A central tube has a rectangular cross section and is attached to an end piece which abuts against a wall of a compartment or the side of an object to be held in place. The other end of the central tube is telescopically fitted within a second rectangular tube. One surface of the central tube is ratcheted and a handle operated ratchet drive mechanism is mounted on the end of the second tube towards the end piece. The second tube is telescopically fitted within a third tube having a rectangular cross section. The remote end of the third tube is fixedly attached to a second end piece which abuts against either a compartment wall or an object to be held in place. The second tube is joined to the third tube at any one of three extension positions of the third bar relative to the second bar thereby setting the jack bar at a predetermined length. This length can then be increased to hold the cargo in position by actuating the ratchet mechanism.

An extension device for a clamping and spreading device with a slide rail guided for displacement relative to a bearing device is suggested which has at least one contact element for a workpiece and is fixed or can be fixed in position so as to be non-translational in relation to the bearing device.

A telescopic support includes a tube and an elongated element inserted in the tube and formed with a series of ratchets. A driving and locking device includes a locking element, a spring and a driving element. The locking element includes a jaw formed with at least one ratchet and being pivotally installed on the tube. The spring is provided between the tube and the locking element for biasing the ratchet of the locking element into engagement with the ratchets of the elongated element. The driving element includes a jaw formed with at least one ratchet. The driving element can be pivoted on the tube in a direction so as to engage the ratchet thereof with the ratchets of the elongated element. The driving element can be pivoted in an opposite direction so as to disengage the ratchet thereof from the ratchets of the elongated element and pivot the locking element for disengaging the ratchet of the locking element from the ratchets of the elongated element.

In order to provide a clamping and spreading device with a slide rail which is mounted for displacement and the displacement movement of which can be actuated in a clamping direction with blocking of the displaceability in the opposite direction and the displacement movement of which can be actuated in a spreading direction with blocking of the displaceability in the opposite direction, wherein the direction of displacement can be switched over between clamping direction and spreading direction, which can be produced in a simple manner and can be operated in a simple manner, a movable positioning element is suggested which supports actuating elements for the slide rail, wherein the displacement movement of the slide rail in the clamping direction or in the spreading direction can be actuated as a function of the position of the positioning element.

A novel clamping device for use in conjunction with a temporary partition system is provided. The present invention is a telescoping pole system having a unique clamping end that retains a sheet of plastic or other sheeting material for the establishment of temporary partitions such as the type typically used in connection with dust control. The principal elements of the system include an adjustable, telescoping pole, a clamping end with a mechanism thereon for retaining sheeting material and the sheeting material itself. In conjunction, the elements of the system are installed in the desired location between supporting structure to provide a temporary partition as necessary.