Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
- 21 72759
TITLE: PLIERS FOR GRIPPING WOR~PIECES OF DIFFERENT
SIZES
BAC~GROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
05 The present invention relates to a utility plier,
and more particularly to a utility plier for gripping
workpieces of different sizes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical plies comprise a pair of handles having a
middle portion pivotally coupled together so as to form
a pair of jaw members and a pair of hand grips for
moving the jaw members toward each other so as to grip
a workpiece. However, the jaw members may not be
adjusted one relative to the other such that the pliers
may be used for gripping workpieces of smaller sizes.
In order to grip the workpieces of different
sizes, various kinds of pliers have been developed. Two
of the conventional pliers are disclosed in FIGS. 13
and 14 respectively and each includes a pair of handle
members 10, 15 having a pair of jaw members 13, 14
formed in one end thereof for gripping a workpiece. One
of the handle members 10 includes a stud 12 secured on
the intermediate portion, and the other handle member
15 includes an elongate slot 11 formed in the
intermediate portion and includes a number of teeth 16,
17 formed along the inner edge of the elongate slot 11
(FIG. 13) or formed along the bottom side of the
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intermediate portion for engaging with the stud 12. The
stud 12 may be adjusted along the elongate slots 11 so
as to adjust the distances between the jaw members 13,
14 and as to grip workpieces of different sizes.
05 ~Iowever, the users have to adjust the stud 12 relative
to the teeth 16, 17 before the pliers may be used to
grip the workpieces.
Another type of the pliers are disclosed in US
Patent No. 4,651,598 to Warheit and US Patent No.
4,662,252 to Warheit. The conventional pliers each
includes a pair of handle members. One of the pliers
includes an intermediate neck portion slidably engaged
in the neck portion of the other pliers. A fastening
means is provided to halt the further sliding movement
of the handle members. The handle members should
include a pair of longitudinal slots or raceways for
slidably receiving the fastening means. However, the
pawls slidably engaged in the handle members will be
limited to a small size. In addition, the toothed end
of the pawls may not effectively engage with the racks
of the slots. Furthermore, in all of -the conventional
pliers, the longitudinal slots greatly reduce the
strength of the handle members and such that the pliers
may be easily damaged.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate
and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the
conventional plier 6 .
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SUMMARY OF TUE INVENTION
The primary objective of the present invention is
to provide a plier which includes a pair of handle
members having no slots formed therein such that the
05 strength of the handle members may be greatly
increased.
~ In accordance with one aspect of the invention,
there is provided a pair of pliers comprising a first
and a second handle members including a first and a
second jaw ends, a first and a second handle ends and a
first and a second intermediate portions formed between
the first and the second jaw ends and the first and the
second handle ends respectively, the first intermediate
portion of the first handle member including a pair of
parallel planer members for slidably receiving the
second intermediate portion of the second handle member
therebetween, the first intermediate portion of the
first handle member including a rack means located
closer to the first handle end and including a contact
surface means located closer to the first jaw end, the
second handle member including a stop means secured on
the second jaw end thereof for engaging with the
contact surface means and for preventing the second
intermediate portion from disengaging from the first
2~ intermediate portion~ means for biasing the second jaw
end away from the first jaw end, a pawl means pivotally
secured on the second intermediate portion and
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including a toothed end for engaging with the rack
means and including a contact end for engaging with the
rack means and for preventing the toothed end from
engaging with the rack means, and means for biasing the
05 contact end of the pawl means to engage with the rack
means, the second jaw end being moved away from the
first jaw end so as to grip a workpiece of larger size,
the stop means being caused to engage and to move along
the contact surface means when the first and the second
handle ends are moved toward each other in order to
move the first and the second jaw ends toward each
other so as to grip the workpiece, the second handle
member being moved relative to the first handle member
so as to rotate the pawl means in order to engage the
toothed end with the rack means and so as to secure the
first and the second intermediate portions together
when the first and the second jaw ends grip the
workpiece therebetween. The first intermediate portion
includes a solid configuration having no slots formed
therein so as to increase a strength of the first
handle member.
A panel means is pivotally coupled to the first
handle~end of the first handle member, a plate means is
pivotally coupled to the second end of the second
handle member and pivotally coupled to the panel means
at a shaft, the plate means includes a curved slot
having a curvature located at the shaft, and the panel
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means includes a pin element extended therefrom and
slidably engaging with the curved slot so as to limit a
rotational movement between the panel means and the
plate means.
05 A cover means is further secured to the second
handle member for covering and for protecting the pawl
means.
Further objectives and advantages of the present
invention will become apparent from a careful reading
of a detailed description provided hereinbelow, with
appropriate reference to accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~E DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a utility plier in
accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the utility plier;
FIG. 3 is a plane view of the utility plier;
FIG. 4 is a partial cross sectional view taken
along lines 4-4 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the utility plier
illustrating the operation of the utility plier;
FIGS. 6 and 7 are plane views illustrating the
operation of the utility plier;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the utility plier
illustrating the operation of the utility plier;
FIG. 9 is a plane view illustrating the operation
of the utility plier;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another
21 7275~
application of the utility plier;
FIGS. 11 and 12 are plane views illustrating the
operation of the utility plier as shown in FI&. 10; and
FIGS. 13, 14 are perspective views illustrating
05 two typical pliers.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODINENT
Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS.
