Adjustable Pliers with Receiving Surfaces for Wear Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional adjustable pliers have limited contact surface area between the jaws and a work piece, which can lead to inefficient application of compressive gripping forces and increased wear on fasteners and plier gripping areas.
Innovation Solution
The pliers incorporate receiving surfaces within the handles, angled relative to the jaw teeth, to increase the contact surface area with the work piece, thereby enhancing the grip and reducing wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If conventional pliers grip work pieces with only teeth on the jaws, then the structure remains simple, but the contact surface area is limited and wear increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gripping surface is segmented into multiple functional zones: jaw teeth for primary gripping and additional receiving surfaces (first and second receiving surfaces) for extended contact. This segmentation increases the total contact surface area while maintaining structural organization, allowing the pliers to distribute compressive forces across multiple discrete contact points rather than a single continuous surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extends the gripping interface from a one-dimensional jaw edge to a two-dimensional surface by adding receiving surfaces that contact the work piece at multiple angular orientations. The first receiving surface contacts at a first angle and the second receiving surface contacts at a second angle, creating a multi-planar contact geometry that significantly increases effective contact area without proportionally increasing overall tool size.
2Reliability
If additional contact surface area is added to increase grip efficiency, then wear is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The additional receiving surfaces serve multiple functions simultaneously: they increase contact surface area for improved grip efficiency, provide alternative contact points to distribute wear, and maintain compatibility with various work piece geometries. The first and second receiving surfaces can engage with different facets of hexagonal, square, or irregular work pieces, making the enhanced gripping interface universally applicable across multiple fastener types without requiring separate tools.
Data Source
AI summary
Pliers with receiving surfaces formed in the handles of the pliers so as to increase the contact surface area between the pliers and the work piece. The pliers grip the work piece at the jaws of the pliers and at the receiving surfaces to increase the contact area between the tool and the work piece as compared to conventional adjustable pliers.