Cone lock

A cone lock operable to engage first and second aligned socket openings to effect locking together of said socket openings, comprising a casing means, a shaft means rotatably supported in said casing means, said shaft means having an axis which is substantially vertically disposed during use of the cone lock, upper and lower cone means fixed to respective upper and lower ends of said shaft means, said upper cone means extending laterally from said shaft means at one angle, said lower cone means extending laterally from said shaft at another angle which is different from said one angle, a lever means connected to said shaft means and extending laterally from said shaft means, said lever means being rotatable between a stop position, a first operable position and a second operable position, spring biased stop means biasingly urging said lever means in said stop position, said housing means having upper and lower projection portions adopted to align with said first and second socket openings, each of said upper and lower cone means having an aligned rotational position in which the respective cone means is aligned with its respective housing portion so that respective aligned cone means and respective housing portions can be inserted into and removed from a respective socket opening, each of said first and second cone means having non-aligned rotational positions in which the respective cone means is non-aligned with its respective housing portion so that the respective nonaligned cone means and respective housing portion is precluded from being inserted into and removed from a respective socket opening, each of said upper and lower cone means being in a non-aligned position when said lever means is in said stop position, said upper and lower cone means being in respective aligned and non-aligned positions when said lever means is in said first operable position to thereby provide for inserting said upper cone means and upper housing portion into a first socket opening, said upper and lower cone means being in respective non-aligned and aligned positions when said lever means is in said second operable position to thereby provide for inserting said lower cone means and lower housing portion into a second socket opening, and engageable contour means on said lower cone means operable to be engaged by said second socket opening to automatically rotate said lower cone means and said connected shaft and lever means, in opposition to said bias of said spring biased stop means, from said stop position to said second operable position to thereby provide for insertion of said lower cone means and lower housing portion into said second socket opening without requiring any manual manipulation of the cone lock, said spring biased stop means being operable to rotate said lever means from said second operable position to said stop position after said second cone means has been inserted into said second socket opening.