ESD smock
By LearnESD.com Team

As the electronic devices are getting smaller in geometry, they become more susceptible to damage.

More and more protective equipments and materials are manufactured and made available in the market place to help companies to combat their problems. Some of the commonly used protective equipments and/or materials are wrist straps, heel straps, shoes, ionizers, mats, smocks, protective tote boxes and static shielding bags.

All the protective equipments or materials are designed either to ground/neutralize the static charges or to provide protection from harmful electrostatic field voltage.

ESD smocks are one of the key materials used to protect ESDS items from harmful electrostatic field voltage, which is generated from a wearer's internal street clothing.

There a few types of smock in the market. Most of them are either made of polyester/cotton or a mixture of polyester and cotton material with conductive fibres sewn in singular lines or crosschecked patterns.

An smock that is made of polyester with conductive fibres sewn in crosschecked patterns is the preferred choice over the cotton type or fabric with singular conductive lines.

The smock with crosschecked patterns does not only provide better shielding effect from harmful electrostatic field voltage, it also gives better electrical resistance between panels of the smock.

Static charges that sit around the conductive fibres on the smock are drained to ground either through a grounding wire that comes with the smock or through a contact between the smock and the skin of a wearer.

The contact between the smock and the skin of the wearer is achieved either by having an elastic band or a snap button at the wrist portion of the smock.
The conductive fibres or threads that are sewn on the smock are easily damaged by a strong laundry detergent or through ironing.

Companies will have to set controls on the smocks to ensure they last longer and provide the necessary protection to the sensitive devices that are used in the production assembly lines.




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