Frictional Brake Mechanism

A frictional brake mechanism for detaining the movement of a first body relative to a second body having a surface, comprising:

• a housing defining a cavity coupled to the first body and having first and second sides with respective first and second apertures communicating with the cavity, the first aperture disposed adjacent to the surface;
• a brake pad disposed adjacent to the surface and movable to and from a braking condition, wherein the brake pad frictionally engages the surface, and a non-braking condition, wherein the brake pad is disposed in a spaced relation to the surface;
• a biasing structure for biasing the brake pad to the braking condition;
• a pliable release structure disposed in the cavity and operably coupled to the brake pad and being bendable between a non-release position, wherein the brake pad is biasable to the braking condition, and a release position, wherein the brake pad is disposed substantially in the non-braking condition;
• and
• a release key slidably disposed in the second aperture and being slidable to and from first and second positions relative to the release structure, wherein when the key is disposed in either of the first or second positions, the release structure is bent to the release position and when the key is disposed between the first and second positions, the release structure is disposed in the non-release position.

A frictional brake mechanism for detaining the movement of a first body relative to a second body having a surface, comprising:

• a brake pad disposed adjacent to the surface and movable to and from a braking condition, wherein the brake pad frictionally engages the surface, and a non-braking condition, wherein the brake pad is disposed in a spaced relation to the surface;
• a biasing structure for biasing the brake pad to the braking condition;
• and
• a means for moving the brake pad to the non-braking condition.