Patent ID: 7556053

Claim:
A supporting device for supporting a cloth element, wherein the supporting device comprises a hollow rod, at least two supporting elements, and an attachment device for connecting the supporting elements to the hollow rod, wherein the attachment device comprises a housing, wherein in the housing it is mounted a single lead-through opening for each supporting element where a fastening bolt is inserted therethrough, wherein a spring is mounted around each fastening bolt between a first spring limiter at a first end of the fastening bolt and a second spring limiter at a second end of the fastening bolt, wherein a first end of the supporting element is rotatably mounted to one of the first and second ends of the fastening bolt, such that each supporting element is independently sprung, and wherein the supporting device is constructed to enable the supporting elements to be positioned in the following positions: a first, retracted position where the supporting elements are at least partly mounted inside the hollow rod, a second, extended position wherein the first end of each supporting element forms a proximal end relative to a central longitudinal axis of the hollow rod, and wherein the second end of each supporting element forms a distal end at a distance out from the central longitudinal axis of the hollow rod and wherein the supporting elements are loaded by the cloth element when the supporting elements are in the second position, and a third position between the first and the second positions, where the supporting elements are not loaded by the cloth element.