US2990160A - Wire puller - Google Patents

Description

`J. M. FOLEY June 27, 1961 WIRE FULLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 8, 1960 ATTORNEYS J. M. FOLEY `lune 27, 1961 WIRE PULLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 8, 1960 FIG. 4

FIG. 8

l A TTORNE YS United States Patent O+ 2,990,160 WIRE FULLER .lames M. Foley, `Caldwell Township, Essex County, NJ., assgnor to Fairfield Industries, Caldwell Township, NJ., a partnership Filed July 8, 1960, Ser. No. 41,629 4 Claims. (Cl. 254-134.3)

This invention relates to a wire puller and more particularly to a portable, manually operated device which may be employed by one man to pull wires through cont such a device.

Another object of the invention is to provide great pulling strength in a device which weighs very litle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the foregoing type that is easy to use from an elevated position, as from an extension ladder or scaffold, where wire pulling with a snake is dangerous and difficult, and that may be employed safely to pull cables into live panels.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a device o-f the foregoing type which may be used to pull cables or wires into the smallest gem boxes, tile boxes, and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a device which may be employed in close or confined quarters, where it is diflicult or impossible to obtain leverage for pulling on a snake.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device to pull wires into finished or painted rooms without defacing walls or ceilings.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device which permits long pulling runs without splicing.

An important feature of the invention is the ease with which it may be supported stably in different environments, without the expenditure of setting-up time and without the need for attachment to pipes, boxes, conduits, and the like.

Another feature of the invention is its adaptability to different types of installations, whether the pull required is upward, downward, or in another direction.

A further advantage of the invention is its stability to pull a large bundle of wires out of a conduit and to provide sufficient exposed wire length for splicing or terminal attachment.

Briefly stated, the device of the invention comprises an elongated frame having a pulley suitably mounted at one end, and a body rest handle at the other end. Located intermediately on the frame is a manually operated Winch having a flexible cable which may be passed over or under the pulley. A handle is provided directly behind the winch to afford good stability and control as the winch is operated, and an additional handle below the winch is adapted for use with a prop for supporting the device. The construction of the pulley unit at the front of the frame permits its insertion directly into a terminal or outlet box or the like, provides support for the front of the device, and permits variation of the di` rection of pull.

The foregoing and other objects, advantages, and features of the invention and the manner in which the same are accomplished will become more readily apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description 'Zgiid Patented .lune 27, 1961 of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred and exemplary embodiment, and wherein:

FIGURE l is a side elevation view of the device of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary side elevation view illustrating a detail of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary rear view, partly sectional and broken away, illustrating a detail of the invention. l

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating a detail of the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5 5 of FIGURE 4; and f FIGURES 6, 7, and 8 are perspective views illustratg ing typical applications of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGURE 1 thereof, reference numeral 10 designates the frame of the device of the invention, which comprises a single length of hollow pipe, preferably cold-rolled tubing, At the forward end of the frame is a pulley unit 12 comprising a bracket in the form of a fork or yoke 14, and a pulley 16. The yoke 14 is generally U-shaped, having a splined stud 18 extending from its base. The stud 18 is press-fit into the forward end of the frame, expanding the frame somewhat, as shown and fixing the pulley unit to the frame securely. The larms of the pulley yoke are inclined upwardly from the base of the yoke as shown in FIGURE 1 and embrace the pulley therebetween. The pulley rotates on a spacer axle sleeve supported on a pin 20 which extends between the arms of the pulley yoke and which is flattened at its ends to prevent its removal from the yoke.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, the pulley itself is located above the frame 10 so that a cable 22 may pass over the pulley, as in FIGURE l, or under the pulley as will be described hereinafter. The pulley has a wide shallow face to permit the passage of a bundle of wires. As further shown in FIGURE 1, the pulley yoke 14 is augulated at 24 to form 'a stepped portion which may support the forward end of the wire puller with the pulley located above or below the end of a conduit, there being sufficient space between the edges of the yoke arms and the periphery of the pulley to insure that the pulley may rotate freely even when the pulley yoke is placed against extraneous objects.

