roof gutters to the ground through hollow pipes or tubes. These tubes usually come in sections, joined by inserting the male end (often
crimped with a special tool to slightly reduce its size) into the female end of the next section. These connections are usually not sealed or caulked, instead relying on gravity to move the rainwater from the male end and into the receiving female connection located directly below.
Ductwork
Sheet metal
Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes.
Thicknesses can vary significantly; ex ...
ductwork
Ducts are conduits or passages used in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to deliver and remove air. The needed airflows include, for example, ''supply air'', ''return air'', and ''exhaust air''. Ducts commonly also deliver '' ...
for conveying air in
HVAC systems typically uses gendered connections. Typically, the airflow through a ductwork connection is from male to female. However, since one-way flow is implemented by forced-air fans or blowers, "backwards" gendered connections can be seen frequently in some systems, since all connections are typically sealed with duct sealing
mastic
Mastic may refer to:
Adhesives and pastes
*Mastic (plant resin)
*Mastic asphalt, or asphalt, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid
* Mastic cold porcelain, or salt ceramic, is a traditional salt-based modeling clay.
*Mastic, high-grade con ...
or tape to prevent leakage anyway. The flow convention is usually loosely adhered to for simplicity of design, and to reduce the number of gender changer fittings required, but exceptions are made whenever expedient.
Electrical and electronic
Although the gender of tubing and plumbing fittings is usually obvious, this may not be true of
electrical connectors because of their more complex and varying constructions. Instead, connector gender is conventionalized and thus can be somewhat obscure to the uninitiated. For example, the female
D-subminiature
The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smallest connectors used on computer systems.
Description, no ...
connector body projects outward from the mounting plane of the chassis, and this protrusion could be erroneously construed as male. Instead, the "maleness" of the D-subminiature connectors is defined by specific presence of ''male pins'', rather than by the protrusion of the connector, which is also true for many other pin-based connectors like
XLR. The male/female distinction is more obvious with ring crimp lug connectors which are placed around a screw post, but again with spade or split ring crimp lug connectors the end alone is not obviously female.
Further confusion can be caused by the term "
jack
Jack may refer to:
Places
* Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA
People and fictional characters
* Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
", which is used for both female and male connectors and typically refers to the fixed (panel) side of a connector pair. IEEE STD 100, IEEE-315-1975 and
IEEE 200-1975 (replaced by
ASME Y14.44-2008) define "
plug" and "
jack
Jack may refer to:
Places
* Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA
People and fictional characters
* Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
" by location or mobility, 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. Where the relationship is equal, such as when two flexible cables are connected, each is considered a plug. Jacks use the
reference designator A reference designator unambiguously identifies the location of an component within an electrical schematic or on a printed circuit board. The reference designator usually consists of one or two letters followed by a number, e.g. R13, C1002. The nu ...
prefix of J and plugs use the
reference designator A reference designator unambiguously identifies the location of an component within an electrical schematic or on a printed circuit board. The reference designator usually consists of one or two letters followed by a number, e.g. R13, C1002. The nu ...
prefix of P.
It is possible in the case of box mounted connectors for the connector to be a receptacle with male pin contacts. In this case the connector is designated a jack (J ref des) regardless of the contact gender because the housing for the contacts is in fact configured as the receptacle even though its mate (the plug) goes around the receptacle. See MIL-STD-38999 and similar cases.
It is common practice to use female connectors for jacks, so the informal gender-based usage often happens to agree with the functional description of the technical standards. However, this is ''not'' always the case; often-seen exceptions include a computer's AC Power Inlet and EIA232 DE9 Serial Port, or the male
coaxial power jacks for connecting external power adapters to portable equipment.
To summarize, it is considered best practice to use "male" and "female" for connector ''gender'', and "plug" and "jack" for connector ''function'' or ''mobility''.
Variant usages
In the UK, many
Commonwealth countries
The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states. Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies.
No one government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as is the case in a p ...
and some non-English-speaking countries, the word "jack" may refer to the ''plug'' on the end of a removable cable. These connectors were originally referred to as "jack plugs", or plugs intended to be mated with fixed receptacles, or ''sockets'' (which North Americans would call "jacks"), but the second word was dropped. This variant usage is in direct contradiction to common usage and official standards in North America.
