Electrical device with circuit protection component and light

• US 7,586,718 B1
• Filed: 11/29/2004
• Issued: 09/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pass & Seymour Incorporated (Legrand SA)
• Original Assignee: Pass & Seymour Incorporated (Legrand SA)
• Inventors: Radosavljevic, Dejan, Wilson, Gary O., Weeks, Richard, Savicki, Gerald R. Jr., Vought, Kenneth D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Barnie; Rexford N
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOANG, ANN THI
• Application Number:
  US10/998,369
• Time in Patent Office: 1,744 Days
• Field of Search: 361/42
• US Class Current: 361/42
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 71/04 Means for indicating condition of the switching device by means of an auxiliary contact H01H71/46
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 83/04 with testing means for indicating the ability of the switch or relay to function properly

Abstract

An electrical wiring device includes a housing, and a circuit protection component and a light source operably mounted within the housing. In various aspects, the circuit protection component is a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) or an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI). The light source can function to provide increased illumination in an environment surrounding the electrical wiring device (e.g., a darkened bathroom or a darkened kitchen), or to indicate the status of the circuit protection component (e.g., tripped or normal). The light source may be one or more LEDs, neon sources, incandescent sources, etc. Embodiments of the invention include, in addition, a sensor for controlling the on/off state of the light source and/or a trip indicator separate from the light Source for indicating a status condition of the circuit protection component. The device is illustratively represented by a grounded plug receptacle, but may be embodied in a switch, a dimmer, or other application device.

Claims

1. An electrical wiring device comprising:

a device housing including a front cover and a rear body member, the front cover including a raised-user accessible portion, the raised-user accessible portion including at least one device feature disposed therein and a set of receptacle openings disposed at a first end portion thereof;

a plurality of line terminals and a plurality of load terminals at least partially disposed in the rear body member, the plurality of load terminals being operatively coupled to receptacle load terminals accessible by way of the set of receptacle openings;

a fault detection circuit assembly coupled to the plurality of line terminals and configured to generate a fault detection signal in response to detecting at least one fault condition;

a circuit interrupter assembly coupled to the fault detection circuit, the circuit interrupter being configured to provide electrical continuity between the plurality of line terminals and the plurality of load terminals in a reset state, the circuit interrupter being further configured to disconnect the plurality of line terminals from the plurality of load terminals in response to the fault detection signal to thereby drive the device into a tripped state; and

a light assembly including at least one light emitting element, an illumination circuit coupled to the plurality of line terminals and/or the plurality of load terminals, the illumination circuit being configured to selectively drive the at least one light element between a deenergized state and a light emitting state, and a lens element disposed in optical communication with the at least one light element and coupled to the front cover at a second end portion of the raised-user accessible portion, the lens element occupying a substantial part of the second end of the raised-user accessible portion such that the dimension of the lens element parallel to the longitudinal axis of the electrical wiring device is greater than or equal to 0.4 inches, the lens element being configured to direct light emitted by the light emitting element into a spatial volume proximate the electrical wiring device.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one light emitting element includes a plurality of light emitting elements.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one light emitting element includes an LED.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one light emitting element includes a neon light source.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one light emitting element includes an incandescent light source.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the lens element is characterized by a first dimension that is greater than or equal to 0.4 inches, the first dimension being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the electrical wiring device.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the lens element is characterized by a second dimension that is substantially equal to the width of the raised-user accessible portion.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the lens element includes a surface area substantially corresponding to one-third of the surface area of the raised-user accessible portion.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the lens element is disposed at one end portion of the front cover, the set of receptacle openings disposed at an opposing end portion of the front cover, and the at least one device feature being disposed between the lens element and the set of receptacle openings.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the at least one device feature includes a reset button coupled to the circuit interrupter, the reset button being configured to drive the circuit interrupter from a tripped state to a reset state.

