US Patent 6973859 Clamping or expanding pliers

Locking or expanding pliers (1) having two plier arms (4, 5) which arc joined to each other in the manner of a scissor-type joint. The arms forming grip sections (6, 7) on one end and clamping sections (12, 13) on the other end and being able to be locked in various clamping positions, whereby the clamping results from the elastic deformation of at least one of the two plier arms (4, 5) occurring when the plier arms (4, 5) are placed in a clamping position. A spring element (F) is arranged in the active area between the clamping section and the grip section in order to achieve improved proportioning of the clamping force, whereby both grip sections (6, 7) can be disposed on top of each other and placed in another locking position (19, 20), when both clamping sections (12, 13) are maintained in a distanced position (a), in order to increase clamping power.