Patent ID: 8517776

Claim:
A ground clamp for use with a ball stud, the ball stud having a shaft that terminates in a spherical end having a diameter larger than a diameter of the shaft, the ground clamp comprising: a body connectable to an electrical conduit to provide an electrically conductive connection; first and second jaws extending from the body and movable relative to each other between an open position wherein a spherical end of a ball stud may be inserted into the clamp and a closed position wherein the spherical end of the ball stud can be clamped between the jaws to provided an electrically conductive connection between the clamp and the ball stud; the first jaw including two fingers, each finger defining a C-shaped clamp surface that abuts the spherical end of the ball stud when the ball stud is inserted into the clamp, the two fingers being laterally spaced from each other to define a slot extending between the fingers and having a lateral width through which a shaft of the ball stud can extend when the ball stud is inserted into the clamp; and the second jaw including a laterally extending platform having a lateral width greater than the lateral width of the slot, the second jaw further including a rib extending from the platform to be located within the slot between the two fingers with the jaws in the closed position, the second jaw having a concave clamp surface defined in the platform and the rib that partially surrounds the spherical end of the ball stud with the jaws in the closed position and the ball stud inserted in the clamp, the concave clamp surface on the rib engageable with the spherical end of the ball stud as the jaws move from the open position to the closed position to guide the jaws and the spherical end of the ball stud into proper alignment in the closed position with the ball stud inserted into the clamp.