At the rear end of the frame is a body rest handle 26 which is concave toward the rear and which has a splined stud 28 press-fit into the rear end of the frame in the saiie manner that the stud 18 is press-t into the forward en Intermediate the ends of the frame is a manually operated winch 30. The winch comprises a U-shaped or channel-shaped chassis or housing 3.2 which supports a winding drum 34. As shown in FIGURE 3, the U- :shaped housing 32 has a base portion 36 atop the frame 10 `and substantially tangential thereto, and the bottom of the base is in face-to-face mating relation with a mounting bracket 38. The mounting bracket has a depending channel 40 through which the frame 10 extends, and the channel preferably narrows downwardly and has splined side walls so as to grip the frame securely. The mounting bracket 38 and the base 36 of the winch housing thus form a clamp for the frame 10, being held together by bolts 42 which extend through aligned bores fin the bracket 38 and the base 36 'and which receive nuts 44. Additional bolts 46 may be passed upwardly through aligned bores in the bracket, the frame, and the base to receive nuts 48. The mounting bracket 38 has a ydepending stub handle 50 below the winch which may be inserted in a pipey prop as will appear. A handle 52 of inverted U-shape is located directly behind the winch asY As shown in FIGURE 4, the winding drum 34 has a pair of side discs S6 and 58 joined =by a hub sleeve 60. An axle 62 passes through the upright arms 64 and 66 of the winch housing and may have a head at one end and be threaded to receive a retaining nut 68 at the other end thereof. The cable 22 is formed with a loop 70 at one end thereof, as shown in FIGURE 3, and a U-bolt 72 passes through the loop and through the disc 58 to receive nuts 74 as shown in FIGURE 2. A suitable tting 76 retains the loop 70. The cable is wound upon the hub 60 of the drum in successive layers and extends from the drum to the pulley unit 12 as shown in FIGURE 1. The free end of the cable is provided with a loop 78 retained by another of the fittings 76. The cable is stranded for strength and flexibility and is preferably a galvanized high carbon steel 1/s inch aircraft cable formed of seven strands, each with 19 wires. The cable employed, while strong enough lto permit innumerable pulls, is flexible enough to be drawn through conduits with the nylon line that is conveniently blown through conduits with com.- pressed air. Such a cable has a rated strength of 2000 pounds, and in a practical embodiment 200 feet of such cable may be wound upon the winding drum.

One end of the winding drum has a spur gear 801, preferably formed integrally with the disc 58. The spur gear meshes with a pinion 82 mounted .rearwardly of the winding drum as shown in FIGURE 4. The pinion has a hub 84 through which a drive shaft 86 passes with suicient freedom to permit relative rotation between the pinion and ythe drive shaft. The hub is slotted as shown at 8S, and the drive shaft has a radial pin 90 which may extend into the slot as shown in FIGURE 4 to engage the hub and drive the pinion. The shaft 86 is mounted for rod tation on the upwardly extending arms 64 and 66 of the winch housing and is also slidable transversely of the housing so as to disengage the pin `90 from the slots 88 as shown in FIGURE 3. Movement of the pinion along shaft 86 is limited by engagement of the lateral surface of the gear teeth with disc 58. A stop pin 92 extends radially from one end of the shaft 86 to prevent `cornplete removal of the shaft. The other end of the shaft is formed with a crank 94. Itis thus apparent that when the shaft 86 is in the position shown in FIGURE 4, the crank 94 may be turned to drive gears 82 and 80* and the winding drum 34, and that when the shaft is in the position shown in FIGURE 3, the winding drum and the gears 80 and 82 may turn without turning the handle 94.

In order that the cable 22 may be kept from unwinding, a ratchet mechanism comprising a ratchet wheel 96 and a pawl 98 is provided. The ratchet wheel is preferably formed integrally with the pinion 482 and lies between the pinion and the arm 64 of the winch housing. The pawl 98 may be pivoted on the axle 62 of the winding drum as shown in FIGURES 2, 4, and 5. The free end of the pawl is normally held engaged with the teeth of the ratchet wheel by a tension spring 100 having one end fixed to a pin 102 on the lpawl and the other end looped about the edge of the housing arm 64 as shown in FIG- URE 3. The pawl may be disengaged from the ratchet wheel by turning a knob 104 (FIG. 4) fixed to a stub shaft 106 carrying abutments 108 which may engage the Vpawl as shown in FIGURE 5. A small spring 110 may be inserted between the knob 104 and arm 64 of the housing to introduce some resistance to movement of the knob. When the pawl is engaged with the ratchet Wheel, thecable may be woundonto the drum,but Vnot off.

2,990,160 .Y I .e

4 When the pawl is disengaged and the crank 94 is disengaged from pinion 82, the cable may be unwound freely.

By virtue of the construction of the device of the invention a very strong pull may be conveniently exerted -by one man. All of the parts of the device are constmcted for lightness as well as strength. In a practical embodiment of the invention, the device weighs only 26 pounds, and thus is fully porta-ble. Yet the device will exert a pull of 1500 pounds with little exertion on the part of the operator, and over runs of up to 200 feet. Typically, the winch gear ratio is 3-to-1, and the mechanical advantage of the crank is 5to-1, giving a total mechanical advantage of lS-to-l, but higher mechanical advantages may be obtained, as through the use of double reduction gearing.

