Apparatus for lateral cable pulling and pipe replacement
AssigneeRoddie, Inc.
InventorsRod Herrick, Jared W Shappell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A compact, open path vertical cable pulling apparatus, having a low center of gravity and composed of two detachable, single person hand-portable components. The apparatus is competent to pull cable horizontally through space underground with a pulling force in the range of at least about 20 to 100 tons using low pressure flow hydraulics and has utility in the cable pulling industries, including in the drilling and horizontal directional drilling industries, and as part of a method for pulling cable through space, including pulling cable through space in the pipe bursting and trenchless pipe replacement industries.
Claims19
A device for pulling cable horizontally through space, comprising:
- (b) two cable gripping mechanisms having a laterally accessible, open and closable central cable passage bore for laterally inserting a cable into each said bore;
- (c) a cable pulling component comprising
- a pair of laterally opposing, juxtaposed piston cylinders, each said cylinder having a free terminal piston end and a rod end, said rod ends linked together and disposed about at least one said cable gripping mechanism;
- (c) a chassis component comprising
- a rotating mechanism having a circumference comprising a channel competent to receive a cable such that said cable direction can convert said cable direction from horizontal to vertical when said rotating mechanism rotates
- said chassis component dimensioned to receive said cable pulling component such that said cylinder free terminal piston ends straddle said rotating mechanism and said cable pulling gripping mechanisms are vertically aligned with said rotating mechanism, and
- (d) an integrated mechanical means for modulating vertical cable angle during a cable pulling operation,
- such that, when said cable is in said rotating mechanism channel and engaged with said cable gripping mechanisms through said cable passage bores, said cable pulling component is competent to pull said cable in a horizontal direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.