Abstract:
An electric power line conductor cleaning brush assembly includes a tubular housing having a longitudinal opening. A multitude of open disc brushes having bristles are located within an interior of the tubular housing and normal to the tubular housing.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/740517 which was filed on Dec. 21, 2012. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates to a brush assembly for cleaning an electric power line conductor. In order to properly attach an electrically conducting device to an electric power line, the electric power line must first be cleaned to remove oxide or debris from the electric power line. Occasionally, the brush assembly will be attached to a hotstick. A hotstick is generally used when a utility worker, such as a lineman, is working on a live energized high-voltage electric power line conductor. 
         [0003]    When cleaning an electric power line, it is important not to damage the line by scratching or gouging the conductor or an individual strand that forms the conductor. When the conductor or a strand of the conductor is damaged, it can result in corona discharges forming in that portion of the line which can cause audible noise, radio interference, and television interference. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    An electric power line conductor cleaning brush assembly includes a tubular housing having a longitudinal opening. A multitude of open disc brushes having bristles are located within an interior of the tubular housing and normal to the tubular housing. 
         [0005]    These and other features of the disclosed examples can be understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings, which can be briefly described as follows. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  illustrates a hotstick assembly. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  illustrates an enlarged top view of the hotstick assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  illustrates a front view of an inside disc brush element. 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the inside disc brush element taken along line V-V of  FIG. 3 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  illustrates a right end view of a slotted tubular housing. 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line W-W of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  illustrates an enlarged view of Section A of  FIG. 6 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  illustrates a right end view of a rider. 
           [0014]      FIG. 9  illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line X-X of  FIG. 8 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 10  illustrates a right side view of a conductor cleaning brush assembly. 
           [0016]      FIG. 11  illustrates the brush assembly of  FIG. 10  located on a conductor. 
           [0017]      FIG. 12  illustrates a right side view of a hotstick driver adapter. 
           [0018]      FIG. 13  illustrates an enlarged top view of the hotstick driver adapter of  FIG. 12 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 14  illustrates an enlarged bottom view of the hotstick driver adapter of  FIG. 12 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 15  illustrates a right side view of the brush assembly of  FIG. 10  installed on the hotstick driver adapter of  FIG. 12 . 
           [0021]      FIG. 16  illustrates the hotstick assembly of  FIG. 1  with the brush assembly of  FIG. 15  installed on the hotstick driver adapter of  FIG. 12 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0022]    It is very important that all oxides be removed from the surface of either copper or aluminum line conductors C ( FIG. 11 ). Removing oxides from the conductors C allows devices  100 , such as conductor temperature measuring devices to properly contact the conductor C to accurately measure the temperature of the conductor C. Additionally, removing oxide allows devices to be attached to the conductor C to be properly grounded to the conductor C. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1  illustrates a hotstick driver assembly  9  including a lead screw driver  33 , a hotstick driver coupling  32 , a rivet  34 , a hotstick sleeve  35 , a pin  36 , a tubular fiberglass hotstick  10  and rubber end cap  402 . The hotstick  10  rests on the bottom of the hotstick driver coupling  32 . The lead screw driver  33  and the hotstick driver coupling  32  are each fastened to the hotstick sleeve  35  by the rivet  34  and the hotstick sleeve  35  is attached to the hotstick  10  with the pin  36 . The lead screw driver  33  includes a long narrow vertical slot  37 . 
         [0024]    The full length of the fiberglass portion of the hotstick  10  including a rubber end cap  402  depends on the operating voltage of a conductor C ( FIG. 11 ) and the specific work rules of different electric utilities whose lineman work on energized conductors C. The full length chosen provides a safe working clearance between the hands of the linemen who may be wearing rubber gloves and holding the hotstick  10  while performing maintenance on or around the energized conductor C. 
         [0025]    A keyhole horizontal slot  38  is cut as a small arc of  45  degrees (See  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) beginning at the center of the vertical slot  37  on the front left side and ending on the back right side of the lead screw driver  33  near the top. 
         [0026]    At the bottom of the hotstick  10  is the rubber end cap  402  which fits over the outside of the hotstick  10  which is normally filled internally with an electrically insulating foam which prevents water from condensing on the inside of the hotstick  10 . 
         [0027]      FIGS. 10 and 11  illustrate an example brush assembly  427  for removing oxides on the conductor C. The brush assembly  427  includes an inside disc brush element  420  as shown in  FIG. 3 . The inside disc brush element  420  is made as one continuous horizontal strip with a “U” shaped channel  421  crimped over closely spaced wire bristles  422  and bent into a continuous spiral as shown in  FIG. 4 . The inside disc brush element  420  is made by cutting open and flattening the wire bristles  422  into a complete  360  degree washer shape. The wire bristles  422  are then cut open at an angle θ on the channel  421  to provide an opening at the bottom to accept the largest conductor C without the conductor C coming into direct contact with the channel  421 . Only the wire bristles  422  come in contact with the conductor C. 
