Urging apparatus for elongated articles

An urging apparatus is provided for moving elongated cables or like articles; the apparatus includes a support trough or shoe in which cables are carried, mounted to an apparatus housing which is reciprocable along a secured housing rail. A cable gripping element engages the cables carried in the support trough when the housing is moving in a first direction, and slips relative to the cables when the housing is moving in a second direction. The apparatus housing is attached to a power assembly which effects reciprocal movement of the apparatus housing and thereby movement of the cable. A plurality of such cable urging apparatus may be placed at spaced intervals along the cables to effectively move an entire cable without stressing or otherwise breaking the cable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to urging apparatus for elongated articles, and more 
particularly apparatus of the type employed to push or draw elongated 
cable through buried conduits or across other inaccessible areas. 
When laying electrical and/or telephone cables in an underground conduit, 
for example, it is important to assure that the cable will maintain its 
electrical continuity once it has been placed within the conduit. 
Specifically, it is frequently necessary to draw wire between two or more 
manholes or junction points which are spaced along a buried conduit. If 
the distance between manholes or junction points exceeds a certain length, 
there is a risk that a constant pulling and/or pushing force necessary to 
move the cable through the conduit will rupture the cable and render it 
ineffective. Thus, merely pulling or pushing the cable through a length of 
conduit may result in damaged cables or a severing of electrical 
continuity. 
Employing a device which extends through the entire length of a conduit may 
prevent such risks of damage, but such a device would include a plurality 
of components resulting in a great multiplicity of parts which may become 
disassociated, lost or broken. Further, such an arrangement would be 
difficult to install or remove from a manhole or other restricted space. 
To more effectively push or pull cable through conduit over a long 
distance, a plurality of such apparatus should be adapted to work in 
conjunction with one another so that a limited amount of force may be 
applied uniformily along the cable to thereby alleviate the likelihood of 
damage. To otherwise require the installation and removal of one pulling 
apparatus in a plurality of manholes to progressively move an elongated 
cable, would be cost and time-wise inefficient. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an 
improved, low cost and simplified urging apparatus for pushing and/or 
pulling cable or other elongated articles over a long distance without 
damage. 
It is another object of this invention to provide an urging apparatus which 
is easily installed and/or removed from a manhole or other junction point 
and which may function with other such urging apparatus to effectively and 
efficiently urge elongated cables through inaccessible conduit over a long 
distance. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
These objects are achieved by an urging apparatus according to the 
invention which includes a support trough or shoe mounted to an apparatus 
housing; the shoe extends between the housing and the end of a conduit 
opening into a manhole or junction point. The telephone and/or electrical 
cable is accommodated in the shoe, and through the housing such that the 
cable may be diverted into another conduit on a different side of the 
manhole, or be directed out of the manhole. 
The apparatus housing is secured to and is movable along a housing rail, 
mounted in the manhole. The apparatus housing is adapted for reciprocal 
movement along the rail and between predetermined limits. A cable gripping 
element is secured to and extends from the apparatus housing and securely 
grips the urged cable when the housing is moving in one direction and 
slides over the cable when the housing is moving in a second direction. A 
power asembly is attached to the housing to effect reciprocal movement 
thereof. The power assembly may be adjusted for coordinated urging action 
with a plurality of urging apparatus mounted in consecutive manhole 
locations along the cable.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Turning now to the drawings and principally FIG. 2, the preferred 
embodiment of a cable urging apparatus according to the invention is shown 
generally at 10. The apparatus includes a U-shaped support trough or shoe 
11 in which cable 12 or another elongated article to be moved, is carried. 
