Method and system for maintaining an electrically neutral atmosphere
AssigneeBurlington Industries, Inc.
InventorsRobert H. Best, William D. Harris
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and system for maintaining precise electrically neutral, positive or negative atmosphere in an area, such as a textile mill, by adding charged ions to air being pumped into that area, for example through an air conditioning duct whereby at least two spaced apart grids are mounted in the duct with one connected to a positive high voltage source and the other connected to a negative high voltage source so that both grids produce ions and the voltages applied thereto are controlled to maintain the area atmosphere neutral, positively charged or negatively charged as required to dissipate an undesired charge generated in a manufacturing process.
Claims20
A system for maintaining a predetermined electrical atmosphere in an area into which air is at least periodically pumped comprising:
- a first electrical grid,
- a second electrical grid,
- means for mounting said first and second grids in spaced apart relation at a location wherein the air pumped into said area passes through each of said grids sequentially and is charged electrically as a function of the amplitude and polarity of the voltage on said first and second grids respectively,
- sensor means for detecting the magnitude and polarity of the electric field within said area and producing a control signal varying as a function of the detected magnitude and polarity, and
- circuit means connected to said sensor means for receiving said control signal and applying voltages to said first and second grids respectively, the voltage applied to one of said grids being negative and the voltage applied to the other grid being positive, said circuit means varying the applied voltages so as to alter the detected field to a predetermined condition by producing in the air passing through said grids a net number of ions of a polarity required to produce said predetermined condition in said area, said circuit means further applying voltages of opposite polarity respectively to said first and second grids simultaneously for at least a certain range of detected electric field magnitude.
A method of maintaining an electrically neutral atmosphere in an area into which air is at least periodically pumped comprising the steps of:
- detecting the magnitude and polarity of the electrical field within said area and producing an electrical control signal varying as a function of the detected magnitude and polarity and,
- applying a positive high voltage signal to a first electrical grid and a negative high voltage signal to a second electrical grid mounted in spaced apart relation with respect to said first grid so that the air pumped into said area passes through each of the grids sequentially and is charged electrically as a function of the polarity and magnitude of the voltage on the first and second grids, the applied voltages being of such polarity and magnitude so as to reduce the magnitude of the detected electrical field and thus produce said neutral atmosphere.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.