ESD Facility Combats Charge In Hot-Swap Conditions
A new electrostatic-discharge (ESD) facility from Rittal effectively removes all built-up charge from the front panel of a plug-in board and rapidly brings the panel to protective earth potential. According to the company, various solutions have been developed for protection from electrostatic charge and to combat it effectively. However, one major problem exists where a plug-in board has been tested immediately prior to insertion into a live system under hot-swap conditions.
Rittal's new solution is intended to combat the discharge under these circumstances. Achieved via a heavy-duty contact embedded in the guide rail, which is in permanent electrical contact with the chassis, the new system has been tested to IEEE1101.11 and UL1950 to 30A capacity. Initially designed as a rear input/output guide rail for 80mm assemblies, the high-current discharge contact and associated guide may also be used for front-mounted panels where excessive static build-up is likely. The new guides include the facility to safely discharge any remaining static or operational charge (such as that stored in capacitors) from boards being inserted into the system directly following a test under power.
For this, an additional grounding clip is fastened to the guide rail in the direct path of the printed circuit board, which needs to be designed in accordance with IEEE guidelines. The guides feature chambers at the front for the insertion of coding keys to prevent incorrect board insertion when used in conjunction with IEEE-type lever handles on the plug-in board/front panel. When used at both the top and bottom of a 6U board/front-panel combination, these provide almost 4,100 coding variants.
Rittal's new solution is intended to combat the discharge under these circumstances. Achieved via a heavy-duty contact embedded in the guide rail, which is in permanent electrical contact with the chassis, the new system has been tested to IEEE1101.11 and UL1950 to 30A capacity. Initially designed as a rear input/output guide rail for 80mm assemblies, the high-current discharge contact and associated guide may also be used for front-mounted panels where excessive static build-up is likely. The new guides include the facility to safely discharge any remaining static or operational charge (such as that stored in capacitors) from boards being inserted into the system directly following a test under power.
For this, an additional grounding clip is fastened to the guide rail in the direct path of the printed circuit board, which needs to be designed in accordance with IEEE guidelines. The guides feature chambers at the front for the insertion of coding keys to prevent incorrect board insertion when used in conjunction with IEEE-type lever handles on the plug-in board/front panel. When used at both the top and bottom of a 6U board/front-panel combination, these provide almost 4,100 coding variants.
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