Patent Document

TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The tool accessory pertains to holding a pair of multimeter probes to make them act as tweezers which facilitates the use of one hand to do testing or measuring electrical components. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A well known multimeter contains tweezers that stick out from the multimeter. The tweezers are integrated to the multimeter such that a user just tweezes a pair of legs to measure electrical components. This known multimeter is limited in that the tweezers do not separate from each other nor do the angle are adjustable. 
     Others have actually separated the tweezers from the integrated multimeter thus resembling a U-shaped accessory with cables attached to the tweezers. This requires another set of cables from those of the regular lead probes and requires switching the regular probes over the tweezers thus time consuming. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a tool accessory for multimeter probes. The tool allows the pair of probes to be pivotal relative to each other or detachable from each other. The tool accessory employs a lock that biases the probes thus acting as tweezers. The lock further allows a pair of legs of the accessory to lock at different angles relative to each other. Although set forth for multimeter probes, the usage is not limited. The tool can be used to anything that can be held or clamped down. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an isometric view of the assembled tool accessory. 
         FIG. 2  shows a front view of the tool accessory. 
         FIG. 3  shows a side view of the tool accessory. 
         FIG. 3   a  shows a partial section of the assembly showing a lock in a first position. 
         FIG. 3   b  shows a partial section of the assembly showing the lock in a second position. 
         FIG. 4  shows a front vie of the lock used in the tool accessory. 
         FIG. 5  shows an isometric view of left leg of the tool accessory. 
         FIG. 6  shows an isometric view of the right leg of the tool accessory. 
         FIG. 7  shows a top view of the right leg of the tool accessory. 
         FIG. 8  shows an alternative configuration of the pivotable connection for the pair of legs. 
         FIG. 9  shows a top view of the alternative configuration of the pivotable connection. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  shows an assembled tool accessory  10  comprising a left leg or first leg  12  and a right leg or second leg  14 . The left leg and the right leg  14  are pivotally connected with each other and biased via a lock  16 . The left leg  12  is snapped-in to the right leg  14  via an opened arcuate socket  12   h  connecting with an arcuate pivot shaft  14   y .  FIG. 5  shows the left leg  12  comprising an elongated body  12   a . The body  12   a  comprises a pair of clamping jaws  12   b  at one end and a pair of forks  12   g  separated by a space  12   i . The elongated optionally contains a series of weight reducers  12   j  and a stress hole  12   f . The stress hole  12   f  is continuous with a slot  12   e  formed in the left leg  12  thus allowing the jaws  12   b  to flex outwardly and accommodate different diameter probes. The pair of jaws  12   b  are separated by a slot  12   c  blending with a probe opening  12   d . The slot  12   c  allows an electrical cable that runs from a multimeter probe to be inserted so that the probe can slide in the probe opening  12   d . Features  12   a - 12   f  and  12   j  found in the left leg  12  should be noted to be present in the right leg  14  thus making the legs  12 ,  14  partially symmetrical, see  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 5  further shows the pair of forks  12   g  containing each the opened arcuate socket  12   h  forming an arc greater than 180 degrees and less than 270 degrees to provide a snap-in pivotable connection with. The left leg  12  has a pair of parallel side edges  12 L that are coaxial with a pair of parallel edges  14 L in the right leg  14 . 
       FIG. 4  shows the lock  16  comprising a holder  16   a , a first section  16   b , a second section  16   c  and a third section  16   d . The holder  16   a  allows a user to slide the lock  16  and the holder  16   a  is continuous with the first section  16   b . The first section  16   b  contains at least one planar surface  16   g  which prevents the left leg  12  and the right leg  14  to pivot outwardly thus keeping the legs  12 ,  14  parallel to each other. The second section  16   c  comprising at least one tapered surface  16   m  that tapers from the first section  16   b  to the third section  16   d . The taper surface  16   m  is narrow at the third section  16   d . An elongated shaft opening  16   h  runs from the second section  16   c  to the third section  16   d . The elongated shaft opening  16   h  is delimited by a pair of opposed walls of which one contains a series of spaced lock projections  16   i  which set the lock  16  at different fixed positions when sliding. The shaft opening  16   h  is continuous with a slot  16   j  which in turn the slot  16   j  is continuous with a gap  16   p  formed by the spring legs  16   e ,  16   f . A pair of opposed leaf springs  16   e ,  16   f  continuously project from the third section  16   d  at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the lock  16 . The leaf springs  16   e ,  16   f  each form a recess  16   k  having a depth relative to the outer wall of the third portion  16   d . The recess  16   k  provides a relief to the leaf springs  16   e ,  16   f  when bent. The holder  16   a  has an opening  16   n  and sized to be bigger than the space defined between the main bodies of the left leg  12  and the right leg  14 . It should be noted that the term “continuos” or “continuously” is defined as being homogenous and not a separate entity. 
