Wallbox dimmer having a sliding cover plate

A wallbox dimmer for controlling the amount of power delivered from an AC power source to an electrical load, said dimmer comprising:

• an enclosure adapted to fit into an opening of an electrical wallbox;
• a yoke fixed to said enclosure and adapted to mount said dimmer to said electrical wallbox;
• an electrical control component mounted within said enclosure and having a vertically-movable thin elongated operating member extending out of an opening of said yoke and beyond a front surface of said yoke;
• a rectangular bezel having side walls defining a shallow cup and a front surface extending across one end of said cup, the opposite and open end of said cup being fixed to said front surface of said yoke, said front surface of said bezel having a rectangular opening in the center thereof;
• an operating knob having a shaft extending through said rectangular opening in said bezel and fixed to the free end of said operating member, said operating knob operable to vertically move across the length of said rectangular opening;
• and
• a generally flat cover plate slidably positioned immediately behind said rectangular opening in said bezel and captured in the interior of said cup against said side walls of said bezel, said cover plate comprising an opening through which said shaft of said operating knob extends, such that said cover plate is vertically moveable with said operating knob, said cover plate fully covering said rectangular opening over the full length of the vertical movement of said operating knob, whereby said opening of said yoke is covered by said cover plate in all vertical positions of said operating knob;
• further wherein said cover plate comprises a plurality of flexible fingers projecting into contact with said side walls of said bezel to hold said cover plate in position until moved by movement of said operating knob.