Fahnestock clip

Various Fahnestock clip designs

A Fahnestock clip (also sometimes spelled "Fahnstock", and some clips lose the F and read as "ahnestock"^{[citation needed]}) is an early technology for a mechanical electrical terminal which is still found in teaching laboratories. It consists of a single piece of flexible metal with a rectangle punched out of one end and a loop punched out of the other. The clip is bent over itself so the loop can be pushed through the rectangular opening. A wire can be inserted through the loop that is through the cut out, and the spring force of the clip pulling up makes an electrically sound mechanical connection. Also, more modern banana plugs will tightly fit perpendicularly into the loop.

Fahnestock clips were commonly made of phosphor bronze or spring steel and plated with tin for good electrical conductivity and corrosion-resistance. Most Fahnestock clips seen today are nickel-plated.

Fahnestock clips were seen on early radio receiver breadboard construction, model train power connections, and the like. Today, they have largely been supplanted by binding posts. However, they remain in use in elementary schools especially, where their ease of use and visible connections make them a popular way for science instructors to teach the creation of simple circuits, and most university physics departments still have them on apparatus.

The clip was patented 26 February 1907^[1]by John Schade Jr., assigned to Fahnestock Electric Co. Less than 2 weeks after the patent was issued they filed for reissue.^[2]

References