Patent ID: 7100479
Filing Date: 2006-09-05
Classification: B25B

Abstract:
1. Self-adjusting pliers having upper and lower jaws for grasping a workpiece and upper and lower arms for grasping by the hand of a user, comprising: the upper arm having a first end and a second end, wherein the upper jaw is at the first end of the upper arm; a jaw arm having a first end and a second end, the lower arm linked to the jaw arm at a location adjacent the lower jaw but not integral with the jaw arm; an engagement mechanism that, upon the user's squeezing together of the upper arm and the lower arm, releasably engages the jaw arm, lower jaw and the lower arm to the upper arm and the upper jaw, said engagement mechanism being responsive to a movement of the jaw arm relative to the upper arm and to a size of the workpiece grasped between the upper jaw and the lower jaw; and a support integral with and extending from the upper arm toward and past the jaw arm, the support including a support engagement curved in a circular arc centered about the main pivot, a control arm having a first end and a second end, a lower-arm spring biasing the lower arm so as to resist rotation of the lower arm about the upper control-arm pivot pin.