Electric cable grounding piercer

Abstract

An electric-cable-grounding piercer has a piercer blade (1) with a trunk end attached to a double-acting hydraulic piston (2) in a double-acting hydraulic cylinder (3) from which a blade housing (4) is extended from a blade end. An insertion-pressure tube (7) is positional in fluid communication intermediate an insertion-pressure end of the double-acting hydraulic cylinder and a pump-outlet conveyance (36) from a hydraulic pump (9). A withdrawal-pressure tube (10) is positional in fluid communication intermediate a withdrawal-pressure end of the double-acting hydraulic cylinder and the outlet conveyance from the hydraulic pump. The hydraulic pump has a control valve (35) for directing pressurized hydraulic fluid to the insertion-pressure end and to the withdrawal-pressure end of the double-acting hydraulic cylinder selectively. The piercer blade has electrical communication with electric cable (6) being pierced for transmission to a ground-line connector (12) to which a ground line (13) is connectable for releasing residual current from the electric cable in preparation for work on the electric cable. An insertion-depth indicator (44) attached to the piercer blade is visible through an indicator slot 45 in the blade housing. A cable attachment, such as a chain clamp (5), is positioned on a cable end of the blade housing for rigid attachment to the cable to be pierced.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.