The Electronics Industry: Curtis Wright Controls

Background

Curtis Wright Controls specializes in manufacturing embedded computing solutions, or circuit boards, for a variety of applications. Although the company provides these solutions for many different industries, they primarily serve the aerospace, defense, and commercial sectors. Read on to see how we were able to build a safe workspace for Curtis Wright Controls.

Issue

Then constructing circuit boards, many precautions must be taken. Based on the nature of the technology, any type of static charge can destroy the circuit board, costing a manufacturer time and money. In order to protect the process from this possibility, Curtis Wright Controls utilizes electro static dissipators (ESD) – materials that ensure against any possibility of a static discharge. In order to protect the process, anything that may be in direct or indirect contact with the circuit boards must be constantly grounded. Operators must wear grounded suits, the work surface must be grounded, and operator wrists must also be grounded to the work station. Along with the threat of static discharge, another major concern was prevalent, lead smoke, a noxious pollutant. As operators solder different hardware on the circuit board, lead smoke is generated, which is very dangerous when inhaled. DualDraw was contacted in hopes of providing a solution that offered an ESD component, essential to the process, while ensuring a safe workspace.

Solution

DualDraw turned this challenging issue over to one of their most experienced and highly trained DualDraw dealers, Total Clean Technologies. Total Clean worked closely with the project engineers to better understand the technology and specific needs of Curtis Wright. The result – DualDraw was able to make some small but extremely important modifications to their equipment and provide a solution. First, using their standard downdraft booth design DualDraw secured a special certified mat on the work surface that had ESD characteristics. This enabled the operators to work on the table surface with no danger of static discharge, therefore protecting the product. Second, DualDraw’s patented downdraft technology was applied to help protect operators from inhaling dangerous lead smoke. Operators minimized the underlying concern of lead fume inhalation, addressing an important health and safety concern of the company. Finally, ultraviolet lights were installed as an aid in detecting flaws in the circuit boards and determining necessary repairs. The lighting allows operators to detect necessary repairs without having to move the circuit boards to another location, therefore eliminating a time consuming process and saving cost.

In conclusion, DualDraw’s experienced team was able to cost-effectively modify their standard equipment to:

1) Allow for the incorporation of a specialized ESD work surface

2) Effectively help make the process more efficient by utilizing ultraviolet lights

3) Help ensure the safety of Curtis Wright operators through the application of the DualDraw patented downdraft technology.

For questions about this project or our equipment, please call 1-800-977-2125 or submit your information electronically by clicking here.