Telescoping slide assembly

A locking assembly, used for moving articles between a fully retracted position and a fully extended position, comprises, a stationary slide member, an intermediate slide member slideably connected to the stationary slide member, a load-carrying slide member slidably connected to the intermediate slide member for sliding movement relative to the intermediate slide member, and a locking lever rotatably coupled to the load-carrying slide member. The locking lever including an outer grip portion, and a locking portion for locking the load-carrying slide member to the stationary slide member to prevent relative movement between the load-carrying slide member and the stationary slide member when the assembly is fully retracted position, and a ramp portion for preventing the locking portion from locking the load-carrying slide member to the intermediate slide member in response to movement of the load-carrying slide member relative to the intermediate slide member. The locking portion has a curved lip positioned to engage a bevelled edge on the stationary slide member so that an operator has to move the load-carrying slide member in a reward direction toward the fully retracted position in order to allow the locking lever to be rotated to disengage the curved lip from the bevelled edge to allow the load-carrying slide member to move relative to the stationary slide member in a forward direction to an extended position away from the fully retracted position. A ramp surface on the locking portion to cam the locking portion away from bevelled edge that is engaged by the intermediate slide member when the load-carrying slide member is moved relative to the intermediate member slide.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to telescoping slide assemblies for moving 
equipment between a fully retracted position and an extended position, and 
particularly to a slide assembly having at least three slide members and 
lock mechanisms for locking the slide members in various retracted and 
extended positions. More particularly, the present invention relates to a 
telescoping slide assembly that contains mechanisms for controlling 
unlocking of the slide members during telescoping movement of the slide 
members between extended and retracted positions. 
A conventional telescoping slide assembly typically includes a stationary 
slide member, a load-carrying slide member, and an intermediate slide 
member. The intermediate slide member is positioned and configured to move 
the load-carrying slide member toward and away from the stationary slide 
member. Typically, a pair of telescoping slide assemblies are positioned 
in side-by-side spaced-apart parallel relation so that either a 
load-carrying platform or one or more pieces of equipment can be carried 
on the two side-by-side load-carrying slide members. It is also common to 
use a pair of telescoping slide assemblies to support a cabinet drawer 
between a retracted position inside the cabinet and an extended position 
outside the cabinet. 
The stationary slide member is typically mounted to a fixed frame to anchor 
the slide assembly. The frame could be a cabinet, a truck bed, or any 
other suitable platform. For example, it is known to use telescoping slide 
assemblies to slide heavy pieces of equipment into and out of a truck bed. 
Various kinds of equipment or loads can be anchored to the movable 
load-carrying slide members so that such loads can be moved easily 
relative to the truck bed or the like during telescoping extension and 
retraction of the intermediate and load-carrying slide members in each 
slide assembly relative to the stationary slide members that are anchored 
to the truck bed. Typically, a telescoping slide assembly is extended and 
retracted manually by an operator and thus must be capable of moving heavy 
loads easily and quickly under the control of an operator during loading 
of equipment onto the truck and unloading of equipment from the truck. 
It is known to provide locking interconnections between each of the three 
slide members so that extension or retraction of the slide members 
relative to each other can be prevented. This allows a drawer or equipment 
rack mounted on a pair of telescoping slide assemblies to be extended 
outward in the extending direction and locked to maintain a desired 
extended position. Since these locking interconnections must generally be 
manually engaged and disengaged, separate manual unlocking actions are 
required before such a drawer or equipment can be extended. The use of a 
locking mechanism to prevent relative movement of two sliding tracks until 
manual release of the locking mechanism is known. See, for example, U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,200,352 to Fall et al. 
