Bisexual electrical connector

An electrical connector assembly comprising a pair of connector members having substantially identical connection formations matingly engageable by urging said formations toward each other in one directional mode, each of said connection formations comprising a female receptacle and a male projection adjacent said receptacle, and a respective generally planar universal face disposed at the interface of said male projection and said female receptacle and having an inner portion defining a wall of said female receptacle and an outer portion defining a wall of said male projection, wherein each of said universal faces has resilient detent means extending therefrom and recess means for receipt of the detent means of the other of the universal faces, each of said universal faces further having a linear row of electrical contacts thereon, said universal faces being in identical positions on the respective ones of said connection formations but positioned to oppose each other when said connection formations are so matingly engaged, said connection formations further being configured to maintain a relative end-to-end order of the contacts of the respective rows of said universal faces, which order is the same whether said connection formations are identically oriented or matingly engaged;

• and said assembly, when said connection formations are so matingly engaged, having a generally smooth, continuous outer surface extending transverse to said one directional mode and defined by flush adjacent portions of said two connector members.

An electrical connection member including a main body and a connection formation extending generally endwise from said main body in a first direction,

• said connection formation including:
• wall means extending from said main body and defining a pair of parallel shoulders elongated in said first direction and spaced apart in a second direction transverse to said first direction,
• a female receptacle recessed inwardly from said shoulders therebetween and adjacent one end thereof,
• and a male projection extending outwardly from said shoulders therebetween and adjacent the other end thereof by a distance no greater than the depth of said female receptacle;
• said connection formation further including an interface surface, an inner portion of said interface surface defining a first side face of said female receptacle, and an outer portion of said interface surface defining a first side face of said male projection;
• said connection member as a whole having an outer end surface generally parallel to said interface surface and having an outer portion defining a second side face of said male projection opposite the first side face thereof;
• and said main body having an end surface generally parallel to said interface surface and having an inner portion defining a second side face of said female receptacle opposite the first side thereof, said end surface of said main body being substantially identical in size and shape to said outer end surface of said connection member as a whole but opposite from said outer end surface of said connection member as a whole in orientation in a third direction transverse to said first and second directions.