Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25B—TOOLS OR BENCH DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, FOR FASTENING, CONNECTING, DISENGAGING OR HOLDING
  • B25B7/00—Pliers; Other hand-held gripping tools with jaws on pivoted limbs; Details applicable generally to pivoted-limb hand tools
  • B25B7/12—Pliers; Other hand-held gripping tools with jaws on pivoted limbs; Details applicable generally to pivoted-limb hand tools involving special transmission means between the handles and the jaws, e.g. toggle levers, gears
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25B—TOOLS OR BENCH DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, FOR FASTENING, CONNECTING, DISENGAGING OR HOLDING
  • B25B7/00—Pliers; Other hand-held gripping tools with jaws on pivoted limbs; Details applicable generally to pivoted-limb hand tools
  • B25B7/14—Locking means
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25B—TOOLS OR BENCH DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, FOR FASTENING, CONNECTING, DISENGAGING OR HOLDING
  • B25B7/00—Pliers; Other hand-held gripping tools with jaws on pivoted limbs; Details applicable generally to pivoted-limb hand tools
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25B—TOOLS OR BENCH DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, FOR FASTENING, CONNECTING, DISENGAGING OR HOLDING
  • B25B7/00—Pliers; Other hand-held gripping tools with jaws on pivoted limbs; Details applicable generally to pivoted-limb hand tools
  • B25B7/12—Pliers; Other hand-held gripping tools with jaws on pivoted limbs; Details applicable generally to pivoted-limb hand tools involving special transmission means between the handles and the jaws, e.g. toggle levers, gears
  • B25B7/123—Pliers; Other hand-held gripping tools with jaws on pivoted limbs; Details applicable generally to pivoted-limb hand tools involving special transmission means between the handles and the jaws, e.g. toggle levers, gears with self-locking toggle levers

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a vice grip of the type described in the preamble of claim 1.
• Locking pliers of this type make it possible to exert, for a long period of time, without operator intervention, a large clamping force on one object, or more frequently on two objects to be assembled.
• the object of the invention is to eliminate this drawback by providing a vise grip of simple and ergonomic design which the operator can open while controlling this opening. In particular, if the tightening was carried out with one hand, the operator can open the clamp with one hand.
• the vise grip according to the invention may include one or more of the characteristics described in claims 2 to 16 .
• FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a vise grip according to the invention, in the maximum open position and adjusted to clamp an object of minimum thickness;
• FIG. 2 is an external view corresponding to the fixed handle
• FIG. 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the vise grip in the clamping position;
• FIG. 4 is a view similar to the
• FIG. 5 is a view similar to Figure 2 but corresponding to the setting of Figure 4;
• FIG. 6 is an external view of a variant provided with an indicator of the degree of tightening
• - Figure 6A is a partial view of a variant
• - Figures 7 to 9 are partial views illustrating the use of the tightening indicator of Figure 6;
• FIG. 10 is a view similar to Figure 3, relating to another embodiment of the vise grip according to the invention.
• FIG. 11 is an exterior view of a variant of the vice grip of Figure 6.
• the vice grip 1 shown in Figures 1 to 3 generally planar, consists of a fixed crew 2 and a mobile crew 3.
• the fixed assembly 2 has a very elongated general S shape which has a distal or front end part 4 constituting a fixed jaw, a proximal or rear end part 5 roughly parallel to the part 4 and constituting a first handle or fixed handle, and an intermediate connecting part 5A. In the normal position of use shown, the jaw 4 is lower than the handle 5.
• the movable assembly 3 comprises a movable jaw
• the toggle mechanism 8 comprises an actuating lever 10, the front end of which is articulated at the upper rear apex of the movable jaw by a pivot 11, and the rear end of which forms a second handle or movable handle 12, located under the fixed handle 5.
• the mechanism 8 also comprises a connecting rod 13, the front end of which is articulated at an intermediate point of the lever 10 by a pivot 14, and the rear end of which carries a pivot 15.
• This pivot passes through oblong slots along the general axis of the handle 5, provided in the two wings of a yoke 16, which is part of the adjustment device 9.
• the connecting rod 13 has a protuberance 17 in a U shape, directed towards the handle 12, who trains at its base has a slot 18.
• this connecting rod has a single hooking tooth 19, the front face of which forms an upper circular arc 19A centered at 14, a lower circular arc 19B of smaller radius, and a face radial 19C, facing down, connecting these two arcs.
• the face 19C which constitutes the hooking face, is substantially radial relative to the pivot 14.
• the adjusting device 9 comprises a nut 20 fixed in the handle 5, a screw 21 which passes through this nut, and an operating button 22.
• the front end of the screw passes freely through the core of the yoke 16 and, inside thereof, is equipped with a support head for the rear end of the connecting rod 8.
• the rear end of the screw 21 forms a square or a hexagon 23 received slidingly in a conjugate recess 24 of a sheath 25.