Typically, as the telescoping slide assemblies extend to move the equipment 
or load from the retracted position, the slide members lock automatically 
in a partly extended position. An operator initiates the extension process 
by actuating a release mechanism to allow the slide members to extend 
relative to one another. When the intermediate slide member reaches its 
fully extended position, the load-carrying slide member automatically 
locks to the intermediate slide member and thereby stops the slide 
assembly in a partly extended position. In order to continue moving the 
load to the fully extended position, the operator must actuate the release 
mechanism a second time to allow the load-carrying slide member to extend 
to its fully extended position relative to the intermediate slide member. 
In many applications, the need for a second actuation of the release 
mechanism is a nuisance. Therefore, telescoping slide assemblies that 
provide a mechanism for allowing the slide members to fully extend without 
stopping at a partly extended position would be an improvement over 
conventional slide assemblies. 
Another problem facing some users of telescoping slide assemblies is 
accidental unlocking of the telescoping slide assemblies. In mobile 
situations, where the drawers or equipment racks are mounted in a vehicle 
such as a truck, the slide assemblies are susceptible to inadvertent 
release during turns or acceleration of the vehicle. For instance, where 
the slide assemblies are mounted in a truck to support a heavy piece of 
equipment, the centrifugal force of the heavy equipment accelerating in 
the turn causes the slide assemblies to overcome the locking mechanism, 
thereby allowing the slide assemblies to extend. An unexpected extension 
of the slide assemblies can be especially troublesome when the slide 
assemblies are supporting heavy equipment or expensive equipment. 
Therefore, telescoping slide assemblies that incorporate a mechanism to 
prevent the inadvertent extension of the assemblies during turns or 
acceleration would provide a substantial improvement over conventional 
slide assemblies. 
According to the present invention, a telescoping slide assembly is 
provided for moving a load between a fully retracted position and a fully 
extended position. The telescoping slide assembly includes a load-carrying 
slide member, an intermediate slide member, and a stationary slide member. 
The telescoping slide assembly further includes a mechanism for locking 
the load-carrying slide member relative to the stationary slide member 
when the assembly is in the fully retracted position. The telescoping 
slide assembly further includes means for preventing the assembly from 
locking at a partly extended position during movement between the fully 
retracted position and the fully extended position. 
In preferred embodiments, a locking lever is provided to lock the 
telescoping slide assembly in the fully retracted position. The locking 
lever is pivotably coupled to the load-carrying slide member and is 
positioned to engage locking apertures that are formed in the intermediate 
and stationary slide members. The locking apertures in the intermediate 
and stationary slide members are in registry when the slide assembly is in 
the fully retracted position so that a lip formed on the locking lever can 
engage a complementary lip formed on the aperture in the stationary slide 
member. When the lips are engaged, they overlap each other, and the 
locking lever locks the load-carrying and stationary slide members in the 
fully retracted position. 
The overlap of the lips serves another purpose in addition to locking the 
slide assembly in the fully retracted position. When a force is applied to 
the fully retracted slide assembly of such an angle and magnitude that 
would tend to extend the slide members, the overlap provides a mechanism 
for maintaining the locking lever in engagement with the locking apertures 
and preventing inadvertent release of the locking lever, such as might 
occur during turns or acceleration. Thus, all extending forces must be 
removed from the telescoping slide assembly in order to release the 
locking lever and unlock the slide assembly from the fully retracted 
position, thereby eliminating inadvertent extension of the telescoping 
slide assembly. 
The locking lever is also formed to include a shoulder for locking the 
load-carrying slide member in its fully extended position relative to the 
intermediate slide member. The shoulder is sized to fit in a notch formed 
in the intermediate slide member. The shoulder is positioned to engage the 
notch when the load-carrying slide member is in its fully extended 
position relative to the intermediate slide member. It is not necessary 
that the intermediate slide member be fully extended for the shoulder to 
engage the notch. 
