Molex connector is the vernacular term for a two-piece "pin an socket" interconnection, most frequently disk drive connectors. Pioneered by Molex Products Company, the two-piece design became an early electronic standard. Molex developed and patented the first exemplars of this connector style in the late 1950s and early 1960s. First used in home appliances, other industries soon began designing it into their products from automobiles to vending machines to mini-computers.