toggle joint

noun

1

: a device consisting of two bars jointed together end to end but not in line so that when a force is applied to the knee tending to straighten the arrangement the parts abutting or jointed to the ends of the bars will experience an endwise pressure which increases indefinitely as the bars approach a straight-line position

toggle joints are used in stone crushers, in the double wagon brake, and in some kinds of presses

2

: a joint consisting of a bar pivoted at its middle point to a supporting bar so that the former may be turned to any position and hence be used for lifting heavy objects (as tanks) by inserting the bar through a constricted opening and allowing it to assume a position normal to the supporting bar

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