Electrical wiring device
First Claim
1. An electrical wiring device comprising:
- a housing including a plurality of wiring terminals configured to be connected to a source of electrical power, the housing including a front body member having a user accessible surface;
at least one circuit disposed in the housing, the at least one circuit being configured to provide an output signal in response to at least one external input signal;
a light emission and detection assembly including,a lamp sub-assembly coupled to the at least one circuit, the lamp subassembly including at least one light emitting element configured to emit light in response to the output signal, andan ambient light sensor sub-assembly coupled to the at least one circuit and including an ambient light sensor and a sensor housing assembly, the ambient light sensor being configured to generate the at least one external input signal in response to sensing an ambient light level in a space, the sensor housing assembly being configured to substantially isolate the ambient light sensor from the light emitted by the lamp sub-assembly.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to an electrical wiring device that includes at least one circuit configured to provide an output signal in response to at least one external input signal. The device further comprises a light emission and detection assembly that includes: a lamp sub-assembly coupled to the at least one circuit, the lamp subassembly including at least one light emitting element configured to emit light in response to the output signal; and an ambient light sensor sub-assembly coupled to the at least one circuit and including an ambient light sensor and a sensor housing assembly, the ambient light sensor being configured to generate the at least one external input signal in response to sensing an ambient light level in the space, the sensor housing assembly being configured to substantially isolate the ambient light sensor from the light emitted by the lamp sub-assembly.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1. An electrical wiring device comprising:
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a housing including a plurality of wiring terminals configured to be connected to a source of electrical power, the housing including a front body member having a user accessible surface; at least one circuit disposed in the housing, the at least one circuit being configured to provide an output signal in response to at least one external input signal; a light emission and detection assembly including, a lamp sub-assembly coupled to the at least one circuit, the lamp subassembly including at least one light emitting element configured to emit light in response to the output signal, and an ambient light sensor sub-assembly coupled to the at least one circuit and including an ambient light sensor and a sensor housing assembly, the ambient light sensor being configured to generate the at least one external input signal in response to sensing an ambient light level in a space, the sensor housing assembly being configured to substantially isolate the ambient light sensor from the light emitted by the lamp sub-assembly. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. The device of 34, wherein the ambient light sensor is disposed under one of the at least two lens elements.
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36. An electrical wiring device comprising:
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a housing including a plurality of wiring terminals configured to be connected to a source of electrical power, the housing also including a front body member having a user accessible surface, the user accessible surface including a two dimensional opening formed therein and a structure that includes at least one optically transmissive element disposed within the opening; at least one circuit disposed in the housing, the at least one circuit being configured to provide an output signal in response to at least one external input signal; a lamp sub-assembly coupled to the at least one circuit, the lamp subassembly including at least one light emitting element configured to emit light in response to the output signal; an ambient light sensor sub-assembly coupled to the at least one circuit and including an ambient light sensor, the ambient light sensor being configured to generate the at least one external input signal in response to sensing an ambient light level in a space, wherein the at least one circuit is configured to disable the output signal from time to time, the at least one circuit being configured to respond to the external input signal when the output signal has been disabled. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method for controlling an electrical wiring device, the method comprising:
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providing a housing including a plurality of wiring terminals configured to be connected to a source of electrical power, the housing also including a front body member having a user accessible surface, the housing including a lamp sub-assembly having at least one light emitting element configured to emit light in response to an output signal, and an ambient light sensor configured to generate at least one external input signal in response to sensing an ambient light level in the space; evaluating the at least one external input signal relative to a predetermined ambient light threshold during a first time interval wherein the output signal is substantially ignored or disabled; and generating the output signal during a second time interval if the at least one external input signal indicates that the ambient light is less than the predetermined ambient light threshold, the at least one external input signal being disabled or ignored during the second time interval. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification