Patent ID: 6908126

Claim:
A catch assembly for preventing a handle from being removed from a spindle, the catch assembly comprising: a base for attachment to the spindle, the base including a threaded opening axially aligned with a retaining opening in the handle when the handle is mounted on the spindle; and a retaining pin including: a head end adapted to receive a tool for rotating the retaining pin through the retaining opening, a bottom end opposite the head end, and a threaded body between the head end and the bottom end, the threaded body having a diameter greater than the head end and the retaining opening to prevent the threaded body from entering the retaining opening, the diameter of the threaded body being sufficient to prevent the retaining pin from being removed through the retaining opening, the threaded body engaging the threaded opening in the base to threadedly move the retaining pin axially between an outward position wherein the head end engages the handle to prevent removal of the handle and an inward position wherein the bottom end extends into a disengage opening in a moveable lock element when the lock element is in a predetermined position relative to the catch assembly; the retaining pin having sufficient length that the head end always engages the handle when the bottom end is not in the disengage opening of the moveable lock element and the bottom end cannot enter the disengage opening of the moveable lock element unless the moveable lock element is in the predetermined position.