Electrical ground connector

An electrical connector for grounding an electrical conductor. The connector has a base, a U-shaped fastener and a nut. The base is a one-piece metal member with a threaded stud, an elongate seat along one exterior side, and a hole through the base located between the seat and the stud. The U-shaped fastener has a first leg that extends through the hole, a second leg that extends along an exterior side of the base, and a head located opposite the seat on the base. The nut is attached to the legs of the U-shaped fastener on a side of the base opposite from the side of the base facing the head of the U-shaped fastener.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, more 
particularly to a grounding connector. 
2. Prior Art 
The Burndy Electrical division of Framatome Connectors USA Inc. 
manufactures and sells transformer ground connectors known as Type EQC632C 
that have a base with a threaded stud and two seats on opposite sides of a 
through-hole. An eyelet shaped piece extends through the through-hole and 
has a nut attached to it. A hole of the eyelet shaped piece is aligned 
between the two seats for a conductor to pass through the hole and be 
pressed against the seats by the eyelet shaped piece when the nut is 
tightened. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention an electrical 
ground connector is provided comprising a base, a first fastener, and a 
second fastener. The base is made of electrically conductive material. The 
base has a first connection section and a second connection section. The 
second connection section has a hole therethrough. The first fastener has 
a general U-shape with a head and two legs extending from the head. A 
first one of the legs extends through the hole in the base and a second 
one of the legs extends along an exterior of the base. The second fastener 
is attached to the legs of the first fastener. A portion of the base is 
located between the legs and between the head of the first fastener and 
the second fastener. 
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention an 
electrical ground connector is provided comprising a one-piece metal base, 
a one-piece U-shaped fastener, and a nut. The base has a threaded stud, an 
elongate seat along a first side of the base, and a first hole extending 
through the base between the seat and the threaded stud. The U-shaped 
fastener has a first leg extending through the hole in the base. A second 
leg of the U-shaped fastener extends along an exterior side of the base. A 
head of the U-shaped fastener is positioned opposite a portion of the seat 
at the first side of the base. The first and second legs have threads 
thereon. The nut is threadingly attached to the threads on the first and 
second legs of the U-shaped fastener. The nut is located on a second side 
of the base opposite from the first side of the base. 
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention an 
electrical ground connector is provided comprising a one-piece metal base, 
a one-piece U-shaped fastener, and a nut. The base has a threaded stud, an 
elongate seat along a first side of the base, and two holes extending 
through the base on opposite sides of the seat. The U-shaped fastener has 
a first leg extending through a first one of the two holes, a second leg 
extending through a second one of the two holes, and a head located 
opposite the seat. The nut is threadingly attached to the first and second 
legs of the U-shaped fastener on a second side of the base opposite to the 
first side of the base.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an exploded perspective view of an 
electrical connector 10 incorporating features of the present invention. 
Although the features of the present invention will be described with 
reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be 
understood that features of the present invention can be embodied in many 
different forms of alternate embodiments. In addition, any suitable size, 
shape or type of elements or materials could be used. 
The connector 10 generally comprises a base 12, a first fastener 14, a 
second fastener 16, and a washer 18. In an alternate embodiment the washer 
18 need not be provided. Referring also to FIG. 4, the base 12 is 
preferably a one-piece metal member made of electrically conductive 
material. However, in an alternate embodiment multiple members could be 
combined to form the base. The base 12 has a first connection section 20 
and a second connector section 22. The first section 20 has a single 
threaded stud 24. However, in alternate embodiments other types of first 
connection sections could be provided. The stud 24 is provided to allow 
the base 12 to be fixedly and electrically connected to another member 
(not shown), such as a member that is part of an electrical ground. The 
other member would have a threaded aperture to receive the threaded stud 
24. The second connection section 22 includes a single hole 26. The hole 
26 has a general semi-circular cross-sectional shape and extends through 
the base 12 generally transverse to the longitudinal axis of the stud 24. 
A first side 28 of the base 12 has a general V-shaped recessed elongate 
seat 30. The hole 26 is located between the seat 30 and the stud 24. The 
seat 30 extends generally transverse to the direction of the hole 26 and 
the center axis of the stud 24. However, in alternate embodiments, other 
configurations could be provided. 