The locking lever is also configured so that it does not automatically 
establish a locking connection between the load-carrying and intermediate 
slide member when the intermediate slide member reaches a partly extended 
position. While the locking lever is engaged with the locking aperture in 
the stationary slide member in the fully retracted position, the locking 
lever is also positioned in the locking aperture in the intermediate slide 
member and blocks the intermediate slide member from moving relative to 
the stationary slide member. When the locking lever is disengaged from the 
stationary slide member and the slide assembly is allowed to extend from 
the fully retracted position, a lifting ramp appended to the locking lever 
operates to cam the locking lever out of engagement with the locking 
apertures in the intermediate and stationary slide members. By camming the 
locking lever out of engagement with the aperture in the intermediate 
slide member, the lifting ramp prevents the load-carrying slide member 
from locking to the intermediate slide member during extension at a partly 
extended position during movement of the load-carrying slide member toward 
an extended position. 
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become 
apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following 
detailed description of a preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode 
of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
The telescoping slide assembly 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes three 
nested and interconnected slide members 12, 14, and 16. A stationary slide 
member 16 is configured to be mounted on a truck bed 13 or other platform 
as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. An intermediate slide member 14 is nested in, 
and capable of back and forth motion relative to the stationary slide 
member 16. A load-carrying slide member 12 is configured to support a 
piece of equipment 15 to be moved as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The 
load-carrying slide member 12 is nested in, and capable of back and forth 
motion relative to the intermediate slide member 14. 
The load-carrying slide member 12 is supported for sliding movement in the 
intermediate slide member 14 by rollers 18 which are coupled to the 
intermediate slide member 14 by rivets 20. The intermediate slide member 
14 is supported for sliding movement in the stationary slide member 16 by 
rollers 22 attached to the stationary slide member 16 by rivets 24 and by 
rollers 26 attached to the rearward end 40 of intermediate slide member 
14. These rollers 18, 22, and 26 make it easy for a user to move the slide 
members 12, 14, 16 relative to one another to move the telescoping slide 
assembly 10 between a retracted position (shown in FIG. 6) and a fully 
extended position (shown in FIG. 9). 
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the stationary slide member 16 includes a bottom 
portion 60 positioned between two spaced-apart vertical side walls 62 and 
arranged to mount on a fixed platform such as a truck bed 13. Horizontal 
flanges 64 extend inwardly from the vertical side walls 62 to overlie the 
rollers 22 as shown in FIG. 2. The intermediate slide member 14 includes a 
bottom portion 66 positioned between two spaced-apart vertical side walls 
68. Horizontal flanges 70 extend outwardly from the vertical side wall 68 
and are arranged to lie underneath the pair of horizontal flanges 64 of 
the stationary slide member 16. The horizontal flanges 70 are supported by 
rollers 22 mounted on the vertical side walls 62 of the stationary slide 
member 16. 
The load-carrying slide member 12 includes a pair of horizontal 
load-supporting flanges 72 extending outwardly in opposite directions from 
an upper end of abutting central vertical walls 74. The piece of equipment 
15 to be carried by telescoping slide assembly 10 is mounted on the 
load-supporting flanges 72 as shown best in FIG. 2. Bottom flanges 76 lie 
in spaced-apart parallel relation to the upper flanges 72 and extend 
outwardly in opposite directions from a lower end of the central vertical 
walls 74. The horizontal load supporting flanges 72 are supported by the 
rollers 18 mounted on the vertical side walls 68 of the intermediate slide 
member 14. 
The vertical side walls 62 of the stationary slide member 16 are sized to 
allow the rollers 22 to support the horizontal flange 70 of the 
intermediate slide member 14 for back and forth movement in a plane 
between the horizontal flange 64 and the roller 22. The vertical side 
walls 68 of the intermediate slide member 14 are sized to allow rollers 18 
to support the horizontal load-supporting flanges 72 of the load-carrying 
slide member 12 while allowing the bottom flanges 76 of the load-carrying 
slide member 12 to lie between the rollers 18 and the bottom portion 66 of 
the intermediate slide member 14. 
It is inconvenient to use a telescoping slide assembly that automatically 
locks to establish a locked partly extended position during movement of 
the slide members from the fully extended position to a fully retracted 
position. Although it is expected that it will be necessary to actuate a 
first release mechanism to unlock the slide members so that they can be 
moved from a fully extended position toward a fully retracted position, it 
is a nuisance to operators if they have to actuate a second release 
mechanism to release the slide members from a locked partly extended 
position. Therefore, a mechanism that could be added to a telescoping 
slide assembly to keep it from stopping and locking at a partly extended 
position would be welcomed by users of slide assemblies. 
A locking mechanism 89 for locking the intermediate slide member 14 in a 
fully extended position relative to the stationary slide member 16 is 
illustrated in FIGS. 3-5. Portions of this locking mechanism 89 are also 
visible in FIG. 1 near the left-hand end of the stationary slide member 
16. One feature of the present invention is the provision of means 91 for 
automatically unlocking the locking mechanism 89 in response to movement 
of the load-carrying slide member 12 from its fully extended position 
toward its fully retracted position. Advantageously, it is not necessary 
for a user to unlock the locking mechanism 89 manually whenever the 
telescoping slide assembly 10 is extended or retracted. 
Locking mechanism 89 includes a first button 90 and a strip of spring 
material 92. The first button 90 is attached to a free end 93 of first 
spring 92 and a fixed end of first spring 92 is attached to the bottom 
portion 60 of the stationary slide member 16 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. 
The first spring 92 is aligned so that its free end 93 moves easily into 
and out of a first spring-receiving aperture 120 formed in bottom portion 
60 of the stationary slide member 16. 
The unlocking mechanism 91 includes a second button 94 arranged to project 
downwardly to contact the upwardly projecting first button 90. The second 
button 94 is attached to a second strip of spring material 96 which has a 
fixed end that is fastened to the bottom portion 66 of the intermediate 
slide member 14. 
As shown best in FIG. 4, the free end 93 of first spring 92 is positioned 
to align the first button 90 so that it will fit into a button-receiving 
aperture 98 formed in the bottom portion 66 of the intermediate slide 
member 14 during sliding movement of the intermediate slide member 14 
relative to the stationary slide member 16. The first spring 92 is biased 
normally to urge the first button 90 into the button-receiving aperture 98 
whenever the intermediate slide member 14 reaches its fully extended 
position relative to the stationary slide member 16 to lock the 
intermediate slide member 14 in that extended position. 
The fixed end of second button spring 96 is fastened to the underside 110 
of the bottom portion 66 of the intermediate slide member 14 as shown in 
FIG. 4. A middle section of second spring 96 is arranged to pass through a 
second spring-receiving aperture 112 formed in the bottom portion 66, so 
that a free end 97 of second spring 96 is arranged to position the second 
button 94 in confronting relation to the first button 90. The second 
spring 96 is biased to urge the second button 94 downwardly into contact 
with the underlying first button 90 whenever their paths cross as shown in 
FIGS. 3-5. However, the biasing force generated by the second spring 96 is 
not sufficient by itself to displace the first button 90 and move the 
first button 90 out of the button-receiving aperture 98 formed in the 
intermediate slide member 14. 
Movement of the load-carrying slide member 12 in the direction of arrow 114 
toward its fully extended position allows the first and second button 
springs 92, 96 to assume their normal positions, wherein the first button 
90 is projected by first spring 92 into the button-receiving aperture 98 
and is placed in contact with the second button 94 as shown in FIG. 4. The 
spring force generated by first spring 92 is greater than the spring force 
generated by second spring 96 to cause the first button 90 to fit into the 
button-receiving aperture 98 and effectively displace the second button 94 
so that it does not fit in the button-receiving aperture 98. Nevertheless, 
the second spring 96 does generate enough spring force to maintain the 
second button 94 generally in contact with the first button 90 regardless 
of the relative positions of the intermediate slide member 14 and the 
stationary slide member 16. 