1 to 4, a utility plier in accordance with the present
invention comprises a pair of handle members 30, 40
each including a jaw end and a handle end and an
intermediate portion. The handle member 30 includes
two planer members 31 having two spacers 331, 332 fixed
between the jaw ends 301 and having a spacer 32 secured
in the handle end by rivets 321, 322. The jaw ends 301
each includes a number of teeth 311 formed therein for
engaging with the workpieces. The handle member 30
includes a pair of racks 302, 312 formed in one edge of
the intermediate portions of the planer members 31 and
located closer to the handle ends and each includes a
contact surface 303, 313 located closer to the jaw
ends. The handle member 40 also includes two planer
members 41 having a spacer 42 fixed between the handle~'
ends by rivets 421, 422 and having two stops 431, 432
fixed on the jaw ends 401 which include a number of
teeth 411 formed therein for engaging with the
workpieces, together with the jaw ends 301 of the
handle member 30. The stops 431, 432 each includes a
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contact edge 4311, 4322 for engaging with the
respective contact surface 303, 313 of the handle
member 30 and for preventing the jaw ends 401 from
disengaging from the handle member 30.
05 As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the intermediate
portion of the handle member 40 is slidably engaged
between the intermediate portions of the planer members
31 of the handle member 30. A spring 47 is coupled
between the intermediate portion of the handle member
40 and the handle end of the other handle member 30 so
as to bias the jaw end of the handle member 40 away
from the jaw end of the handle member 30. A rod 44 is
fixed in the intermediate portion of the handle member
40 and includes two ends 441 extended therefrom. A pair
of pawls 45, 46 are pivotally coupled to the rod 44 and
are engaged on both sides of the handle member 40 and
each includes a toothed end 451, 461 for engaging with
the racks 302, 312 of the handle member 30 and each
includes a rounded contact end 453, 463 for slidably
engaging with the racks 302, 312. A pair of covers 34,
37 are secured to the intermediate portion of the
handle member 30 and are secured to the ends 441 of the
rod 44 for covering the pawls 45, 46. A pair of springs
452, 462 are biased between the covers 34, 37 and the
pawls 45, 46 for biasing the rounded contact ends 453,
463 of the pawls 45, 46 to engage with the racks 302,
312, best shown in FIGS. 3 and 6.
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-
~A plate 38 has one end pivotally coupled to the
handle member 40 by an axle 404 and has a curved slot
382 formed therein. A pair of panels 35, 36 have one
end pivotally coupled to the handle member 30 by an
05 axle 304 and are pivotally coupled to the plate 38 at a
shaft 354 and have a pin 352 secured ~thereto for
slidably engaging with the curved slot 382 of the plate
38. The curved slot 382 has a curvature center located
at the shaft 354 such that the panels 35, 36 and the
plate 38 may be rotated relative to each other about
the shaft 354. The sliding engagement of the pin 352 in
the curved slot 382 may limit the rotational movement
between the panels 35, 36 and the plate 38. A spring
353 is biased between the panels 35, 36 for biasing the
pin 352 to engage in one end of the curved slot 382.
In operation, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the
spring 47 may bias the jaw ends of the handle members
30, 40 away from each other, and the rounded contact
ends 453, 463 of the pawls 45, 46 may be biased to
engage with the racks 302, 312 by the springs 452, 462.
At this moment, the pin 352 is engaged in one end of
the curved slot 382. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the jaw~
ends of the handle members 30, 40 may be moved toward
each other against the spring 47 for gripping a
workpiece 90 when the handle ends of the handle members
30, 40 are moved toward each other. At this moment, the
contact edges 4311, 4322 of the stops 431, 432 are
2 1 72759
slidably engaged with the contact surfaces 303, 313 of
the handle member 30. As shown in FIG. 7, when the
handle ends of the handle members 30, 40 are further
pulled toward each other, the handle member 40 and the
05 pawls 45, 46 may be caused to move toward the racks
302, 312 such that the pawls 45, 46 may be rotated
about the rod 44 against the springs 452, 462 and such
that the toothed ends 451, 461 of the pawls 45, 46 may
engage with the racks 302, 312 so as to secure the
intermediate portions together and so as to prevent the
intermediate portions from moving one relative to the
other. At this moment, the contact edges 4311, 4322 of
the stops 431, 432 are disengaged from the contact
surfaces 303, 313 of the handle member 30.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, when the handle ends of
the handle members 30, 40 are further pulled toward
each other, the panels 35, 36 may be forced to rotate
relative to the plate 38 about the shaft 354 and the
pin 352 may be forced to move to the other end of the
curved slot 382. At this moment, the workpiece 90 may
be solidly gripped between the jaw ends of the handle
members 30, 40.
It is to be noted that the intermediate portion of
the handle member 30 is not required to be formed with
the elongate slots such that the strength of the handle
member 30 can be greatly increased to at least three
times of that of the conventional pliers. In addition,
2 1 7~75~
the springs 452, 462 may force the rounded contact ends
453, 463 of the pawls 45, 46 to engage with the handle
member 30 and may prevent the toothed ends 451, 461 of
the pawls 45, 46 from engaging with the racks 302, 312
05 before the jaw ends of the handle members 30, 40 are
engaged with the workpiece 90. Furthermore~ the sliding
engagement of the pin 352 in the curved slot 382 may
guide the rotational movement between the panels 35, 36
and the plate 38, and may limit the relative rotational
movement between the panels 35, 36 and the plate 38.
The springs 452, 462 may separate the handle ends of
the handle members 30, 40 away from each other.
Accordingly, the utility plier in accordance with
the present invention includes a pair of handle members
having no slots formed therein such that the strength
of the handle members may be greatly increased, and
includes a plate and a pair of panels for separating
the handle ends of the handle members away from each
other.
Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, an
expansion spring 60 may be engaged between the handle
ends of the handle members 30, 40 so as to separate the~
handle ends of the handle members 30, 40 away from each
other.
Although this invention has been described with a
certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood
that the present disclosure has been made by way of
21 7~59
example only and that numerous changes in the detailed
construction and the combination and arrangement of
parts may be resorted to without departing from the
spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter
05 claimed.
