Cable support and locator structure

There is disclosed a combined support and locator for underground fixtures intended to be buried, the support and locator being designed for use in conjunction with a metal detector which includes a support base formed of a moldable material, metallic means embedded within the support base and having an elliptical configuration, the support base and metallic means being formed as an integral unit, such that underground fixtures supported upon the support and locator may be re-located by the use of a metal detector, the metallic means reacting with the motive forces of the metal detector to effect locating of the underground fixture.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
It is quite common in the construction and utility industry to bury a 
variety of utility cables and lines underground during the construction 
phases of buildings, highways, and/or other structures. The various types 
and forms of new materials now permit the positioning of cables such as 
electrical cables, telephone cables and the like to be buried under the 
ground without the fear of deterioration from the elements. Hence, the 
linear volume of underground cables has increased dramatically over the 
last several years. 
One of the problems incident to the positioning of electrical, telephone, 
and other such cables underground is the fact that often, repairs are 
necessary. Repairs may be necessitated due to the accidental severing of 
the cable during the construction phase of a given project, or 
alternatively, in some instances, a deterioration of the outer casing of 
the cable has been found to occur in which case, the damaged portion of 
the cable must be located and repaired. It will be appreciated that in 
order to find the damaged portion of any given utility cable underground 
in the first instance, it is usually necessary to do an extensive amount 
of excavating in order to unearth the cable. Once the damaged portion of 
the cable has been located, and the repairs have been effected, it is then 
customary to simply bury, once again, the cable such that above-ground 
structures may be re-layed. It will be appreciated, however, that often 
times, the repaired section of the cable will require subsequent repairs 
for the reason that when splices or other repairs are effected, the 
repaired portion of the cable is protected with, at best, a temporary 
casing such as tape or some other such material. Hence, the probability of 
further damage such as by the elements, or the like increases with respect 
to such repaired sections of the cable. It has therefore become necessary 
in the industry to mark such damaged and repaired sections of the cable 
with some form of locating means such that should additional repairs be 
necessitated, extensive excavating will not be necessitated a second time, 
but rather, a detector may be employed to re-locate the spliced or 
repaired section of the cable for subsequent repairs. 
The most common procedure which has been adopted by the utility company is 
to support the spliced or repaired section of the cable on a wood plank to 
which a metallic object is attached such as by nailing or bolting the same 
to the plank. A metal detector may then be employed to locate the metallic 
element affixed to the wooden plank. Presently, this system is utilized 
especially in cases where a utility cable must be repaired by splicing and 
repairing and then re-taped. However, it has been found that wooden 
planks, even when creosolled, tend to deteriorate when positioned under 
the ground and in addition, any metallic rod or cable attached to the 
plank has been found to similarly deteriorate with time. Hence, subsequent 
re-location of the damaged or spliced section has been rendered difficult. 
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES 
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved support and 
locator device for supporting underground fixtures such as cables or the 
like, and permitting ease of re-locating the same while at the same time, 
eliminating the possibility of deterioration of the support and locator 
due to the action of the elements contained underground. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a support and locator 
device for underground fixtures which includes a support base formed from 
a moldable plastic material and includes a metallic element embedded 
within the moldable plastic material, the support base and metallic 
element being formed as an integral unit which thereby permits the 
repaired portion of the cable to be supported on top of the support base, 
and the support base being retrievable by means of the use of a metal 
detector which will detect the metallic element embedded within the 
support base in order to permit ease of re-location and subsequent repair 
to the cable or other underground fixtures supported thereon. 
In connection with the foregoing object, it is yet a further object of this 
invention to provide a support and locator of the type described wherein 
the metallic element consists of a steel rod which is elliptical in 
configuration and is embedded within the support base during the 
manufacturing operation such that support base and the ellipitical steel 
rod are formed as an integral unit while at the same time insuring that 
the steel rod is removed from contact with the underground elements to 
prevent any deterioration thereof over extended periods of time. 
In connection with the foregoing object, it is yet another object of the 
invention to provide a support and locator of the type described wherein 
the elliptical steel rod is spaced inwardly from the outer exposed 
surfaces of the support base and basically centrally positioned with 
regard to the interior confines of the support base. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide a support and locator 
device of the type described above, wherein the elliptical steel rod 
further includes an extension portion which extends laterally outwardly 
toward a side edge of the support and includes an exposed lateral section 
of the steel rod which is adapted for interconnection with the cable 
fixture to be supported on the support for the purpose of grounding the 
same in order to permit various forms of metal detectors to be utilized to 
locate the subject support and a locator assembly. 
Further features of the invention pertain to the particular arrangement of 
the elements and parts whereby the above-outlined and additonal operating 
features thereof are attained. 
