Patent ID: 8240346

Claim:
A purge apparatus for purging an inside of a container by introducing clean gas into the inside of the container, said purge apparatus comprising: a nozzle adapted to be connected to the container, and through which the gas passes; a detection unit configured to detect a connection state between the container and said nozzle; and a flow rate adjustment unit configured to: allow the gas to flow into said nozzle at a first flow rate when said detection unit detects that the container and said nozzle are in a connected state; and allow the gas to flow into said nozzle at a second flow rate when said detection unit detects that the container and said nozzle are in a disconnected state, the second flow rate being lower than the first flow rate and higher than zero, wherein said first and second flow rates are determined as average flow rates over the time in which said first and second flow rates are adopted, respectively.