US Patent 7859279 Charge eliminating apparatus and method, and program storage medium

A charge eliminating apparatus eliminates, when an electrical characteristics test of a target object is performed by moving a mounting table mounting the target object thereon and a probe card relative to each other to bring the target object into electrical contact with the probe card, static electricity of the target object via the mounting table. The charge eliminating apparatus includes a grounding wiring for grounding the mounting table; a relay switch disposed on the grounding wiring; and a switch controller that controls the relay switch to be opened or closed.