Handling apparatus for transferring a semiconductor wafer or LCD

A processing apparatus arranged in a clean atmosphere, comprising:

• a vacuum chamber in which an object is processed, a volume of said vacuum chamber being such that the time required to exhaust gas and dust from said vacuum chamber is reduced;
• a preliminary chamber through which the object to be processed in said vacuum is transported;
• and
• a handling device located in said preliminary chamber, said handling means comprising:
• a base member having a rotating shaft;
• a multijoint arm including one end portion thereof connected to said rotating shaft;
• holding means including a holding member mounted at a free end portion of said multijoint arm, for holding a plate-like object to be transported;
• rotating means for rotating said holding means;
• and
• bending means for bending said multijoint arm at the joints, to thereby extend or retract said multijoint arm;
• wherein said multijoint arm comprises at least three parallel link mechanisms which define first, second and third stages, each of said at least three parallel link mechanisms comprising a plurality of links, the first stage of said parallel link mechanisms being fixed to the base member, and, when the multijoint arm is retracted, said parallel link mechanisms are stored between the base member and the holding member such that the maximum length of the holding member is substantially equal to the maximum length of the parallel link mechanisms, wherein planes defined by said parallel link mechanisms are parallel to one another;
• wherein at least one pulley is mounted on each joint of said multijoint arm, at least one of said pulleys receiving a driving force from a wire.