Patent ID: 7453218

Claim:
An illumination mechanism comprising: a display surface for a pushbutton switch positioned over a plurality of light emitting diodes within a housing for the pushbutton switch, the display surface including a display area through which illumination from any activated one of the plurality of light emitting diodes is visible; a first set of the plurality of light emitting diodes coupled to a first input pin for the pushbutton switch and illuminating the display area in a first color in response to application of a driving voltage to the first input pin; and a second set of the plurality of light emitting diodes coupled to a second input pin for the pushbutton switch and illuminating the display area in a second color in response to application of a driving voltage to the second input pin, wherein the driving voltage is selectively applied to the first input pin to illuminate the display area in the first color using the first set of light emitting diodes and to the second input pin to illuminate the display area in the second color using the second set of light emitting diodes, and wherein illumination of the display area in the first color indicates a first state of a switch mechanism within the pushbutton switch while illumination of the display area in the second color indicates a second state of the switch mechanism.