Patent ID: 7435921
Filing Date: 2008-10-14
Classification: H01H

Abstract:
1. An enclosure for an electronic device having a switch on its outer surface, said enclosure comprising a case having a rigid base and an outwardly extending peripheral wall to form a compartment for receiving the electronic device with the switch being on an outer surface remote from said base, said case being separate and distinct from the electronic device, a rigid caseplate mounted to said peripheral wall for enclosing the electronic device, said rigid caseplate being separate and distinct from both the electronic device and said base and being detachably mounted to expose said compartment and permit the electronic device to be selectively inserted into and removed from said compartment, said caseplate having an interior surface disposed toward said base within said compartment and an exterior surface remote from said base, an access opening extending through said caseplate from said interior surface to said exterior surface for being disposed at the switch to provide access to the switch to permit the switch to be manipulated without removing the electronic device from said compartment, a liner in the form of a thin membrane mounted in surface to surface contact with one of said interior surface and said exterior surface of said caseplate, said membrane completely covering said access opening to thereby completely cover the top of the switch and to permit manipulation of the switch by a user pressing against said membrane, said caseplate and said membrane forming a unitary laminate whereby detachment of said caseplate from said compartment also results in said membrane being detached from said compartment and moved away from the switch, said membrane having an offset region and a remaining region at said access opening, said offset region being in a plane which is displaced from and non-coplanar with said remaining region, and said offset region being surrounded by said remaining region.