Patent ID: 8146282

Claim:
A Weapons Accessory Power Distribution System for use with a handguard, which extends along at least a portion of a length of a barrel of a weapon and at least partially encircles said barrel, for providing a supply of electrical power for use by at least one power-consuming accessory operatively associated with said weapon, said Weapons Power Distribution System comprising: a power source; and at least one powered rail, extending along at least a portion of a length of said handguard and electrically connected to said power source, wherein said powered rail comprises: at least two sections, a first section located on a top side of said handguard and a second section located on a bottom side of said handguard; a plurality of mechanical features formed on the outer surface of said powered rail in a parallel, spaced-apart relationship for mechanically positioning a power-consuming accessory, an aperture formed in a plurality of sequential ones of said mechanical features, and an insulative backplane, mounted in said aperture, and which has formed thereon a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact positioned between at least two of said mechanical features for providing a first and a second electrical connection to said power source, respectively; and two terminal pads electrically connected to respective ones of said first and second electrical contacts; a power distribution system for electrically interconnecting said power source and said at least one powered rail, comprising: two electrically conductive busses electrically interconnected with said two terminal pads of said insulative backplane formed into two mating sections comprising an upper rail connector and a lower rail connector, to encircle said handguard and contact said first and said second sections of said powered rail, respectively, and two electrical conductors electrically connected at a first end to said two electrically conductive busses, respectively, and at a second end to said power source, two retaining clips manufactured from a resilient spring material, anchored on the upper rail connector, two clamp hooks anchored on the lower rail connector, and wherein said two retaining clips and said two clamp hooks are engageable to securely hold the lower rail connector in mechanical and electrical contact with said second section of said powered rail; wherein mechanical mounting of a power-consuming accessory between said two mechanical features electrically connects said power-consuming accessory to said first and said second electrical contacts.