Abstract:
A rope/wire pulling device designed to provide maximum pulling pressure by the use of two handles and a non-slip ratcheting clutch which grasps the rope or wire tighter as additional pulling pressure is applied.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
   The present invention relates to a hand tool for pulling and stringing wire, rope or cable through building walls, ceilings, pipes and conduits, by use of a one way ratcheting die. 
   Electricians are routinely required to pull wires through lengthy conduits or pipes. It is not uncommon for such conduits to stretch many feet in length and contain a number of elbows and turns which increase the difficulty of pulling wires through the conduits. 
   The typical technique for pulling wires through a conduit entails initially pushing a length of resilient spring steel fish tape through the conduit. The fish tape has a substantially rectangular cross section which, in combination with its spring steel construction, allows it to bend around corners within the conduit while maintaining sufficient rigidity to be pushed a considerable distance. A flexible leader with a rounded tip is attached to a free end of the fish tape. The leader enhances the ability to negotiate corners as the fish tape is pushed through the conduit. After the leader reaches the terminal end of the conduit, the electrical wires are attached to the leader. The fish tape and attached wires are then pulled back through the conduit until the leader and the end of the electrical wires exit the end of the conduit into which the leader was initially pushed. 
   When pulling the wire, one person pulls the fish tape from the one end of the conduit while a second person feeds the electrical wire into the other end of the conduit. The fish tape and the wires are pushed and pulled in increments or strokes of several feet at a time. The two people at opposite ends of the conduit develop a rhythm which allows them to pull and feed wire at the same time, and this rhythm enhances the speed and ease by which the wire is pulled. 
   Existing pipe pulling devices, such as U.S. Pat. No. 996,259 issued to Kern, are limited to large diameter rigid materials such as pipe, and do not allow the pulled material to be easily travel through the device once the pressure is released. Such conventional devices utilizes a hand tightening screw to allow the device to engage with the pipe and do not automatically adjust with changes in pipe diameter. For example, the Kern device does not automatically adjust to change in pipe diameter and therefore instantly releases a smaller diameter pipe until a hand screw is adjusted by a user to provide pressure on the smaller diameter pipe. 
   Although the fish tape/cable is sometimes guided by hand, it is difficult to adequately grip the tape when pushing long distances or when pulling a large number of electrical wires, due to the heavy force required to maneuver the tape and the attached wires through the conduit. To gain additional force, a hand tool such as a pair of pliers is typically used to grip the cable. Pliers are frequently used due to the ready availability of pliers within the electrician&#39;s tool belt or toolbox. 
   However, pliers are inconvenient and inefficient for lengthy wire pulls due to the large number of individual pulling strokes required. With each stroke, the electrician must release the jaws of the pliers from the tape and then firmly re-grip the tape at a point several feet further away. Time is lost in releasing and firmly resetting the pliers for each pulling stroke of the fish tape. Furthermore, it is often difficult to maintain the pushing and pulling rhythm or the rhythm proceeds at a slow pace, when pliers are used. 
   Furthermore, electricians typically pull the cable with only the one hand which holds the pliers. Consequently, some electricians develop back problems due to repeatedly pulling the heavily loaded cable with one hand, because of the detrimental erogomic position in which pulling occurs. Also, Pliers come with a risk of the cable slipping through it any time. 
   Although pliers are the predominant hand tool used for pulling electrical wire, other tools have been developed for the sole purpose of gripping or pulling fish tape. However, these tools suffer from one or more disadvantages which have precluded their widespread acceptance by electricians. 
   SUMMARY 
   The present invention is embodied in a new method and apparatus or tool system for pulling ropes or wire through a building wall, panel, conduit, and the like. This invention relates to pulling electrical wires through conduits and pipes, and more particularly, to a methodology and a tool for gripping ropes or wires while needing to pull them with great force. 
   One embodiment of the present invention is a hand tool for gripping with both hands. The tool includes two rubber grip points at each end. In one embodiment, the device or tool consists of an 18″×1″ rigid pipe with a rubber hand grip on each end. Attached to the center of the pipe is a device that is adapted to allow rope to pass therethrough. The side of the device is open, allowing the ability to insert the rope at any given point along the length of the rope. This eliminates having to feed and pull the rope all the way through. The device contains a ratcheting clutch which upon pulling tightens down on the rope thereby gripping it. In operation, the harder a user pulls the hand tool, the more the ratcheting clutch tightens down. 
   It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new rope/wire pulling device apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the closures mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a rope/wire pulling device which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art tool guides, either alone or in any combination thereof. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide a new wire pulling device which may be easily and efficiency manufactured and marketed. 
