Patent ID: 8821098

Claim:
A load port system to receive and process sealable pods, comprising: a purge stage including a purge portion that discharges a gas atmosphere in a sealable pod from an inside of the sealable pod and introduces nitrogen gas or dry air to the inside of the sealable pod, and a purge stage side receiving plate that receives the sealable pod on the purge stage side receiving plate; an opener stage including a closeable opening communicating an inside of a fabrication apparatus with the inside of the sealable pod, and an open stage side receiving plate that receives the sealable pod on the open stage side receiving plate, the opener stage and the purge stage being juxtapositioned only substantially in a horizontal direction; and a moving mechanism configured to move the sealable pod substantially in a horizontal direction between the purge stage and the opener stage, at least a portion of said moving mechanism being disposed directly under the opener stage and the purge stage regardless of whether the moving mechanism has the sealable pod positioned at the purge stage or the opener stage, wherein the moving mechanism comprises a table having an upper face on which the sealable pod can be placed, the moving mechanism moves only substantially in the horizontal direction when the moving mechanism moves between the purge stage and the opener stage with the sealed pod placed on the table, the purge stage side receiving plate comprises a purge stage side cutaway portion formed on the purge stage side receiving plate, the open stage side receiving plate comprises an open stage side cutaway portion formed on the open stage side receiving plate, the purge stage side receiving plate and the open stage side receiving plate being arranged substantially at a same height in a vertical direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction, and the purge stage side cutaway portion and the open stage side cutaway portion face each other in the horizontal direction.