Active cover plates
First Claim
1. A wall-plate system extending in longitudinal, lateral, and transverse directions that are orthogonal to one another, the wall-plate system comprising:
- a face plate comprising a front, a back, and at least one outlet aperture, wherein the outlet aperture extends through the face plate in the transverse direction;
a back plate abutting the back of the face plate;
electronic circuitry comprising a light;
at least one spring clip connected to the face plate and extending rearward away from the back of the face plate in the transverse direction, the at least one spring clip comprising at least one first portion of conductive material extending rearward away from the back of the face plate in the transverse direction;
the least one spring clip resiliently deflecting between a neutral position and a deflected position located outboard of the neutral position in the lateral direction;
at least one insulator positioned outboard and covering at least a portion of the at least one first portion of conductive material in the lateral direction;
the at least one insulator tracking and bending along with the at least one spring clip as the at least one spring clip deflects between the neutral position and the deflected position; and
at least one second portion of conductive material sandwiched between the face plate and the back plate and extending to electrically connect the at least one first portion of conductive material to the electronic circuitry.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Various embodiments of a wall-plate system are disclosed. For example, wall-plate system may extend in longitudinal, lateral, and transverse directions that are orthogonal to one another. The wall-plate system may include any or all of the following: (1) a face plate; (2) a back plate; (3) electronic circuitry; (4) at least one spring clip comprising at least one first portion of conductive material and resiliently deflecting between a neutral position and a deflected position located outboard of the neutral position in the lateral direction; (6) at least one insulator positioned outboard of the at least one first portion of conductive material in the lateral direction; (7) the at least one insulator tracking the at least one spring clip as the at least one spring clip deflects between the neutral position and the deflected position.
142 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A wall-plate system extending in longitudinal, lateral, and transverse directions that are orthogonal to one another, the wall-plate system comprising:
- a face plate comprising a front, a back, and at least one outlet aperture, wherein the outlet aperture extends through the face plate in the transverse direction;
a back plate abutting the back of the face plate;
electronic circuitry comprising a light;
at least one spring clip connected to the face plate and extending rearward away from the back of the face plate in the transverse direction, the at least one spring clip comprising at least one first portion of conductive material extending rearward away from the back of the face plate in the transverse direction;
the least one spring clip resiliently deflecting between a neutral position and a deflected position located outboard of the neutral position in the lateral direction;
at least one insulator positioned outboard and covering at least a portion of the at least one first portion of conductive material in the lateral direction;
the at least one insulator tracking and bending along with the at least one spring clip as the at least one spring clip deflects between the neutral position and the deflected position; and
at least one second portion of conductive material sandwiched between the face plate and the back plate and extending to electrically connect the at least one first portion of conductive material to the electronic circuitry. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
- a face plate comprising a front, a back, and at least one outlet aperture, wherein the outlet aperture extends through the face plate in the transverse direction;
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22. A wall-plate system extending in longitudinal, lateral, and transverse directions that are orthogonal to one another, the wall-plate system comprising:
- a face plate comprising a front, a back, and at least one outlet aperture extending therethrough in the transverse direction;
the face plate further comprising an edge and at least one light aperture, wherein the edge extends in the lateral direction to form one extreme of the wall-plate system and the at least one light aperture extends in the longitudinal direction through the edge;
electronic circuitry comprising at least one light source positioned proximate the at least one light aperture;
at least one spring clip connected to the face plate and extending rearward away from the back of the face plate in the transverse direction, the at least one clip comprising at least one first portion of conductive material extending rearward away from the back of the face plate in the transverse direction;
the least one clip resiliently deflecting between a neutral position and a deflected position located outboard the neutral position in the lateral direction;
at least one insulator positioned outboard and covering at least a portion of the at least one first portion of conductive material in the lateral direction;
the at least one insulator tracking and bending along with the at least one clip as the at least one clip deflects between the neutral position and the deflected position; and
at least one second portion of conductive material extending to electrically connect the at least one first portion of conductive material to the electronic circuitry. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
- a face plate comprising a front, a back, and at least one outlet aperture extending therethrough in the transverse direction;
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27. A wall-plate system extending in longitudinal, lateral, and transverse directions that are orthogonal to one another, the wall-plate system comprising:
- a face plate comprising a front, a back, at least one outlet aperture extending therethrough in the transverse direction, and a rectangular outer perimeter, wherein the rectangular outer perimeter forms lengthwise and widthwise extremes of the wall-plate system in the longitudinal and lateral directions, respectively, the face plate further comprising an edge and at least one light aperture, wherein the edge extends in the lateral direction to form one lengthwise extreme of the wall-plate system and the at least one light aperture extends in the longitudinal direction through the edge;
a back plate abutting the back of the face plate;
electronic circuitry comprising at least one light source positioned proximate the at least one light aperture;
first and second spring clips, each connecting to the face plate, extending rearward away from the back of the face plate in the transverse direction, and comprising a first portion of conductive material extending rearward away from the back of the face plate in the transverse direction;
the first and second spring clips each resiliently deflecting between a neutral position and a deflected position located outboard the neutral position in the lateral direction;
first and second insulators positioned outboard and covering at least a portion of the first portion of conductive material of each of the first and second spring clips, respectively, in the lateral direction;
the first and second insulators respectively tracking and bending along with the first and second spring clips as the first and second spring clips deflect between respective neutral and deflected positions; and
first and second lengths of conductive material sandwiched between the face plate and the back plate and extending to respectively electrically connect (a) the portion of conductive material corresponding to the first spring clip to the electronic circuitry and (b) the portion of conductive material corresponding to the second spring clip to the electronic circuitry. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
- a face plate comprising a front, a back, at least one outlet aperture extending therethrough in the transverse direction, and a rectangular outer perimeter, wherein the rectangular outer perimeter forms lengthwise and widthwise extremes of the wall-plate system in the longitudinal and lateral directions, respectively, the face plate further comprising an edge and at least one light aperture, wherein the edge extends in the lateral direction to form one lengthwise extreme of the wall-plate system and the at least one light aperture extends in the longitudinal direction through the edge;
Specification