         [0028]    The brush assembly  427  of  FIG. 10  must be able to clean conductors C ranging from a diameter of 0.162 inches (4.11 mm) to a diameter of 1.10 inches (27.94 mm) for distribution (low voltage) conductors C. However, for conductors C used with transmission lines, the brush assembly  427  must clean from 1.10 inch diameter up to 2.00 inch (50.8 mm) diameter. 
         [0029]    The inside disc brush element  420  has a dimension D 1  shown in  FIG. 3 , which is larger than the largest diameter conductor C to be cleaned, so it is easy to place the brush element over the top of the conductor C. The inside disc brush element  420  also has a dimension D 2  which is approximately 60 percent of the diameter of the largest conductor C so the wire bristles  422  near the bottom hold the brush assembly  427  in place on the conductor C. 
         [0030]    The inside disc brush elements  420  are snapped into semi-circular slots  423  made in a slotted tubular housing  424  as shown in  FIGS. 5-7 . Each of the inside disc brush elements  420  snap into a corresponding semi-circular slot  423 . Although four slots  423  are shown, additional slots  423  can be added along the slotted tubular housing  424 . The brush assembly  427  cleans at least the top 180° of the conductor C without rotating the brush assembly  427 . The brush assembly  427  cannot cause deep scratches or gouges in the surface of the conductor C, or strands of the conductor C during use or the damage could cause severe corona discharges on high voltage conductors. 
         [0031]    To prevent the wire bristles  422  from becoming pushed down and bent over due to extensive use of the brush assembly  427  on conductors C, ‘U’ shaped riders  425  are placed between each inside disc brush element as shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 . The riders  425  are made of a material which does not scratch the conductor C and also prevents the conductor C from coming in contact with the channels  421  which are seated in the slots  423  and are crimped around the wire bristles  422 . The riders  425  are fastened to the inside wall of the tubular housing  424 , and between slots  423  so the inside disc brush elements  420  can easily be snapped out of the slots  423  and replaced. 
         [0032]    A top of the tubular housing  424  is attached to a yoke  426  placed midway between the ends of the tubular housing  424  as shown in  FIGS. 10 and 11 . Because it is necessary to push the assembly  427  in a back and forth motion on top of the conductor C, a “J” shaped arm  428  is fitted into a hole  429  at the top of the yoke  426  and is free to rotate as illustrated in  FIG. 11 . The T shaped arm  428  is kept from moving end to end in the hole  429  by two retaining rings  430  and  431  which fit into their respective grooves in the T shaped arm  428  on each side of the yoke  426 . Teflon washers  432  and  433  are placed on the T shaped arm  428  at the ends of the hole  429  in the yoke  426  and between each retaining ring  430  and  431  as shown in  FIG. 10 . 
         [0033]    Since the brush assembly  427  is to be pushed back and forth by the lineman on top of the energized conductor C using the hotstick assembly  9  of  FIG. 1 , then an adapter  434  is required to attach the “J” shaped arm  428  of  FIG. 10  to the lead screw driver  33  of  FIG. 1 . The adapter  434  is illustrated in  FIG. 12 . The adapter  434  includes a vertical hole  435  drilled in a top of the adapter  434  and a set screw  436  which is tightened down into a flat milled face  437  on the “J” shaped arm  428  to prevent the “J” shaped arm  428  from rotating when the brush assembly  427  is pushed along the conductor C. 
         [0034]    Below the vertical hole  435  is another hole  437  drilled at a  45  degree angle as viewed in the top view of the adapter  434  of  FIG. 13 . The angle of the hole  437  matches the arc of the keyhole horizontal slot  38  of the lead screw driver  33  in  FIG. 1 . A ball detent pin  438  is inserted into the hole  437  after the adapter  434  is slid into the lead screw driver  33 . A bail  439  is attached to a small hole  440  at the other end of the ball detent pin  438 . The purpose of the bail  439  is to prevent the ball detent pin  438  from being lost when the bail  439  is installed around a base of the adapter  434 . Near the bottom of the adapter  434  is a hole  442  through which a small dowel pin  443  is pressed permanently into the hole  442  and the small dowel pin  443  extends beyond the outside circular surface of the adapter  434  on both sides as shown in the bottom view  FIG. 14  and engages a vertical slot  37  ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0035]    The  FIG. 15  illustrates the bail  439  encircling the adapter  434  and this right side view also shows the brush assembly  427  attached to the adapter  434 . The brush assembly  427  and the adapter  434  of  FIG. 15  are pushed down inside the lead screw driver  33  of  FIG. 1  with the small dowel pin  443  aligned with the vertical slot  37  until the angular hole  437  is aligned with the keyhole slot  38  as illustrated in  FIG. 16 . Finally, the ball detent pin  438  is pushed through the slot  38  of the lead screw driver  33  and through the hole  437  of the adapter  434 . The ball of the detent pin  438  prevents the pin  438  from falling out accidentally while the brush  427  is used to clean the surface of the conductor C. 
         [0036]    The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this disclosure. The scope of legal protection given to this disclosure can only be determined by studying the following claims.