Electrical connector with adaptable external ground and indicia display

Abstract

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.