Patent ID: 8382076

Claim:
An object support column comprising: a vertical tube having a closed end with a bottom support piece and an open end fitted with a guide sleeve; a gas spring comprising a cylinder which is slideably received in said guide sleeve, said cylinder having an end which can be subjected to a load extending out of the vertical tube, said cylinder being filled with pressurized gas, said spring further comprising a piston which divides said cylinder into a first working chamber and a second working chamber, and a piston rod having one end fixed to the piston and an opposite end fixed to the bottom support piece, the piston rod passing through the second chamber and emerging from the cylinder; and a valve in a connection between the first working chamber and the second working chamber, the valve being manually actuatable and automatically actuatable, wherein the valve remains closed when the end of the cylinder is subjected to a load, and which opens after a predetermined amount of time after the load on the gas spring is released; a sensor configured to detect a load state of the gas spring; and a control unit that receives a load-release signal from the sensor, the control unit having a timer triggered by the load-release signal to open the valve after the pre-determined amount of time, wherein the valve is an electromagnetic valve which is closed when not energized and comprises a coil frame mounted on a core and carrying a coil, the core having an end extending from the coil frame, and an armature facing the end of the core and separated from the core by a regulating distance, the armature carrying a closing element facing an opening of the connection, the armature being spring-loaded toward the opening so that the closing element is against the opening when the coil is not energized.