In the United Kingdom, for example, the connector on the end of a headphone lead is known as a "jack", that plugs into a ''socket'' on the main unit. The same generally occurs also in Italy, where the English word "jack" is commonly used to indicate the connector on the end of a headphone lead.
In Romania female connectors are known as "mamă" (mother) and male connectors are "tată" (father).
Abbreviations and alternate terminology
The standard letters "M" and "F" are commonly used in part numbers to designate connector gender. For example, in Switchcraft XLR
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publ ...
or
hydrophone
A hydrophone ( grc, ὕδωρ + φωνή, , water + sound) is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates an electric potenti ...
connectors, the part numbers are denoted as follows:
* A3F = Audio 3-pin Female connector;
* A3M = Audio 3-pin Male connector.
The terms plug, pin, and prong are also often used for "male" connectors, and receptacle, socket, and slot are used for "female" connectors. In many cases these terms are more common than ''male'' and ''female'', especially in documentation intended for the non-specialist. These nearly synonymous terms can cause a fair amount of confusion when the designations are shortened in labels.
For example, a female high-density
D-subminiature
The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smallest connectors used on computer systems.
Description, no ...
connector with a size 1 shell can be named DE15F or DE15S (see accompanying pictures). Both terms mean the same thing but could be construed to be completely different items. Similarly, a male standard-density D-sub with a size 1 shell can be named DE9M or DE9P; a female standard-density D-sub with a size 2 shell can be named DA15F or DA15S; a male high-density D-sub with a size 3 shell can be named DB44M or DB44P; and so forth.
Image:IEC60320_C14.jpg, A panel-mounted IEC 60320 C14 ''male'' connector ''jack'' designed to accept AC line power
Image:BNC connector 50 ohm male.jpg, A ''male'' 50 ohm BNC connector
The BNC connector (initialism of "Bayonet Neill–Concelman") is a miniature quick connect/disconnect radio frequency connector used for coaxial cable. It is designed to maintain the same characteristic impedance of the cable, with 50 ohm and 7 ...
''plug''. Three circular projections (including the central pin) interlock with two rings of the female jack.
Image:BNC triax.jpg, Triaxial BNC connector, a ''male'' ''plug''
Image:Twinax Stecker.jpg, Twinaxial cable connector, a ''male'' ''plug''
Image:Male type N connector.jpg, Coaxial
In geometry, coaxial means that several three-dimensional linear or planar forms share a common axis. The two-dimensional analog is ''concentric''.
Common examples:
A coaxial cable is a three-dimensional linear structure. It has a wire condu ...
Type N connector
The N connector (also, type-N connector) is a threaded, weatherproof, medium-size RF connector used to join coaxial cables. It was one of the first connectors capable of carrying microwave-frequency signals, and was invented in the 1940s by ...
, a ''male'' ''plug''
Image:PV connectors 01 Pengo.jpg, ''Female'' (left) and ''male'' weatherproof ''plugs'' for photovoltaic solar panels
Image:HDMI connector-male-ar 5to4-fs PNr°0270.jpg, This HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controlle ...
''plug'' is conventionally assigned to ''male'' gender
Image:Toslink kabel (rotated).jpg, Toslink
TOSLINK (from ''Toshiba Link'') is a standardized optical fiber connector system. Also known generically as optical audio, its most common use is in consumer audio equipment (via a "digital optical" socket), where it carries a digital audio st ...
''male'' ''plug'' optical fiber
An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass ( silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a mea ...
connector
Gender selection in electronic design
Electronic designers often select female jack connectors for fixed mounting on electronic equipment they design. This is usually done because female connectors are more resistant to damage or contamination, by virtue of their concealed or recessed electrical contacts. A damaged motherboard connector can result in the scrapping of an expensive piece of electronic equipment. The risk of expensive damage is reduced by relegating the more exposed male contacts to connecting cables, which can be repaired or replaced at lower cost. However, since motherboards have all slot connector positions loaded regardless of how many slots will actually be filled, this would seem to favor the cheaper male connector.
