Omega Engineering, Inc.

Janice E Angrave

Milton Bernard Hollander

David R Jacobs

William Earl McKinley

An identifying shield for an electronic instrument housing is formed of elastically stretchable and deformable material. The shield elastically surrounds the periphery of the instrument housing adjacent to its front panel surface, and defines a central opening that exposes the front panel for viewing by an operator. A first portion of the shield defines the central opening overlying the front panel of the instrument housing, and a second portion extends rearwardly from the first portion defining a peripheral band that engages the periphery of the case along its sidewalls adjacent to the front panel. An inwardly extending flange projects from the rearward edges of the peripheral band to enhance frictional engagement with the underlying sidewall surfaces of the instrument housing. The inwardly extending flange may also serve to retain the shield on the housing and to provide sealing between the front panel and the housing by being clamped between the front panel and the forward edges of the sidewalls of the housing. The shield material is resilient and elastically stretchable, so that it can be stretch-fitted over a housing in elastically gripping relationship; the thickness of the shield is selected so that unintended impacts with the outer surface of the shield will be absorbed in part in the shield and will be transmitted in part to the abutting surface of a support panel in which the housing is mounted.

Protective identifying shield and protected instrument case

A separable electrical connector with a housing formed of electrically insulating material includes an external grounding terminal anchor positioned in a grounding strip groove on the surface of the housing. The groove, in the form of an open-sided recess, receives and positions a suitably dimensioned grounding strip of electrically conductive material. The strip is coupled to the anchor by a screw fastener which engages mating screw threads formed in the anchor. One or more display surfaces surrounded by upstanding protective wall surfaces are formed on the exterior surface of the housing for the display of identifying indicia, and the base surf ace of the external grounding strip groove may be used as a display surface, if desired, in the absence of a grounding strip. The grounding terminal anchor may be made of electrically conductive material so that an anchored conductive grounding strip will be coupled to the housing both electrically and mechanically. When formed of conductive material, the grounding terminal anchor may serve as an electrical coupling between a conductive member mounted on the housing and one or more external conductors, or it may serve as a coupling between two or more conductors external to the housing, while serving at the same time as a mechanical coupling between the housing and the external conductors.

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Danbury, CT, United States of America

Janice E Angrave