Simultaneous neutralization and monitoring of charge on moving material
AssigneeIon Systems, Inc.
InventorsPeter Gefter, Mark Blitshteyn
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Simultaneous neutralization and monitoring of charge on a moving dielectric material is achieved with ionizing devices that supply ions in proximity to the material to thereby substantially neutralize charge on the material, and with circuitry that senses the ion currents flowing from the ionizing devices to the material. A controller can be utilized to control the ionizing devices and/or calculate various parameters (such as charge densities on the web, efficiency, etc.) based on the sensed ion currents.
Claims30
A method of simultaneously neutralizing and monitoring the charge on a length of dielectric material moving in a downstream direction, the method comprising:
- generating ions with a first ionizing device in a first location in proximity to the moving material;
- generating ions with a second ionizing device in a second location downstream of the first location and in proximity to the moving material;
- determining the initial charge density on the material upstream of the first ionizing device by measuring the ion current flowing from the first ionizing device to the material;
- determining a residual charge density on the material downstream of the first and second ionizing devices by measuring the ion currents flowing from the first and second ionizing devices to the material;
- and
- generating a control signal in response to the determined charge densities.
An apparatus for simultaneously neutralizing static charges and monitoring charge density values before and after neutralization on a length of dielectric material of a known width moving at a known speed in a downstream direction, the apparatus comprising:
- a first ionizing device for generating ions in a first location in proximity to the material to thereby neutralize charge on the material;
- a second ionizing device for generating ions in a second location downstream of the first location and in proximity to the material to thereby neutralize further charge on the material and only leave a residual charge on the material downstream of the second ionizing device;
- a first circuit for measuring ion current flowing from the first ionizing device to the material;
- a second circuit measuring ion current flowing through from the second ionizing device to the material;
- a controller communicatively linked to the first and second circuits, the controller calculating values of the initial and residual charge density on the material from the values of the ion currents flowing from the first ionizer and from the second ionizer to the material and the controller generating a control signal as a function of the residual charge density on the material.
An apparatus for simultaneously neutralizing charge and monitoring charge density on a length of moving dielectric material of a known width moving at a known speed comprising:
- means for generating charge-neutralizing ions in first and second spaced locations and in proximity to the moving material;
- means for measuring ion currents flowing from the generating means to the moving material;
- and
- controller means communicatively linked to the measuring means, the controller means calculating values of initial and residual charge density on the material from the values of said ion currents and the controller means generating a control signal as a function of the residual charge density.
An apparatus for simultaneously neutralizing charge and monitoring charge density on a length of moving dielectric material of a known width moving at a known speed consisting essentially of:
- means for generating charge-neutralizing ions in first and second spaced locations and in proximity to the moving material;
- means for measuring ionizing current flowing from the generating means to the moving material;
- and
- controller means communicatively linked to the measuring means, the controller means calculating values of initial and residual charge density on the material from the values of said ion currents and the controller means generating a control signal as a function of the residual charge density.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.