US 2012/0068623 A1 · ELECTRICAL WIRING DEVICE

Abstract

The present invention is directed to an electrical wiring device that includes a lighting assembly module disposed in the housing assembly and coupled to a set of line terminals, the lighting assembly includes at least one light emitting device. An ambient light sensor is disposed in the housing assembly and substantially optically decoupled from the lighting assembly, the ambient light sensor provides an electrical sensor signal corresponding to an ambient light level at or proximate to the ambient light sensor. A rechargeable electrical storage device is coupled to the set of line terminals, the rechargeable electrical storage device being charged by the source of AC power to a predetermined voltage threshold. A control circuit is coupled to the set of line terminals, the lighting assembly module and the ambient light sensor. The control circuit is configured to provide a modulated lighting control signal to the lighting assembly module when AC power is being provided by the source of AC power, the modulated lighting control signal being a function of the AC power and the electrical sensor signal, the modulated lighting control signal being configured to adjust an intensity of the light emitted by the at least one light emitting device such that the intensity is a function of the ambient light level. The control circuit is further configured to provide a second lighting control signal configured to turn the lighting assembly ON at a predetermined intensity for a predetermined period of time when AC power is not being provided by the source of AC power, the second lighting control signal being provided by the rechargeable electrical storage device.

Claims31

Dependent claims

An electrical wiring device comprising:

a housing assembly;
a set of line terminals disposed in the housing assembly and configured to be connected to a source of AC power;
a lighting assembly module disposed in the housing assembly and coupled to the set of line terminals, the lighting assembly including at least one light emitting device;
an ambient light sensor disposed in the housing assembly and substantially decoupled from the lighting assembly module, the ambient light sensor providing an electrical sensor signal corresponding to an ambient light level at or proximate to the ambient light sensor;
a rechargeable electrical storage device coupled to the set of line terminals, the rechargeable electrical storage device being charged by the source of AC power to a predetermined voltage threshold;
and
a control circuit coupled to the set of line terminals, the lighting assembly module and the ambient light sensor, the control circuit being configured to provide a modulated lighting control signal to the lighting assembly module when AC power is being provided by the source of AC power, the modulated lighting control signal being a function of the AC power and the electrical sensor signal, the modulated lighting control signal being configured to adjust an intensity of the light emitted by the at least one light emitting device such that the intensity is a function of the ambient light level, the control circuit being further configured to provide a second lighting control signal configured to turn the lighting assembly ON at a predetermined intensity for a predetermined period of time when AC power is not being provided by the source of AC power, the second lighting control signal being derived from the rechargeable electrical storage device.

4 more elements

An electrical wiring device comprising:

a housing assembly;
a set of line terminals disposed in the housing assembly and configured to be connected to a source of AC power;
a lighting assembly module disposed in the housing assembly and coupled to the set of line terminals, the lighting assembly including at least one light emitting device;
an ambient lighting control circuit coupled to the lighting assembly, the ambient lighting control circuit including an ambient light sensor and a first timing regulation circuit, the first timing regulation circuit being configured to generate a modulated timing regulation signal characterized by an adjustable duty cycle, the adjustable duty cycle being substantially a function of an ambient light level sensed by the ambient light sensor and adjustable between a minimum power setting and a maximum power setting;
and
an emergency lighting control circuit coupled to the lighting assembly module, the emergency lighting control circuit including a second regulation circuit coupled to a rechargeable storage device, the emergency lighting control circuit being enabled when AC power is not available from the AC power source such that the second regulation circuit provides a DC power signal to the light source from the rechargeable storage device, an intensity of the light emitted by the lighting assembly module in response to the DC power signal is greater than that the intensity of the light emitted by the lighting assembly module in response to the timing regulation signal at the maximum power setting.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Electrical wiring device

Life of this patent

Electrical wiring device

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims31