Telephone base assemblies now generally comprise a lightweight housing of a plastic material enclosing the working parts of the telephone, that is, electronic components, which include a keypad or pushbutton assembly, supported on one or more printed circuit boards within a lower region of a base member of the housing of the assembly. Thus, lightweight telephones of a compact design may be provided. Nevertheless, it is found that customers have a tendency to prefer a heavier telephone as they perceive it to be functionally superior to a lightweight telephone. So, to provide weight in a telephone constructed from lightweight plastic materials and components, it is known to have lead composition weights distributed in various parts of the base member of the housing of the telephone base assembly. However, this is inconvenient and impractical in design and it is preferable to avoid the use of lead for environmental reasons. To overcome this problem, more recent telephones contain a larger metal plate, of a metal less dense than lead, which is fitted into the bottom, or lower part, of the telephone base member and screwed down. The plate may be formed from, for example, a sheet of cold rolled steel and coated with a corrosion resistant plating. Clearance holes for screws may conveniently be punched in the steel plate. Thus the structure is simple and easily manufactured.
Where it is desirable to increase the weight further, the use of a thicker plate requires a more complex method of manufacture, i.e. cutting and drilling, rather than punching, of screw receiving holes, thus adding to the complexity of manufacture and assembly.
Further, in many recent telephones constructions, it is desired to accommodate two or more printed circuit boards arranged one above the other within the telephone base assembly. Therefore, the use of more than one plate or a thicker plate for the purpose of increasing the weight takes up an unacceptable amount of space, requiring the circuit boards to be spaced closely together within the telephone base assembly. Where a second circuit board carries a keypad and is supported by an underlying circuit board, there is risk of damage to the underlying circuit board by excessive pressure exerted on it during operation of the keypad.