ISO 5742:2004

Overview

ISO 5742:2004 - Pliers and nippers - Nomenclature provides a standardized vocabulary for pliers and nippers in English and French, with informative equivalent terms published for German, Italian and Spanish. This second edition (2004) replaces the 1982 edition and was prepared by ISO/TC 29 (Small tools), SC 10. Figures in the standard are illustrative and are not intended to constrain manufacturer design.

Key topics

The standard organizes terminology and graphical examples across the following technical topics:

• Types of tools

  • Cutting nippers (e.g., diagonal, end cutting, lever-assisted variants)
  • Gripping pliers (e.g., flat‑nose, snipe‑nose, round‑nose, circlip pliers, slip‑joint and multiple slip‑joint)
  • Combined gripping and cutting pliers (e.g., needle nose with side cutter, engineer’s and lineman’s pliers, pincers)

• Component parts

  • Jaws, joint, handles, head, joint rivet - each identified with a designation number

• Handles

  • Straight, bowed, flared (S-shaped) handles

• Joints and actions

  • Joints for closing pliers: lay-on, single, box, slip, parallel action, toggle
  • Joints for opening pliers: single joint with reverse action

• Head and jaw features

  • Point, flank, gripping surface, pipe grip, side cutter, joint cutter, widths and thickness designations

• Cutters and cutting locations

  • End, angled, diagonal and middle cutters
  • Cutting edges and related terms

• Multilingual reference

  • Annex A lists equivalent terms in German (DIN), Italian (UNI) and Spanish (AENOR)

Practical applications

ISO 5742:2004 is valuable to professionals who need consistent tool terminology and clear technical documentation:

• Tool manufacturers and product designers - for consistent naming in catalogs, drawings and specifications
• Technical writers and translators - to ensure accurate bilingual (English/French) and multilingual terminology
• Procurement and quality departments - for unambiguous purchasing descriptions and inspection checklists
• Standards committees and test laboratories - to align test reports and conformity documents with ISO terminology
• Training and educational materials - to teach tool identification and safe use using standardized names

Related standards

ISO 5742 references and aligns with other ISO tool standards cited within the text, for example:

• ISO 5749, ISO 5748, ISO 5747, ISO 5745, ISO 5746, ISO 8976, ISO 9343, ISO 9243, ISO 9242

Using ISO 5742:2004 helps ensure consistent, searchable terminology across product literature, technical specifications and multilingual documentation for pliers and nippers.