Abstract: A smoke alarm having a detector circuit for detecting smoke and producing a sensible signal in response to such detected smoke is provided with a manually actuated control which cooperates with the smoke detector circuit temporarily desensitize the smoke detector circuit and later to automatically re-sensitize the smoke detector circuit after expiration of a predetermined interval. A user is thus able to desensitize the smoke detector circuit to false alarming due to lower level concentrations of smoke, such as are produced during cooking, smoking, etc., while maintaining responsiveness and protection against higher concentrations of smoke, such as would result from an actual fire condition.

Abstract: An improved touch control switch is adapted to be a direct replacement for a standard toggle switch in a standard single-gang or multi-gang switch box. The touch control switch includes a touch panel mountable on the outside of a standard wall plate and a touch control circuit mountable in the switch box on the inside of the wall plate. An electrically conductive path is provided through the standard rectangular opening in the wall plate to communicate an electrical signal from the touch plate to the touch control circuit. The touch panel is also movable in either of two vertical directions. The vertical movement of the touch panel is mechanically communicated through the opening in the wall plate to actuate an air-gap switch to provide positive disconnection of the electrical power from the a.c. source to the touch control circuit. An illuminated display device is provided to indicate when power is applied to the touch control circuitry and to indicate the location of the touch panel in a darkened room.