Patent ID: 8684610

Claim:
A connector assembly comprising: an actuator body configured to be slidably mounted to a support structure, the actuator body extending along a central longitudinal axis between a pair of connector ends, the actuator body being movable along the longitudinal axis and having an actuator cam feature; an assembly frame being operatively coupled to the actuator body and movable along a mating axis that is non-parallel relative to the longitudinal axis, the assembly frame defining a connector compartment and having a frame cam feature, the frame cam feature being positioned to engage the actuator cam feature of the actuator body, the actuator and frame cam features slidably engaging each other when the actuator body is moved along the longitudinal axis thereby moving the assembly frame along the mating axis; and a mating connector held by the assembly frame within the connector compartment, wherein the assembly frame is configured to move the mating connector in a mating direction when the assembly frame is moved along the mating axis, wherein, as the actuator body is moved along the longitudinal axis the actuator and frame cam features provide a mating force that drives the mating connector into a communication module to communicatively couple the mating connector and the communication module; wherein, while the mating connector and the communication module are communicatively coupled, the frame cam feature is permitted to move relative to the actuator body to remove the mating force, the mating connector and the communication module remaining communicatively coupled after the mating force is removed.