With an RS232
serial port
In computing, a serial port is a serial communication interface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time. This is in contrast to a parallel port, which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in parallel. ...
, the male connector is more fragile than the female connector.
Such cost and reliability considerations probably drove the design decision to use female jack connectors on many computer terminals (and some personal computers) for the
serial port
In computing, a serial port is a serial communication interface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time. This is in contrast to a parallel port, which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in parallel. ...
, in direct violation of the connector gender convention specified in the
RS-232
In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such ...
standard for "DTE" computer equipment. This confusing reversal of the RS-232 connector gender convention would cause many hours of frustration for ill-informed end users, as they tried to troubleshoot non-functional serial port equipment connections.
In the case of electrical power connections, designers do not reverse connector gender in such a casual fashion, because exposing live AC line power on male connectors is unsafe and generally illegal. Devices that need to be robust against mechanical damage use a special male
IEC 60320 C14 connector (see Gallery above), which is recessed below the surface of a mounting panel, providing the desired physical protection while conforming to safety regulations.
Safety
![NEMA 5-15 Outlet 120V-15A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/NEMA_5-15_Outlet_120V-15A.jpg)
In electrical connections where
voltage
Voltage, also known as electric pressure, electric tension, or (electric) potential difference, is the difference in electric potential between two points. In a static electric field, it corresponds to the work needed per unit of charge to ...
or
current
Currents, Current or The Current may refer to:
Science and technology
* Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas
** Air current, a flow of air
** Ocean current, a current in the ocean
*** Rip current, a kind of water current
** Current (stre ...
is sufficient to cause
injury, the part permanently connected to the power ''source'' is invariably female, with concealed contacts, to prevent inadvertent touching of live conductors by people or animals, or by conductive items that may cause a
short. A male plug, with fully exposed protruding contacts, is installed on the cord of (or directly onto) the device ''receiving'' the power.
In the case of consumer-level AC power, connector gender is used to implicitly enforce safe use of power connectors. Because of this consideration, it is illegal under
electrical code {{Electrical Wiring Sidebar
An electrical code is a set of regulations for the design and installation of electrical wiring in a building.
The intention of a code is to provide standards to ensure electrical wiring systems that are safe for peopl ...
to make or use any ''gender changers'' to connect AC line power to consumer-level equipment.
In
low-voltage In electrical engineering, low voltage is a relative term, the definition varying by context. Different definitions are used in electric power transmission and distribution, compared with electronics design. electrical safety codes define "low vol ...
use such as for
data communications
Data transmission and data reception or, more broadly, data communication or digital communications is the transfer and reception of data in the form of a digital bitstream or a digitized analog signal transmitted over a point-to-point or ...
, electrical shock hazard is not an issue, and male or female connectors are used based on other engineering factors such as convenience of use, cost, or ease of manufacturing. For example, the common
"patch cables" used for
Ethernet
Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...
(and the similar cords used for
telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
s) typically have male
modular plugs on both ends, to connect to jacks on equipment or mounted in walls.
![Hohlstecker und Hohlbuchse 5,5x2,5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Hohlstecker_und_Hohlbuchse_5%2C5x2%2C5.jpg)
An example of a design tradeoff in power connector selection is a
coaxial power connector
A coaxial power connector is an electrical power connector used for attaching extra-low voltage devices such as consumer electronics to external electricity. Also known as barrel connectors, concentric barrel connectors or tip connectors, these ...
, which is usually set up so that power is fed ''from'' the female plug ''into'' the male jack (which is typically a part of the electronic device accepting the power). Although the plug is female, with a partially recessed center contact, it is still possible for casual accidental contact with a metallic object to
short-circuit
A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit. ...
the power source. Depending on the design of the power adapter, it may react to a short circuit by shutting down temporarily, or instead by blowing out an internal safety
fuse.
In this example, the marginal reliability of the connector choice was deemed to be acceptable by the equipment designer, since the power adapter supplies
low voltage In electrical engineering, low voltage is a relative term, the definition varying by context. Different definitions are used in electric power transmission and distribution, compared with electronics design. electrical safety codes define "low vol ...
that does not pose an electric shock hazard. The potential fire hazard from accidental short-circuiting is addressed by the internal safety fuse, although this requires that a failed power adapter must be completely replaced. In a different design, if the power adapter were intended to supply a voltage sufficient to cause electrical shock, the semi-exposed center contact of the female plug would be considered unacceptably hazardous, requiring a different choice of power connector.
