Patent ID: 7690869

Claim:
A non-contact transport apparatus comprising: a body; a passage formed at an interior of said body, through which air supplied from an air supply portion passes; a holding surface disposed on an end of said body so as to face toward a workpiece; an annular swirl chamber disposed radially inwardly from said holding surface, and having an opening that faces said workpiece, with a first slanted surface, which expands gradually in diameter from a bottom wall surface of said annular swirl chamber in a direction toward said workpiece, wherein said bottom wall surface defines an initial point of said first slanted surface; lead-out holes connected with said first slanted surface of said swirl chamber, and communicating between said swirl chamber and said passage, for directing said air outwardly into said swirl chamber; and an outwardly bulging projection disposed substantially in the center of said swirl chamber, said projection becoming gradually reduced in diameter in a direction toward said workpiece, wherein a second slanted surface is formed on an outer circumferential portion of said projection from a bottom wall surface of said annular swirl chamber to an upper end surface of said projection, said bottom wall surface defining an initial point of said second slanted surface.