The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 13, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 04, 2002
Robert J. Cleereman, Midland, MI (US);
Michael E. Hus, Midland, MI (US);
Jeffrey D. Wenzel, Saginaw, MI (US);
Joseph A. Langmaid, Caro, MI (US);
Frank J. Flavin, Midland, MI (US);
Mary M. Hoagland, Midland, MI (US);
Dow Global Technologies Inc., Midland, MI (US);
Abstract
A protective enclosure is disclosed that provides protection and energy management for a sensitive or fragile part or device that can be enclosed. The enclosure comprises one or more rigid structural components and one or more soft touch surface components from which one or more ribs originate and pass through the rigid structural component(s) to provide the energy management for the part or device when it is enclosed. The soft touch surface and rib material can be a low modulus, plastic material such as a thermoplastic elastomer and can optionally be foamed to provide further softness for the soft touch surface effect and/or for the energy management needs in the pass through ribs. Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is a particularly suitable thermoplastic. It has also been found that the protective enclosure can be designed to utilize the soft touch component to provide a substantially continuous liquid and dust resistant seal for any moveable or removable structural components. Preferably the pass through ribs and the soft touch surface are molded onto the first rigid component(s) by molding them onto the first component using a two shot molding, insert molding or overmolding process.