Expandable Baton With Locking Mechanism

A multi-section locking baton comprising:

• an outer tube;
• a middle tube telescoping within the outer tube,
• a first locking cam joint connecting the outer tube and the middle tube, including a first cam on the middle tube that has a central opening and a ball bearing with balls movable radially in response to axial movement of the first cam to releasably lock the outer tube to the middle tube;
• an inner tube telescoping within the middle tube,
• a second locking cam joint connecting the middle tube and the inner tube, including a second cam on the inner tube that has a central opening and a ball bearing movable radially in response to axial movement of the second cam to releasably lock the middle tube to the inner tube;
• and
• a manually actuatable release rod extending axially through the outer, middle and inner tubes for unlocking the first and second cam joints;
• the release rod including a tip having three sections, the three sections including an outermost or distal section that increases in diameter as measured in a direction moving away from the distal end of the tip;
• an intermediate section that is the widest section of the tip and that has a plurality of relief openings formed in its outer surface;
• and a proximal section that tapers from the intermediate section to a narrower diameter at the proximal tip end where it is secured onto the release rod.