Interesting Expanding Table Design...  

I would love to see
it executed in some highly figured wood, not keen on that glass and certainly not sure if the mechanism would allow, but that would be a sight..a rosewood Rorschach kaleidoscope!

The clever part, I think, is that
the expansion mechanism goes overcenter: As the table's expanded, the glass pieces attached to the arms expand slightly too far out, then come back in. That extra expansion provides just enough clearance for the center piece of glass to move up flush with the outer pieces. And then when the table's shrunk, of course, the same thing happens in reverse: The outer pieces move outward just a bit, the center drops, then the outer pieces shrink all the way in. Must have taken a lot of time to tune that just right, and it must have been very satisfying for its creator when it worked.
There's an awful lot of metal in that mechanism, though, and it appears to me as though the slightest misalignment or misadjustment might prevent it from operating. I can't help but think that there's a lot of opportunity for optimization in the design.

Nice modern interpretation of the Robert Jupe's 1835 patented design. I prefer the more exclusive Fletcher Capstan table.

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Why should it be simple if it can be done complicated!