| US 7,448,660 B2 | ||
| Tongs with encapsulated locking mechanism | ||
| Shunji Yamanaka, Tokyo (Japan); Hisato Ogata, Tokyo (Japan); and Eugene Kaneko, Astoria, N.Y. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Helen of Troy Limited, St. Michael (Barbados) | ||
| Filed on Nov. 18, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/283,101. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0130034 A1, Jun. 07, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. A47G 21/10 (2006.01); A47J 43/28 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 294—16 [294/99.2] | 20 Claims |
| 1. A pair of tongs comprising:
a first arm having a workpiece engaging end and a pivot end;
a second arm having a workpiece engaging end and a pivot end, wherein the first and second arms are pivotally connected together
proximate their respective pivot ends by a pivot pin to allow pivoting of the first and second arms to all points within a
range from an open position to a close position;
a biasing member positioned to engage and bias the first and second arms to the open position;
a sliding locking plate having a slot through which the pivot pin passes to allow movement of the locking plate between a
first position and a second position, and a body adjacent the slot such that the body engages the pivot ends of the first
and second arms when in the first position to lock the arms in a close position; and
a handle encapsulating and coupled to the locking plate.
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