US-20260128241-A1 - ANYWHERE WIRELESS SWITCH AND/OR DIMMER

Abstract

An electrical device such as, for example, a battery-powered electrical switch is disclosed. The battery-powered wireless switch includes one or more mechanisms arranged and configured to provide simplified access for servicing (e.g., replacing) the batteries located within the wireless switch. In one embodiment, the wireless switch is arranged and configured so that the batteries may be accessed by reconfiguring the wireless switch from a first closed position to a second opened position to access the batteries. Thus arranged, removal of the wireless switch from a wall-box or a surface of a wall is not required, the user may only need to remove the wall-plate in order to reconfigure the wireless switch. In one embodiment, at least a portion of the wireless switch is pivoted from the first position to the second position to provide access to the batteries.

Inventors

• Ronald J. Gumina
• James Shurte
• Michael KAMOR
• Stephen Aaron
• Aaron Ard

Assignees

• LEVITON MANUFACTURING CO., INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20251027

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A battery-powered switch arranged and configured to be mounted to a wall-box or to a surface of a building, the battery-powered switch comprising: a base including a front surface; an actuator assembly coupled to the base, the actuator assembly being coupled between a first closed position and a second opened position, wherein the actuator assembly remains coupled to the base in the first closed position and in the second opened position, the actuator assembly and the front surface at least partially defining a cavity; a printed circuit board (“PCB”) disposed at least partially within the cavity, the PCB including a microswitch and a wireless transceiver, the PCB configured to receive a replaceable battery, the battery-powered switch being configured to be powered by the replaceable battery; and wherein the actuator assembly includes a user-accessible actuator, the user-accessible actuator is: coupled to the actuator assembly; pivotable relative to at least a portion of the base; and arranged and configured to selectively actuate the microswitch to wirelessly transmit control signals to a remote electrical control hardwired in series between an electrical power source and an electrical load; wherein when the actuator assembly is in the second opened position, a user can access and replace the replaceable battery; and wherein the user-accessible actuator is coupled to the actuator assembly about a lateral axis.
2. 2 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , wherein the actuator assembly is one of pivotably coupled or slideably coupled to the base.
3. 3 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the base, the actuator assembly, or the user-accessible actuator comprises a substrate of the PCB.
4. 4 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , wherein the base includes a longitudinal side and a lateral side; and wherein the base and the actuator assembly each include a plurality of interconnecting projections and recesses arranged and configured to receive a longitudinal rod therein so that the actuator assembly is hingeably coupled to the base, the projections and recesses being arranged and configured along one or more of the longitudinal or lateral side of the base.
5. 5 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , wherein one of the base or the actuator assembly includes a snap and the other one of the base or the actuator assembly includes a complementary recess, the snap and the complementary recess configured to cooperate to selectively secure the actuator assembly in the first closed position.
6. 6 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , further comprising a battery holder disposed at least partially within the cavity, the battery holder arranged and configured to hold the replaceable battery in contact with the PCB, wherein the battery holder includes first and second holders for receiving first and second replaceable batteries, respectively.
7. 7 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , further comprising a battery holder disposed at least partially within the cavity, the battery holder arranged and configured to hold the replaceable battery in contact with the PCB, wherein the battery holder includes a plurality of snaps circumferentially disposed about a holder to secure the replaceable battery therein.
8. 8 . The battery-powered switch of claim 7 , wherein the battery holder includes an ejector mechanism for automatically ejecting the replaceable battery positioned within the holder when depressed.
9. 9 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , wherein the user-accessible actuator is arranged and configured to flex upon contact by an end-user, the user-accessible actuator flexing in order to move a sufficient distance to contact the microswitch.
10. 10 . The battery-powered switch of claim 9 , the actuator assembly includes a first end, a second end, and a cross-bar positioned between the first and second ends, the user-accessible actuator being fixedly coupled to the cross-bar of the actuator assembly, the first and second ends being arranged and configured as an unsupported cantilever to flex upon contact by the user.
11. 11 . The battery-powered switch of claim 10 , wherein the cross-bar includes a plurality of openings formed therein, the user-accessible actuator includes a plurality of projections extending therefrom, the plurality of openings being configured to receive the plurality of projections, respectively, to secure the user-accessible actuator to the cross-bar.
12. 12 . The battery-powered switch of claim 9 , wherein the user-accessible actuator flexing causes the user-accessible actuator to automatically return to a neutral position.
13. 13 . The battery-powered switch of claim 12 , wherein the actuator assembly further includes one or more stops to prevent over-flexing of the user-accessible actuator.
