Patent ID: 7052186

Claim:
A connector system that includes a plurality of connectors for forward insertion into laterally spaced passages of a receiver wherein said passages are spaced at a predetermined passage pitch, wherein each connector includes a housing with a body, said housings each including a primary latch with a front end merging with a front portion of said body and with a latch middle forming a pair of largely rearwardly-facing latch shoulders and with a latch rear end forming a latch handle that can be resiliently depressed to move down said latch shoulders to positions out of line with a pair of largely forwardly-facing receiver shoulders of said receiver, wherein each connector includes a sleeve slideably mounted on the body of the connector to slide longitudinally between forward and rearward positions, with each sleeve forming a wedge part that lies against a lower surface of the corresponding latch handle in the sleeve forward position but not in the sleeve rearward position, wherein: said sleeves include couplings that hold at least a pair of connectors together at a pitch equal to said passage pitch so said pair of connectors can be inserted simultaneously into a pair of said passages and simultaneously removed from the pair of passages and so the pair of connectors remain together before and after insertion and removal; said couplings being slideable in forward and rearward directions relative to each other and relative to said connector housings, to couple and uncouple said connectors from each other to allow one of said pair of connectors to be detached from the other by applying a large rearward force to one coupling to slide it rearward out of engagement with the other, whereby when said pair of connectors both lie in said receiver one of said connectors can be removed by sliding its sleeve rearward and then depressing its latch handle.