Patent ID: 8636310

Claim:
A tong or clamp apparatus for picking up an object, comprising:— a) a first wall from which a first arm extends; b) a second wall from which a second arm extends, said second arm connected to and pivotably movable relative to said first arm for picking up an object or releasing the object from said arms; and c) means for locking said first arm against said second arm, said locking means including a movable member; wherein:— i) said first wall and said second wall together define an enclosed channel for containing said movable member and within which said movable member is slidable in response to gravity and orientation of the apparatus; and ii) said locking means is adapted to assume a first configuration in which said movable member is positioned at one end of the channel or a second configuration in which said movable member is positioned at the opposite end of the channel, in that in one of the two configurations said walls and hence said arms are prevented from moving relative to each other by said movable member and in the other configuration said walls and hence said arms are movable relative to each other.