Patent ID: 8636439

Claim:
A latching mechanism for detachably connecting two objects, comprising: a base member mounted with a first object; an upright center post projecting upwardly from said base member and being formed with a head and a relief groove below said head; a slidable sleeve surrounding said center post and being vertically movable relative to said center post and relative to said base member, said sleeve being biased into an uppermost position by a compression spring and being movable into a lowermost position by compressing said compression spring; at least one detent ball carried by said sleeve and being laterally movable between an outward lock position when aligned with said head of said center post and an inward release position when aligned with said relief groove; and a pusher member being secured to a second object and being formed with an internal ring that is engagable with said at least one detent ball when in said outward lock position, said pusher member being sized to pass over and move relative to said slidable sleeve, whereby said pusher member is secured to said slidable sleeve by pushing said at least one detent ball into said relief groove until said at least one detent ball is aligned with said internal ring and said center post is moved relative to said slidable sleeve to engage said head with said at least one detent ball to force said at least one detent ball into said internal ring; and whereby said pusher member can be released from said slidable sleeve by moving said center post to align said relief groove with said at least one detent ball to enable said pusher member to force said at least one detent ball out of said internal ring and into said relief groove to permit said pusher member to move relative to said slidable sleeve.