Patent ID: 7498749

Claim:
An electronic unit for use with a product comprising connections for a power source and at least one energy consuming load, said unit comprising: (a) a microchip connected to a user interface switch structure, said structure comprising at least one switch, being a touch sensor type switch that includes a sense pad; (b) a visible indicator controlled by the microchip to provide at least an indicator activation function when a signal is received through said user interface switch, wherein the indicator is active when the load is not activated by the user; (c) wherein the microchip at least partially implements the touch sensor switch and the user interface has at least one of: (i) an automatic delayed deactivation of a function a predetermined period after the function was activated with an activation command received from the touch sensor switch; (ii) the indicator, in response to the microchip receiving a user interface switch signal, activated to indicate conditions of the product; and (iii) a touch sensor switch sense pad being integral with a housing of the product.