At end 16 of the shoe 11 is securely accommodated in housing 14 which is 
adapted for reciprocal movement along rails 18, 19. The rails are securely 
mounted in the manhole by a support structure 21 (FIG. 3). The opposite 
end 23 of the shoe 11 is adapted to move in a conduit (not shown) and over 
the conduit surface. The shoe 11 is preferably molded from a polyethylene 
material which is sturdy and yet will not inhibit movement of the shoe 
over the conduit surface. Rollers (not shown) may be incorporated into the 
end 23 of shoe 11 to facilitate movement of the shoe 11 over the conduit 
surface. The shoe may be interchanged with a shoe of a different size to 
meet the dimensions of a conduit opening. 
Axles 20 and 22 extend from the underside of housing 14 and are provided 
with roller bearings 24, 26 on the respective ends thereof, which are 
accommodated in the C-shaped rails 18, 19. Rail 18, for example, includes 
opposed flanges 28, 30 which define an opening 32 therebetween which is 
adapted to accommodate axle 20 and 22 while retaining the bearings 24, 26 
in the rail 18. 
A cable gripping element 34 is secured at one end 38 to apparatus housing 
14 and extends along the shoe 11. The gripping element 34 is a metal 
basket structure, commonly referred to as a Kellems grip, incorporating a 
plurality of woven wire strands 36 secured into a basket end plate 38. The 
end plate 38 is retained in housing 14, with the wire strands 36 extending 
through a portion of the housing 14 and said shoe 11. 
Extending along opposite sides of apparatus housing 14 are basket extender 
elements 40, 44 which are secured at one end 46, 48 to the distal end of 
Kellems grip 34. The elements 40, 44 are provided with spring biasing 
means 42, 52 which bias the elements away from housing 14. In this 
fashion, tension will be constantly exerted against the Kellems grip 34 
such that it will remain substantially taut at all times. The ends 46, 48 
of elements 40, 44 are provided with hooks which engage looped wire 
strands 36 of the basket 34. The tension in the elements 40, 44 may be 
relieved by manually pulling handles 54 on each element, to thereby 
facilitate placement or removal of the cable 12 from grip 34. 
As shown in FIG. 2a, the Kellems grip 34 may be opened to facilitate 
placement of a cable 12 therethrough prior to securing it to apparatus 
housing 14. End plates 38a, 38b are hinged together at hinge piece 41, and 
are secured in a closed position by closing elements 43a, 43b. It will 
further be noted that two or more wire strands 36 are joined together into 
a securing nub 37 which is inserted into the hinged end plates 38a, 38b. 
The openings 39 in the end plate 38 are keyhole-shaped so that the nubs 37 
may be inserted into the end plates 38a, 38b and thereafter "locked" in 
place. Before the Kellems grip is placed into housing 14, the opening 
between the wire strand mesh 36 may be closed by securing leather 
strapping or metal rod 50 therebetween. In this fashion the Kellems grip 
will be completely secured, with the cable 12 extending therethrough, 
prior to positioning the Kellems grip into housing 14. 
Referring now to FIG. 3, the urging apparatus 10 is mounted on a manhole 
wall 60 via adjustable support bars 62, 64, 66. In addition, housing rails 
18, 19 are maintained in position over the manhole floor (not shown) via 
support structure 21. The adjustable support bars 62, 64, 66 are provided 
with a plurality of openings therein 70 by which the height and distance 
of the housing 14 from a particular conduit opening 72 can be regulated. 
It is desirable to adjust the support bars such that shoe 11 of the urging 
apparatus 10 will extend into conduit 74 when housing 14 is moved to its 
furthest point from the conduit opening 72. Further, the urging apparatus 
10 should be at a height such that the shoe 11 and conduit 74 are 
substantially coaxially aligned. 
A power assembly 80 is attached to a housing flange 82 through an arm 84. 
The arm 84 is pivotally secured to a rotating drive plate 86 which effects 
reciprocal movement of the arm 84 as it rotates. The drive plate is driven 
from a motor 88 whose power shaft 90 is attached to a drive shaft 92 via a 
belt arrangement 94. It should be appreciated that to avoid the risk of a 
spark-related explosion in a manhole (which may include methane gas or the 
like), the drive arrangement may be modified so that motor 88 is not 
mounted within the confines of the manhole, or is explosion-proof. 
