Patent ID: 7832799

Claim:
A locking support assembly for a chair, comprising: a generally planar support plate having a receiver for a chair disposed at an upper surface of the support plate; a pin fixed to the support plate and protruding upwards therefrom, the pin disposed adjacent to a leading edge of the support plate distal from the receiver for a chair column; a beam enclosing the leading edge of the support plate in a lower channel of the beam, the beam holding the support plate between opposing walls of the lower channel, the beam further comprising walls of an upper channel disposed above the lower channel; a latch mechanism positioned in an interior of the upper channel, the latch mechanism configured such that when the pin is impelled against a receiving surface of the latch mechanism by inward movement of the support plate into the lower channel, the latch mechanism works a spring to admit the pin inward until the pin progresses past a trigger point of the latch mechanism, releasing the latch mechanism to be driven horizontally by the spring to a locked position and thus providing locked engagement between the support plate and the beam; and a release lever coupled to the latch mechanism, such that horizontal inward movement of the release lever releases the latch mechanism horizontally outward, enabling withdrawal of the pin from the latch mechanism.