Conductive coverall for static sensitive clean areas

A completely conductive cleanroom garment has been developed by Contamination Control Apparel. The coverall, made for a major aerospace company, uses new technology to electrically connect all the different panels of the garment to enable the whole garment to be safely earthed, thus wiping out any risk from static.

Static-dissipative fabrics for cleanroom clothing are now commonplace, with grids or stripes of conductive thread woven into the fabric to prevent any major static build-up. These fabrics, when made up into garments in the normal way, are sufficient protection from static for most cleanrooms. However, in areas where any static can cause damage or danger, a higher level of static prevention is required. CCA was challenged by its aerospace customer to find a way of making a coverall act like a lightning conductor, instantly earthing any static, while not compromising its performance in any other way. To meet the challenge CCA needed to find a way of creating a route to earth from any part of the garment, but which would also allow the coverall to be laundered in a normal cleanroom laundry without affecting its conductivity or its life expectancy. CCA's design team made and tested various prototypes, and its conductive coverall is now in production and being used successfully in static-sensitive areas by the customer. A great advantage of CCA's new technology is that it is not expensive and can be used for any kind of garment, so conductive laboratory coats, trousers, hoods and overboots are now available, as well as coveralls.