The business of Infostatic Ltd is the provision of information, ideas and advice in the area of electrostatic measurements. This is based on the experience in developing, manufacturing and using electrostatic measuring instruments over 25 years of running John Chubb Instrumentation.
This Website aims to be a source of information and inspriation about static electricity - how it arises, how it can be measured (instruments and test methods), how it can be controlled and how it can be used.
Much of the information on this Website arises from the Website developd for the business of John Chubb Instrumentation Ltd over the time from 1983 to 2009. The assets of this business were sold to Chilworth Technology Ltd in Southampton in February 2009 and it is Chilworth Technology who are now developing, manufacturing, marketing and supporting the range of instruments developed by John Chubb Instumentation. It is hence Chilworth who should be approached about the design, performance and availability of instruments to suit particular requirements. John Chubb remains available, and is happy, to discuss any questions that may arise about electrostatic measurements.
A general overview on static electricity and relevant methods for its measurement and assessment is available on this Website as: "An Introduction to Electrostatic Measurements" and in the book by John Chubb published in 2010 by Nova Publishers.
What is Static Electricity? 
'Static electricity' arises when contacting surfaces are separated. If the charge that arises from differences between the surfaces cannot run away to earth quickly enough then
it is trapped - it is 'static'. The 'quickly enough' relates to the time for the charge to leak away to earth - or to the time for the charge to spread out over the surface of a material.
Examples of 'static electricity' are the picking up of small pieces of paper by a rubbed comb or piece of plastic and the cling of thin light fabrics after they have been rubbed.
Static Electricity is important in industry as it can cause risks and problems that need to be avoided. It is also the basis for many useful applications. Why Bother About Static?
Many materials, in particular plastics, easily become electrostatically charged when rubbed against other materials. Such 'triboelectric'
charging can be used constructively - for example, in photocopying, electrostatic clamping and the
retention of powder in electrostatic precipitation and paint spraying. Retained electrostatic charge also
creates risks and causes problems in many areas of industry. It can cause ignition of flammable gases and give shocks
to personnel. It can make thin films an
d light fabrics cling, attract airborne dust and debris, damage semiconductor
devices and upset the operation of microelectronic equipment (read more ... )
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Whats on this Website?
Explore this Website to find out about making electrostatic measurements and to access lots of supporting information about static electricity.