• the button 22 is fixed on this sheath so that an inner flange 26 of the handle 5 is trapped between this button and an outer flange 27 of the sheath 25. In this way, the button operation is rotatably mounted, but immobilized in translation, at the rear end of the handle 5.
• the mechanism 8 also comprises a locking / unlocking finger 28 articulated on the lever 12 by a pivot 29 adjacent to the pivot 14.
• this finger On its interior side, facing the handle 5, this finger has a recess delimited upwards by a upper triangular tooth 30, which forms a single hooking tooth, and downwards by a lower triangular abutment tooth 31.
• the upper edge 31A of the latter is radial relative to the pivot 29.
• the finger 28 has a protuberance 32.
• the part of the finger which carries the teeth 30 and 31 and the protuberance 32 is constituted by a separate attached piece.
• this piece can be made of metal and the rest of the finger of plastic.
• the mechanism 8 also comprises a multifunction spring 33.
• This spring comprises a helical rear part 34 hooked under tension to the connecting rod 13 near the pivot 15, then a rectilinear part 35 which extends, substantially along the general axis of the fixed handle 5, to the pivot 11, then a hairpin part 36 which surrounds this pivot for one and a half turns and presses on the protuberance 32 of the finger 28, while tending to rotate this finger clockwise around the pivot 29.
• the vice grip is in its maximum opening position shown in FIG. 1, in which the face 19C of the connecting rod is in abutment on the face 31A and the tooth of the finger 30 is in abutment on the face 19A of the connecting rod.
• This grip is maintained by the support of the end 36 of the spring 33 and the tension of its part 34, which urges the movable jaw 6 at the opening.
• the rear part 28A of the finger 28 forms a trigger which projects slightly below the intermediate part of the lever 10.
• the operator raises, with his four fingers, the handle 12 to bring it closer to the handle 5 (direction F of FIG. 1), which is wedged in the palm of the hand.
• the angle 11-14-15 opens gradually, and the movable jaw 6 approaches the fixed jaw 4, stretching the part 34 of the spring 33, until pinching the object 38.
• the tip of the tooth 19 approaches that of tooth 30, the contact of the tip of tooth 30 on the arch 19A and that of the tip of tooth 31 on the arch 19B being maintained permanently by the part 36 of the spring.
• the finger 28 is locked relative to the lever 10, so that the trigger 28A also forms a gripping surface for the operator's index finger.
• the operator slightly increases the angle of the knee lever and causes the tooth to snap into place. behind tooth 19, as shown in FIG. 3.
• the upper face of tooth 30 is then substantially radial with respect to pivot 14, and the stresses due to tightening tend to open the angle formed by axis 29, the point of the tooth 30 and the axis 14.
• the tip of the tooth 30 then abuts on the surface 19B of the connecting rod and prevents such opening.
• the tool has then reached its stable clamping position, for which the angle 11-14-15 is slightly less than 180 °, and typically of the order of 170 to 175 °. In this position, the trigger projects more strongly under the lever 10. The snap can thus be felt by the operator's index finger.
• the front end of the connecting rod 13 then biases the part 35 of the spring 33 towards the handle 5 (upwards in FIG. 3), so that this part 35 applies the teeth 19 and 30 against each other with a force roughly perpendicular to the line 11-15. If the operator continues to lift the handle 12, the lever 10 abuts on the protuberance 17 of the connecting rod 8 before the alignment of the points 11, 14 and 15 is reached. This ensures that this alignment is never exceeded. After the handle 12 has been released by the operator, the tool returns to its stable clamping position due to the action of the spring 33. Two types of adjustment of the device 9 can occur.
• the snap 19-30 occurs before the closing of the slot 18 of the connecting rod, so that it is the longitudinal elasticity of the latter in compression, predetermined by the geometry of its U-shaped protuberance, which defines the degree of tightening.
• the latter varies only slightly over the entire corresponding adjustment range.
• the operator grasps the vise grip, slightly brings the handles closer, until reaching the stop 10-17. With his index finger, he squeezes the trigger 28A, which releases the tooth 30 from the tooth 19, and he then releases the handle 12 to let the vice grip open itself.
• This opening is effected by the action of the part 35 of the spring 33, which pushes the midpoint 14 of the toggle joint, and of its part 34, which brings the ends of one to the other.
• the maximum opening is defined by the stop of the surfaces 19C of the connecting rod and 31A of the finger.
• the operator in particular conditions of accessibility of the parts to be clamped, can use the overturned pliers with the palm on the branch 12, two to four fingers on the branch 5 and the thumb on the trigger 28A.
• the screw 21 is simply secured to the button 22, so that the latter is more or less distant from the rear end of the handle 5 according to the chosen setting;
• the spring 33 has been split into three springs, each fulfilling one of the functions described above: a spring 34, wound around the pivot 7, to separate the movable jaw from the fixed jaw; a leaf spring 35, fixed in the handle 5, to urge the front end of the connecting rod away from this handle in the clamping position; and a hairpin spring 36, surrounding the pivot 11, for urging the front end of the finger 28 towards that of the connecting rod;
• the connecting rod 13 is rigid, that is to say that the slot 18 is eliminated.