Movement of the load-carrying slide member 12 in direction of arrow 116 
toward a retracted position, as illustrated in FIG. 5, actuates the 
unlocking mechanism 91 to cause the locking mechanism 89 to disengage the 
intermediate slide member 14 automatically. The underside 118 of the 
bottom flange 76 of the load-carrying slide member 12 engages the middle 
section of the second button spring 96 and deflects the free end 97 of 
spring 96 downwardly in direction 99 forcing the second button 94 to push 
the first button 90 out of engagement with the button-receiving aperture 
98. When the first button 90 is clear of button-receiving aperture 98, the 
intermediate slide member 14 is free to retract in direction of arrow 116. 
As the intermediate slide member 14 continues to retract, the first button 
90 is held in position in the first spring-receiving aperture 120 by the 
underside 110 of bottom flange 66 of the intermediate slide member 14. 
Advantageously, the first button 90 and first button spring 92 fit within 
the volume defined by the underside 110 of the bottom portion 66 of the 
intermediate slide member 14, the first button-receiving aperture 120, and 
the top surface 122 of the platform 13 that supports the telescoping slide 
assembly 10. Therefore, the locking mechanism 89 and companion unlocking 
mechanism 91 can be mounted on a platform without the need for alterations 
to the platform 13 to accommodate the first button spring 92. 
A locking lever 52 is mounted on the load-carrying slide member 12 as shown 
in the Figures. This locking lever 52 is pivotable to control locking of 
the load-carrying slide member 12 to the intermediate slide member 14. The 
locking lever 52 is arranged as shown best in FIG. 1 to be accessible to 
an operator able to reach the front end 53 of the telescoping slide 
assembly 10. 
The locking lever 52 includes an elongated handle portion 130 and a blade 
portion 132 as shown in detail in FIGS. 6-9. Rivet 80 pivotally couples 
the handle portion 130 of the locking lever 52 to the abutting central 
vertical walls 74 of the load-carrying slide member 12. The locking lever 
52 is positioned so that a distal end portion 134 extends beyond the 
distal end 32 of the load-carrying slide member 12. The blade portion 132 
constitute a locker portion that includes a triangular lug 138 and an 
oblong lug 139 as shown best in FIG. 6. These locking lugs 138, 139 
cooperate to lock the slide members 12, 14, 16 in various positions as 
shown in FIGS. 6-9. 
A spring 54 is positioned to lie between one of the horizontal 
load-supporting flanges 72 and the top edge 55 of the locking lever 52 to 
bias the locking lever 52 normally to the position shown in FIG. 1. The 
spring 54 includes a precurved portion 57 contacting the horizontal 
load-supporting flange 72 and a flat blade 59 resting against the top edge 
55 of locking lever 52. The spring 54 is situated to lie between the pivot 
post 80 and the blade portion 132 as shown best in FIG. 6. 
When the telescoping slide assembly 10 is in the fully retracted position 
shown in FIG. 6, first, second, and third rectangular locking apertures 
140, 142, 144 formed in the stationary, intermediate, and load-carrying 
slide members 16, 14, 12, respectively, are vertically aligned in registry 
with each other. The blade portion 132 of locking lever 52 is urged 
downwardly by the action of the spring 54 to engage the locking apertures 
140, 142, 144 to lock the telescoping slide assembly 10 in the fully 
retracted position as shown in FIG. 6. The spring 54 urges the triangular 
locking lug 138 into apertures 144, 142, and 148 and the oblong locking 
lug 139 into apertures 144, 142, and 140 to establish the locked condition 
shown in FIG. 6. 
An inclined lifting ramp 146 is provided on a forward facing edge of 
triangular locking lug 138 as shown in FIG. 6. Lifting ramp 146 fits into 
the lifting ramp aperture 148 formed in the stationary slide member 16 
whenever the telescoping slide assembly is moved to its retracted 
position. The lifting ramp 146 cooperates with vertical edge 152 to define 
the triangular shape of locking lug 138 that extends downwardly away from 
the blade portion 132. 
