Abstract: In an apparatus for the automatic casting, coating, varnishing, inspecting and sorting of workpieces--especially of optical or magneto-optical data storages--with at least one transport apparatus advancing the substrates from a production station to the processing stations, and with a stacking station for the separate stacking of workpieces that are finished and have been found perfect and workpieces containing defects, a substrate transporting apparatus is provided which has a transport carriage (3) which can be moved back and forth along a straight line and has three transport arms (4,4',4'';5,5',5'') bearing substrate holders (6, 6',6'';7,7',7'') on each side of the carriage.

Abstract: A rotatable substrate holder (6) which has a plurality of substrate pickups in a circular arrangement at equal distances apart is disposed in a vacuum chamber (1). A corresponding number of substrates are driven stepwise on a circular path from an air lock station (8, 9) through at least one coating station (10, 11) to the air lock station. To increase the throughput of substrates, the vacuum chamber (1) has two air lock stations (8, 9) and two coating stations (10, 11) one following the other.