The first fastener 14 is preferably a one-piece metal member made of 
electrically conductive material. The first fastener 14 has a general 
U-shape with a head 32 and two legs 34, 35. The legs 34,35 have threads 36 
on their exterior sides. The legs 34,35 have general cycloidal 
cross-sectional shapes. The head 32 has a width W.sub.1 that is wider than 
the widths W.sub.2 of the legs 34,35. The head 32 also has a general 
V-shaped recessed seat 38 between the two legs 34,35. Referring also to 
FIGS. 2 and 3, the legs 34,35 are spaced from each other by a distance D. 
The distance D is substantially the same as the thickness of the base 12 
between the hole 26 and the exterior side end 40. The first leg 34 is 
suitably sized and shaped to pass into and through the hole 26. When the 
leg 34 is passed through the hole 26, the other leg 35 extends along the 
exterior side end 40 of the base 12. The head 32 is thus moved into 
proximity over the seat 30 with the two seats 30, 38 facing each other. 
The area between the two seats 30, 38 forms a conductor receiving area 42 
for the first conductor A (see FIG. 3). 
The second fastener 16 is preferably a one-piece metal made of electrically 
conductive material. In the embodiment shown, the second fastener 16 is a 
threaded nut. The size of the threaded aperture 44 is adapted to screw 
onto the two legs 34, 35 of the first fastener 14. With the first fastener 
14 positioned on the base 12, with the first leg 34 in the hole 26 and the 
second leg 35 along the exterior side end 40, the nut 16 is screwed onto 
the legs 34, 35 at a second side 46 of the base 12 that is opposite form 
the first side 28 of the base 12. The washer 18 is positioned between the 
nut 16 and the second side 28. 
As the nut 16 is screwed onto the legs 34, 35, the head 32 of the first 
fastener 14 is pulled towards the first side 28. Thus, the two seats 30, 
38 move towards each other to clamp the conductor A therebetween. This 
fixedly clamps the connector 10 and the conductor A together. With the 
stud 24 threadingly attached to another member (not shown), the connector 
10 fixedly and electrically connects the conductor A to the other member 
to thereby ground the conductor A. 
Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown an exploded perspective view of an 
alternate embodiment of the present invention. The connector 50 has a base 
52, the first fastener 14 and the second fastener 16. The base 52 is a 
one-piece metal member with first connection section 54 and a second 
connection section 56. The first connection section 54 has a single 
threaded stud 58. The second connection section 56 has two holes 60, 61 
and a recessed conductor receiving seat 62. The legs 34,35 are inserted 
into respective ones of the holes 60,61 with the seat 38 facing the seat 
62. In other alternate embodiments, other shapes of bases could be 
provided. 
One of the principal advantages of the present invention is the quality of 
the electrical connection that is provided between the connector 10 or 50 
and the line conductor A. The present invention, because of the increased 
area of contact between the seats 30, 38 or 62, 38 and the conductor A, 
provides an improved degree of electrical connection than in the prior 
art. Another principal advantage of the present invention is in regard to 
the cost of the ground connector relative to the old ground connector. The 
connectors 10, 50 can use existing SERVIT components for the first and 
second fasteners 14, 16. SERVIT is a trademark of Framatome Connectors USA 
Inc. SERVIT connectors are used to connect two line conductors to each 
other. Thus, the same components (14, 16) can be used for two different 
connection systems; one for connecting two line conductors to each other 
and one for connecting a line conductor to a ground. This also reduces 
inventory costs and manufacturing cost. 
Referring now to FIG. 6, an alternate embodiment of a base 70 is shown. The 
base 70 is substantially the same as the base 12. However, in this 
embodiment the base 70 has a serrated or tooth ridged area 72 along the 
V-shaped recessed seat 74. The serrated area 72 significantly enhances 
grip on the conductor. Thus, it makes it much more difficult for the 
conductor to be inadvertently pulled out of the clamp between the base and 
the first fastener. Referring also to FIG. 7, a partial cross-sectional 
view of an alternate embodiment of the head of a U-shaped first fastener 
80 is shown. The fastener 80 is substantially the same as the fastener 14 
shown in FIG. 1. However, in this embodiment the fastener 80 has a 
serrated or tooth ridged area 82 along the V-shaped recessed seat 84 
between the two legs. The serrated area 82 is used to enhance the grip on 
the conductor. The fastener 80 can be used with either base 12 or base 70. 
Likewise, the base 70 can be used with either the first fastener 14 or the 
first fastener 80. It should be understood that the foregoing description 
is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and 
modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing 
from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is 
intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and various which 
fall within the scope of the appended claims.