Patent ID: 8585020

Claim:
A boom mountable robotic arm for temporarily supporting an elongate conductor comprising: a single elongate unitary beam adapted for coupling with the upper end of a boom, at least one electrically insulated support post coupled to said beam, each post of said at least one electrically insulated support post for temporarily supporting an elongate electrical conductor, at least two rotation couplings for selectively controllable rotation of said beam and said at least one electrically insulated support post about at least two corresponding axes of rotation, wherein a first axis of rotation of a first corresponding rotation coupling of said at least two rotation couplings is chosen from the group comprising: a) a substantially vertical axis of rotation orthogonal to said beam for rotation of said beam about said substantially vertical axis in a substantially horizontal plane and relative to the boom, b) at least one axis of rotation extending along a longitudinal axis of said beam, for rotation of said at least one electrically insulated support posts relative to and substantially laterally of said beam, and wherein a second axis of rotation of a second corresponding rotation coupling of said at least two rotation couplings extends laterally of and between said beam and the upper end of the boom for rotation of said beam relative to said boom in a substantially vertical plane, further comprising a boom adaptor mountable to said upper end of the boom; and wherein said beam is an elongate upper beam assembly rotatably mounted to said boom adaptor for rotation of said upper beam assembly about said second axis of rotation relative to said boom adaptor, said upper beam assembly supporting thereon said at least one electrically insulated support post and having a conductor retainer mounted at a distal end thereof distal from said upper beam assembly, and wherein said second corresponding rotation coupling includes a selectively actuable leveling adjustor mounted between said upper beam assembly and said boom adaptor for selectively adjusting an angular position of said upper beam assembly relative to said boom adaptor, wherein said at least one electrically insulated support post includes at least two electrically insulated support posts coupled to and spaced apart along said beam, each of said at least two electrically insulated support posts adapted to temporarily support energized electrical conductors, wherein said at least one electrically insulated support post is mounted by a hinge to said upper beam assembly.