Manifold for a substrate container

A substrate container, comprising:

• a shell defining an interior space, the shell including a front opening, a first side wall, a second side wall, a rear wall, a top wall, a bottom wall and including a front edge extending between opposing walls along the front opening of the shell, and a port in the bottom wall and/or the top wall of the shell;
• and
• a manifold attached to the shell near the front opening, the manifold including:
• a gas diffusion portion including a gas diffusion surface configured to permit the diffusion of the stream of purge gas from the interior space into the manifold, the gas diffusion portion including the gas diffusion surface extending in a direction between the first side wall and the second side wall of the shell;
• and
• an outlet coupled to the at least one port in the shell, the outlet configured to exhaust the purge gas from the manifold the port in the shell to an exterior of the substrate container.

A method of purging a substrate container when having a front opening that is open, comprising:

• supplying, via a front inlet port disposed in a wall of the substrate container, a first stream of purge gas to an inlet of a manifold disposed within the substrate container, the manifold being disposed closer to the front opening than a rear wall of the substrate container;
• distributing, via the manifold, the purge gas of the first stream within an interior space of the substrate container;
• and
• supplying, via a second inlet port in a wall of the substrate container, a second stream of purge gas to the to the interior space of the substrate container, the second inlet port being disposed closer to the rear wall of the substrate container than the front opening of the substrate container.