Device and method of monitoring grounding of personnel and equipment in ESD-sensitive areas
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A device for monitoring grounding of equipment comprising:
- an oscillator circuit that generates an alternating current control signal;
a connector that is connectable between the oscillator circuit and a piece of equipment to supply the alternating current control signal to the piece of equipment;
a signal level detector connected to the connector that detects the alternating current control signal wherein a magnitude of the alternating current control signal detected by the signal level detector is reduced if the piece of equipment is connected to ground; and
a signal conditioning circuit connected between the connector and the signal level detector that rejects signals not related to the alternating current control signal.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for monitoring grounding of personnel and equipment in electrostatic discharge (ESD) sensitive areas. The device generates a low voltage alternating current control signal (60) which is applied to personnel (50) and equipment (350) being monitored. The device further includes signal conditioning (66) and detection means (70) to distinguish static charges from the control signal and transmit an alarm (72) upon detection of such static charge. The method encompasses the use of an alternating current control signal to detect static charge.
33 Citations
62 Claims
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1. A device for monitoring grounding of equipment comprising:
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an oscillator circuit that generates an alternating current control signal;
a connector that is connectable between the oscillator circuit and a piece of equipment to supply the alternating current control signal to the piece of equipment;
a signal level detector connected to the connector that detects the alternating current control signal wherein a magnitude of the alternating current control signal detected by the signal level detector is reduced if the piece of equipment is connected to ground; and
a signal conditioning circuit connected between the connector and the signal level detector that rejects signals not related to the alternating current control signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A device for monitoring the grounding of a piece of equipment, comprising:
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an alarm circuit, connectable to a piece of equipment, that generates an alarm signal when a piece of equipment is not properly connected to ground; and
a switch connected to the alarm circuit that one of automatically enables and automatically disables the alarm circuit based on a need to monitor the piece of equipment so that a false alarm, when the piece of equipment is not connected to the monitoring device, is eliminated. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A device for monitoring the grounding of a plurality of pieces of equipment, comprising:
an output circuit, connectable to a plurality of pieces of equipment, that generates an output signal on a single wire to a remote system having multiple signal levels indicating the ground connections of the plurality of pieces of equipment, wherein the level of the output signal is a function of the number of ground connections of the pieces of equipment. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A device for monitoring the grounding of an operator in an electrostatic discharge sensitive area, the device comprising:
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a connector, connected to a dual wrist strap worn by an operator that is in electrical contact with the operator'"'"'s body in plurality of separate places, the connector having a separate terminal for each connection to the body of the operator;
an oscillator circuit, connected to the connector, that generates an alternating current control signal that is capable of being supplied to the operator'"'"'s body through the wrist strap when the wrist strap is connected to the connector; and
a signal level detector circuit connected to the connector that measures a change in the alternating current control signal, based on an electrical resistance of the body of the operator, indicating that the operator is wearing a wrist strap connected to the connector. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A device for monitoring the grounding of an operator in an electrostatic discharge sensitive areas, the device comprising:
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a connector, connected to a dual wrist strap worn by an operator that is in electrical contact with the operator'"'"'s body in plurality of separate places, the connector having a first contact and a second contact capable of being connected to different portions of the wrist strap that contact different places of the body of the operator;
an oscillator circuit, connected to the first contact of the connector, that generates an alternating current control signal that is capable of being supplied to the operator'"'"'s body through the first contact of the connector; and
a signal level detector having an input connected to the second contact of the connector so that the alternating current control signal is passed through the body of the operator from the first contact to the second contact, wherein the signal level detector generates an output signal that indicates when the wrist strap is connected to the operator. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A device for monitoring the grounding of an operator in an electrostatic discharge sensitive area, the device comprising:
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a connector, connected to a dual wrist strap worn by an operator that is in electrical contact with the operator'"'"'s body in plurality of separate places, the connector having a first contact and a second contact capable of being connected to different portions of the wrist strap that are connected to different places on the body of the operator;
an oscillator circuit having a first and second output, the first output connected to the first contact of the connector and the second output connected to the second contact of the connector, the oscillator circuit generating an alternating current control signal that is supplied to the operator'"'"'s body through the first and second contacts of the connector; and
a signal level detector having a first and second input, the first input connected to the first contact of the connector and the second input connected to the second contact of the connector, the signal level detector indicates a difference between the first and second inputs, wherein the signal level detector generates an output signal that indicates when the wrist strap connected to the connector is connected to the operator. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A device for monitoring the grounding of an operator in an electrostatic discharge sensitive area, the device comprising:
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at least two connectors wherein a first connector is connected to a wrist strap of an operator and the grounding of the operator is monitored and a second connector is connected to a wrist strap of a visitor and the grounding of the visitor is not monitored; and
a circuit that detects the presence of the first and second connectors wherein a connection to the second connector without any connection to the first connector generates an alarm and wherein the connection to the second connector after the connection to the first connector does not generate an alarm. - View Dependent Claims (53)
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54. A method for monitoring the grounding of an object in an electrostatic discharge sensitive area, the method comprising:
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generating an alternating current control signal;
applying the alternating current control signal to an object to be monitored;
monitoring a level of the alternating current control signal after being applied to the monitored object; and
activating an alarm if the level of the alternating current control signal exceeds a preset alarm level. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A method for monitoring the grounding of an operator in an electrostatic discharge sensitive area, the monitoring device having a first connector for an operator whose grounding is monitored and a second connector for a visitor whose grounding is not monitored, the method comprising:
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detecting a connection to a connector that is not monitored for grounding; and
generating an alarm when no connection is detected for a second connector that is being monitored for grounding.
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61. A method for monitoring the grounding of a user, comprising:
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generating an alternating current voltage that is applied to the user;
monitoring the grounding of the user based on a decrease in the alternating current voltage caused by the resistance of the user; and
monitoring a magnitude of the alternating current voltage applied to the user; and
generating an alarm if the magnitude of the alternating current voltage exceeds a preset level.
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62. A device for monitoring the grounding of a user based on an alternating current voltage, comprising:
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a circuit that measures a decrease in the alternating current voltage caused by the resistance of a user to determine if the user is properly grounded;
a circuit that monitors a magnitude of the alternating current voltage applied to the user and generates an alarm if the magnitude of the alternating current voltage exceeds a preset level.
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Specification