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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Guatemala
    Posts
    4

    Default Need a latch / release for a bed tray table with folding legs

    I am making a bed tray table with folding legs for my wife. I live in Guatemala and do not have access to the best tools or hardware, but am making due with what I can find. In the video link below, you can see what I've got so far. I need help trying to figure out how to make the legs stay folded under for when the tray is being carried, but then easily released. Imagine I bring my wife breakfast on the tray (with the legs folded under) and want to pop out the legs easily (while holding the handles still) so that I can set the tray right over her lap.

    Thanks for any suggestions!!

    Video here

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    NSW
    Posts
    1,610

    Default

    Screenshot_20190925-224800.jpg
    Dodgy sketch on phone ��
    Orange rubber band pushes blue pin into hole in the end of the leg, keeping it held up.
    To release the legs, pull the black ring, pulling the pins back out of the ends of the legs, letting them drop.
    The black ring is meant to be at the bottom of the hand hole in the sides of the tray.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    NSW
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    1,610

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Guatemala
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Thanks for taking the time to make the sketch. I'll look into this as a solution.
    Quote Originally Posted by arose62 View Post
    Screenshot_20190925-224800.jpg
    Dodgy sketch on phone ��
    Orange rubber band pushes blue pin into hole in the end of the leg, keeping it held up.
    To release the legs, pull the black ring, pulling the pins back out of the ends of the legs, letting them drop.
    The black ring is meant to be at the bottom of the hand hole in the sides of the tray.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Oberon, NSW
    Age
    63
    Posts
    13,354

    Default

    Because the legs are tied together in pairs, one possible simple way would be to fix a diagonal locking slat under the table, similar to the sketch. (Gah! I despise Windoze's Paint programs. )

    Using a spring washer on the central pivot could adjust the "locking strength."

    I guess it depends on whether you want 100% failure-proof or just... usable, sorta.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    I may be weird, but I'm saving up to become eccentric.

    - Andy Mc

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Guatemala
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!! View Post
    Because the legs are tied together in pairs, one possible simple way would be to fix a diagonal locking slat under the table, similar to the sketch. (Gah! I despise Windoze's Paint programs. )

    Using a spring washer on the central pivot could adjust the "locking strength."

    I guess it depends on whether you want 100% failure-proof or just... usable, sorta.
    Wow! Thanks for taking the time to draw that out. I like the idea, but I just don't think I have space in the 'box' for that solution.
    Another think I am considering is a spring loaded retractable pin that you can pull from outside. The way I imagine it, the pin would go through a hole drilled in one of the legs; when the pin is pulled, the legs fall open freely (so the nut would not be attached tightly.

    Another thought is a closet door ball catch like this.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    1,166

    Default

    the problem with a ball catch will be how you force the legs to start descending. You can't "flick" the table with a sudden stop because you'll slop the tea everywhere, so you need a way to centrally push the legs down past the catch. That may be why @AROSE's solution above with a spring/tensioned pin to lock things may be easier to do from a central line?

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