US PATENT SUBCLASS 81 / 300
TOOL JAW(S) POSITIONED BY RELATIVELY MOVABLE PLURAL HANDLES (E.G., PLIERS)

Current as of: June, 1999
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81 /   HD   TOOLS

300TOOL JAW(S) POSITIONED BY RELATIVELY MOVABLE PLURAL HANDLES (E.G., PLIERS) {15}
301  DF  .~> Including hydraulic features
302  DF  .~> Antipodal jaw surfaces move apart as handles approach (e.g., outwardly expanding jaws)
303  DF  .~> With three or more jaws {1}
313  DF  .~> With means requiring a completion of travel of jaw movement
314  DF  .~> With means for step-by-step jaw movement
315  DF  .~> With means to immobilize handles against relative angular movement and means to move jaw(s) thereafter {2}
318  DF  .~> With means to immobilize jaws {5}
329  DF  .~> With means (nontoggle) to hold jaws against only retrograde movement {4}
341  DF  .~> With means to vary range limit(s) of jaw movement
342  DF  .~> Jaw-actuating means (handle-manipulation conversion) {10}
385  DF  .~> Adjustable relationship between jaw(s) and/or handle(s) {6}
415  DF  .~> Crossed handles {2}
418  DF  .~> Jaw features {4}
427  DF  .~> Resiliently urged
427.5  DF  .~> Handle

DEFINITION

Classification: 81/300

(under the class definition) Tools including at least two relatively movable work-engaging elements (constituting jaws), at least two relatively movable hand-gripped elements (constituting handles), and joint mechanism interconnecting said jaws and said handles whereby manipulative movement of the handles with respect to each other effects relative movement of the jaws.

(1) Note. Generally, the tools in this and indented subclasses are characterized and distinguished from the wrenches of subclasses 53+ in that said tools include at least two hand-gripped members relatively manipulated to effect relative jaw positioning so as to engage work, while the wrenches of subclasses 53+ have but a single hand-gripped member manipulated to transmit such manipulation to work. Once the plural handles of a tool, here classified, have been relatively manipulated to effect jaw engagement with work, said plural handles may be further manipulated together as a unit, similar to a wrench handle, to transmit such further manipulation to the work.

(1.5) Note. Tools wherein relative jaw positioning is effected solely by longitudinal shifting of elongated hand-gripped members with respect to each other (as for example in Patent No. 585,412), are classified in appropriate subclasses under subclasses 53+. Such tools, which also include additional means to further relatively position said jaws, which means are, per se, encompassed by the definition of subclass 300 (as for example Patent No. 1,195,321) are classified hereunder. On the other hand, where the additional means to further relatively position the jaws are not encompassed by the above definition of subclass 300 (as for example Patent No. 864,659), classification is in subclasses 53+.

(2) Note. Compound tools which include a tool of the type classified in this or indented subclasses plus a wrench of the type classified in subclasses 53+, would be classified in this or the indented subclasses and cross-referenced into the appropriate subclass in Wrenches, subclasses 53+.

(3) Note. Included in this subclass are attachments for tools otherwise falling within the definition above, which attachments have means to substitute for or supplement hand action for handle manipulation of the handles relative to

each other, (see Patent No. 1,412,205).

(4) Note. Ordinarily the user of a tool herein classified uses the tool by adjusting the jaw(s) (if jaw adjustment means is provided) to the approximate size of the work, then brings the tool jaws into close proximity with the work and moves the hand-gripped members (usually toward each other, but not limited thereto) so as to actuate the jaws to engage and grip the work. SEE OR SEARCH THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS:

3+, for pliers and tongs specialized for handling particular articles.

SEE OR SEARCH CLASS

7, Compound Tools,

125+, for plier type tools.

15, Brushing, Scrubbing, and General Cleaning,

147.1+, for mop holders.

29, Metal Working,

700+, particularly subclasses 218, 221, 223+, 232, 248, 268 for plier or tong type devices specially designed to engage work and to exert either a pull or a push to assist in assembling or disassembling.

30, Cutlery,

92+, for pipe and rod cutters, subclass 120.2 for nut crackers, subclasses 175+ for nippers and subclasses 194+ for shears.

