The present invention relates to electrical couplings and components of couplings. The invention is more particularly concerned with couplings having grounding fingers that establish electrical connection between parts.
Electrical couplings, such as those between electrical cable clamps to electrical connectors or the like, often have an outer metal shell in several parts that are retained with one another by means of a coupling ring. The coupling ring is rotatably mounted on one part of the coupling and is internally threaded, so that it can be screwed onto the cooperating other part of the coupling to draw parts into mating engagement. The metal shell of the coupling usually provides a part of a ground path for an assembly in which the coupling is connected. While there is electrical connection between the parts of the coupling via the interfacing accessory teeth on the electrical connector and cable clamp, this in many assemblies, provide only a poor electrical connection or high resistance conductivity because of sloppy engagement between interfacing accessory teeth and also compounded by the presence of contaminants such as dirt or grimes or rust or poor assembly.
The present invention provides an improved, reliable and consistent electrical continuity between an electrical connector and its cable clamp or “backshell” by use of spring contact grounding fingers secured on one part of the coupling (such as by welding or solder), the fingers being arranged to make a sliding electrical contact with the other part of the coupling when the two are coupled together. The grounding fingers ensure a solid electrical continuity and maintain this continuity even if the two parts of the coupling are not fully mated.
It can be understood that the present invention also provide an improved, reliable and consistent electrical continuity between an electrical connector and its coupling part such as a bracket or panel or structure in the aircraft. The grounding fingers ensures a solid electrical continuity and maintain this continuity even if the connector mounting screws were insufficient in having the two parts of the coupling fully mated. This present invention grounding fingers is an improvement to the straight wave springs described in application Ser. No. 08/986,378.