion that allows communication between said first opening portion and said mini-environment and through which said mechanism for transferring said object to be stored can pass together with said object to be stored; and a curtain nozzle disposed above the upper edge of said first opening portion in said enclosure, said curtain nozzle being able to supply a specific gas along a direction from said upper edge to the lower edge of said first opening portion, wherein said enclosure has a gas outlet through which said gas can flow out into said mini-environment along the direction of said gas flow, and wherein said door can substantially close the second opening portion by its surface opposite to the surface that closes said first opening portion.