Patent ID: 6925847

Claim:
An apparatus for engaging an article, comprising: a housing; at least one rotatable member communicatively coupled and moveable in relation to the housing; a radial compression mechanism communicatively coupled and moveable in relation to the housing, wherein the radial compression member has a cylindrical disc configuration with a variable diameter center aperture adapted for receiving the article to be engaged; a plurality of segments, each segment having a distal end area and a proximal end area, the segment distal end areas defining the center aperture, the distal end areas of each segment being movably coupled to the housing and the proximal end areas of each segment are movably coupled to the rotatable member, the distal end areas of each segment also being movably coupled to the housing by pins disposed through the distal end area of the segment and coupled to at least one point on the housing and wherein the proximal end areas of each segment are movably coupled to the rotatable member by pins disposed through the proximal end area of the segment and coupled to at least one point on the rotatable member, and each segment having a centerline between the proximal and distal ends, each segment having a proximal point and a distal point, the distal point being disposed on the centerline and the proximal point being disposed off the centerline, the proximal point being pivotally coupled to the housing and the distal point being pivotally coupled to the rotatable member; and a hand operable actuator communicatively coupled to the housing and the rotatable member.