Patent ID: 8439593

Claim:
A system, comprising: a shaft, the shaft comprising: a first center axis, wherein the shaft extends along the first center axis, a tip end, a first pin that protrudes from the shaft proximate the tip end, wherein the first pin is generally orthogonal to the first center axis, and a slit that extends through the tip end and a portion of the shaft, wherein the slit is generally orthogonal to the first pin; and a socket, the socket comprising: a second center axis, wherein the socket extends along the second center axis, an inner diameter, an open end, a second end opposite the open end, wherein at least one dimension of the second end is smaller than the inner diameter, a tapered region between the inner diameter and the second end, and a first slot that projects into a side wall of the socket, wherein the first slot comprises a starting end at the open end and a terminal end axially spaced apart from the open end, wherein the terminal end is rotationally offset around the side wall from the starting end; wherein the shaft is selectively movable, relative to the socket, between: an unlocked position in which the tip end is in the inner diameter, the slit is unpinched, and the first pin is in the starting end; and a locked position in which the tip end is wedged in the tapered region so as to at least partially pinch the slit, and the first pin is in the terminal end, wherein the shaft is selectively movable between the unlocked and locked positions by rotating the shaft within the socket so that the first pin slides along the first slot between the starting and terminal ends, wherein the shaft is fabricated from a material comprising an elastic limit, wherein, when the tip end is wedged in the tapered region so as to pinch the slit completely closed at the tip end, stresses in the shaft are less than the elastic limit.