AUSTIN, TX - A patent has been awarded to engineers at 3M’s (www.mmm.com) Soquel, CA facility, who have developed a connector arrangement in wrist strap monitors that offers significant advantage in clean, static-controlled environments.
Wrist strap monitors help clear critical environment professionals of static before static can damage devices being handled.
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With the 3M invention, the connector assembly (jack) can be replaced upon failure by simply unplugging the old jack or jack assembly and plugging in a new one. In most instances, a worn-out jack has to be unsoldered and a new one re-soldered in its place. But the 3M connector arrangement, conceived by Vladimir Kraz of Santa Cruz, CA and Fatjon Gurga of San Jose, CA, eliminates the soldering process entirely. This benefit is particularly important in cleanroom environments where, previously, items had to be removed from their environment to be repaired.
Monitors developed by the recently acquired Credence Technologies, now a part of 3M, employ this technique. Products include the WS Aware continuous workstation monitor (pictured), used for the most critical environments, and the Iron Man Plus for electronics assembly.
