Pliers for small, difficult household jobs

Abstract

Self-adjusting multi-grip pliers with very high leverage and a very wide jaw opening, while the jaws remain parallel. One handle is a sheath G in which a rod T, connected to one of the jaws M, can slide and can be locked in place by a locking device A. The other handle is a two-pronged lever L that acts at (2) on the other jaw M, bearing against the locking device A at (1). These pliers are specially designed for performing almost all small, difficult household tasks. Figure to be published for the summary: Figure 1

Description

Title of the invention: Pliers for small, difficult domestic jobs

[0001] The present invention relates to small domestic jobs known to be difficult due to the often quite significant force they require. This is the case, for example, of unscrewing the lid of a jar that is too tight or of opening a nut. For each of these jobs there are often several instruments which perfectly solve the problem posed. But, to my knowledge, none of them is capable, on its own, of carrying out all of these small, difficult jobs. The instrument according to the invention makes it possible to fill this gap by its capacity to carry out almost all of these small jobs.

[0002] This instrument is a self-adjusting multi-grip pliers having a very high gear ratio and a very large opening of its jaws which remain parallel. These properties are obtained by the presence of a rod (denoted T) which is orthogonal to one of the jaws to which it is attached and which can be blocked by a bracing device (denoted A) on which a lever (denoted L) acting on the second jaw rests.

[0003] [Fig.l] represents the architecture of the clamp. The rod T, integral with the jaw M, is perfectly straight and has a rectangular section. It can slide freely and without excessive play in the sheath G), part of which is one of the handles of the clamp. It can be blocked by the bracing device A. The lever L rests at (1) on the bracing A and acts at (2) on the second jaw M'.

[0004] [Fig.2] represents the parts which constitute the frame of the clamp. The 2 angles C and C are assembled according to the diagram at the bottom of the figure to form the sheath G. They are welded together in their widest part, and are inserted between 2 identical and parallel plates P. The assembly is stiffened by small bolts inserted into the holes drawn on the plate P and the angles C and C'.

[0005] [Fig.3] represents the device A for blocking by bracing the rod T. It is consists essentially of 2 parallel axes (3) and (4) between which the rod T passes. These axes are fixed on 2 blades (5) pierced with a hole (6). As shown in [Fig.l], the device A is installed between the 2 plates P, the ends of the axes (3) and (4) being located in the notches of these plates, which thus limit their movements and, in particular, prevent the axis (4) from moving in the direction of the rod T. The spacing of the axes (3) and (4) is very slightly greater than the width of the rod (T). The axes (3) and (4) and the rod T) are made of very hard steel, carefully machined.

[0006] The lever L (see [Fig.l]) which controls the second jaw M' is composed of 2 identical flat parts located on either side of the 2 plates P of the frame on which they can slide. They are connected to each other at one of their ends and constitute the second handle of the pliers. They are connected to the device A by an axis passing through the holes (1) and (6) and to the jaw M' by an axis passing through the hole (2). The gear ratio is 10 / 1

[0007] [Fig.4] schematically represents the support of the jaw M'. It consists of a blade (7) which is folded as shown in the drawing. The first part (8) is the part of the support visible in [Fig.l]. The 2nd part of the folding supports the jaw M'. The 3rd part is shorter than the 1st and supports the 4th part which can receive the thrust of a micrometric screw (9). This screw is mounted on one of the plates P and passes through a nut secured to this plate. The folding envelops the 2 heads of the lever L and it has 2 holes containing an axis (10) which passes through the heads of the lever L at (2). The blade (8) has a slot (11) which allows it to slide along an axis (12) secured to the plates P) and therefore to maintain a substantially fixed direction. This makes it possible to obtain almost perfect parallelism for the jaws M and M'.

[0008] The clamp has 3 springs RI, R2, R3 shown schematically in figures 1 and 4. The spring RI is a return spring of the rod T. R2 tends to bring the axes (10) and (12) closer together. R3) tends to move the 2 handles apart from each other.

