Electrical cord cap with easy connect housing portions

A method for securing an electrical connection between a male connector having one or more contact prongs and a female connector having one or more contact receptacles for receiving said prongs, said locking cord cap comprising:

• providing a male connector housing having a forward end for engaging said female connector, wherein said one or more prongs extend from said forward end, and peripheral surfaces, extending transversely in relation to said forward end, said peripheral surfaces defining a spatial envelope of said housing relative to a reference plane of said forward end, a locking mechanism, mounted on said male connector housing, for selectively securing said male and female connectors together in a secured state and releasing said male and female connectors in a release state so that they can be separated, wherein said locking mechanism includes a locking element that is movable on a major axis, wherein the major axis is relative to said male connector housing and said major axis points towards and away from said forward end, and an actuator for moving said locking element between said secured state and said release state, said actuator contained within said spatial envelope relative to said reference plane;
• and
• operating said actuator to move said locking element between said secured state and said release state, wherein said locking element moves in response to rotating said actuator coaxially to said major axis.

A method for using a ganged receptacle device having multiple receptacles for receiving male cord caps, comprising:

• providing first and second locking cord caps, each said cord cap comprising a male connector housing, a locking mechanism mounted on said male connector housing for selectively securing said male connector housing to said ganged receptacle device and releasing said male cord cap from said ganged receptacle device, and an actuator for moving said locking mechanism between a secured state and a release state, wherein said actuator is rotatable in relation to said male connector housing;
• first plugging said first cord cap into a first receptacle of said ganged receptacle device;
• first operating a first actuator of said first cord cap to secure said first cord cap to said ganged receptacle device;
• second plugging said second cord cap into a second receptacle of said ganged receptacle device adjacent to said first receptacle;
• and
• second operating a second actuator of said second cord cap to secure said second cord cap to said ganged receptacle device without interference between said first and second actuators;
• wherein said first actuator comprises first radially extending elements, said second actuator comprises second radially extending elements, and said first and second radially extending elements mesh when said first and second cord caps are plugged into said ganged receptacle device and in said secured state.