Patent ID: 8608217

Claim:
A tool for grasping an electronic component, comprising: a first arm and a second arm resiliently connected together at a joined end and each separately extending to a free end opposite from each other and spaced apart while in a resting position; a first extension and a second extension each having a distal end and a proximal end, the proximal end of the first extension attaching to the free end of the first arm and the proximal end of the second extension attaching to the free end of the second arm; a first lateral member having a proximal end and a distal end, attaching at the proximal end of the first lateral member to the first extension and the distal end of the first lateral member extending towards the second extension, and the first lateral member having a bottom surface facing away from the joined ends of the first arm and the second arm; the first extension having an at least one contact surface positioned on an inner surface of the first extension closer to the distal end of the first extension than to the proximal end of the first lateral member and facing the second extension; the first lateral member having an at least one contact surface positioned on the bottom surface closer to the distal end of the first lateral member than to the proximal end of the first lateral member; the first lateral member having a top surface, oriented opposite to the bottom surface of the first lateral member, wherein the bottom surface of the first lateral member recedes from the at least one contact surface of the first lateral member, such that a distance between the bottom surface and the top surface of the first lateral member is less at the proximal end of the first lateral member than the distance between the contact surface and the top surface of the first lateral member at the distal end of the first lateral member; and a second lateral member attached to the second arm extension at a proximal end of the second lateral member, such that the second arm extension and second lateral member form a reflective image of the first extension and first lateral member.