Patent ID: 8451075

Claim:
An electrical wiring device comprising: a plurality of line terminals and a plurality of load terminals; a housing including a front cover member having a front major surface, the front major surface including at least one set of receptacle openings formed in at least one end thereof, the at least one set of receptacle openings being configured to accommodate at least one plug set including a ground prong, hot plug blade and neutral plug blade, the housing further comprising a back cover member having a back major surface substantially in parallel with the front major surface, the housing further including an electrically isolating separator member disposed between the front cover member and the back cover member such that a front interior region is formed between the front cover member and the electrically isolating member and a rear interior region is formed between the back cover member and the electrically isolating member, the electrically isolating separator member including at least one ground compartment configured to accommodate and electrically isolate the ground prong, the at least one ground compartment extending into the rear interior region; a ground strap having an interior ground strap portion positioned within a portion of the electrically isolating member along a central longitudinal axis thereof and including at least one ground contact substantially aligned with the at least one ground compartment and a ground opening of the at least one set of receptacle openings; an interrupting contact assembly substantially disposed within the rear interior region, the interrupting contact assembly providing electrical continuity between the plurality of line terminals and the plurality of load terminals in a reset state and interrupting electrical continuity in a tripped state; and a protective circuit assembly at least partially disposed on a printed circuit board (PCB), the PCB being positioned in the back cover member such that a lower spatial region is formed between the PCB and the at least one ground compartment, the lower spatial region being within a lower plane substantially parallel to the back major surface, the protective circuit assembly including an actuator assembly and a toroidal sensor having a central toroid aperture, the actuator assembly including a solenoid coil operatively connected to a latch block assembly, the at least one ground compartment, the toroidal sensor and the solenoid coil being substantially aligned with a central longitudinal plane normal to the front major surface, the at least one ground compartment including a first ground compartment and a second ground compartment, the actuator assembly being substantially disposed between the first ground compartment and the second ground compartment, and the central toroid aperture being substantially disposed in the lower plane.