Electrical wiring device having a bidirectional light pipe for use in an ambient environment

Abstract

An electrical wiring device having a plurality of line and load terminals configured to be coupled to an AC electrical distribution system; an electro-optical assembly coupled to the line or load terminals, including at least one circuit coupled to an ambient light sensor, a light emitting assembly and a visual indicator element, the visual indicator element being configured to provide a visual indicator signal, the ambient light sensor being configured to provide a sensor signal corresponding to ambient light in the ambient environment, the at least one circuit being configured to read the sensor signal during a time period when the visual indicator signal are not being emitted, wherein at least one of the visual indicator element and the light emitting assembly is configured to provide a selectable color temperature signal based on user input; and a bidirectional light pipe including a first light pipe branch coupled to the visual indicator element, a second light pipe branch coupled to the ambient light sensor, an interface region coupled between the first and second light pipe branch, the interface region being further coupled to a bidirectional lens element configured to direct the ambient light into the second light pipe branch and direct the visual indicator signal into the ambient environment via the first light pipe branch.