Patent ID: 8083194

Claim:
A latching mechanism for providing clamped retention to a vertical member, comprising: an enclosure having four sides framing a substantially open interior; a handle partially surrounding said enclosure and pivotally attached to said enclosure at opposite sides thereof; a pair of angled grooves passing through opposite sides of said enclosure so as to at least partially underlie grooves passing through overlying portions of said handle; a clamping roller located near a rearward portion of said interior of said enclosure and having a shaft with ends extending through said grooves in said enclosure and said handle; a support pin located within said interior of said enclosure and extending toward said clamping roller from an opposite side of said enclosure; and at least one spring for biasing said clamping roller toward said support pin; wherein said vertical member includes at least one hole for receiving said support pin; and wherein after location of said enclosure over said vertical member and insertion of said support pin into said at least one hole, a forward biasing of said clamping roller toward said support pin by said at least one spring causes said clamping roller to exert a clamping force against said vertical member that resists withdrawal of said support pin from said hole.