Patent ID: 7419168

Claim:
A wheel and axle assembly, comprising: a wheel having a wheel hub; a ball bearing assembly rigidly disposed in the wheel hub, the ball bearing assembly having an inner race, the inner race having an annular detent groove defined therein; an axle having a blind bore extending axially therein, an end cap closing the blind bore, a plurality of transverse bores defined radially therein communicating with the blind bore adjacent the end cap, and a slot defined therein communicating with the blind bore; a compression spring disposed in the blind bore; a detent pin slidably disposed in the blind bore between the compression spring and the end cap, the detent pin having a release arm extending through and slidable in the slot defined in the axle, the detent pin having an engaging end facing the end cap; and a plurality of detent balls at least partially disposed in the transverse bores, the compression spring biasing the detent pin to an extended position between the detent balls so that a portion of each the detent balls protrude from the axle through the transverse bores and engage the detent groove in the wheel bearing in order to releasably lock the wheel on the axle, the detent pin being movable to a retracted position by sliding the release arm in the slot so that the detent balls partially collapse into the blind bore in order to release the wheel from the axle.