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AssigneeBurnup & Sims Inc.
InventorsDelbert W. Wimer, Daniel C. Carlson, Edward C. Elwood, Eugene T. Stewart
Estimating the term…
A cable pulling apparatus includes a winch line on a drum supported on a bed of a vehicle and driven by a motor with a clutch between the motor and drum and a brake associated with the drum. A boom defines a guide for the winch line into a manhole into alignment with an underground conduit and a mandrel is attachable to the winch line. An air gun has one end received into the underground conduit and is expansible into engagement with the conduit and a compressor assembly is attached to the opposite end to propel the mandrel and winch line through the underground conduit. A cable is then attached to the winch line and is drawn through the conduit by driving the drum. A blower and a water pump are also supported on the bed to remove gases and water from the manhole.
A feeding device for feeding a line through an underground conduit comprising a pressurized pneumatic fluid source, an elongated hollow tubular member having an expansible element on one end adapted to be expanded into engagement with said underground conduit, means defining a guide slot from the periphery of said tubular member for guiding said line into said tubular member, a hinged door portion on said tubular member defining a portion of said guide slot and pivotable between open and closed positions for inserting said line into said guide slot, a mandrel adapted to be attached to said line and positioned in said underground conduit, a collar slidable on said tubular member and adapted to expand said expandable element into engagement with said underground conduit, said collar holding said door in a closed position when in a position to expand said expandible element, and means for connecting said pressurized pneumatic fluid source to an opposite end of said tubular member to propel said mandrel and line through said underground conduit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.