Gender of connectors and fasteners
In
electrical and
mechanical trades and manufacturing, each of a pair of mating
connectors or
fasteners is conventionally assigned the designation male or female. The assignment is by direct
analogy with genitalia; the part bearing one or more protrusions, or which fits inside the other, being designated
male and the part containing the corresponding indentations or fitting outside the other being
female.
The terms "slot", "socket", "receptacle", "outlet" and "jack" are often used for "female" connectors, and "plug" or "pin" for "male" connectors.
Encyclopedia
In
electrical and
mechanical trades and manufacturing, each of a pair of mating
connectors or
fasteners is conventionally assigned the designation
male or
female. The assignment is by direct
analogy with genitalia; the part bearing one or more protrusions, or which fits inside the other, being designated
male and the part containing the corresponding indentations or fitting outside the other being
female.
The terms "slot", "socket", "receptacle", "outlet" and "jack" are often used for "female" connectors, and "plug" or "pin" for "male" connectors. In many cases these terms are more common than
male and
female, especially in documentation intended for the non-specialist. It also causes a fair amount of confusion when those names are shortened in labels. For example, the male component of an HD15 connector can be named either HD15M or HD15P , both of which mean the same thing but could be confused for different items when there is no accompanying picture.
In electrical connections where
voltage is sufficient to cause
injury, the part connected to the power source is invariably female, so that hazardous voltage is not exposed to inadvertent contact. A plug is connected to the device drawing the power.
IEEE STD 100 and ANSI Y32.16 define "plug" and "jack" by location or motion, rather than gender. A connector in a fixed location is a jack, and a moveable connector is a plug. The distinction is relative, so a portable radio is considered stationary compared to the cable from the headphones; the radio has a jack, and the headphone cable has a plug. It is common practice to use female connectors for jacks, so the informal gender-based usage often agrees with the functional description of the technical standards. This is not always the case, so it is best to use "male" and "female" for gender, and "plug" and "jack" for function.
In low-voltage use, such as for
data communications, this is less important, and male or female connectors are used based on other engineering factors such as convenience of use or ease of manufacturing. For example, the common
"patch cables" used for
Ethernet hookups typically have
plugs on both ends, to connect to jacks on equipment or mounted in walls. A device called a
gender changer may be used to join two connectors of the same gender, for example, to extend one video cable with another.
The gender of a connector is determined by the structure of its primary functional components — i.e., the conductors of an electrical connector, or the load-bearing parts of a fastener — and not by secondary features such as covers, shields or handles that may be installed for environmental protection, safe operation, etc.
Certain connector designs involve paired identical parts each containing both protrusions and indentations. The term
hermaphrodite is used for such devices, along with
combination ,
two-in-one,
two-way, and others.
Examples
- A power cord on a lamp or appliance terminates in a plug; it connects to a socket in a wall or on an extension cord.
- Co-axial cables used for video or other high-frequency signals are normally terminated, at both ends, in a connector comprising an inner pin and an outer fixed or rotating shell; these are conventionally reckoned as male.
- A nut is female and a bolt is male.
- Piping and plumbing fittings
See also
