You often hear manufacturers reference ESD when discussing scanners.  In fact, on the Honeywell Granit datasheet you’ll see under the “Environmental” section on the back:  ESD.  ±20Kv air discharge, ±8KV contact discharge

What does it mean and why is it important?

• ESD – electrostatic discharge – is the sudden flow of electricity between two objects resulting from two conditions:
  • Air Discharge.  A high electrostatic field between two objects when they are in close proximity.
  • Contact Discharge.  Direct contact transfer of electricity between two objects at different potentials.  This is similar to the above except you are injecting the shock directly into the computer. A typical example of this would be 20KV Air Discharge into a scanner vehicle mount.  The mount in turn passes an 8KV shock to the scanner.

• Kv is a kilovolt – or 1,000 Volts. And a volt is…um…a unit of measurement to define voltage.  Think of voltage, using a plumbing analogy, as water pressure.

Continue reading »

Mastering ESD control has always been critical to achieving high production yields, and it will become even more important in the next few years. While the industry has a solid understanding of ESD safety in manual operations involving personnel, there is room for improvement in automated applications. To be effective, ESD control programs must ensure that automated handling equipment is capable of handling tomorrow’s highly sensitive devices.

The Cost of ESD

ESD impacts productivity and product reliability in virtually every aspect of electronic environment. Despite the effort made over the past decade, ESD still costs the electronics industry billions of dollars every year. Industry experts attribute an estimated 8 to 33% of all product losses to be caused by ESD. The individual cost of these devices themselves range from a few cents for a simple diode to several hundred dollars for complex hybrids. However, ESD damage affects more than just the loss of devices. It affects production yields, manufacturing costs, product quality and reliability, customer relationships, and ultimately, profitability.

Continue reading »

The MINI Hawk ESD Safe imager is the smallest complete solution for reading 1D/2D codes in static-sensitive and clean room environments. Aggressive X-Mode algorithms allow decoding of even the most difficult direct part marks (DPM) safely and at close proximity on static-sensitive electronics components and assemblies. The MINI Hawk’s unique nickel plating and ESD safe labels & cabling make it the only ESD safe solution certified for use in ISO Class 3 clean rooms.

Features:

• ESD-safe nickel plating
• ESD-safe labels and cabling
• Certified for ISO Class 3 clean rooms
• X-Mode decode algorithms
• Ultra-compact and lightweight
• Available in High-Resolution and High-Speed models
• Close-range decoding (1.3 in / 33 mm)
• Out-of-the-box calibration
• Autofocus capability

For help finding the right scanner for your ESD sensitive environment, contact us at Barcodes Inc.