Patent ID: RE40537

Claim:
A sealed electrical fitting for a vehicle fuel tank comprising: a metal wall of the fuel tank having at least one opening through the wall with a circumferentially continuous edge; at least two elongate electrically conductive metal pins extending through the at least one opening and each of the pins having a diameter and a longitudinal length greater than the diameter; at least one seal of glass received in the at least one opening and bonded to at least one of the pins; adjacent surfaces of adjacent pins being spaced apart a distance equal to or greater than the diameter of the pin, the minimum spacing between a peripheral edge of the glass seal and each immediately adjacent pin being at least equal to the diameter of the pin, the coefficient of thermal expansion of the metal wall being greater than the coefficient of thermal expansion of the glass of the glass seal, the metal wall and the glass seal being configured so that the glass is in a compressed state, and the same glass seal is bonded to at least two of the pins and the edge of the same opening through the metal wall.