FIGURES 6, 7, and 8 illustrate typical applications of the invention. In FIGURE 6 the left hand of the operator 112 grips the handle 50, while the right hand drives the crank 94. The forward end of the wire puller is inserted in a small outlet box 114 in a wall 116, being supported in the box by the pulley unit 12. As shown, the cable 22 extends over the pulley and then downward through the wall 116 in a conduit or other wire passage.

By virtue of the construction of the pulley unit, the wire puller is supported at its forward end without attachment to the box 114, thereby eliminating any setting-up time. Moreover, the pulley turns within the outlet box and is located to prevent damage to adjacent finished areas.

FIGURE 7 illustrates an application in which it is necessary to pull downward. Here the cable 22 is passed under the pulley of the pulley unit 12 and then extends upward through the wall 116. In this application of the invention, the handle 50 has been inserted in one end of a length of pipe 118 which serves to support the wire puller on the floor, additional support being provided by the pulley unit 12 at the forward end as desired. The operator 112 grips handle 26 with one hand and turns the crank 94 with the other.

In the application illustrated in FIGURE 8, the wire puller is again supported at its forward end by the pulley unit 12 in the box 114, the rear of the pulley being supponted on the leg of the operator 112 by the body rest 26. The operator grips the handle 52 with one hand and turns the crank 94 with the other.

As can be readily appreciated from the examples of FIGURES 6, 7, and 8, the device of the invention may be employed to pull all types of wire into any type of box. Since the wire is under complete control at all times, the device may be employed to pull wire in hot areas. Moreover, because of the compactness and lightness of the device, it may be readily employed in confined areas, where its inherent lgreat leverage is especially advantageous The elongated frame construction provides space between the winch and the pulley to permit drawing out lengths of wire for splicing or termination. In addition, for special applications, the bolts 46 may be removed and the bolts 42 loosened to permit the frame 10 to be moved relative to the winch for adjustment of the position of the winch on the frame or for adjustment of the inclination of the pulley to any desired angle; the bolts 42 may then be tightened to clamp the frame.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes can be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is dened in the appended claims. Accordingly, the foregoing embodiment is to be considered illustrative, rather than restrictive of the invention, and those modifications which come ywithin the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be included therein.

The invention claimed is:

1. A portable wire-pulling device comprising an elongated frame having a forward end and a rear end, a cable winding drum mounted on said frame and spaced a sub'- stantal distance from the forward end of the frame, said frame having support means rigidly xed to its forward end for supporting said forward end in an outlet box and the like without attachment thereto, cable guide means mounted on said support means, said support means extending beyond the limits of said guide means in all directions from which wire is to be pulled to shield said guide means from contact with said outlet box and the like, a cable wound about said drum and extending past said guide means, said guide means having a guiding channel substantially wider than the Width of the cable to permit the passage of a bundle of wires, and a handle mounted on said frame and extending transversely therefrom.

2. A portable Wire-pulling device comprising an elongated frame having a forward end and a rear end, support means rigidly xed to the forward end of said frame for supporting said forward end in an outlet box and the like Without attachment thereto, a transverse body rest mounted at the rear end of said frame, a cable winding drum mounted on said frame at one side thereof intermediate and spaced a substantial distance from the ends thereof, la pulley rotatably mounted on said support means at the same side of said frame as said winding drum, said support means extending beyond the periphery of said pulley in all directions from which wire is to be pulled to shield said pulley from contact with said outlet box and the like, and a cable wound about said drum and extending past said pulley, there being a clear cable path from the top of said pulley to said drum and from the bottom of said pulley to said drum, whereby the cable may be trained over or under said pulley as desired.

3. The device of claim 2, said support means comprising a bracket extending obliquely upward at the forward end of said frame, said pulley being carried by said bracket above said frame, and said bracket having a rest surface below said pulley for supporting said pulley above a conduit.

4. The device of claim 2, said device having a handle mounted on said frame adjacent said Winding drum.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 528,151 Crisp Oct. 30, 1894 1,781,695 Mitchell-Henry Nov. 18, 1930 2,221,903 Abramson et al Nov. 19, 19'40 2,231,053 Byrd Feb. 11, 1941 2,284,532 Napier May 26, 1942 2,495,804 Berchtold Jan. 31, 1950 2,718,376 Raney Sept. 20, 1955

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