The locking lugs 138, 139 are situated in spaced-apart relation to form a 
notch 150 therebetween in the blade portion 132 of locking lever 52. The 
notch 150 is defined by a forward vertical edge 152, a rear curvilinear 
edge 156, and a horizontal edge 154 extending between the rear curvilinear 
edge 156 and the forward vertical edge 152. The curvilinear edge 156 of 
the notch 150 meets a bottom edge 158 of the blade portion 132 as shown in 
FIG. 6 to form a forwardly extending rounded lip 160. The lip 160 engages 
a complementary bevelled edge 162 formed on the stationary slide member 16 
to define a border edge of the first locking aperture 140. 
The first locking aperture 140 is sized and positioned so that when the 
telescoping slide assembly 10 is fully retracted as shown in FIG. 6, a 
rear shoulder 50 formed on the blade portion 132 abuts against the rear 
edges of the first and second locking apertures 140, 142. The lip 160 is 
just able to swing around and clear the bevelled edge 162 so that an 
operator is able to push down in direction 143 on the outer end 123 of the 
locking lever 52 to pivot locking lever 52 and cause the blade portion 132 
to move upwardly in direction of arrow 164, and thereby disengage the 
locking lever 52 from the stationary slide member 16. 
Once the blade portion 132 of locking lever 52 has been disengaged from the 
first locking aperture 140, the intermediate and load-carrying slide 
members 12, 14 are free to move together relative to the stationary slide 
member 16. The slide members 12, 14 can be moved in direction 141 as shown 
in FIG. 7 to extend the telescoping slide assembly 10. 
When the intermediate slide member 14 has reached its fully extended 
position as shown in FIG. 4, the first lock button 90 is positioned to 
engage the lock button-receiving aperture 98 to block further movement of 
the intermediate slide member 14 relative to the stationary slide member 
16. At the same time, the lifting ramp 146 of triangular locking lug 138 
engages the forward edge 170 of the second locking aperture 142 formed in 
the intermediate slide member 14 and lifts the blade portion 132, as shown 
in FIG. 8. The lifting ramp 146 cams on the bottom portion 66 of the 
intermediate slide member 14 and keeps the notch 150 from moving 
downwardly to engage the second locking aperture 142 as also shown in FIG. 
8. This camming action by the lifting ramp 146 ensures that the 
load-carrying slide member 12 will not lock in any position relative to 
the intermediate slide member 14 except the fully extended and fully 
retracted positions. 
In operation, the telescoping slide assembly 10 is extended by first 
ensuring that the assembly 10 is in the fully retracted position as shown 
in FIG. 6 so as to disengage the lip 160 from the bevelled edge 162 in the 
first locking aperture 140. Until the load-carrying slide member 12 is 
pushed inwardly a bit in direction 143 so as to move the lip 160 the short 
distance 166 (FIG. 6) in the direction of retraction, the curvilinear edge 
156 will continue to engage the bevelled edge 162 and clear the edge 162 
of the aperture 140, the operator will be unable to depress the distal end 
portion 134 to disengage the oblong locking lug 139 and the bevelled edge 
162 and release the locking lever 52. Advantageously, this ensures that 
the operator is capable of handling any force being applied by the 
equipment mounted to the assembly tending to extend the assembly. If the 
operator cannot overcome the force applied by the equipment so as to allow 
the lip 160 to clear the bevelled edge 162, the operator will be unable to 
release the locking lever 52. 
When the locking lever 52 has been disengaged from the first locking 
aperture 140, the load-carrying and intermediate slide members 12, 14 are 
free to extend relative to the stationary slide member 16 and move in 
direction 141 as shown in FIG. 7. When the intermediate slide member 14 
has fully extended, the roller 26 abuts a stop rivet 38 (FIG. 1) appended 
to an inner wall of stationary slide member 16 to prevent further 
extension of the intermediate slide member 14 relative to the stationary 
slide member 16. 
