Patent ID: 7789614

Claim:
A wafer aligner comprising a gripping mechanism for gripping an external periphery of a wafer by an open and close operation, a rotating mechanism for rotating the gripping mechanism gripping the wafer, and a detection sensor mechanism for detecting a cut-out and the external periphery of the wafer, the wafer aligner further comprises: a link mechanism for causing horizontal opening and closing movements of the gripping mechanism; and a link mechanism driving portion for driving the link mechanism, wherein the link mechanism driving portion rotatably supports the link mechanism on a wafer rotating shaft, wherein the link mechanism causes opening and closing movements of the gripping mechanism by converting vertical movements of the link mechanism driving portion into horizontal movements, wherein the vertical movements of the link mechanism driving portion are driven by a horizontal moving mechanism which moves horizontally, and wherein the vertical movements of the link mechanism driving portion are driven by rolling a roller on a paddle having an inclined surface provided at the horizontal moving mechanism.