[0009] Operation - The slight hollows of the jaws M and M' are laterally grooved and the jaw M has an overhang in relation to the jaw M'. At rest a ring (not shown) keeps the two handles close to each other. Once this ring is removed, the spring R3 causes the lever L to move against the stop (13). If, for this position of the lever L, the rod T is blocked, screw in the screw (9) which has the effect of angularly bringing the buttress A closer to the position orthogonal to the rod T. Stop screwing as soon as the rod T is released. The clamp is then ready to operate.

[0010] To introduce a small object between the jaws of the clamp, it is convenient to start by widely spreading the jaws by pushing back the projection of the jaw M with the object. The return spring RI is then responsible for ensuring the contact of the object with the 2 jaws. A roller installed at (14), against which the rod T abuts, makes this operation easy.

[0011] I have just described a first prototype of my pliers which already works very well, since it allowed me to carry out the following small jobs very easily:

[0012] Opening of nuts, hazelnuts, almonds;

[0013] Opening of the legs of a crab;

[0014] Unscrewing the blocked lid of a jar;

[0015] Unscrewing a sink trap;

[0016] Unscrewing garden hose fittings;

[0017] Unscrewing a large nut that is not too tight.

[0018] Variant - The jaw M' and its support (8) ([Fig.4]) can be replaced by a single piece in the shape of a draftsman's T-piece, the longest part replacing the support (8) and the other becoming the jaw M'. This T-piece is of the same thickness as the jaw M and is connected in the same way to the lever L by the axis (2). The slot (11) is replaced by a system of 2 identical connecting rods connecting an axis (x), integral with the plates P, and an axis (y), integral with the part (8) of the (T-piece), the 4 axes (x), (y), (2) and (1) forming a parallelogram. The spring R2 which tends to bring the axes (2) and (x) together, and the screw (9) are mounted on either side of the T-piece between the 2 plates P

Claims

Claims

1. Multi-grip pliers, self-adjusting, with very high gear ratio and very large opening of its jaws which remain parallel, characterized by its frame composed of 2 identical and parallel plates P, which insert between them a sheath G and which are the supports of a rod T secured to one of the jaws M of the pliers, of a device A for locking this rod T by bracing and of a lever L which acts on the other jaw M' of the pliers.

2. Pliers according to claim 1 characterized in that the rod T is rectilinear, of rectangular section, orthogonal to the jaw M of the pliers, and that it can slide freely in the sheath G which is one of the handles of the pliers.

3. Clamp according to claim 1 characterized in that the device A for blocking this rod T by bracing (fig. 1 and 3) is housed between the 2 plates P, and that it is composed of 2 parallel axes (3) and (4) between which the rod T passes which they can block or leave free of any longitudinal movement, these axes being fixed on 2 blades (5) and their ends being guided by notches made in the plates P.

4. Clamp according to claim 1 characterized in that the lever L, which is the second handle of the clamp, is composed of 2 identical flat parts, connected together at one of their ends and located on either side of the plates P on which they can slide, and which act on the jaw M' by means of an axis (10) passing through the support (7) of the jaw M' (fig.4) as well as the heads of the lever L at (2) (fig.l), and by bearing on the buttress A by means of an axis passing through at (1) the heads of the lever L (fig.l), and at (6) the 2 blades (5) of the buttress A (fig.3).

5. Clamp according to claim 1 characterized in that there is a spring R2 stretched between the axis (10), integral with the support (7) of the jaw M' which it crosses at (2), and the axis (12), integral with the plates P, which subjects the support (7) of the jaw M' to a permanent force directed towards the axis (12).

6. Clamp according to claim 1 characterized in that there is a micrometric screw (9), mounted on one of the plates P, which can exert a force on the support (7) of the jaw M' in the opposite direction to that exerted by the spring R2 and the screwing of which allows the rod T to be released if the latter is blocked when the lever L is at its maximum opening. against the stop (13).

7. Clamp according to claim 1 characterized in that there is a return spring RI of the rod T which makes it a self-adjusting clamp.

8. Pliers according to claim 1 characterized in that there is a spring R3 which tends to separate from each other the 2 handles of the pliers which are the sheath G and the lever L.

9. Pliers according to claim 1 characterized in that there is an overhang of the jaw M relative to the jaw M', which facilitates the introduction of small objects between the jaws of the pliers.

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