The invention both as to its organization and method of operation, together 
with further objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood by 
reference to the following specification, taken in conjunction with the 
accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
With reference to the drawings, the support and locator, generally referred 
to by the numeral 10, is illustrated. The support and locator 10 is formed 
by a support base 12 which is shown to be generally rectangular in 
cross-section and having a length substantially greater than the width 
dimension thereof. As shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 of the drawings, a cable 
14 is shown to be supported on the top surface of the support base 12, the 
cable including a spliced and repaired section 16 thereby illustrating the 
general manner in which a typical utility cable would be spliced, repaired 
and re-taped. 
A metallic element, generally referred to by the numeral 18 is shown to be 
embedded within the support base 12, the metallic element 18 in the 
preferred embodiment assuming an elliptical configuration as more 
specifically shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings. It will further be noted 
that the positioning of the metallic element 18 within the support base 12 
is such that the metallic element 18 is basically centrally positioned, 
and spaced inwardly from the exposed side edges 19 and 21 as well as from 
the exposed end edges 23 and 25, respectively. It will therefore be 
appreciated that the metallic element 18 is totally removed from exposure 
from any of the underground elements and therefore the possibility of 
deterioration of the steel rod is minimized if not eliminated. 
Furthermore, by employing an elliptical configuration for the steel rod 
forming the metallic element 18, the positive reaction to the frequency 
output of a metal detector is insured. In most installations, the cable 14 
supported on the support base 12 will be positioned internally of the 
confines of the elliptical configuration of the metallic element 18, 
although it is insignificant if the cable 14 is positioned such that same 
lies over the metallic element 18. 
It is also within the scope of the present invention that the steel rod 
forming the metallic element 18 is corrosion proof, to insure that any 
moisture which may seep through the plastic support base 12 will not 
corrode or degrade the metallic element 18. 
Insofar as the construction of the support base 12 is concerned, it is 
considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention to form the 
support base 12 from a plastic material such as a polyurethane foam. In 
this manner, the strength and density of the support base 12 may be 
controlled during the manufacturing operation since any level of strength 
and density may be obtained by adjusting the parameters of the 
manufacturing procedure. In addition, it is found that the embedding of 
the metallic element 18 within the polyurethane foam material is a fairly 
simple procedure such that overall economics to the manufacturing of the 
unit are minimal. 
In terms of the overall dimensions of a typical support and locator 10, it 
is contemplated that the support base 12 would have a thickness of 
approximately 2 inches, and a width of approximately 10 inches. The length 
may be varied by providing a support base 12 of varying such as 2 foot 
lengths, 3 foot lengths, 4 foot lengths, up to 8 foot lengths. It has been 
found that in most installations, the underground fixture to be suppported 
on the support base 12 will generally not exceed 10 inches in width, and 
usually the repaired or spliced section of the cable will not exceed 8 
feet in overall length. Hence, by providing a support and locator 10 as a 
manufactured item in various lengths, virtually every type of repair or 
splice operation incident to underground cables can be accommodated. 
As was indicated above, the advantage to forming the support base 12 from a 
moldable material is the fact that the density and strength factor of the 
support and locator 10 may be carefully controlled. This obviously has an 
advantage in terms of preventing the deterioration or corrosion of the 
inner metallic element 18 since the support base 12 may be made 
sufficiently dense such that only a minimal amount of moisture can 
possibly enter the inner portions of the support base 12 thereby to 
corrode or deteriorate the metallic element 18. In addition, it has been 
found that insofar as the strength factor is concerned, a polyurethane 
foam support plank of the type described herein may be made to have the 
strength characteristics of a wooden oak plank. On the other hand, the 
economics are such that a support and locator 10 of the type described 
herein may be made very economically on a mass production basis such that 
the overall cost is less than cresolled wood. 
It will further be appreciated that the subject support and locator 10 of 
the present invention clearly obviates the need for any other forms of 
markers to mark and locate the positioning underground of a spliced or 
repaired section of any utility cable. In addition to the present types of 
locating devices, it is also common to employ above-ground markers for the 
utility crews to locate previously repaired sections of the cable. It will 
therefore be appreciated that all that would be necessary to subsequently 
locate any spliced sections of cable resting on the support base 12 of the 
support and locator 10 of the present invention, would be a metal detector 
of the type commonly in use at the present time. 
With respect to FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings, an additional alternate 
embodiment of the invention is illustrated. There is shown a support and 
locator generally referred to by the numeral 30 which is formed by support 
base 32. Once again, the support base 32 is shown to be generally 
rectangular in cross-section having a length substantially greater than 
the width dimension thereof. A cable 34 is shown to be supported on the 
top surface of the support base 32, the cable 34 including a spliced and 
repaired section 36, in the same manner as was illustrated in connection 
with FIG. 1 of the drawings. 