14. 14 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , wherein: the base is coupled to a wall-box or a building surface; the base is coupled to a wall-plate; and the replaceable battery can be accessed in the second opened position while the wallplate is mounted to the battery-powered switch.
15. 15 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , wherein a battery can be accessed in the second opened position while the battery-powered switch is mounted to a wall-box or a surface of a building.
16. 16 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , wherein the actuator assembly is pivotably coupled to the base about a longitudinal axis and the user-accessible actuator is coupled to the actuator assembly about a lateral axis, the lateral axis being arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.
17. 17 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , further comprising a battery tray configured to receive a battery, the battery tray slideably moveable relative to the actuator assembly between the first closed position and the second opened position.
18. 18 . The battery-powered switch of claim 17 , wherein the actuator assembly includes a track for slideably receiving the battery tray.
19. 19 . The battery-powered switch of claim 18 , wherein the battery tray is slideably moveable in a lateral or transverse motion relative to a longitudinal side of the actuator assembly.
20. 20 . The battery-powered switch of claim 1 , wherein the actuator assembly and the user-accessible actuator are slideably moveable relative to the base between the first closed position and the second opened position.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/657,226, filed May 7, 2024, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/066,680, filed Oct. 9, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,002,632, entitled “Anywhere Wireless Switch and/or Dimmer”, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application in its entirety. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates generally to electrical devices, and more particularly to a wireless electrical device such as, for example, a wireless switch, a wireless dimmer, etc. arranged and configured to enable simplified access to the batteries positioned within the wireless switch. BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Generally speaking, wireless electrical devices such as, for example, a wireless switch, a wireless dimmer, etc. (terms used interchangeably herein without the intent to limit) are well known in the industry. Wireless switches may include a housing for enclosing electrical circuity including, for example, a microprocessor or a controller for powering, controlling, and operating the wireless switch, an actuator accessible by a user for controlling an associated electrical load such as, for example, an actuator for turning a lighting load ON, OFF, DIM UP, DIM DOWN, etc., a transceiver for transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals, and a power source such as, for example, one or more batteries. In use, the wireless switch may be communicatively coupled to another switch such as, for example, in a 3-way switch arrangement, where the other switch may be hardwired to an associated electrical load (e.g., a light, a motor, a fan). Alternatively, for example, the wireless switch may be arranged and configured to wirelessly communicate with the associated electrical load directly or may be arranged and configured to communicate with an APP running on an external computing system. Moreover, in use, the wireless switch may be mounted to an existing wall-box such as, for example, a single gang wall-box or multi-gang wall-box, or surface mounted directly to a wall or surface. Regardless of the form or configuration, wireless switches face challenges that need to be overcome. One common problem associated with current wireless switches relates to servicing of the batteries located within the wireless switch. During the lifetime of a wireless switch, the batteries may need replacing multiple times. Thus, it would be beneficial to incorporate a mechanism that allows simplified access to the batteries within a wireless switch to facilitate replacement. In addition, it would be beneficial to provide a wireless switch that has a physical appearance identical to standard, non-wireless switches, when coupled to an electrical wall-box or surface mounted to a wall or surface utilizing a common wall-plate. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements may be useful. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. Disclosed herein is a battery-powered wireless electrical device such as, for example, a wireless switch or wireless dimmer. The battery powered wireless switch being arranged and configured to be mounted to a wall-box or to a surface of a building. The wireless switch comprising a base including a front surface and a frame disposed on the front surface, the frame including an aperture, a printed circuit board (“PCB”) configured to be coupled to a replaceable battery, and a user-accessible actuator mounted at least partially within the aperture, wherein a portion of the wireless switch can be transitioned from a first closed position to a second opened position, the second opened position providing the user access to the battery whether or not the wireless switch is mounted to the wall-box or the surface of the wall. In one embodiment, the portion of the wireless switch that is transitioned between the first and second positions comprises the frame, the frame being moveably coupled to the base such that the frame pivots from the first closed position to the second opened position. In one embodiment, the base and the frame each include a plurality of interconnecting projections and recesses arranged and configured to receive a longitudinal rod therein so that the frame is hingeably coupled to the base. In one embodiment, the base includes a longitudinal side and a lateral side, the projections and recesses being arranged and configured along the longitudinal side of the base. In one embodiment, one of the base or frame includes one or more snaps and the other one of the base or frame includes complementary recesses, arranged