Patent ID: 7611179

Claim:
A removable gripping device for a container, comprising: two members forming a gripper mounted on a gripping body in which of the members forming the gripper is a mobile member which is free to move in translation with respect to the gripping body along a direction approximately parallel to a longitudinal direction of the gripping body between an open position and a closed position in which the mobile member and another member forming the gripper are adapted to grip an edge of the container; displacement means for displacing the members forming the gripper with respect to each other, said displacement means comprising a lever free to move in rotation with respect to the gripping body between an extended position and a retraction position in which the mobile member is in the closed position, and a transmission means extending between the lever and the mobile member for displacing the mobile member in translation when the lever is pivoted, and means for actuating the lever; the actuating means being separate from the displacement means and being installed free to translate on the gripping body along a direction approximately parallel to the longitudinal direction of the gripping body between a rest position and an actuation position in which the actuating means make the lever move from the retracted position to the extended position, and the displacement means being shaped such that the lever is in a stable equilibrium position when in the retracted position and when in the extended position, and the lever passing through an intermediate unstable equilibrium position when pivoting from one of the two stable equilibrium positions to the other.