Fasteners are utilized in joining at least two elements or components together in the process of assembling many items of manufacture. A number of items of manufacture are sensitive to an occurrence of sparking caused by electromagnetic effects to which the items may be exposed. Such items, in particular, are ones that are exposed to the environment and could be exposed to unfavorable weather conditions such as lightening. Those items that are exposed to lightening, for example, do not want to be subject to sparking induced by the electromagnetic effects. In the example of an aircraft, it is not desirable for the aircraft to experience sparking at fastener positions as a result of being exposed to these electromagnetic effects. Thus, to prevent unwanted sparking, secure electrical contacts need to be achieved by fasteners that connect two or more elements or components together in assembling the item of manufacture. Failure to make secure electrical connections between the materials being joined together by a fastener and the fastener will provide a condition where unwanted sparking may occur.
In the assembly of an item of manufacture such as an aircraft, there is a need for numerous fasteners to be used to join and secure a number of components together that comprise the aircraft. There is a need to not only provide safety in preventing unwanted sparks at the location of the fasteners joining elements and components together from electromagnetic effect but also a need to provide as much standardization in fastening together materials to make assembly easier and faster and additionally less costly in not having to carry more fastener components of varying size to address the fastening of a large number of connections of components which may have a wide variety of grip lengths or thickness of the stacks of the components being joined together.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds