Auto-grip pliers

Pliers having first and second rigid elongated handle members;

• each having a jaw end, a handle end, and an intermediate neck portion;
• slideable and pivotable fastening means connecting the members between their neck portions and permitting the jaw ends to move toward each other in a sliding action in response to an initial manual closing force being applied to close the handle ends toward each other to grasp a workpiece between the jaw ends;
• the fastening means acting to halt further sliding action of the members in response to the jaw ends contacting the workpiece and to then translate increase of the closing force on the handle members as a pivoting gripping action of the jaw ends on the workpiece;
• biasing means, coacting between the members and normally urging the jaw ends to slide away from each other to a fully opened disposition, including a linking arm and a spring;
• the linking arm interconnecting the handle members and located between the throat portions and the distal ends of the handle members,
• a first end of the linking arm pivotally secured to the second handle member, the linking arm normally resting against a fixed stop on the first handle member and normally held thereagainst by the spring,
• the spring interconnecting a point on the second handle member throat portion and a point on the second end of the linking arm outward from the fixed stop,
• the spring normally acting to urge the linking arm to pivot in a first direction on the second handle member and about the fixed stop to exert a pulling force on the second handle member and cause it to slide its jaw end away from the jaw end of the first handle member, and, in response to a workpiece being gripped between the jaw ends, permitting the linking arm to pivot in a direction on the second handle member opposite to the first direction so that the linking arm moves away from the fixed stop and generally toward the distal end of the first handle member.