• Figure 4 shows the tool in its stable position for clamping an object 38 of maximum thickness (a few centimeters in practice). In this case, the screw 21 is almost completely unscrewed, that is to say until the pivot 15 is brought near the rear end. lights 37, as shown in Figure 5.
• Figure 6 shows a variant of the vice grip of Figure 4 provided with an indicator of the clamping level.
• the lever 10 has a protuberance 39 projecting towards the handle 5, pierced with an orifice 40.
• the protuberance 17 of the connecting rod appears more or less in the orifice 40, and this can be modified by turning the button 22 in one direction or the other: the more this orifice is free, the stronger the final tightening .
• indicator 40-17 should only be made with the following two conditions met: - jaws 4 and 6 in contact with the part;
• the indicator indicates, when it has not yet clamped workpiece, the degree of the clamping force that will be obtained after performing the clamping operation to get into the stable position of one ratchet tooth 19 and 30.
• the orifice 40 can be produced on protuberances 39 located on both sides of the protuberance 17, so that the indicator is clearly visible on both sides of the clamp. These protuberances 39 then form the two openwork wings of a yoke receiving the protuberance 17.
• the indicator can be viewed by a left-handed or a right-handed person. It can also be viewed when the pliers are used in the inverted position, with the thumb on the trigger.
• the example of Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9 shows a protrusion 17 of circular shape and an orifice of circular shape.
• the indicator may consist of a protrusion 17 and an orifice 40 of various shapes.
• Figures 7 to 9 illustrate three cases, but we can obtain all the intermediate or extrapolated tightening by turning the screw 22 more or less:
• Figure 10 shows the application of the invention to a vise grip whose general configuration is reversed compared to the previous one: the fixed jaw 4 is in the extension of the handle 5, and the movable jaw 6 is on the same side of the straight line connecting the pivots 7 and 15 as the lever 10.
• the screw 21 extends towards the front, in the handle 5, from the pivot 15 (possibly with the use of a yoke as above), and the nut 20 is a cylindrical knurl mounted for rotation, but immobilized in translation, approximately halfway down the fixed assembly 2.
• the thread between the screw 21 and the nut 20 can be single thread or double thread, as known per se.
• the invention can be extended to any type of vise grip, such as that of FR-A-2 237 730.
• the vice-grip can be stored in the closed state by simple bringing together of the handles, without having to maneuver the adjusting screw. Closing the clamp for storage is therefore done with one hand, while for conventional clamps it takes two hands, one to turn the adjusting screw and the other to close the clamp.
• closing the clamp for storage is quicker - in a gesture - because there is no need to turn the adjusting screw.
• Locking pliers in general, and clamps vises according to the invention in particular can be made from cut sheets, punched, stamped, and then assembled. Provision is therefore most often made, in particular for the handles, of synthetic resin (plastic) sheaths to ensure comfort and ergonomics during tightening.
• Locking pliers are often used to bring parts together and hold them for welding. In this case, there are projections of solder or slag still hot, which become encrusted in the plastic sheath; this causes rapid deterioration of the sheath, but above all can cause hand injuries during a subsequent operation.
• the lower sheath 42, fitted on the handle 10, may, in addition, have reliefs projecting upwards which penetrate between the sheets of the handle 5 to perform functions such as:
• the sheath 42 may have a hole 45 for hanging the tool.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Gripping Jigs, Holding Jigs, And Positioning Jigs (AREA)
• Harvester Elements (AREA)
• Clamps And Clips (AREA)
• Dental Tools And Instruments Or Auxiliary Dental Instruments (AREA)
• Vehicle Body Suspensions (AREA)
• Control Of Motors That Do Not Use Commutators (AREA)
• Steering Devices For Bicycles And Motorcycles (AREA)
• Control And Other Processes For Unpacking Of Materials (AREA)
• Labeling Devices (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=9480997

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (13)

Families Citing this family (28)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 1995
  • 1995-07-13 FR FR9508553A patent/FR2736572B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1996
  • 1996-07-12 AU AU66174/96A patent/AU6617496A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1996-07-12 KR KR1019980700260A patent/KR19990028958A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1996-07-12 DE DE69620183T patent/DE69620183T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1996-07-12 EP EP96925782A patent/EP0837754B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1996-07-12 AT AT96925782T patent/ATE215000T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1996-07-12 US US08/983,447 patent/US6227080B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1996-07-12 ES ES96925782T patent/ES2175114T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1996-07-12 WO PCT/FR1996/001091 patent/WO1997002926A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1996-07-12 JP JP9505571A patent/JPH11509141A/ja not_active Ceased
  • 1996-07-12 BR BR9609627A patent/BR9609627A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1996-07-12 CN CN96196269A patent/CN1061582C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1998
  • 1998-01-12 MX MX9800351A patent/MX9800351A/es not_active IP Right Cessation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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