Patent ID: 7700902

Claim:
A locking assembly, comprising: a base; a rotary shaft which is capable of rotating relative to the base, the rotary shaft having a shaft body, an end face, and a set of capture portions supported on the end face; and a set of detention mechanisms supported by the base, the set of detention mechanisms being arranged to (i) initially apply retention force to the set of capture portions to provide resistance against rotation of the rotary shaft from an initial angular position, and (ii) remove application of the retention force from the set of capture portions in response to an amount of rotational torque on the rotary shaft, the amount of rotational torque on the rotary shaft exceeding a predetermined threshold and being sufficient to substantially rotate the rotary shaft from the initial angular position; wherein the set of capture portions includes a first capture portion and a second capture portion; and said set of detention mechanisms includes: a first retainer, a first spring which is arranged to (i) bias the first retainer against the first capture portion when the set of detention mechanisms initially applies the retention force to the set of capture portions, and (ii) no longer bias the first retainer against the first capture portion when the set of detention mechanisms removes application of the retention force from the set of capture portions, a second retainer, and a second spring which is arranged to (i) bias the second retainer against the second capture portion when the set of detention mechanisms initially applies the retention force to the set of capture portions, and (ii) no longer bias the second retainer against the second capture portion when the set of detention mechanisms removes application of the retention force from the set of capture portions.