Strange feature at my new tripod

[AgX]

So I brought home another tripod from the fleamarket...

-) each leg has a brace.
The braces are not ending at the end of a long central collumn, adding stiffness, but end at a short collomn just under the head. Gliding with the other, lockable end, over the leg they are acting only as stepless arrest for the individual leg.

So far, so good. That was the reason I bought it.

-) However the other ends of the braces are not hinged in fixed position at the short center collumn, but rather hinged at a springloaded collar that can slide a bit at that short collumn.
Thus after spreading the legs to some angle and then having put the tripod onto the ground I have to spread, against the low springload, each leg to its final position.

I find that clumsy.
Moreover, tripod likely gets wobbly: after releasing pressure onto ground the spring tears back the leg a little bit and under pressure again it may not relocate to its end position.

I assume the idea behind this springloaded sliding of the braces is, that when one has collapsed and locked the legs one can put the tripod down, less stable, by action of one foot, but still lift it up again and the spring will keep the legs collapsed.

Here are photos showing the spring in tensioned and released state:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Cullmann-Mod-2920-Kamera-Stativ-/350932801552

 

[AgX]

To cope with the issue one either could:
-) substitute the spring by a tube segment, thus necessitating to unlock/lock each leg for spreading.
-) add some locking screw to the sliding collar.

 

[Ian Grant]

I have a similar Cullman tripod. The images show the centre section raised right up, it can be removed and used on its own as a mono-pod, there's an arm missing for the tilt control.

It should work fine but you need to add an arm.

Ian

 

[AgX]

Such won't work with the one in those photos: the raising collumn can indeed be taken out (for reversing) and it is splittable, but the two sections are much too short for a common monopod, are not telescopic and lacking a rubber foot.

 

[AgX]

Noone wants to comment, has a similar spring mechanism?

(By the way, for cleaning I disassembled the central hinges: Behind them is not the best design approach to start with and then that approach was foolishly worked out.)

 

[AgX]

bump

 

[Sirius Glass]

If it would not be too much of a problem, perhaps you could supply a photograph?

 

[AgX]

I did. At the end of post #1.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Oh. I had to copy the link, clicking on it did not work [a problem with the new software here]

 

[AgX]

In the photos you can see the central spring (in forced and released state) that pulls the braces, and thus the legs, together.

As said above I got one idea of the intention of that spring, but do not find it very convincing.
Could there be another idea behind?

Do you know other tripods with such, to some extend, springloaded braces/legs?