To facilitate placement of the urging apparatus in alignment with a series 
of adjacent conduit openings, a modified mounting arrangement as shown in 
FIGS. 4, 5, may be utilized. In such an arrangement, the rails 18, 19 and 
roller bearings 22, 24 of FIG. 2 are replaced by a sliding tube 100 
movable within tube collars 102, 104. Tube stops 101, 103 are located on 
the opposite ends of tube 100 and prevent the tube 100 from being removed 
from collars 102, 104. Concave roller bearings 106, 108 are secured to 
respective tube collars 102, 104, and accommodate a support tube 110 
therebetween, which is anchored to manhole sidewall 112 (FIG. 5). As such, 
sliding tube 100 may be positioned around the circumference of support 
tube 110 so as to horizontally align the urging apparatus 10 with one of a 
series of adjacent conduit openings (not shown). 
A vertical positioning hinge 114 extends from sliding tube 100, and is 
pivotal about pin 116. The hinge is integral with apparatus housing 14 on 
one end and thereby permits urging apparatus 10 to assume a variety of 
angles in a vertical plane. As a result, the urging apparatus 10 may be 
adapted to accommodate cable extending through a plurality of vertically 
aligned openings adjacent to one another, while remaining in substantial 
axial alignment with each opening. 
In operation, motor 88 (see FIG. 3), through drive plate 86, causes 
apparatus housing 14 to reciprocate along rails 18, 19. Depending on 
whether the Kellems grip has been positioned to extend into a adjacent 
conduit or away from the conduit, the urging apparatus will pull or push 
cable from or into the conduit. When cable 12 is to be pulled, for 
example, and the apparatus housing moves in a first direction (see arrow 
A), the Kellems grip will constrict around cable 12 and pull it from the 
conduit. When the apparatus housing moves in a second direction (toward 
its fully inserted position into conduit 74) tension on the cable 12 will 
be relieved and the Kellems grip and urging apparatus will move over the 
stationary cable 12. Thus, the cable 12 will be pulled during a portion of 
the reciprocating movement of the apparatus housing 14. Because the 
Kellems grip is maintained substantially taut over the cable by arms 40, 
44, substantially the entire pull stroke of the apparatus in direction A 
will effectively pull the cable, with little motion being wasted as 
necessary to fully extend the Kellems grip. 
With reference now to FIG. 1, a predetermined number of urging apparatus 
120, 122, 124 may be positioned in adjacent manholes 126, 128, 130, and be 
coordinated to pull and/or push elongated cables 12 together. To assure 
that such coordinated motion of the cooperating urging apparatus is 
achieved, a pneumatically powered reciprocating piston having an 
associated pressure guage and adjustable pressure valve is utilized as the 
power assembly. With such an arrangement, if a predetermined piston 
pressure, more than that set for the pressure valve, is generated due to 
the cable's resistance to movement as an attempt is made to pull the 
cable, the pressure valve will be activated and will inhibit the pulling 
ability of the piston until a lower and desirable pressure level is 
achieved. In this fashion, if all urging apparatus are equipped with 
pneumatic power assemblies set for the same piston pressure, they will 
become coordinated in their pulling effort, as less resistance to cable 
movement must be overcome when the urging apparatus are pulling together, 
resulting in a lower and satisfactory piston pressure. 
Thus, an urging apparatus is provided that can move one or a plurality of 
elongated articles through a conduit or the like which is uncomplicated in 
design. While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown, it 
will be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited thereto, 
since modification may be made and other embodiments of the principles of 
this invention will occur to those skilled in the art to which the 
invention pertains upon considering the foregoing teachings. It is, 
therefore, contemplated by the appended claims to cover any such 
modification and other embodiments as incorporate those features which 
consititute the essential features of this invention within the true 
spirit and scope of the following claims.