Patent ID: 7004711

Claim:
A transporting apparatus, comprising: a transport member comprising: air-supplying-type support means for supplying purified air toward a lower surface of a transported object to contactlessly support the transported object, and drive force application means for contacting a lower surface of the transported object that is supported by the air-supplying-type support means and for applying a drive force in the transporting direction to the transported object; wherein the transport member is provided with a main transport member that is capable of transporting the transported object in the transporting direction, and a transfer transport member that is positioned next to the main transport member in the transporting direction and that is capable of transporting the transported object between itself and the main transport member; wherein the transfer transport member can be switched, by relative vertical movement between the drive force application means and the air-supplying-type support means provided in the transfer transport member, between a transport state, in which the drive force application means is brought into contact with the lower surface of the transported object that is supported by the air-supplying-type support means, and a transfer state, in which the drive force application means is moved downwardly away from the transported object that is supported by the air-supplying-type support means; and wherein a transfer means furnished with a loading portion that can receive and support the transported object and that can be moved in a horizontal direction that intersects the transporting direction and in the vertical direction is provided, wherein the loading portion, when the transfer transport member is in the transfer state, can be inserted and withdrawn in a horizontal direction, which intersects the transporting direction, into and from a space below the transported object that is supported by the air-supplying-type support means, and wherein the loading portion is formed such that, when the loading portion has been inserted into the space below the transported object, the loading portion permits support of the transported object by the air-supplying-type support means.