Tongs.

Application filed September 12,1911. Serial No. 648,981.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Albert Johns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Youngstown, in the county of Mahoning 5 and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Tongs; of which the- following is a specification.

The present invention appertains to tongs or grapples, and aims to provide a novel and 10 improved device of that character having unique means for locking the parts with the jaws separated, and whereby the device will be unlocked automatically when the device is lowered onto the object to be lifted.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described 20 and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings—Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device in locked open position, dotted lines showing the parts thereof in the position they assume when released to lift an object. Fig. 2 is a perspective detail 30 illustrating a modified form of jaw for engaging a shaft, rod or other member of square or rectangular cross section. Fig. 3 is a perspective detail illustrating another modified form of jaw for lifting cylindrical 35 or circular objects. Fig. 4 is a perspective detail illustrating still another modified form of jaw, which is employed for lifting heavy sheets or plates of metal.

In carrying out the invention, the lower 40 ends of a pair of lifting cables 1 and 1' are attached to the upper ends or arms of a pair of crossed and pivoted levers 2 and 2', respectively. The lever 2' preferably comprises two bars 3 and 3'. The lower end 45 portion of the lever 2 is formed into a hookshaped jaw 4, and the lower end portions of the bars 3 and 3' of the lever 2' are formed into hook-shaped jaws 5 and 5', respectively. A bolt or other pivot element 6. is engaged 50 through the levers 2 and 2' to pivot them together at their point of crossing.

A bolt or pivot element 7 is engaged through the upper arm of the lever 2' and has the lower end of a toggle link 8 engaged 55 thereto, and a similar bolt or pivot element 9 is engaged to the upper arm of the lever andhas the lower ends of two bars 10 and 10'pivotally· engaged thereto·. The bars 10 and 10' cooperate to provide a second toggle link. The toggle.links 8 and 10—10' con- 60 verge upwardly, and have their remote ends pivoted to . the upper arms of the levers, while a pivot element or bolt 11 is engaged through the adjacent ends of the toggle links. The bolt or element 11 has a project- 65 ing portion 12 extending to one side.

A bar 13 has one end engaged to the bolt; or pivot element 7 and its free end is slotted and engaged to a pin or lug 15 carried by an upwardly projecting bar 16 which, has its 70 lower end pivotally engaged to the bolt 6. The upper or free end portion of the bar 16 is provided with a lateral notch, as at 17, which is engageable with the portion 12 of the bolt or pivot element 11. The bar 13 75 connects the bar 16 and upper arm of the lever 2' whereby said bar and arm only have limited movements relative to one another.

In operation, when the parts are set, as 80 seen in full lines in Fig. 1, the protruding portion 12 of the bolt 11 is engaged in the notched end of the bar 16, and this will prevent the adjacent ends of the toggle links from moving away from the pivot bolt 6 of 85 the levers 2 and 2', and the jaws of the levers will thus be held separated or open.

When the device is lowered onto the hay stack or other object to be lifted, the jaws in seating upon the object will cause the cables 90 1 and 1' to be slackened, and this will allow the upper arms of the levers to swing downwardly, and as a result the toggle links will move toward a straight line position. The bolt 11 is thus disengaged from the notched 95 end of the bar 16, since the bar 16 will swing to one side. Then, when the cables 1 and 1' are moved upwardly, the upper arms of the levers may move toward one another for causing the hooks or jaws to properly en- 100 gage the object. When the bar 16 is released, it will not swing downwardly between the jaws, since this is prevented by the bar 13.

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate various modified 105 forms of jaws, which may be employed in the tongs or grapple. In Fig. 2, the jaw 4 has a V-shaped end 18 to engage a square or rectangular object, while the jaw 4 illustrated in Fig. 3 has a curved or U-shaped HO end 19 to engage a cylindrical or circular object. The jaw 4 illustrated in Fig. 4 has s

1,169,680 a portion 20 for engaging heavy sheet metal plates.