       FIGS. 6 and 7  show the right leg  14  containing a pair of arms  14   x  integrally holding the arcuate pivot shaft  14   y  that snaps in with the arcuate socket  12   h  of the left leg  12  and forms an arcuate angle of 270 degrees or greater. The pair of arms  14   x  are separated by a space  14   z  which allows the leaf spring  16   e  or leaf spring  16   f  to be slid until the pivot shaft  14   y  penetrates into the sliding opening  16   h  via the slot  16   j . The sliding opening  16   h  is dimensioned to allow the pivot shaft  14  to slide while overcoming the lock projection  16   i . The sliding opening  16   h  is delimited by at least one stopper  16 L so that the lock  16  is prevented from sliding out of the pivot shaft  14   y  especially when the left leg  12  and the right leg  14  are detached from each other. The leaf springs  16   e ,  16   f  bias both the right leg  12  and the left leg  14  outwardly. The outward motion of the legs  12 ,  14  is limited when the edge  12   k  or the edge  14   k  touches the tapered surface  16   m  as shown in  FIG. 3   a . The range of outward motion is determined by the position at which the lock  16  is placed. When the lock  16  is pushed in all the way as shown in  FIG. 3   b , the legs  12 ,  14  are prevented from pivoting outwardly as the edges  12   k ,  14   k  are stopped by at least one of the planar surfaces  16   g  or both planar surfaces  16   g.    
     It should be noted that the tool accessory  10  can be made from any known material. In particular, the ideal material would be a flexible material so that the leaf springs  16   e ,  16   f  provide flexibility, repeatability, and a biasing force. Further, as seen in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the left leg  14 ′ and the right leg  14 ′ could be made hermaphroditic having each an arcuate socket  12   h  and a pivot shaft  14   y ′ which respectively snap in with the shaft  14   y ′ and the socket  12   h  of the other leg. The legs  14 ′ would also contain a fork  12   g , an arm  14   x ′, and an L-shaped gap  14   z ′. The arm  14   x ′ holds a pivot shaft  14   y ′ so that when the legs  14 ′ are joined, the pivot shaft  14   y ′ of one leg  14 ′ would be coaxial to that of the other leg and snapping in with the corresponding fork  12   g . In the modified legs  14 ′ shown in  FIG. 8 , the edges  14   k ′ would be stopped by the tapered surface  16   m  of the lock  16  thus defining the range of outward motion of the legs  14 ′ or prevent outward motion by the planar surface  16   g  of the lock  16 . 
     Other modifications would be apparent. The snap-in pivot connection disclosed could as well be replaced with offset forks in both legs and held together with a separable pivot shaft inserted in arcuate sockets or holes. The pivot shaft  14   y ,  14   y ′ could as well be made shorter so that the lock  16  is not held on the pivot shaft thus not requiring lock projections  16   i . The probe opening  12   d , the stress hole  12   f , and clamping jaws can be made from any other known shape. The body  12   a  although being rectangular could as well be modified to any other shape. Although the probe opening  12   d  extends along the axis  20  at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the body of the legs as shown in  FIG. 2 , the probe opening can extend at any angle or parallel to the longitudinal axis of the legs  12 ,  14 . Further, the gaps  14   z ,  14   z ′ could as well be formed by a mold projection extending through an opening, not shown, in the body  12   a  of the right leg  14 ,  14 ′.

Technology Category: 4