Low discharge anti-incendiary flexible intermediate bulk container

Abstract

A system with reduced electrostatic discharge including woven fabric configured into a flexible container and having sufficient electrical resistivity to allow discharges of energy from the fabric of below about one-hundred nanocoulombs when the fabric is charged to more than about negative ten thousand volts. The flexible fabric container with a reduced potential for incendiary discharge may further include quasi-conductive fibers or a combination of quasi-conductive fibers and an antistatic coating. The quasi-conductive fibers further may be woven into the fabric. The present invention also discloses a method for reducing electrostatic discharge in ungrounded type flexible fabric container systems by providing a flexible fabric container made from woven fabric and adjusting the electric resistivity of the woven fabric to allow the flow of electricity through the fabric at a rate allowing discharges at below about one-hundred nanocoulombs when the fabric is charged at more than about negative ten kilovolts.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.