72, Metal Deforming, 409.01+, for a plier-type metal deforming device.

100, Presses,

234+, and 243 for presses, not elsewhere classified, of the plier type.

118, Coating Apparatus,

504, for opposed jaw work-holding devices.

119, Animal Husbandry,

801+, for catching and holding tools provided with jaws or tong fingers.

128, Surgery,

319+, for crushers, subclasses 321+ for forceps having pivoted arms carrying contacting members for grasping parts of the human body or articles within the human body, and subclass 340 for plier type devices for grasping and manipulating a surgical needle in the application of a suture to a wound by means of the needle.

140, Wireworking,

121, for plier type wire-joining tools, subclass 106 for crimping implements and subclass 123 for plier type implements. 227, Elongated-Member-Driving Apparatus,

144, for apparatus for applying a member, e.g., staple, of the plier type.

251, Valves and Valve Actuation,

4, for tube compressors.

294, Handling: Hand and Hoist-Line Implements, appropriate subclasses, for jaw actuator means. Specific search notes to subclasses under Class 294 are to be found under appropriate subclasses hereunder.

433, Dentistry,

4, for orthodontic pliers; and subclasses 159+ for dental forceps and pliers.

452, Butchering,

13+, for bivalve openers and subclass 194 for fish dr4essing and holding tools.

For the purposes of this and the indented subclasses, the following terms are defined:

ACTUATION

The manipulation of handles relative to each other, so as to move jaws to engage work, within the limits of a predetermined range of jaw movement. (See the definition of "RANGE" hereunder). ADJUSTMENT

The changing of structural relationships between members constituting the tool so as to vary the limits of jaw movement from one predetermined range to another. (See the definition of "RANGE" hereunder).

HANDLE-MEMBER

A member which is gripped by the hand of the operator to which member one of the jaws is fixedly attached at least during the actuation of the jaws.

HANDLE-LEVER (OR GRIP-LEVER)

A hand-gripped element connected to a handle-member and to a movable jaw as by pivot, link or motion-converting means, which hand-gripped element actuates the movable jaw.

HANDLE

The generic term for either a handle-member or a handle-lever where no distinction between the two members is necessary.

JAW

An element carrying at least one work engaging surface, two or more of such elements engaging and holding the workpiece.

JOINT MECHANISM First means connecting the jaws movably to each other, second means for connecting at least one of the jaws movably to the handles, and third means connecting the handles movably to each other; said first, second and third means (either singly or in combination with each other) converting handle manipulation into relative jaw motion. The joint mechanism may consist, for example, of a common first, second and third means as for example in Patent No. 2,325,035; or a common second and third means as for example in a pair of cross-handled pliers.

RANGE

The extent of movement of the jaws relative to each other, unobstructed by the work to be engaged or by contact of the jaw surfaces, which movement is effected by manipulation of the handles from one extreme position of the handles to the other extreme position of the handles relative to each other. The range is predetermined by the structural relationships between the elements constituting the tool. To illustrate: assuming that the movement of the handles between extremes of handle positions effects a jaw movement of one inch, the one inch dimension equals the range, which range is the same even though the device may be adjusted so that in one instance the jaws move from a zero gap position (closed) to a one inch gap or in another instance from a one-half inch gap to an inch-and-one-half gap. The shift described is defined as adjustment; the manipulation of the handles to effect the one inch of jaw movement is defined as actuation.

TOGGLE JOINT OR TOGGLE

A linkage including at least two links, pitmans, bars or struts, and at least three pivots, the end of one link being connected to the end of the other link by a pivot common to

both links, each of said links also having a pivot at the end remote from the common pivot, which common pivot or intermediate pivot is movable from a position not in a straight line with the other two pivots, to a position substantially in line by a force applied to the intermediate pivot in a direction substantially normal to one of the links thereby moving at least one of the two pivots away from the other. At least one of said links is articulated at both ends and is not integral with either a jaw or a handle. The intermediate pivot is on the handle-lever or is connected to the handle-lever by a linkage or lever system between said intermediate pivot and the handle-lever, so that force is applied to the intermediate pivot by manipulation of the handle-lever.