To provide a walking beam capable of conveying even a thin substrate such as a solar cell substrate in which an electrode or the like is formed on a central part of the back surface and hence a contact only with a part near the outer periphery is allowed during heat treatment.
The walking beam is used for intermittently conveying the rectangular thin substrate in a heat treatment furnace. The walking beam holds a part near two edges parallel with the conveying direction or two edges orthogonal to the conveying direction, of four edges constituting the outer periphery of the rectangle, on a fixed beam 3, while the thin substrate 1 is stopped. The walking beam holds a part near the other two edges on a movable beam 5 while the thin substrate 1 is moved.
KONDO YOSHIO
MAGARA TAKANOBU
NGK KILNTECH CORP