Powered wall plate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10714880-B1
Application number	US-201916659519-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Oct 21, 2019
Priority date	May 7, 2017
Publication date	Jul 14, 2020
Grant date	Jul 14, 2020

Abstract

A powered wall plate with at least two wall plate electrical current features behind the rear surface of the wall plate, each with a receiving prong, and a plug-in module with at least two electrical plugs and two arms, each arm with an electrical current transfer contact configured to removably mate with the receiving prong. A plurality of LED lights is located along a bottom edge of the front surface, a photocell is exposed on the front surface of the wall plate, and a control switch has an on position, an off position, and an auto position. A transformer housing may extend forward of the front surface and includes a circuit therein operatively coupled to a USB port on a perpendicular surface of the transformer housing. The USB port is configured to provide power when power is supplied to the at least two electrical plugs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A powered wall plate comprising:
a wall plate having a front surface opposite a rear surface and at least one opening extending through the front surface and the rear surface that is large enough to expose an electrical device therethrough;
a first plurality of mounting screw apertures extending through the wall plate and configured to receive a plurality of mounting screws to attach the wall plate to the electrical device;
at least two wall plate electrical current features behind the rear surface of the wall plate, each comprising a prong extending therefrom;
a plug-in module extending through the at least one opening and having:
a module body with a left side and a right side;
at least one rivet fixedly attached to the module body;
a plug body with at least one elongated aperture extending therethrough, the at least one aperture configured to receive and couple with the at least one rivet, wherein the at least one rivet is configured to slide up and down within the at least one aperture;
a first arm of two arms extending outward from the left side of the module body and a second arm of the two arms extending outward from the right side of the module body, each arm of the two arms having an electrical current transfer contact and an arm aperture configured to removably mate with the prong of one of the at least two wall plate electrical current features, wherein the electrical current transfer contact is configured to contact the prong of one of the at least two wall plate electrical current features when the prong is mated with the arm aperture; and
at least two electrical plugs both extending from the plug body in a direction perpendicular to the first and second arms, the at least two electrical plugs being configured to removably mate with an electrical receptacle of the electrical device;

a plurality of LED lights located along a bottom edge of the front surface;
a photocell exposed on the front surface of the wall plate;
a control switch having an on position, an off position, and an auto position; and
a transformer housing extending forward of the front surface adjacent to a top edge of the front surface, the transformer housing comprising a circuit therein, the circuit operatively coupled to at least one USB port, the at least one USB port exposed on a top surface of the transformer housing and facing perpendicular to the front surface, the circuit electrically coupled between the at least one USB port and the at least two electrical plugs and configured to provide power to the at least one USB port and to the control switch when power is supplied to the at least two electrical plugs.

2. The powered wall plate of claim 1 , further comprising a back plate positioned behind the rear surface and a second plurality of screws configured to secure the back plate to the wall plate.

3. The powered wall plate of claim 1 , further comprising at least two caps, each of the at least two caps configured to mount upon one of the prongs and secure one of the two arms of the plug-in module to the one of the two arms of the plug-in module's respective wall plate current feature of the at least two wall plate current features.

4. The powered wall plate of claim 1 , further comprising an adapter positioned within the opening and configured to adapt a shape of the opening to a shape of the electrical device.

5. A powered wall plate comprising:
a wall plate having a front surface opposite a rear surface and at least one opening extending through the front surface to the rear surface that is large enough to expose an electrical device therethrough;
at least two wall plate electrical current features behind the rear surface of the wall plate, each comprising an electrically conductive prong extending therefrom;
a plug-in module extending through the at least one opening and having:
two arms extending outward, a first arm of the two arms extending in a first direction and a second arm of the two arms extending in a second direction opposite the first direction, each arm of the two arms having an electrical current transfer contact and an arm aperture configured to removably mate with the prong of one of the at least two wall plate electrical current features, wherein the electrical current transfer contact is configured to contact the prong of one of the at least two wall plate electrical current features when the prong is mated with the arm aperture; and
at least two electrical plugs both extending in a third direction perpendicular to the first and second directions, the at least two electrical plugs being configured to removably mate with an electrical receptacle of the electrical device;

a plurality of LED lights located along an edge of the front surface; and
a transformer housing extending forward of the front surface, the transformer housing comprising at least one USB port exposed on a top surface of the transformer housing and facing perpendicular to the front surface, wherein the at least one USB port is electrically coupled to the at least two electrical plugs and the at least two electrical plugs are configured to provide power to the at least one USB port when power is supplied to the at least two electrical plugs.

6. The powered wall plate of claim 5 , further comprising a back plate positioned behind the rear surface and a plurality of screws configured to secure the back plate to the rear surface.

7. The powered wall plate of claim 5 , further comprising at least two caps, each of the at least two caps configured to mount upon one of the prongs and secure one of the two arms of the plug-in module to the one of the two arms of the plug-in module's respective wall plate current feature of the at least two wall plate current features.

8. The powered wall plate of claim 5 , further comprising an adapter positioned within the opening and configured to adapt a shape of the opening to a shape of the electrical device.

9. The powered wall plate of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of LED lights is located along a bottom edge of the front surface.

10. The powered wall plate of claim 5 , wherein the transformer housing extends forward of the front surface adjacent to a top edge of the front surface.

11. A powered wall plate comprising:
a wall plate having a front surface opposite a rear surface and at least one opening extending through the front surface and the rear surface that is large enough to expose an electrical device therethrough;
at least two wall plate electrical current features behind the rear surface of the wall plate, each comprising a prong extending therefrom; and
a plug-in module extending through the at least one opening and having:
two arms extending outward, each arm of the two arms having an electrical current transfer contact configured to removably mate with the prong of one of the at least two wall plate electrical current features; and
at least two electrical plugs both extending away from the plug-in module, the at least two electrical plugs being configured to removably mate with an electrical receptacle of the electrical device.

12. The powered wall plate of claim 11 , further comprising a back plate positioned behind the rear surface.

13. The powered wall plate of claim 11 , further comprising at least two caps, each of the at least two caps configured to mount upon one of the prongs and secure one of the arms of the plug-in module to the one of the arms of the plug-in module's respective wall plate current feature of the at least two wall plate current features.

14. The powered wall plate of claim 11 , further comprising an adapter positioned within the opening and confi

Assignees

• Baldwin Jeffrey P

Inventors

• Baldwin Jeffrey P

Classifications

• H01R13/748 Primary

  using one or more screws (H01R13/746 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01R13/717

  with built-in light source · CPC title

• H01R27/02

  for simultaneous co-operation with two or more {dissimilar} counterparts · CPC title

• H01R13/665 Primary

  with built-in electronic circuit (H01R13/70, H01R13/719 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01R25/006

  the coupling part being secured to apparatus or structure, e.g. duplex wall receptacle · CPC title