Patent ID: 7576304

Claim:
A device for monitoring the exposure of sensitive components on a circuit board to a tool used to assemble the sensitive components on the circuit board, the device comprising: a measuring circuit having an electrically conductive element that couples to a circuit board being assembled with sensitive components by a tool and that determines one of a voltage and a current applied to a ground plane of the circuit board by the tool that electrically contacts the ground plane of the circuit board wherein one of the voltage and current is directly measured based on one of the voltage and current applied to the ground plane of the circuit board; and a circuit that generates a signal indicating one of the voltage and current applied to the ground plane of the circuit board when the tool electrically contacts the ground plane of the circuit board, wherein the measuring circuit further comprises a voltage determining circuit that measures the voltage applied to the ground plane of the circuit board by the assembly tool, and wherein the voltage determining circuit further comprises an analog to digital converter coupled to the voltage from the circuit board that converts the voltage from the circuit board into a digital output signal and a processor coupled to the digital output signal that compares the digital output signal to a minimum level and a maximum level and generates an output signal when the voltage from the circuit board is one of greater than the maximum level and less than the minimum level.