Patent ID: 8505129

Claim:
A load-supporting rod assembly configured to engage opposing surfaces, the rod assembly comprising: a first rod portion extending between a first end and a second end, said first rod portion defining an outer diameter; a second rod portion extending between a first end and a second end, wherein the second rod portion defines a first cavity extending within the second rod portion from the first end of the second rod portion, wherein the first cavity has an inner diameter that is larger than the outer diameter defined by the first rod portion, such that the second rod portion is configured to receive at least a part of the first end of the first rod portion within the second cavity via the first end of the second rod portion; and a tension assembly disposed within at least one cavity selected from the group consisting of a second cavity extending within the first rod portion from the second end of the first rod portion and a third cavity within the second rod extending within the second rod portion from the second end of the second rod portion, said tension assembly comprising a tube having a cylindrical inner wall, a closed end and an open end, wherein the closed end is disposed toward the first end of the first rod portion and the open end is disposed toward the second end of the first rod portion, said tube comprising engagement means in the inner wall and a protruding lip about the diameter of the open end, said protruding lip having a diameter that is at least as great as the outer diameter defined by the first rod portion; a plunger slidably disposed within the inner wall of the tube, said plunger having a bottom end within the tube and a headed end outside the tube, said plunger having opposite L-shaped grooves having a common axial section and opposite tangential sections; a biasing means inside the tube and between the closed end of the tub and the bottom end of the plunger; and a locking pin secured in the engagement means in the inner wall of the tube, said locking pin traveling through the L-shaped grooves of the plunger, wherein the plunger is able to travel laterally in the tube when the locking pin is disposed in the axial section of the L-shaped grooves and unable to travel laterally in the tube when the plunger has been rotated to place the locking pin in the opposing tangential sections of the L-shaped grooves.