A double-ended male connector for mains electricity is extremely dangerous, and sometimes known as a suicide cable,
with some hardware shops explicitly refusing to produce them when asked by customers who have hung a string of
Christmas lights
Christmas lights (also known as fairy lights, festive lights or string lights) are lights often used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom g ...
backwards and wish to connect the socket end to a wall socket, or who intend to connect a
generator to their home's electrical circuit in the event of a power shortage.
The prongs on the live end of the cable poses serious shock and fire hazards, and in a generator setup may cause the equipment to burn out when mains power is restored.
Ambiguous gender
Some electrical connectors are
hermaphroditic
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have s ...
because they include both male and female elements in a single unit intended to interconnect freely, without regard for gender. See the discussion of
Genderless connectors elsewhere in this article for more detailed information.
As an additional complication, certain electronic connector designs may incorporate combinations of male and female pins in a ''single'' connector body, for mating with a complementary connector with opposite gender pins in corresponding positions. In these unusual cases, gender is often defined by the shape of the connector ''body'', rather than the mixed-gender connector ''pins'' and ''sockets''. These types of connectors are not strictly speaking hermaphroditic, since mating connectors are ''not'' freely interchangeable. An informal term that has been used for these connectors is "bisexual", in addition to the more official terminology, mixed-gender. Thus, for example, one can have a mixed-gender female plug that connects to a mixed-gender male jack (though a reversed gender assignment of connectors would be a more typical design choice in this example).
Male connector pins are often protected by a shell (also called a shroud, surround, or shield), which may envelop the entire female connector when mated.
RF connectors often have multiple layers of interlocking shells to properly connect the shields of
coaxial
In geometry, coaxial means that several three-dimensional linear or planar forms share a common axis. The two-dimensional analog is ''concentric''.
Common examples:
A coaxial cable is a three-dimensional linear structure. It has a wire condu ...
and
triaxial cable
Triaxial cable, often referred to as triax for short, is a type of electrical cable similar to coaxial cable, but with the addition of an extra layer of insulation and a second conducting sheath. It provides greater bandwidth and rejection of inte ...
. In such cases, the gender is assigned based on the ''innermost'' connecting point. With the exception of reverse polarity BNC or TNC, where the outer shell determines the gender and the innermost connecting points are opposite to a standard connector, for example a female RP-TNC connector has a solid innermost pin.
Another ambiguous situation arises with the connectors used for
USB
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...
,
FireWire (IEEE-1394),
HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controlle ...
, and
Thunderbolt
A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hel ...
serial data bus connections. Close examination of these connectors reveals that the contact "pins" are not actually pins, but instead are conductive surfaces that slide past each other when they mate. Therefore, the traditional pin and socket nomenclature is not applicable. Instead, most computer hardware people fall back to referring to the wrap-around metal shield on the plug connector ''as if'' it were a connector ''pin''. By this convention, the connectors on serial bus cables are "male plugs", and the corresponding connectors on equipment are "female jacks". A unique connector configuration where the contacts are hermaphroditic is the ELCO Varicon where the contacts are bifurcated and nest with one another axial at a 90 degree rotation in cross-shaped wells. In this case the plugs had the contacts oriented transversely and the sockets longitudinally.
A casual glance at a USB "Type A" plug connector may give the false impression that it is hermaphroditic. However, a physical attempt to mate two USB "Type A" cables with each other reveals the fact that the connectors will not interconnect. Classifying according to mathematical
graph theory
In mathematics, graph theory is the study of ''graphs'', which are mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects. A graph in this context is made up of '' vertices'' (also called ''nodes'' or ''points'') which are conn ...
, USB buses are
directed trees, whereas FireWire buses have a true
bus network
A bus network is a network topology in which nodes are directly connected to a common half-duplex link called a bus.
