Patent ID: 9537229
Date: 2017-01-03
CPC Classifications: H01B,H01R

Claim:
1. A grounding device comprising: (a) an elongate shaft made from an electrically-conductive material, and having an upper end, a lower end, and a shaft length; and (b) one or more plate members made from electrically-conductive material; wherein: (c) each plate member has a plate width, a plate length, and a plate thickness, said plate thickness being less than the plate width and less than the plate length; (d) each plate member is characterized by a plane defined by the plate member's plate width and plate length; (e) each plate member has an inner side edge, an outer side edge, an upper edge, and a lower edge, with the length of the inner side edge corresponding to the plate length and being at least 24 inches less than the shaft length; and (f) each plate member is connected along its inner side edge to a lower region of the shaft such that the plane of the plate member extends generally radially outward from the shaft, and such that electrical current can flow between the shaft and the one or more plate members.