Bisexual electrical connector

Abstract

The invention comprises an electrical connection member including a main body and a connection formation extending generally from the main body. The connection formation includes walls extending from the main body and defining a pair of elongate, parallel, spaced apart shoulders. A female receptacle is recessed inwardly from the shoulders therebetween and adjacent one end thereof, and a male projection extends outwardly from the shoulders therebetween and adjacent the other end thereof by a distance no greater than the depth of the female receptacle. The connection formation further includes a generally planar interface surface, an inner portion of which defines a wall of the female receptacle, and an outer portion of which defines a wall of the male projection. The connection member can be matingly engaged with another connection member having a substantially identical connection formation. The interface surface of each of the two connection formations has a linear row of electrical contacts thereon. The interface surfaces form universal faces which are in identical positions on the respective ones of the connection formations but positioned to oppose each other when the connection formations are so matingly engaged. Furthermore, the configuration of the connection formations maintains a relative end-to-end order of the contacts of the respective rows of the universal faces, which order is the same whether the connection formations are identically oriented or matingly engaged.