Two Anchorage men patented a plier jaw built to stop slipping

Two Anchorage residents now hold a federal patent on a plier and wrench jaw designed to stop tools from slipping off rounded or beat-up hardware.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued Patent No. 12,734,645 B2 on Tuesday to Phillip Bellamy and Kevin Shelver. No company is named as the owner, and nothing in the record says whether a tool has actually been built.

What they patented is what they call a chevron jaw. Instead of teeth running straight across the gripping surface in the usual horizontal rows, the teeth project inward from both edges and meet at the center, forming a V. The patent's three independent claims — the ones that stand on their own — require that those opposing projections connect at the jaw's central portion, and that each tooth have a cross-sectional profile with one side vertical to the gripping surface. The claimed configurations cover slip-joint pliers, slide-adjustable pliers, locking pliers and adjustable pipe wrenches, with the pattern on one jaw or both.

The filing says the teeth "can provide the precision necessary for secure engagement with smooth or irregular surfaces" and can reduce slipping — while noting, in the usual patent hedge, that its discussion of advantages is "illustrative only and is not intended to be limiting."

The paperwork traces back to January. Bellamy and Shelver filed a design application, Ser. No. 29/983,529, on Jan. 10, 2025, which issued as Des. 1,081,301. The utility application followed May 14 as a continuation-in-part, a filing that adds new material while keeping the earlier date. The resulting patent runs 20 claims across seven drawing sheets, with its term extended 104 days to compensate for patent office delays.

A patent doesn't settle whether the geometry actually grips better than what's already on the shelf. Channellock holds a 2025 patent, No. 12,280,481, on slip-joint pliers with cross-hatch pyramidal teeth the company says develop high torque grip on seized cylindrical workpieces. Gripping-surface performance is measured separately, under ASME B107.500.

Neither inventor is quoted in the record, and no public listing connects either man to a business selling the tool.