Patent ID: 8350648

Claim:
A power control apparatus, comprising: a latching relay for controlling an electrical load and including a manual override switch actuator, the latching relay including power terminals and a switching terminal for remote actuation by a signal, the latching relay switching from a first state to a second state upon provision of the signal to the switching terminal or manual actuation by the manual override switch actuator; a switch housing of a size and shape customary for utilization in residential and commercial electrical power wiring, the switch housing supporting and retaining the latching relay; a switch lever extending from the body of the switch housing for manual actuation by a person to override the state of the relay, the switch lever engaging the manual override switch actuator of the latching relay upon manual actuation by a person, the switch lever comprising a pair of parallel arms extending into said switch housing, the parallel arms being resiliently deformable such that the arms partially deform towards each other during assembly by insertion into the switch housing but resiliently return to an initial undeformed state after insertion into the switch housing; the switch housing further comprising a pair of recesses that are shaped and sized to receive and retain the parallel arms such that the arms are movable within the recesses upon manual actuation of the switch lever but confined in movement by interior surfaces of the recesses; and a centering structure for maintaining the switch lever in a centered position to allow unimpeded movement of the manual override switch actuator.