PROCESSING DEVICE

PURPOSE:To stop a processing stage immediately when a discharge system goes out of order by providing a sensor in the stop valve of an auto-damper and detecting the trouble of the auto-damper with the output of the sensor which detects the position where the stop valve shuts of a discharge path. CONSTITUTION:The mists of a resist developing soln. stick to an auto-damper 9 and cause the failure or fault thereof in some cases. A stop valve 9a is normally ought to return automatically to the position of an alternate long and two short dashes line but when the valve exists in the position where the discharge path is shut off in spite of a driving signal in the event of a failure, for example, the failure in the rod part of an air cylinder 11a, the signal of an auto-damper sensor 14 in an auto-damper check relay 18 is a close signal, i.e., a read switch 17 is in a switch-on state and, therefore, the processing operation of a wafer is stopped in accordance with a predetermined program. Further, an abnormality alarm is sounded to announce the abnormality to an operator. The operator investigates the cause for the failure in the processing an discharging by the non-operation of the auto-damper 9 and restarts the processing by pushing a reset button after making repair in the case of the failure of the auto-damper.