Patent ID: 7745750

Claim:
A wall-mountable electrical load control structure for controlling the power to be applied to an electrical load, said load control structure comprising: a support frame having a front surface and a rear surface, the front surface defining an elongated rectangular opening therein, the rectangular opening having a length which is greater than its width; an enclosure secured to and extending from the rear surface of said support frame; a generally-flat cover plate secured relative to the front surface of said support frame, said cover plate defining a plane and having a centrally disposed rectangular opening; an elongated rectangular pushbutton slidably received with respect to said elongated opening of said support frame and passing through said rectangular opening in said cover plate, said pushbutton moveable perpendicularly to the plane of said cover plate; a switch mechanism supported in said enclosure and coupled to said elongated pushbutton, such that said pushbutton is operable to cause said switch mechanism to turn the power to said electrical load on and off in response to the operation of said pushbutton; a source of illumination supported behind said support frame and located adjacent said switch mechanism, said source of illumination electrically energized when the power to said electrical load is turned off, said pushbutton having at least a translucent surface portion which is positioned to be illuminated by said source of illumination when said source of illumination is energized; an actuator assembly operatively coupled between said pushbutton and said switch mechanism, at least a portion of said actuator assembly operable to transmit light from said source of illumination to said translucent surface portion of said pushbutton; a variable-intensity control circuit coupleable to said electrical load; and a slider control for varying said intensity control circuit to control the amount of power delivered to said electrical load, said support frame having a vertical slot extending parallel to its said elongated opening and laterally spaced therefrom, said slider control comprising a shaft that extends perpendicularly through said slot and having an operating knob at its outer end and connected to said variable-intensity control circuit at its other end, said slot adapted to be illuminated by said source of illumination when said source of illumination is energized.