Active cover plates

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.

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.