Until the load-carrying slide member 12 extends relative to the 
intermediate slide member 14, the intermediate slide member 14 is free to 
retract from the fully extended position. As the load-carrying slide 
member 12 extends relative to the intermediate slide member 14, the bottom 
flange 76 exposes the second button spring 96, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 
and 4, allowing the spring 96 to move to its unbiased position. Movement 
of the second spring 96 to its unbiased position allows the first button 
spring 92 to urge the first button 90 upwardly into the button-receiving 
aperture 98, as illustrated in FIG. 4, thereby locking the intermediate 
slide member 14 to the stationary slide member 16. 
As the load-carrying slide member 12 continues to extend, the locking lever 
spring 54 urges the blade portion 132 of the locking lever 52 against the 
bottom portion 66 of the intermediate slide member 14, but the lifting 
ramp 146 ensures that the locking notch 150 does not engage the second 
locking aperture 142 in the intermediate slide member 14. Advantageously, 
the camming action of the lifting ramp 146 eliminates any intermediate 
stops between the fully retracted and fully extended positions. Thus, the 
telescoping slide assembly 10 does not lock automatically in any partly 
extended position. 
At the fully extended position, the spring 54 urges the shoulder 50 of the 
blade portion 132 into engagement with the notch 34 formed in the distal 
end 36 of the intermediate slide member 14, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 
9. With the intermediate slide member 14 locked to the stationary slide 
member 16 by the first locking button 90, and with the load-carrying slide 
member 12 unable to retract relative to the intermediate slide member 14 
due to the engagement of the shoulder 50 with the notch 34, the 
telescoping slide assembly 10 is locked in the fully extended position. 
From the fully extended position, the assembly 10 is retracted by 
depressing the forward end portion 123 of the locking lever 52 to lift the 
blade portion 132 in direction of arrow 145 and disengage the shoulder 50 
from the notch 34. Once the shoulder 50 is disengaged from the notch 34, 
the load-carrying slide member 12 can retract relative to the intermediate 
slide member 14 until a downwardly extending shoulder 30 formed on the 
bottom portion 78 of front edge 53 of the load-carrying slide member 12 
engages the notch 34 formed in the intermediate slide member 14. 
As the shoulder 30 approaches the notch 34, the rearward end of the bottom 
portion 66 of the load-carrying slide member 12 contacts and depresses the 
second button spring 96, as illustrated in FIG. 5. Depressing the spring 
96 causes the second button 94 to engage the first button 90 and push the 
first button 90 out of the button-receiving aperture 98 and allow the 
intermediate slide member 14 to retract relative to the stationary slide 
member 16. At the same time, the locking lever spring 54 urges the lifting 
ramp 146 to slide down the distal edge 170 of the second locking aperture 
142 in the intermediate slide member 14, as illustrated in FIG. 8. When 
the shoulder 30 has engaged the notch 34, the blade portion 132 has fully 
engaged the second locking aperture 142, as illustrated in FIG. 7, 
thereafter causing the load-carrying and intermediate slide members 12, 14 
to retract together. 
As retraction continues, the rearward end 40 of the intermediate slide 
member 14 contacts the stop rivet 28 mounted on the stationary slide 
member 16 to prevent further retraction of the intermediate slide member 
14 relative to the stationary slide member 16. At the same time, the 
locking lever spring 54 urges the blade portion 132 into engagement with 
the ramp aperture 148 and the first locking aperture 140 as illustrated in 
FIG. 6, thereby locking the telescoping slide assembly 10 in the fully 
retracted position. 
Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to a 
certain preferred embodiment, variations and modifications exist within 
the scope and spirit of the invention as described and defined in the 
following claims.