Electrical connecting device

A method for electrically connecting a ribbon cable or a flexible printed circuit and determining a geometrical orientation of a connection within an electrical connecting system, comprising:

• providing an electrical connecting device with at least one first terminal for contacting by a corresponding terminal of a complementary electrical connecting device,
• wherein the first terminal comprises a plurality of first contact regions that are substantially planar and extend in two directions in one plane, the two directions being different than one another, and each of the plurality of first contact regions being electrically conductive,
• wherein differing first electrical parameters are assigned to the first contact regions, so that in the event of a contacting of the first terminal by the corresponding terminal of the complementary electrical connecting device, a first resultant parameter is assigned to the contacting of the first terminal, which is determined by at least one of the first electrical parameters and indicates in which first contact region, or in which group of first contact regions, the contacting exists, and
• wherein the first contact region, or the group of first contact regions in which the contacting exists, is defined by the geometrical orientation of the connection between the electrical connecting device and the complementary electrical connecting device;
• providing the complementary electrical connecting device, which is connected to the electrical connecting device and thereby contacts the at least one first terminal of the electrical connecting device;
• generating a flow of current through the at least one contacted first terminal;
• registering, on the basis of the generated flow of current, a resultant electrical parameter which is determined at least partly by the first resultant parameter and which indicates at least the first resultant parameter;
• and
• ascertaining a geometrical orientation of the connection of the electrical connecting device on the basis of the indication of at least the first resultant parameter.