Specialty hand tool

Claim 1

A plier tool primarily for use in removing a stud retainer from about a stud on a trim button, said stud having a substantially cylindrical shaft upstanding from said trim button with a substantially cone-shaped head atop thereof, the base of said cone-shaped head extending outwardly of said shaft for a first distance giving the stud an overall shape substantially resembling an arrow, said stud retainer having a resilient portion with a substantially circular hole therethrough of slightly smaller diameter than the width of the cone-shaped head at the base thereof, said resilient portion of said stud retainer having slits extending outwardly of said hole forming a plurality of resilient sections inherently biased toward a first position with adjacent edges of adjacent sections substantially aligned with each other, said stud being retained in said stud retainer by inserting said cone-shaped head into and through said hole in a first direction whereby said resilient sections adjacent said hole are first flexed slightly away from said first position in said first direction and then resiliently snap back to said first position as the base of said cone-shaped head passes through said hole wherein said cone-shaped head cannot pass freely through said hole in a second direction opposite to said first direction while said resilient sections are in said position, said plier tool comprising: a pair of elongated members having respective first and second end portions and means for mounting said pair of members to each other between said respective end portions for pivotal movement relative to each other about an axis with said respective first end portions forming opposing first and second jaw members, said pair of members being movable between an open position with said jaw members spaced from each other and a closed position with said jaw members substantially abutting one another, said first jaw member having a first surface for engaging the apex of said cone-shaped head of said stud, and said second jaw member being bifurcated into two, free standing portions extending in directions outwardly of said pivotal axis, each of said two portions having a corresponding first edge extending outwardly of said pivotal axis from a substantially common location and together forming a first, generally U-shape with said common location being at the base of said first U-shape, said first U-shape being dimensioned to pass the base of said cone-shaped head of said stud therethrough, said second jaw member further having a surface intersecting and extending outwardly of said first edges substantially along the entire length of said first U-shape, said surface being inclined toward said first jaw member when said jaw members are in said closed, substantially abutting position, said inclined surface terminating in a second edge having a second, generally U-shape of larger dimension than said first U-shape, said second U-shaped edge being positioned closer to said first surface of said first jaw member than said first U-shaped edge when said jaw members are in said closed position whereby said jaw members in said open position can be positioned with said stud shaft between said two, free standing portions of said second jaw member and said first surface of said first jaw member abutting the apex of said cone-shaped head of said stud and said jaw members can then be moved toward said closed position wherein said resilient sections of said stud retainer abut against said larger, second U-shaped edge while the base of said cone-shaped head of said stud presses against and flexes said resilient sections immediately adjacent said hole toward said inclined surface of said second jaw member and away from said first position in said second direction opposite to said first direction until the base of said cone-shaped head passes through said hole and said resilient sections snap back to said first position thereby releasing said stud from said stud retainer.