A metallic element referred to by the numeral 38 is embedded within the 
support base 32 and is shown to similarly assume an elliptical 
configuration as was true in connection with the metallic element 18 
referred to in FIGS. 1 through 4 of the drawings. Once again, the metallic 
element 38 is centrally positioned, and spaced inwardly from the exposed 
side edges 39 and 41 as well as from the exposed end edges 43 and 45 
respectively.The metallic element 38 is shown to further include a lateral 
extension portion 47 which extends laterally outwardly through one of the 
end edges of 43 thereof. The lateral extension portion 47 is similarly 
embedded within the confines of the support base 32 and may either be 
formed as a separate metallic portion connected to the metallic element 
38, such as by a connector member 48, or the lateral extension portion 47 
may actually be formed integrally within metallic element 38 and simply 
extend laterally outwardly therefrom. As shown in both FIGS. 5 and 6 of 
the drawings, the lateral extension portion 47 includes an outwardly 
projecting ground portion 51 which actually forms a section of the lateral 
extension portion 47 external of the support base 32. 
As shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings, it is intended that the outward ground 
51 of the metallic element 38 is actually grounded to the cable fixture 34 
by means of a ground connector 53. In this manner, the metallic element 38 
is actually grounded with respect to cable fixture 34. The principal 
purpose for providing the alternate embodiment of a cable support and 
locator 30 of the type shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings, is to 
permit the use of diverse forms of metal detectors in the field. For 
example, two different versions of metal detectors operate on the theory 
of tone generation by detecting the tone generated in the cable 
underground. The detector is placed at an access point and detects the 
tone generated along the length of the underground cable. The operator 
would simply follow the tone as amplified in the detector until the tone 
diminishes and in effect stops. The ground portion of the wire 51 operates 
as a resistance to the continued generation of the tone and will therefore 
cause a decrease or ceasing of the tone as determined by the detector. The 
operator would then know that at the point the tone ceases or diminishes, 
that the operator is above the area of the spliced section of the cable 
sitting on the locator board 30. Exemplary of the type of equipment 
referred to herein is the metal detector made by the Hewlett Packard 
Company, Model No. 4904, which is a tone-generated detector. Additionally, 
a detector made by Dynatel Company, Model No. 500 similarly operates on 
the same principle. In both of these instances, the detectors are intended 
to detect the tone generated along the length of the cable and the tone 
will diminish drastically or even stop at the point where the ground 
portion is interconnected with the cable sheath. 
It will also be observed in FIG. 5 of the drawings that the support and 
locator base 32 is further provided with a series of six tie slots 55, 
located in pairs of two along the length of the board. The tie slots 55 
extend through the entire thickness of the board base 32 and are 
constructed to accommodate tie straps (not shown) which can be positioned 
to circumscribe a cable or other fixture positioned on the board 30. The 
tie straps simply assure that the underground fixture remains securely 
positioned on the support and locator 30 when buried under ground. 
Insofar as the embodiments of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 
6 of the drawings are concerned, the metallic elements depicted therein, 
Nos. 18 and 38, are intended to be formed of either No. 6 or No. 10 gauge 
copper wire, with the outward ground portion 51 shown in the embodiments 
of FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings further including a weather-proof plastic 
sheath in order to protect the exposed section of the wire from the 
elements. 
It will be appreciated from the above description that the present 
invention provides an economically simplified and structurally convenient 
support and locator for supporting and permitting the subsequent 
re-location of underground fixtures such as cables or the like, while at 
the same time eliminating difficulties inherent in buried underground 
structures. In this connection, problems incident to deterioration or 
degradation of materials buried underground has been minimized if not 
eliminated such that the support and locator of the present invention will 
have a long useful life. In addition, the manner in which the subject 
support and locator 10 of the present invention is constructed is such 
that the overall unit will have great strength, great resistance to 
deterioration, while at the same time insuring that positive reaction will 
be set up between the locator and a metal detector employed to re-locate 
the fixture positioned atop the support. 
While there has been described what is at present considered to be the 
preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that various 
modifications may be made therein, and it is intended to govern in the 
appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and 
scope of the invention. To this end, it will be apparent that a variety of 
plastic materials may be employed for the construction of the support 
base, and similarly, metallic elements other than steel rods may similarly 
be employed so long as the same positively react with a metal detector. It 
is intended to cover in the appended claims all such obvious modifications 
of the invention of the type mentioned hereinabove.