Releasable coupling or attachment device

Claim 1

A coupling or attachment device comprising a head portion and a hollow shank projecting therefrom for plugging into a receptor socket, the shank being provided with locking means movable transversely thereof between a projecting locked condition and a retracted free condition, and control means movably mounted within the shank between a first position maintaining the locking means in said locked condition and a second position allowing movement of said locking means to said free condition, said head portion having a release mechanism comprising actuator means for moving said control means from said first position to said second position and releasable means cooperating with the actuator means or the control means and adapted to prevent operation of said control means by an inadvertent or accidental engagement with the actuator means; wherein said actuator means comprise a pivotally mounted release lever having a portion interlinked with said control means, said lever having a portion projecting from said head portion allowing a manual manipulation of the release lever to move said control means from said first position to said second position thereof; and wherein said releasable means comprise a pivotally mounted second lever having an abutment portion engaging a portion of said release lever to prevent movement thereof to move said control means from said first position to said second position thereof, said second lever having a portion projecting from said head portion allowing a manual manipulation of the second lever to remove said abutment portion from its position obstructing operation of said release lever.

Claim 11

A device according to any one of claims 1, 2, 4 or 5 wherein said control means includes a probe slidably mounted within said shank with interengageable latching means between said probe and said shank, said latching means being actuated by relative movement of the probe and the shank to be automatically engaged in a latched condition when the probe and shank are moved relative to one another in a first direction by a predetermined amount so as to restrict subsequent relative movement in the same direction, and are brought automatically into an unlatched condition on a predetermined amount of relative movement from the latched condition in the opposite direction, allowing subsequent free relative movement between the probe and shank in said first direction; wherein said projecting locked, and said retracted free conditions of said locking means correspond to said latched and unlatched conditions, or vice versa, of said control means, and wherein said release mechanism prevents relative movement of said probe and shank from said condition thereof corresponding to said locked condition of said locking means to said condition thereof corresponding to said retracted condition of said locking means, until both said actuator means and said releasable means of the release mechanism have been operated.

Claim 13

A device according to any of claims 1, 2, 4 and 5 wherein said locking means comprise at least one locking member movable transversely of the axis of the shank through an aperture in the wall thereof.

Claim 14

A device according to any of claims 1, 2, 4 and 5 wherein said control means comprise a control member slidably mounted within the shank and having portions to act on said locking member to maintain it in said locked condition and to allow it to move to said free condition, respectively.

Claim 15

A device according to any of claims 1, 2, 4 and 5 wherein said control means are biased by resilient means to said first position thereof.

Claim 16

A device according to any of claims 2, 4 or 5 wherein said actuator means comprise a pivotally mounted release lever having a portion interlinked with said control means, said lever having a portion projecting from said head portion allowing a manual manipulation of the release lever to move said control means from said first position to said second position thereof.