Abstract:
Adjustable pliers comprising a round jaw and teeth on every gripping surface of the jaw. The teeth extend down the body of the pliers to the extent that the jaws, when fully opened are able to grip an object from every surface of the jaw.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
         [0001]    The current invention relates to adjustable pliers, such as those commonly referred to as channel-lock pliers, water pump pliers, or slip joint pliers. Current pliers can only grip a surface from two to three points at best. When applied to round objects such as pipes, they do not always hold and tend to slip. The present invention deals with this problem in two ways: First, by addressing the shape of the jaws, and, Second, by adding additional teeth, enabling the pipe to be gripped uniformly around half its diameter.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The pliers differ from standard adjustable pliers first by the shape of its jaw. The Ultra-Lock pliers have a round jaw, such that when the pliers are adjusted to a central position, the back portion of the jaw forms a perfect half-circle. This enables the jaws to surround a pipe and creates an infinite amount of gripping points between the pliers and the pipe. A notch can be added on the lower portion of the jaw enabling larger objects to be gripped by the same set of pliers. The pliers can be made in a variety of sizes so that they can be used for all size pipes. The additional teeth give superior gripping power to the jaws of the pliers. They allow several points of contact around half the pipe as well as providing a better grip on other types of objects of differing shape. The teeth themselves could also be used on a standard shaped adjustable pliers giving it the same gripping advantage. The teeth on any shape of pliers can be further extended so that they would cover every surface of the jaw when the jaws are opened to their fullest extent.  
           [0003]    The preferred embodiment would encompass both the shape and teeth features of the invention, but it must be noted that the features could be used alone or in combination.  
           [0004]    The pliers can be made out of a variety of materials, both metallic and non-metallic or any combination thereof, depending upon their use.  
           [0005]    The first embodiment of the invention is an adjustable pliers comprised of two members forming a jawed mouth on one end, handles on the other end, and pivot about an axle point. Said members have an inner and outer side with said axle point mounted on one of said members on the inner side and the other of said members having an elongated slot, extending longitudinally down the second member from the jawed mouth to the handle, in which said axle point moves to allow for adjustment of the size of said jawed mouth. Said slot has a means for selective positioning of said axle point along said slot. Said inner portions of said members contain a guide means comprised of channels along one inner portion and a protruding notch along the other inner portion, said notch fitting into the selected channel guiding the opening and closing of said mouth.  
           [0006]    The jawed mouth has a series of saw-tooth shaped teeth along the upper and lower portion of said mouth. The mouth is in a shape of a standard set of adjustable pliers, having a flat edge along the backside of the jaw, but wherein said teeth extend down the jaw to a point wherein every portion of the jaw would have a tooth on every section of the jaw when the jaws are opened to their fullest extent.  
           [0007]    The second embodiment of the invention claimed is an adjustable pliers wherein the back end of the lower jaw section turns upward at such angle as to form one-quarter of a circle and the back end of the upper jaw section turns downward at the same angle, said back ends of the upper and lower jaw sections forming two sloped sections together which form a half-circle when the axle point is positioned at the center of the slot. The half-circle comprises the back end of the jaw, and said half circle contains no teeth.  
           [0008]    The third embodiment of the invention claimed has the half-circle jaw shape of the second embodiment, but further comprises additional teeth extending down the two sloped sections allowing the jaw to encircle any round shaped object and grip said object uniformly along half its diameter with said teeth.  
           [0009]    The fourth embodiment of the invention claimed would have the additional teeth of the third embodiment continue up both members forming the jaws beyond the point where a half circle is formed along the straight edge on the inner side of the second member to a point wherein the teeth would be able to grab any object when the jaws are opened to their fullest extent.  
           [0010]    The fifth embodiment has an additional indentation along the straight edge described in the fourth embodiment. The indentation contains additional saw-tooth shaped teeth, and could be in either a crescent shape or a V-shape. The inner angle of the V-shaped indentation could range from 110 to 150 degrees, but an angle of 150 degrees is preferable. This indentation allows for improved gripping of larger pipes and other odd-shaped materials. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    The invention is further described in connection with the accompanied drawings which:  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a left side view of an embodiment of the present invention, in the form of channel-lock pliers, showing the additional teeth along the back end of the jawed mouth.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a right side view of the present invention showing the extent that the additional teeth run down the flat edge of one of the two members forming the pliers.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a view of the jaws of a pair of pliers forming a half circle, as per another embodiment of the invention.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a view of the half circle jaw of FIG. 3 with additional teeth extending around the circular portion of the jaw.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a view of the half circle of FIG. 4 with additional teeth extending beyond the circular portion of the jaw.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6A shows an elliptical notch at the rear of the jaw of the pliers.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6B shows an angled notch at the rear of the jaw of the pliers. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]    [0019]FIGS. 1 &amp; 2 show a standard shaped adjustable pliers with additional teeth. It is comprised of a first member and second members  1  &amp;  2  forming a jawed mouth  3  on one end, handles  4  on the other end, and an axle point  5  joining the two members. Said members have an inner  1 A &amp;  2 A and outer  1 B &amp;  2 B side with said axle point  5  mounted on said first members  1  on the inner side  1 A and said second member  2  having an elongated slot  6  extending longitudinally down the second member  2  from the jawed mouth  3  to the handles  4 , in which said axle point  5  moves to allow for adjustment of the size of the jawed mouth  3 . Said slot  6  having a means for selective positioning of said axle point  5  along said slot  6 . Said inner sides  1 A &amp;  2 A of said members  1  &amp;  2  contain a guide means comprised of channels  7  along one inner side  2 A and a protruding notch  8  along the other inner side  1 A, said notch  8  fitting into the selected channel  7  guiding the opening and closing of said mouth  3 . The jawed mouth  3  has a series of saw-tooth shaped teeth  9  along the upper  3 A and lower  3 B portions of the mouth. The mouth is in the shape of a standard set of adjustable pliers, having a flat edge  10  on said second member along the backside of the jaw  3 C, but wherein said teeth  9  extend down the jaw to a point wherein every portion of the jaw would have a tooth  9  on every section of the jaw when the jaws are open to their fullest extent.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 shows the second embodiment of the invention which is an adjustable pliers wherein the backside of the jaw  3 C forms a half-circle  11  when the axle point  5  is positioned in the center of the slot  6 . The jawed mouth  3  has a series of saw-tooth shaped teeth  9  along the upper  3 A and lower  3 B portions of the mouth.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 shows the third embodiment of the invention which is an adjustable pliers wherein the backside of the jaw  3 C forms a half-circle  11  when the axle point  5  is positioned in the center of the slot  6 . The jawed mouth  3  has a series of saw-tooth shaped teeth  9  along the upper  3 A, lower  3 B and backside  3 C of the jaw. The teeth  9  extend to a point wherein the half-circle  11  has teeth  9  on all of its surface.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 shows the fourth embodiment of the invention which is an adjustable pliers wherein the backside of the jaw  3 C forms a half-circle  11  when the axle point  5  is positioned in the center of the slot  6 . The jawed mouth  3  has a series of saw-tooth shaped teeth  9  along the upper  3 A, lower  3 B and backside  3 C of the jaw. The teeth  9  extend beyond the half circle  11  and continue along the straight-edged rim  10  of the second member  2  to a point wherein the teeth  9  would be able to grab any object when the jawed mouth  3  is opened to its fullest extent.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 shows the indentation  12  along the straight-edged rim  10 . The indentation  12  is shown both crescent shaped  12 A and V-shaped  12 B. When V-shaped, the inner angle  13  could range from 100 to 160 degrees.