   It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new rope/wire pulling device which is of a durable and reliable construction. 
   An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new rope/wire pulling device which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such rope/wire pulling devices economically available to the buying public. 
   Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new rope/wire pulling device which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith. 
   Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new rope/wire pulling device which includes a main body, rope/wire holding channel, spring-loaded ratcheting clutch and hand grips at both ends. 
   A better understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be gained with reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of a hand tool used to grip wires or ropes illustrating an entrance side of a ratchet housing in accordance to exemplary embodiments of the present invention; 
       FIG. 1B  is a perspective view of a hand tool used to grip wires or ropes illustrating an exit side of the ratchet housing of  FIG. 1B  in accordance to exemplary embodiments of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 2  is a simplified top-view of the ratchet housing of  FIG. 1B  and  FIG. 1B  in accordance to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B  are perspective views of a hand tool  100  used to grip wires or ropes.  FIG. 1A  illustrates an entrance side and  FIG. 1B  illustrates an exit side of a ratchet housing  110 . In one embodiment, hand tool  100  consists of a rigid pipe  130  with a rubber hand grip  140  on each end. In one embodiment, the pipe may be 18″ in length by 1″ in diameter, for example. Attached to the center of the pipe  130  is ratchet housing  110 . Ratchet housing  110  is adapted to allow rope or wires to pass therethrough. As depicted, the ratchet housing  110  can be attached to the rope or wire through an entry slot  112  located along the side of the ratchet housing  110 . For example, entry slot  112  may be adapted with sufficient width to allow a rope to be inserted therein without the need to feed rope through the ratchet housing  110  using either end of the rope. In one embodiment, entry slot  112  will accommodate rope or wires in sizes from 0.25″ to 0.75″. 
   In one embodiment, ratchet housing  110  contains a ratcheting clutch  120  which upon pulling hand tool  100  in an direction to engage the rope or wire, tightens down on the rope, intern gripping the rope. Once the ratchet housing  110  is placed onto the rope or wire (e.g., via entry slot  112 ), ratcheting clutch  120  grasps the rope or wire once force is applied in a pulling motion, e.g., a gripping direction. Ratcheting clutch  120  rotates around spring-loaded point  142  and may include a gripping edge  122 . Gripping edge  122  may include teeth  124  to further provide grip force on a rope or wire. 
     FIG. 2  is a simplified top-view of the ratchet housing of  FIG. 1B  and  FIG. 1B . As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a rope or wire  204  may be slid into entry slot  112  an positioned adjacent ratcheting clutch  120 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , entry slot  112  may be curved to have a larger opening on each side of the enclosure  110  to guide the rope or wire  204  in and out of the housing  110 . Spring-loaded pin  142  is configured to provide enough force to force the gripping edge  122  against the surface of rope or wire  204 . Due to the rotation of ratcheting clutch  120  around spring-loaded point  142  in response to the friction with rope or wire  204 , in the gripping direction, rope or wire  204  is pinched between a sidewall  250  of the ratchet housing  110  and gripping edge  122  of ratcheting clutch  120 , thereby gripping the rope or wire  204 . 
   As rope or wire  204  is pulled harder, and/or due to the softness of the rope or wire  204  material, the diameter of the rope or wire  204  may decrease or increase in response to the pulling force, or lack thereof. As the diameter of the rope or wire  204  decreases or increases, spring-loaded pin  142 , along with the motion of the rope/wire  204 , rotates ratcheting clutch  120  accordingly to urge the rope or wire  204  toward the sidewall  250  thereby squeezing the rope or wire  204  between the gripping edge  122  and the sidewall  250  to generate an increased gripping force. 
   Thus, due to the ratcheting action of ratcheting clutch  120 , the harder hand tool  100  is pulled in a pulling direction, the more hand tool  100  tightens down on the rope or wire  204 . Once the rope or wire  204  has been pulled any given distance, ratchet housing  110  may be slid further down the rope or wire  204  in the opposite direction from the pulling direction to release the ratcheting clutch  120 , without the need of the user to adjust or release ratcheting clutch  120 . Therefore, due to the ratcheting action of ratcheting clutch  120 , the user does not have to remove their hands from the hand tool  100  in order to pull the rope or wire, or move the hand tool  100  to a new pulling position. 
   The present invention thus provides various techniques for pulling wire or rope through conduits. While the above provides a detailed description of various embodiments of the invention, many alternatives, modifications, and equivalents are possible. Therefore the scope of this invention should not be limited by the specific embodiments described above, and should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents.