Patent ID: 7316434

Claim:
A locking utensil, comprising: a pair of arms each having a forward functional end and a rear attachment end; the arms being nested together at their attachment ends and pivotably fastened together at a main pivot, the nested attachment ends defining a channel between them; a spring disposed in the channel to bias the functional ends of the arms outward to an open position, except when the arms are brought together for gripping an object or for locking the arms in a closed position; and a locking assembly comprising: a cam disposed in the channel and pivotable therein in a rocking motion independently of the main pivot; the cam being eccentrically shaped and having two opposing sides, one of the sides having a projecting shoulder dimensioned to frictionally engage an inside surface of the channel when the shoulder side of the cam is rocked into contact with said surface, to thereby releasably retain the arms in locking engagement in the closed position; and an actuator tab extending at least partway out of the channel for rocking the cam side to side into and out of locking engagement.