Antistatic flooring keeps cleanroom workers grounded
03/01/2001
by Laureen Belleville
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Antistatic flooring is especially important for the electronic manufacturing industry for safety and product performance. Further, electronics manufacturing requires that flooring posses both consistent cleanliness and static dissipative properties.
Consider that an integrated circuit can suffer catastrophic damage from as little as 50 volts, while manufacturing personnel can generate more than 10,000 volts by simply walking across a production floor. The use of electro-static discharge (ESD) safe flooring, in conjunction with ESD footwear, is common practice to combat this problem.
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Most ESD flooring manufacturers test and report their flooring products based on three electrical tests: the static decay test, body voltage generation and electrical resistance. Additional tests should be performed in conjunction with ESD footwear and street footwear to determine the floor's true capability of preventing ESD-induced damage.
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Top: UTP's ESD Quartz Series 9000; Middle: Dycem's Work-Zone flooring; Bottom: A sampling of UTP's ESD VinylTile.
Also, consider traffic levels when choosing flooring. In areas with very little traffic, such as an engineering lab, vinyl tile with infrequent ESD wax applications may be appropriate. In heavy traffic areas, the use of vinyl tile is not recommended if aesthetics are a priority. Rubber floors maintain their appearance for longer periods. "Poured" and "rolled on" floors require greater maintenance.
Distributors of Cleanroom Antistatic Flooring:
- Architectural Floor Systems Inc., Arlington Heights, IL, Tel: (800) 323-6792, Fax: (847) 394-3753, www.techtonics.com
- Clean Rooms West Inc., Tustin, CA, Tel: (800) 772-6634, Fax: (714) 258-7777, www.cleanroomswest.com
- Liberty Industries Inc., East Berlin, CT, Tel: (860) 828-6361, Fax: (860) 828-8879, www.Liberty-Ind.com
- MSS Clean Technology Inc., Tucker, GA, Tel: (770) 938-1700, Fax: (770) 938-5991, www.msscleantech.com
- Ultrapure Technology, Suwanee, GA, Tel: (800) 932-0309, Fax: (770) 932-0809, www.ultrapuretechnology.com
 Manufacturers of Cleanroom Antistatic Flooring |
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