Patent ID: 7059920

Claim:
A spring clip connector assembly comprising: a faceplate comprising a front facing surface and a rear facing surface and an opening through the faceplate, and a spring clip connector including a housing having a front facing wall with an opening for receiving a wire therethrough, a movable tab located in the housing, the movable tab having a handle portion for an operator to move the tab and a contact portion, a conductor secured to the housing and having a contact positioned to engage a wire inserted through the opening in the front facing wall, and a spring, the front facing wall and the handle portion of the tab configured to be inserted through the opening of the faceplate; wherein one of the housing and the rear facing surface of the faceplate includes a resilient member and the other of the housing and the rear facing surface of the faceplate includes a mounting surface, the resilient member movable between a first position that permits insertion of the front facing wall and the handle portion of the tab through the opening of the faceplate in a direction from the rear facing surface of the faceplate to the front facing surface of the faceplate and a second position that engages the mounting surface and blocks removal of the front facing wall and the handle portion of the tab back through the opening of the faceplate to form a snap lock connection, and wherein the tab is movable between a closed position such that the contact portion of the tab is adjacent to the contact to secure the wire inserted through the opening in the front facing wall against the contact and an open position such that the contact portion of the tab is farther away from the contact than in the closed position to release the wire, the spring biasing the tab toward the closed position.