Lightning diverter strip
AssigneeDayton-Granger, Inc.
InventorJay D. Cline
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A lightning diverter strip for use on aircraft components has a polyester tape base onto which is bonded by an epoxy a coating or layer of uniformly dispersed powdered aluminum.
Claims5
A lightning diverter strip for conducting lightning-induced electrical currents and thereby protecting vulnerable aircraft components such as radomes and the like, comprising a substrate of flexible dielectric tape having a lower surface adapted to be applied to the aircraft component to be protected thereby, and having an upper surface, a flexible epoxy binder on said upper surface, a conductive metal powder of finely divided aluminum uniformly deposited along said tape and bound thereto by said binder, said powder having a density such as to provide a very high DC resistance which reads essentially as an open circuit to DC voltages while forming a discrete, non-destructive conductive path for electrical currents induced by lightning.
The method of manufacturing a lightning diverter strip comprising the steps of
- (a) providing a length of thin dielectric plastic tape,
- (b) applying a curable epoxy to one surface of the tape,
- (c) uniformly applying finely divided aluminum powder to the epoxy with a density such as to provide a very high DC resistance which reads essentially as an open circuit to DC voltages while forming a discrete, non-destructive conductive path for lightning-induced currents, and
- (d) curing said epoxy to bind the aluminum particles to the tape.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.