ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,304,043, issued on May 20, was assigned to Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. (Brookfield, Wis.).
"Locking pliers" was invented by Aaron S. Blumenthal (Shorewood, Wis.), Christopher S. Hoppe (Midvale, Utah) and Jesse Marcelle (Muskego, Wis.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A hand tool including a first jaw, a first handle fixed to the first jaw, a second jaw, and a second handle pivotally coupled to the second jaw. The hand tool further includes a link member having a first end pivotally coupled to at least one selected from the group of the first jaw and the first handle, and a second end pivotally coupled to the second jaw."
The patent was f...