Some of you might remember a very strange device that I posted here a few years ago. We also discussed how it works and we couldn’t figure it out. I now have acquired a specimen and I will shed some light over how it works.
The movable bow is loaded by pressing it into the tube. By pressing the small button on the right side, the spring loaded bow is snap shut. Then the nipper can be adjusted in two positions to fit the wrist. This is probably a device manufactured in Sweden due to the single marking “Patent” on the movable bow.



Lars

www.holstcollection.com

Lars, it it spring loaded (to snap closed on the wrist)??? Very cool nipper....I am not into nippers (I only own one), but this one is WAY cool!!!!

Cheers, Mike

Very nice. The condition appears to be excellent. Great Find!!!!

Nice gadget, Lars. Send it my way, please. (-;

Lars, I don't get it. Where did the moveable bow go from pic 1 to pic 2? It's not there anymore.

Way cool item. Know anything else about it?

Brad

Hi Brad,

I would say that it went straight into the thicker stationary bow.

Best regards,
Guenter

Hi all,

Thanks for your comments!
Guenter is right; the moving bow is pressed back into the thick stationary bow where a spring is pressed together. By pressing the small button on the right side the bow is released and the top with a hook is closed in the lock house.

Unfortunately, I have no information at all about origin or time of production. It's said there is another specimen at a police museum in Sweden but I haven't seen it myself.
My guess is that only a small number came into production and was sent out to different police authorities in Sweden for test. Since the construction is pretty complicated, it probably wasn't a success.
I can’t tell for sure if it actually is of Swedish origin but it is my qualified guess.

Lars

Ahhh, Guenter, now I get it. Thanks.

Now for my next question. Once you've put it on somebody then what? It looks like it is just worn like a bracelet and doesn't connect to anything. Really looks more like a single handcuff than a nipper.

Lars, could it actually be a prototype for an unproduced set of handcufffs?

Brad

Brad,
It's definately a nipper. You have your hand on the thicker stationary bow. Then you tighten the nipper on the prisoner by pressing down the lever on
the right side which have two positions. To release the lever you press the nob, positioned on the right side.
Compare the wrist size setting on this picture compared to the others. Do you see what I mean?

Lars

I suspect the nippers proved somewhat fragile in use. The spring loaded telescoping tube arrangement needs to be clean to work well, and could be disabled by a slight dent, which would prove difficult or impossible to repair.

They can't exert the sort of pain compliance pressure on the wrist as a unit like the Argus Iron Claw, particularly since only thumb pressure is available. But it provides a handle attached to the prisoner's wrist. Twisting the unit with your wrist should provide a fair amount of pain compliance.

It looks like one of those nifty items, like the Herstal magnetics, that had a design deficiency and never made it into long term production. Bad for the manufacturer, great for collectors.

Lars, I get it now. I think Dennis' points are well made.

Great item. Looks great in a collection. I think, on a police belt, not so handy.

Fascinating. Do you think you might find patent papers? Not that I could read them, but you could tell us what the deal was.

Thanks for a neat post,
Brad

Brad,
I think it would be almost impossible to find the patent papers.
In Sweden we have not the same possibility to track patents like in the U.S. -Unfortunately.
Lars