Vacuum process apparatus

A vacuum process apparatus for processing at least one workpiece, comprising a chamber with

• two openings defining respective opening areas;
• and
• a transport device with said chamber having a drive shaft rotatable around a rotational axis of said drive shaft;
• and
• two conveyors each defining a support plane for at least one workpiece, and a transport arm for each conveyor mounted opposite each other and projecting from said drive shaft;
• wherein said arms are operatively coupled to said conveyors to move said conveyors independently of each other with a radial component relative to said drive shaft, and
• said support plane is perpendicular to said radial component, said conveyors comprising a seal member for sealingly closing one of said openings when said conveyors are moved to a position adjacent said openings by said transport device and are moved toward said one of said openings.

A method for manufacturing at least two workpieces, comprising

• providing a vacuum chamber with at least two openings defining respective opening areas,
• providing a transport device having a drive shaft rotatable around a rotational axis of said drive shaft,
• providing at least two conveyors for at least one disk-shaped workpiece each and each defining a support plane for said at least one disk-shaped workpiece, and providing a transport arm for each conveyor mounted to and projecting from said drive shaft,
• said transport arms being operatively coupled to said conveyors to move said conveyors independently of each other relative to said drive shaft and in a direction at least with a radial component with respect to said drive shaft and with said support planes being perpendicular to said direction,
• applying a disk-shaped workpiece upon said support plane of each of said conveyors,
• providing at at least one of said at least two openings a vacuum treating station,
• rotating said transport device and therewith said workpieces so as to align at least one of said two workpieces with one of said openings,
• moving said conveyor with said one workpiece by said respective arm towards said opening and treating said one workpiece on said support plane of said one conveyor at said one opening by said vacuum treatment chamber,
• retracting said treated workpiece from said one opening;
• and
• rotating said transport device to align said treated workpiece with a further of said at least two openings and removing said treated workpiece from said vacuum treatment chamber through said further opening.