Electrical connectors – Contact comprising cutter – Insulation cutter
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-03
2001-04-03
Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Contact comprising cutter
Insulation cutter
C439S479000, C439S480000, C324S066000, C324S133000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06210206
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to spiking tools for spiking underground power lines to determine if the power lines are hot and, in particular, to a spiking tool and method of spiking a power line which shields the spiking tool operator from the flame and heat emitted when a hot power line is spiked.
During the construction of shopping malls, industrial complexes, commercial buildings, and similar relatively large building projects, new or existing, buried or underground high voltage power lines have to be tapped into or spliced to provide electrical services to the project. Typically, there will be several different tubular conduits closely grouped together within the trench that each contain a different high voltage power line or cable. Once a length of one of the power lines to be tapped for the project has been exposed, by removing a section of one of the tubular conduits from about the power line, the power line must be checked to determine if the electrical power to the power line has actually been turned off prior to working with the power line to make the tap. Otherwise, if the electrical power to the power line has not been turned off, anyone working with the power line to make a tap would most likely be seriously injured if not killed.
Typically, the power line is tested to determine if the electrical power to the power line has been turned off by spiking the power line with a spiking clamp (such as, a spiking clamp made by Hastings of Hastings, Mich.). The spiking clamp has a threaded spike with a pointed end that is used to penetrate the insulating casing of the power line and make contact with the wiring within insulating casing of the power line. The threaded spike is grounded and an eye on the second end of the threaded spike is turned with a shotgun stick (such as, a shotgun stick sold by Hastings of Hastings, Mich.) to cause the spike to penetrate the insulating casing and make contact with the wiring within the insulating casing. If the power line is hot (the electrical power to the power line has not been turned off) the contact of the spike of the spiking clamp with the wiring of the power line normally causes an eruption of hot flame from the power line at the location of the spike. Although the use of a shotgun stick is intended to protect the workers when the spike makes contact with a hot line, the workers are not shielded by the spiking clamp or shotgun stick and the operator of the shotgun stick or other workers close by can be injured by the flame and heat caused by spiking the power line. Thus, although spiking clamps and shotgun sticks have been in use for many years, there has remained a need to protect the shotgun operator and other workers from the flame and heat of a spiking operation when the power line is hot.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The spiking tool of the present invention for spiking high voltage underground power lines includes a safety shield to protect the operator of a shotgun stick from the flame and heat emitted when a hot power line is spiked.
A first embodiment of the spiking tool of the present invention includes a tubular sleeve for encasing a length of power line and a spiking assembly. The tubular sleeve shields the operator from the flame and heat emitted when a hot power line is spiked. The tubular sleeve has: an internal diameter greater than an external diameter of a power line to be encased within the tubular sleeve for spiking; a longitudinally extending slot therein extending for the length of the tubular sleeve through which a power line can be introduced into the tubular sleeve; and, preferably, is fire resistant and high temperature resistant. The spiking assembly includes a spike, made of an electrically conductive material, with a pointed first end for penetrating the insulating casing of and making contact with wiring within a power line housed within the tubular sleeve. The spiking assembly also includes an assembly mount for mounting the spike on a central portion of the tubular sleeve with the spike passing through a sidewall of the tubular sleeve, the pointed first end of the spike located within the tubular sleeve, and the longitudinal axis of the spike out of alignment with the longitudinally extending slot of the tubular sleeve so that the power line is supported on and by the inside of the tubular sleeve when it is being spiked. The assembly mount also has a means for moving the spike to penetrate the insulating casing of and make contact with wiring within a power line housed within the tubular sleeve and an electrically conductive means for connecting the spike to a ground.
A second embodiment of the spiking tool of the present invention includes a shield which is mounted on a conventional shotgun stick that is used for turning the spike of a power line spiking assembly. As discussed above in the background of the invention, typically, a shotgun stick has an elongated shaft with a handle adjacent a first end to be held by a tool operator and a hook at a second end for engaging the eye of a spike of a spiking assembly. The shield has a plate, preferably a disk, extending perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of and outward from the elongated shaft of the shotgun stick for a radial distance sufficient to shield an operator of the shotgun stick from the flame and heat when a hot power line is spiked and is mounted on the elongated shaft of the shotgun stick intermediate the first and second ends of the shaft to protect a tool operator from heat and flame when a hot power line is spiked. The shield plate is clear so that the tool operator can see a spiking assembly and power line through the shield and colored to reduce the glare from a flame when a hot power line is spiked.
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Hammond Briggitte R.
Lister John D.
Luebke Renee
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