Patent ID: 7658569

Claim:
An extensible bar assembly with a simplified locking system, comprising a bar having at one end thereof a ball joint and at the other end a sleeve, said sleeve slidably fitting over the bar and having a ball joint at the opposite end to the engagement with the bar, and further comprising a locking system comprised of an articulated latch body attached to the sleeve by means of a wire spring, the wire spring having one portion pivotably connected to the sleeve and an opposite portion formed by a wire which passes through a hole in the latch body whereby the latch body is rotatably mounted on said wire such that the latch body is rotatable between a locking orientation and a blocking orientation, wherein when said latch body is placed in the locking orientation said latch body passes through an opening in the sleeve and engages a recess provided in the bar, preventing the sleeve from sliding relative to the bar and thus locking the assembly formed by the sleeve and the bar, and wherein when the wire spring is pivoted relative to the sleeve the wire spring allows the latch body to be pulled out of the recess and the opening and rotated on said wire into the blocking orientation in which the latch body cannot pass through the opening in the sleeve and engage the recess and the sleeve, allowing the sleeve to slide relative to the bar.