Geophone casings

Claim 1

In a geophone casing comprising: a base made from a rigid, nonconductive material, said base defining a first substantially cylindrical chamber adapted to receive therein the bottom end of a seismic geophone, said base having a first wall; a cover for said base, said cover being made from a rigid, nonconductive material, said cover defining a second substantially cylindrical chamber adapted to receive therein the top end of said geophone, said cover having a second wall, said first and second walls having openings therein to allow the geophone''s leads to exit outwardly of the casing, the improvement consisting of: wholly self-locking means having a rigid male prong and a rigid female prong forming integral part with said first and second walls, respectively; said male and female prongs interlocking with each other when said base and said cover are forcibly assembled together, said male prong having a frusto-conical, external surface tapering inwardly toward the free end thereof, and the male prong defining an external annular shoulder spaced from said free end, said female prong having a mating cavity matching in shape the shape of said external surface and including an annular lip engageable beneath said external annular shoulder, said male prong being constructed to have sufficient resiliency to slightly bend inwardly when said lip is pushed downwardly over said frusto-conical surface until said lip comes to rest under said annular shoulder, and said cover comprising an internal ring having downwardlyextending cleats adapted to engage the geophone''s leads inside said casing.