Patent ID: 11883832
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  D | IPC B  D

Claim 0:
1. A covering comprising:
an outer material having a front surface and a back surface;
a plurality of conductive-fibers disposed between the front surface and the back surface, wherein the plurality of conductive-fibers are configured to receive a voltage that causes the conductive-fibers to repel and remove dust from the front surface of the outer material;
signal conditioning circuitry to generate the voltage, wherein the signal conditioning circuitry includes outputs that generate time-varying voltages of different phases, wherein the voltages of different phases are applied to adjacent conductive-fibers by the signal conditioning circuitry such that a first voltage output is coupled to a first set of conductive fibers and a second different voltage output is coupled to a second set of conducive fibers;
a fastening material coupled to the back surface of the outer material that facilitates releasably attaching the outer material to an article; and
a status indicator in communication with the signal conditioning circuitry, wherein the status indicator is configured to indicate an amount of damage to or usable percentage of conductive-fibers detected by the signal conditioning circuitry.