A host on a bus network is called a ''station''. In a bus network, every station will receive all network traffic, and t ...
topology. This difference is reflected in the bus connectors used, in that USB cables are asymmetrical (one end Type A, other end Type B) while FireWire cables may have identical connectors at both ends.
Genderless (hermaphroditic)
By definition, a
hermaphroditic
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have s ...
connector includes mating surfaces having simultaneous male and female aspects, involving complementary paired identical parts each containing both protrusions and indentations. These mating surfaces are mounted into identical fittings which can freely mate with any other, without regard for gender (provided that the size and type are already matched). Alternative names include hermaphrodite,
androgynous, genderless, sexless, combination (or combo), two-in-one, two-way, and other descriptive terms. Several of these latter alternate names are ambiguous in meaning, and should not be used unless carefully defined in context. True hermaphroditic connectors should not be confused with ''mixed gender'' connectors, which are described elsewhere in this article.
Another closely related type is the stackable connector for electronics, which typically has male pins on one surface and complementary female sockets on the opposite surface, allowing multiple units to be stacked up like plastic
milk crate
Milk crates are square or rectangular interlocking boxes that are used to transport milk and other products from dairies to retail establishments.
In English-speaking parts of Europe the term "bottle crate" is more common but in the United S ...
s. Examples of this include stackable banana plugs, and interconnect cables specified for the
IEEE-488
IEEE 488 is a short-range digital communications 8-bit parallel multi-master interface bus specification developed by Hewlett-Packard as HP-IB (Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus). It subsequently became the subject of several standards, and is ...
instrumentation bus. Stackable mezzanine bus connectors are used on some modular microcomputer accessory boards for systems such as the
Arduino
Arduino () is an open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed under ...
add-on daughterboards called "shields". The older
PC/104 embedded PC modules use a similar stackable format for interconnection. Stackable connectors are not classified as hermaphroditic in the strictest sense, but are often described as such in looser usage.
The hermaphroditic design is useful when multiple complex or lengthy components must be arbitrarily connected in various combinations. For example, if hoses have hermaphroditic fittings, they can be connected without having to pull a lengthy hose and reverse it because it has the wrong gender to connect to another hose. Some military fiber optical cables also have hermaphroditic connectors to prevent "wrong gender" connector problems in field deployments. In a similar fashion,
railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...
s are usually equipped with hermaphroditic
railway coupling mechanisms that allow either end of the vehicle to be connected to a
train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...
without having to turn the railcar around first.
For the same reason, several
spacecraft docking mechanisms are designed to be "androgynous",
including the
Androgynous Peripheral Attach System
The terms Androgynous Peripheral Attach System (APAS), Androgynous Peripheral Assembly System (APAS) and Androgynous Peripheral Docking System (APDS), are used interchangeably to describe a family of spacecraft docking mechanisms, and are also som ...
, the
NASA Docking System
The NASA Docking System (NDS) is a spacecraft docking and berthing mechanism used on the International Space Station (ISS), the Orion spacecraft, and the Starliner. The NDS is NASA's implementation of the International Docking System Standard ...
, and
Chinese Docking Mechanism.
In the absence of genderless connectors,
gender changer fittings might be used to enable certain connections. The designer of a connection system may use one or both schemes to allow arbitrary connectivity, or even combine both schemes into a single system.
When an enforced sense of unidirectionality or "one-way flow" is required for safety or other reasons (for example, AC electrical power connections), a strict assignment of connector genders is implemented to prevent undesired configurations and gender changers are banned.
Some commonly seen examples of hermaphroditic connectors include the
SAE connector for 12 V DC power,
jackhammer
A jackhammer (pneumatic drill or demolition hammer in British English) is a pneumatic or electro-mechanical tool that combines a hammer directly with a chisel. It was invented by William Mcreavy, who then sold the patent to Charles Brady King ...
air hose connectors, and the
Anderson Powerpole
The Anderson Powerpole is a family of electrical connectors by Anderson Power Products (APP), although plug compatible connectors are now available from alternate sources. Specific variants of this series of connectors have become de facto stan ...
series of modular high-current power connectors. The
IBM Token Ring connector was another widespread example, but it has become obsolete and is being phased out. The
General Radio Corporation developed a hermaphroditic coaxial radio frequency connector often called the "
GR connector
The GR connector, officially the General Radio Type 874, was a type of RF connector used for connecting coaxial cable. Designed by Eduard Karplus, Harold M. Wilson and William R. Thurston at General Radio Corporation. It was widely used on Gene ...
