Tool support assembly with bidirectional position control

摘要

A tool support assembly having bi-directional position control. A tool support element is positioned within a housing and movable axially therealong in response to applied axial force F on a control element. A bi-directional positioning assembly links the tool support element to the housing and includes at least one detent element affixed to the housing and having at least one detent which extends transverse to the axis of the housing. The positioning assembly further includes at least one latch element captively positioned within the housing and selectively movable along the axis relative to the housing. The latch element includes at least one lock arm which is resiliently biasable toward one of the detents and is adapted for selective engagement therewith. A control element is captively positioned within the housing and is movable relative to the housing along the axis. When no force is applied to the control element relative to the housing, and when at least one of the lock arms is engaged with one of the detents, the tool support element is fixedly positioned relative to the housing. In response to a force to the control element applied in either axial direction relative to the housing, the lock arms disengage from the detents and permit the tool support element to move in the corresponding axial direction relative to the housing.