Releasable port connection assembly

A releasable port connection assembly comprising:

• a female port member (2) having a tubular passageway (4) extending in an axial direction
• a male connector (40) having a tube connection end (42) and a port connection end (44),
• the tube connection end (42) being configured for connection to a tube, and
• the port connection end (44) being configured to be received and retained in the tubular passageway (4) by a retaining pawl arrangement comprising an elastically displaceable protrusion extending radially inwardly in the tubular passageway and configured to engage an outwardly projecting locking shoulder (46) on the port connection end (44) of the male connector (40) once the male connector has been inserted into the tubular passageway and the locking shoulder (46) has passed the protrusion,
• characterized in that the protrusion is formed as a circumferentially extending inner rim (24) of an elastically deformable split ring (20) which is slidably received between sidewalls (10) of a circumferential groove (8) formed in an inner wall of the tubular passageway (4), wherein the split ring (20) is split to define a circumferential gap and is configured to elastically deform and radially expand to widen the circumferential gap,
• wherein the sidewalls (10) of the groove are inclined with respect to the axial direction such that between the moving direction of the male connector (40) when the male connector (40) is inserted into the tubular passageway and the expansion moving direction of the split ring (20), when the split ring (20) is radially expanded by the male connector being pushed into the tubular passageway and moving deeper into the circumferential groove (8), an acute inclination angle is formed, whereby the split ring (20), when being expanded radially, also moves in the axial moving direction of the male connector when the male connector (40) is advanced deeper into the tubular passageway.