Patent ID: 7988201

Claim:
A fluid coupling assembly for attachment to a housing, comprising: a rotatable fluid coupling having an axis of rotation and a through-channel along said axis; a gasket having installed state and a free or an uninstalled state, an upper washer with an annular first opening formed therethrough, and a lower washer with an annular second opening formed therethrough, wherein: said upper washer and said lower washer each have respective centerpoints that are coaxially unaligned with respect to each other when the gasket is in each of the uninstalled and the installed states, wherein the distance between the centerpoints in the installed state is less than the distance between the centerpoints in the uninstalled state; and each of the upper washer and the lower washer includes radially-inwardly projecting tangs, wherein the upper and the lower washers are interconnected on one side by a deflectable gasket strap which exerts a biasing return force; and a threaded fastener having a shaft with a plurality of external threads, wherein the installed state is a state in which the fastener is captured by the gasket prior to attachment of the fluid coupling assembly to the housing; wherein the biasing return force engages the tangs of each of said upper washer and said lower washer with said threads of the fastener in the installed state to thereby retain said fastener to said fluid coupling.