11. The device of claim 9, wherein the at least one device feature includes a test button coupled to the fault detection circuit, the test button being configured to generate simulated fault signal.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the lens element is a convex lens.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the light assembly further comprises an ambient light sensor coupled to the illumination circuit, the illumination circuit being configured to drive the at least one light emitting element from the deenergized state to the light emitting-state when an amount of ambient light detected by the ambient light sensor is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the illumination circuit also being configured to deenergize the at least one light emitting element when the amount of ambient light detected by the ambient light sensor is greater than the predetermined threshold.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the at least one device feature includes a light shielding structure coupled to the ambient light sensor, the light shielding structure being configured to substantially prevent the light emitted by the light emitting element from being directed into the ambient light sensor.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the light assembly further comprises an ambient light sensor coupled to the illumination circuit, the illumination circuit being configured to drive the at least one light emitting element from the deenergized state to the light emitting state, the intensity of the light emitted by the at least one light emitting element being inversely related to the amount of ambient light detected by the ambient light sensor.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the at least one device feature includes a light shielding structure coupled to the ambient light sensor, the light shielding structure being configured to substantially prevent the light emitted by the light emitting element from being directed into the ambient light sensor.

17. The device of claim 1, wherein the circuit interrupter assembly further comprises a trip state indicator configured to provide a user perceivable indication signal when the circuit interrupter is in the tripped state.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the at least one device feature includes a lens element optically coupled to the trip state indicator.

19. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one device feature includes a reset button coupled to the circuit interrupter, the reset button being configured to drive the circuit interrupter from a tripped state to a reset state.

20. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one device feature includes a test button coupled to the fault detection circuit, the test circuit being configured to generate simulated fault signal.

21. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one fault condition is a ground fault.

22. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one fault condition is an arc fault.

23. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one fault condition is a miswire condition.

24. The device of claim 1, wherein the fault detection circuit assembly includes a self-test circuit configured to generate a periodic simulated fault signal.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein the self-test circuit includes an end-of-life mechanism configured to disable the electrical wiring device if the fault detection circuit fails to respond to the periodic simulated fault signal.

26. An electrical wiring device comprising:

a device housing including a front cover and a rear body member, the front cover including a raised-user accessible surface having a first end, a second end and a middle segment disposed therebetween, the raised-user accessible surface including a set of receptacle openings disposed in the first end and a test and reset button disposed in the middle segment;

a plurality of line terminals and a plurality of load terminals at least partially disposed in the rear body member, the plurality of load terminals being operatively coupled to receptacle load terminals accessible by way of the set of receptacle openings;

a fault detection circuit assembly coupled to the plurality of line terminals and configured to generate a fault detection signal in response to detecting at least one fault condition;

a circuit interrupter assembly coupled to the fault detection circuit, the circuit interrupter being configured to provide electrical continuity between the plurality of line terminals and the plurality of load terminals in a reset state, the circuit interrupter being further configured to disconnect the plurality of line terminals from the plurality of load terminals in response to the fault detection signal to thereby drive the device into a tripped state;

a light assembly including at least one light emitting element and a lens element disposed in optical communication with the at least one light emitting element and coupled to the front cover, the lens element occupying a substantial part of the second end of the raised-user accessible surface such that the dimension of the lens element parallel to the longitudinal axis of the electrical wiring device is greater than or equal to 0.4 inches, the lens element being configured to direct light emitted by the light emitting element into a spatial volume proximate the electrical wiring device; and

an illumination circuit coupled to the plurality of line terminals and/or the plurality of load terminals, the illumination circuit including an ambient light sensor, the illumination circuit being configured to drive the at least one light emitting element between a deenergized state and a light emitting state based on an amount of ambient light detected by the ambient sensor.

27. The device of claim 26, wherein the light assembly further comprises an ambient light sensor coupled to the illumination circuit, the illumination circuit being configured to drive the at least one light emitting element from the deenergized state to the light emitting state when an amount of ambient light detected by the ambient light sensor is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the illumination circuit also being configured to deenergize the at least one light emitting element when the amount of ambient light detected by the ambient light sensor is greater than the predetermined threshold.

28. The device of claim 26, wherein the light assembly further comprises an ambient light sensor coupled to the illumination circuit, the illumination circuit being configured to drive the at least one light emitting element from the deenergized state to the light emitting state, the intensity of the light emitted by the at least one light emitting element being inversely related to the amount of ambient light detected by the ambient light sensor.