Patent ID: 7284945

Claim:
A transporting apparatus, comprising: (A) a first transport member for transporting a transported object; (B) a second transport member, different from the first transport member, for transporting the transported object; (C) a relay transport member disposed at a position that links the first transport member and the second transport member; (D) means for changing at least one of a transporting direction and a transporting orientation of the transported object received from one of the first transport member and the second transport member before the transported object is forwarded to the other of the first transport member and second transport member; wherein each of the first transport member and second transport member has: a) air-supplying-type support means for supplying purified air toward a lower surface of the transported object to contactlessly support the transported object; b) drive force application means for applying a drive force in the respective transporting direction to the transported object by contacting the lower surface of the transported object that is supported by the air-supplying-type support means.