Fuse holder clip

A fuse clip is described for securing a fuse to a base and making electrical contact with fuse terminals, comprising a U-shaped contact clip having a bight portion positioned between two opposing legs. The bight portion, which provides a surface adjacent to the base, is initially arched away from the base and has an aperture to receive a fastening member for securing the contact clip to the base. Upon tightening the fastening member and securing the clip to the base, the fastening member causes the bight portion to flatten and the legs to be drawn towards one another. Thus, upon fastening, the legs are drawn from an initially extended position to a more contracted position.

DESCRIPTION 
Technical Field 
The present invention relates generally to fuse clips and specifically to a 
one-piece fuse clip that is arranged with a second, complementary fuse 
clip to secure a cartridge-type electrical fuse upon being secured to a 
base. 
Background Prior Art 
It is known in the art to use fuse clips for introducing a fuse in an 
electrical circuit. Conventional fuse clips have two leg portions, with 
each leg shaped to conform to, and thereby secure, a cartridge fuse. As is 
well known in the art, a cartridge fuse is comprised of a cylindrical body 
having two terminals, one on each end. Therefore, a pair of fuse clips are 
typically required to support the fuse; one fuse clip supports each 
terminal. Such fuse clips are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 
2,292,320; 2,422,589; 2,889,533; 4,176,906 and 4,472,018. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,422,589, issued to Samzelius, discloses a two-piece, fuse 
clip assembly having a contact clip and an adjustable reinforcing member. 
The contact clip conforms to and makes electrical contact with the fuse. 
The reinforcement member is U-shaped, enveloping each side of the contact 
clip, as discussed below. A bight portion separates the two legs of the 
reinforcement member. The bight portion is positioned laterally beyond the 
contact clip and the end of a fuse. Each leg extends upward from the bight 
portion and is L-shaped to extend over each side of the contact clip. In 
one embodiment, the bight portion of the reinforcement member is flat. Two 
flanges extend laterally from the contact clip to support the edges of the 
bight portion of the reinforcement member, leaving a gap underneath the 
middle of the bight portion. In a second embodiment, the middle of the 
bight portion is arched upwards, so the edges of the bight portion 
directly contact the base instead of being supported underneath by 
flanges. In both embodiments, a threaded fastener attaches the 
reinforcement member to a base through an aperture in the center of the 
bight portion. When the fastener is tightened, the bight portion is flexed 
downwardly, which draws the legs of the reinforcement member inwardly. As 
a result, the reinforcement member applies pressure to the contact clip. 
With the fuse positioned in the fuse clip, the fastener then can be 
adjusted to vary the pressure that the reinforcement member applies to the 
contact clip. Samzelius does not disclose a single-piece fuse clip having 
legs that are drawn inwardly. Rather, Samzelius discloses a two-piece fuse 
clip assembly having a contact clip and a reinforcement member. Also, the 
lateral extension of the reinforcement member prevents fuse clip disclosed 
in Samzelius from fitting in a terminal bay of an electrical transformer. 
Consequently, the fuse clip disclosed in Samzelius would be unsuitable for 
installing a fuse directly to an electrical transformer. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is provided to solve the above identified and other 
problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fuse clip 
for securing a fuse to a base and making electrical contact with fuse 
terminals. The fuse clip comprises a U-shaped contact clip having a bight 
portion positioned between two opposing legs. The bight portion provides a 
surface adjacent to the base and has an aperture to receive a fastening 
member for securing the contact clip to the base. The bight portion is 
initially arched away from the base, while the legs are initially spread 
apart a sufficient distance to accommodate the head of a fastener between 
the legs. Upon tightening the fastening member and securing the clip to 
the base, the fastening member causes the bight portion to flatten and the 
legs to be drawn towards one another. Once the fuse clip is fastened to 
the base, the distance between the legs becomes more narrow than the head 
of the fastener, but the distance between the legs is proper to 
accommodate the fuse.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, 
there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail, a 
preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the 
present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the 
principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspects 
of the invention to the embodiment illustrated. 
FIG. 4 illustrates a fuse clip 10 for securing a fuse 2 to a base 30 and 
making electrical contact with fuse terminals 3. As is well known in the 
art, a fuse 2, such as a cartridge-type fuse, is introduced into an 
electrical circuit by using two fuse clips 10. Such cartridge fuses are 
typically cylindrically shaped, having a terminal 3 on each end and 
containing a fuse filament 4 between each terminal 3, 3. The fuse is 
disposed between, and supported by two fuse clips 10, 10 so that each fuse 
clip 10 makes electric contact with a respective fuse terminal 3. 
Turning to FIG. 1, a U-shaped contact clip 1 has a bight portion 5 
positioned between two opposing legs 15, 15. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in 
the initial position, the legs 15, 15 are spaced apart with sufficient 
distance to accommodate a fastening member 50, as will be discussed below. 
The bight portion 5 provides a surface 6 adjacent to the base 30. 
The bight portion 5 is initially arched away from the base 30 and has an 
aperture 20 to receive a fastening member 50 for securing the contact clip 
to the base 30. In the preferred embodiment, the legs 15,15 are spread 
apart a sufficient distance to unobstructively accommodate a fastener 50, 
such as, a fastener for electrical connections having a number 10 head and 
a number 8 thread. Upon tightening the fastening member 50 and securing 
the contact clip to the base 30, the fastening member 50 causes the bight 
portion 5 to flatten and the legs 15, 15 to be drawn towards one another. 
Once the fuse clip 10 is secured to the base 30, the legs 15, 15 are 
spaced apart a distance more narrow than the diameter of the head of a 
fastener 50, as illustrated in FIG. 3. 
In the preferred embodiment, the contact clip 1 is formed from a resilient 
material. Each leg 15, 15 includes a fuse-holding section 15a, 15a 
contoured to cooperatively receive the fuse 2, as illustrated in FIG. 4. 
Each leg 15, 15 of the contact clip 1 is provided with a respective tab 
25, 25 for centering the fuse while the fuse is being retained by two 
opposing fuse clips 10, 10, as illustrated in FIG. 4. As illustrated in 
FIGS. 2 and 3 each tab 25, 25 extends substantially perpendicularly from 
the respective leg 15, 15. 
Each leg 15, 15 of the fuse clip 10 has a first end 17 integrally extending 
from the bight portion 5 and a second end 18 cantilevered opposite the 
first end 17. As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the second end 18 of each leg 
15, 15 is bent away from the opposing leg 15, 15, creating a bent portion 
22 for providing a surface to slidably engage and remove the fuse 2. 
In one application, illustrated in FIG. 5, two fuse clips 10, 10 are 
connected to a terminal block 65 of an electrical transformer 60. A 
typical transformer 60 has a plurality of terminal bays 62, each 
containing a terminal 64 and fastener 50, arranged in a row. As seen in 
FIG. 5, one fuse clip 10 is fastened to a terminal bay 62 on the terminal 
block 65 by a terminal fastener 50 and the other fuse clip 10 is likewise 
fastened to another terminal bay 62. Once installed, a fuse 2, such as the 
one illustrated in FIG. 4, is installed between the two fuse clips 10, 10. 
In conclusion, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in 
other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central 
characteristics thereof. The present example and embodiment, therefore, is 
to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and 
the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein. Therefore, 
the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying 
claims.