".
Some
audio multicore cable
An audio multicore cable (often colloquially referred to as a multicore, snake cable or snake) is a thick cable which usually contains 4–64 individual audio cables inside a common, sturdy outer jacket. Audio multicore cables are used to conv ...
s are fitted with hermaphroditic multipin quick-disconnect connectors for ease of use in the field. One style of this audio signal cable is fitted on both ends with connectors that are each populated half with pins and half with sockets. The advantage to the user is that it does not matter which end connects to the
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
and which to the
audio mixer
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
*Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
*Digital audio, representation of sound ...
, facilitating faster set up. Another style of connector uses hybrid male/female pins with a receiving slot fitted in the center of each two-tine pin, and relies on 90-degree rotation of the pin axes to mate. The connector housings themselves are sexed male and female.
Gender changers
Devices used for mating two connectors of the same gender have a wide variety of terms, including for example: "
gender changer", "gender mender", "gender bender", and "gender blender".
Jargon File: gender mender
/ref> A specific gender changer can be referred to by either the gender of its connectors, or the gender which it is designed to connect to, resulting in a thoroughly ambiguous terminology. Thus a "male gender changer" might have female connectors to mate two male ends, or male connectors to mate two female ends.
Adding to this potential for confusion, some gender changers also combine additional functions such as cross-over
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
pin-outs or even embedding micro-controllers for performance, or for logic level
In digital circuits, a logic level is one of a finite number of states that a digital signal can inhabit. Logic levels are usually represented by the voltage difference between the signal and ground, although other standards exist. The range ...
or protocol adaptations, which would properly make them an adapter
An adapter or adaptor is a device that converts attributes of one electrical device or system to those of an otherwise incompatible device or system. Some modify power or signal attributes, while others merely adapt the physical form of one c ...
, but this nomenclature is sometimes neglected in marketing materials or common parlance.
Examples
* Coaxial power connector
A coaxial power connector is an electrical power connector used for attaching extra-low voltage devices such as consumer electronics to external electricity. Also known as barrel connectors, concentric barrel connectors or tip connectors, these ...
, for low-voltage DC connections
* A power cord on an appliance terminates in a (male) plug; it connects to a (female) socket in a wall or on an extension cord.
* Coaxial cables used for video or other high-frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...
signals
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
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 threaded nut
Nut often refers to:
* Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds
* Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt
Nut or Nuts may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...
is female and a bolt is male.
* Connectors for air brake hoses on heavy trucks
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
and railroad equipment use genderless "gladhand connector
A gladhand connector or gladhand coupler is an interlocking hose coupling fitted to hoses supplying pressurized air from a tractor unit to air brakes on a semi-trailer, or from a locomotive to railway air brakes on railroad cars. Gladhand conn ...
s". In railroad air brake use, this makes the orientation of rolling stock irrelevant, and is used with the standard North American railroad coupler that connects cars together, also genderless.
See also
* Mating connection
* Piping and plumbing fittings
A fitting or adapter is used in pipe systems to connect straight sections of pipe or tube, adapt to different sizes or shapes, and for other purposes such as regulating (or measuring) fluid flow. These fittings are used in plumbing to manipulat ...
* Screw thread
* Sex bolt
A sex bolt is a type of mating fastener ( nut) that has a barrel-shaped flange and protruding boss that is internally threaded. The bolts sits within the components being fastened, the flange provides the bearing surface. The sex bolt and accom ...
* Twistlock
A twistlock or twist lock, together with matching corner castings, as defined in norms including ISO 1161:1984, form a standardized (rotating) connector system, for connecting and securing intermodal, and predominantly ISO-standard internatio ...
– standardized fasteners for shipping containers
A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated box design, corrugated b ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gender Of Connectors And Fasteners
Gender in language
Electrical connectors
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Plumbing