Battery connection protector case

Claim 1

A protective case for an electrical connection between a battery cable end and a battery terminal post, said case comprising a base having a floor, said floor having a bore through which said post can be received, a cap having front, rear, side, and top walls, said cap cooperating with said base to provide a substantially closed housing within which said connection is located when said case is in use, a hinge connecting the rear edge of said base to said rear wall of said cap, said base, cap and hinge all being of a one-piece molded construction, alignment structure partially carried by said base and partially carried by said cap, said base and cap alignment structure cooperating upon closure of said cap onto said base for ensuring that said base and cap are properly interfitted in order to provide a substantially closed housing, said alignment structure comprising a truncated guide wall portion which forms a part of the front wall of one of said base and said cap, and a truncated cutout section in the front wall of the other of said base and said cap, said truncated guide wall cooperating with said truncated cutout in order to guide said cap into proper closure relations with said base, latch structure partially carried by said base and partially carried by said cap for retaining said cap in a closure attitude with said base; said latch structure comprising a latch access port defined in said cap and a latch flexibly connected to said base, said latch automatically engaging said latch access port upon closure of said cap with said base, said latch having a latch face, and said latch access port having a latch edge, said latch face and latch edge being adapted to overlie one another in latching relation, said latch being of a size and configuration relative to the size and configuration of said latch access port so as to not extend beyond the outer surfaces of said cap, said latch structure being incorporated with said case as part of said one-piece molded construction, and a cable collar including a cable collar section carried by said base and a cable collar section carried by said cap, that cable collar section carried by each of said base and cap being centrally oriented relative to said truncated guide wall and said truncated cutout.