Patent ID: 8177181

Claim:
A carrying arrangement for supporting a load, the carrying arrangement comprising: a first head piece for mounting said carrying arrangement at a predetermined location; a second head piece adapted to receive said load thereon; a carrier arm mounted between said first and second head pieces; said carrier arm including first and second legs interconnected via said first and second head pieces to define an articulated parallelogram to permit a pivot movement of said carrier arm in elevation along a pivot path between a rest position and a threshold position (P 1 ) causing said second head piece to change in elevation relative to said first head piece; a gas-pressure spring for applying a counter force to said carrier arm in a direction toward said rest position; said gas-pressure spring including a self-latching device for self-latching said gas-pressure spring when said carrier arm is pushed downwardly with an applied force beyond said threshold position (P 1 ) and further away from said rest position to a predetermined blocking position (P 2 ) wherein said carrier arm is blocked and remains in said blocking position (P 2 ) when said applied force is released; and, said gas-pressure spring further including a disengaging and disabling device for disengaging said self-latching device in response to a downward force applied to said carrier arm moving said carrier arm in a first direction beyond said blocking position (P 2 ) and for disabling said self-latching device when said carrier arm is allowed to return past said blocking position (P 2 ) in a second direction opposite to said first direction upon removal of said downward force.