Manual manipulator

A manual manipulator, comprising:

• an elongate hollow pole of finite length thereby defining opposite first and second ends, said pole having a first grip means thereon for facilitating a manual carrying of said pole by at least one hand of an operator;
• a housing means on said pole and adjacent said first grip means;
• a first passageway means for providing communication between a remote pressurized gas supply and an interior of said housing means;
• a pneumatically operable tool connected to said pole adjacent said second end and undergoing a tool function in response to a supply of pressurized gas thereto;
• a second passageway means for providing communication between an interior of said housing means and said tool;
• a pneumatically operated control means disposed in said interior of said housing means for regulating a flow of pressurized gas from said first passageway means to said second passageway means and thence to said tool, said control means including a selectively manually operable switch for selectively activating and deactivating the supply of pressurized gas to said tool, said control means being configured for operation in response to a first manual activation of said switch to activate said flow of pressurized gas and maintain said flow of pressurized gas after said first manual activation is completed so that said flow of pressurized gas can be maintained when the hand of the operator is disengaged from said switch to enable the operator to continuously maintain stability of said manual manipulator, said control means being additionally configured for operation in response to a second manual activation of said switch to deactivate said flow of pressurized gas and to maintain said flow of pressurized gas deactivated after said second manual activation is completed, said switch being provided on at least one of said pole and said housing means and positionally adjacent said first grip means so that said switch can be activated by the operator without the hand of the operator becoming disengaged from said first grip means to thereby enable the operator to continuously maintain stability of said manual manipulator;
• and
• wherein said pole includes separate, elongate and axially aligned first and second elongate pole sections, said first pole section having said first end at one end and connected to said housing means at an other end thereof, said second pole section having said second end at one end and connected to said housing means at an other end thereof, said first pole section having said first grip means thereon, and said first passageway means extending therethrough, said second pole section having a second grip means thereon for facilitating a manual carrying of said pole by an other hand of the operator and said second passageway means extending therethrough, said housing means being located intermediate said first and second grip means such that said first grip means is spaced apart from said second grip means and one hand of the operator is engaged with said first grip means and another hand of the operator is engaged with said second grip means such that as said manual manipulator is moved in a horizontal plane the stability of said manual manipulator is maintained.