US3866965A

US3866965A - Hot stick attachment

Info

Publication number: US3866965A
Application number: US433073A
Authority: US
Inventors: Howard A Homeier
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1974-01-14
Filing date: 1974-01-14
Publication date: 1975-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 1992-02-18

Abstract

An attachment is provided for ''''hot sticks'''' of the type used for raising or lowering hot lines or power lines used for transmitting high voltage current. To facilitate the engagement, a radially projecting arm is provided for hooking the attachment over the wire. A pair of upwardly and downwardly inclined arms are attached to the attachment in angularly spaced relation to the radial arm. By twisting the pole about its axis, the wire may be engaged between the ends of the inclined ends to permit the line to be raised and lowered.

Description

United States Patent 1 1.

Homeier [4 1 Feb. 18,1975

[ HOT STICK ATTACHMENT 76] inventor: Howard A. Homeier, 625 1st. St.,

Kenyon, Minn. 55496 221 Filed: Jan. 14,1974

2 1 App1.No.:433,073

[52] u.s. c| 294/1912 [51] lnt.Cl. A47H3/06 [58] Field of Search 294/1 R, 2, 15, 17, 19 R,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,301,012' 4/1919 Simonson 294/19 R 2,096,244 10/1937 Heinrich 294/19 RX 2,484,278 10/1949 Fisher .[140/117X 3,433,521 3/1969 Lasko 294/19 R Primary Examiner Evon C. Blunk Assistant ExaminerJohnny D. Cherry 57 ABSTRACT An attachment is provided for hot sticks of the type used for raising or lowering hot lines or power lines usedfor transmitting high voltage current. To facilitate the engagement, a-radiaily projecting arm is proided for hooking the attachment over the wire. A

pair of upwardly and downwardly inclined arms-are attached to the attachment in angularly spaced rela tion to the radial arm. By twisting the pole about its axis, the wire may be engaged between the ends of the inclined ends to permit the line to be raised and lowered.

7 Claims, 7Drawing Figures 1 nor STICK ATTACHMENT This invention relates to an improvement in Hot Stick Attachment and deals particularly with anatta'chmentor bracket secured to the upper end of a hot stick or pole by means of which a hot line, such as a wire, power line or cable may be engaged for manipulation of the wire in a desired'direction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Hot Sticks are usually provided with some sort of an attachment at their upper ends so that a wire, hot line or cable may be engaged for raising, lowering, or manipulating the wire in a suitable direction. These attachments are usually difficult to attach to the wire. Some such devices require that the attachment be moved in an axial direction against the wire to engage the wire. Other attachments include hook-shaped projections in which the wire may be engaged. These previous attachments or brackets take considerable skill to operate. While the hot sticks are normally adjustable in length, they areusually quite long and are accordingly somewhat flexible. Accordingly, the upper ends of the hot sticks tend to sway in one direction or another during the wire attaching process. As a result, substantial skill is required in the operation. This is particularly true in windy weather where the wind tends to flex both the hot stick and the wire.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION The present hot stick attachment is attached to the upper end of the hot stick by any suitable means. For example, the lower end of the attachment may be axially socketed to accommodate the upper end of the hot stick. If desired, the attachment may be made including an upperv portion and a lower portion, both portions having contacting engagement portions. The lower portion is attachedto the upper end of the hot stick, and the upper portion may be pivotally connected to the lower portion by means of a pivot bolt extending axially through the two attachment portions to hold the portions in a desired angular relationship. Usually, the upper and lower attachment portions include bearing plates having teeth which extend radially from the axis of the pivot, and which may be interengaged to hold the two attachment portions at a desired angle. The present invention deals primarily with the upper portion of the hot stick attachment. Where mentioned in the specification, the axis of the attachment is meant to describe the axis of the upper portion of the attachment.

An object of the present invention lies in the provision of an arm which extends radially from the upper portion of the attachment on a plane normal to axis thereof. The upper portion of the attachment'is also provided with a pair of opposed inclined arms which are in a common plane through the axis of the upper portion of the attachment. The radially extending arm lies in a first vertical plane through the axis of the upper attachment portion. The inclined arms preferably lie in a second plane through the axis of the upper attachment portion which is in angularly spaced relation to the first plane. With this arran'gment, the wire may be engaged with the first or radially extending arm without interferance by the inclined arms" when the hot stick is in one angular position. The wire may be engaged between the inclined arms when the hot stick is rotated into another angular position.

Another feature of the present invention A feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the inclined arms which lie in a common plane terminate in spaced relation to provide a gap between the ends thereof. This gap is slightly below the lower surface of the radially extending arm. This is of importance in engaging-the attachment with a wire or the like.

lies in the fact that the attachment may be engaged with the wire or hot line by resting the hot stick attachment against the wire while the radial extending arm is'above the level of the wire. By lowering the hot stick, the'radial arm may be positioned to rest against the upper surface of the wire. By twisting the hot stick about its axis, the wire may be guided through the gap between the inclined arms. When thus rotated, the wire is engaged between the inclined arms and may be raised, lowered or otherwise moved.

While the arms which have been described as inclined arms may be straight and inclined in opposite direction from the attachment as illustrated in the drawing. These inclined arms may comprise curved or hook-shaped arms. The term inclined arms is used to describe opposed arms which terminate in spaced relation to form the. gap therebetween. v

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hot line attachment, showing the general construction thereof.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the attachment when engaged with a wire or hot line and acting to lower the wire.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the upper portion of the attachment with the inclined arms projecting laterally from the attachment.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the radial arm extending laterally from the attachment.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the upper portion of the attachment showing'the radially extending arm in substantially right angular relation to the inclined arms.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the attachments showing the manner in.which the line may be elevated by the lower inclined arm of the pair.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a modified form of inclined arms.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The attachment in its entirety includes an upper and lower portion which are pivotally connected together. As indicated in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the lower portion 10 is axially socketed at 11 to accommodate the upper end of a hot stick 12 which is not shown in its entirety in the drawings. The upper end of the lower portion includes an arcuate bearing plate 13 provided with teeth 14 which extend in a radial direction from the center of arcuation of the plate 13. The upper attachment portion 15 is provided at its lower extremity with a cooperable bearing plate 16 which also is arcuate in form and has teeth 17 thereupon which extend radially from the axis ofarcuation of this plate. The two

bearing plates

13 and 16 include axial apertures 19 therethrough in aligned relation. A bolt 20 extends through the apertures 19 and forms a pivot between the upper 3 and lower portions. A wing nut 21 is threaded onto the bolt 20 to clamp the bearing plates in an adjusting angled relationship.

The upper attachment portion 15 has a shank which is generally cylindrical in form and includes a first arm 22 which lies in a plane normal to the axis of the shank 15 which is indicated by the broken line 23. As indicated in FIG. of the drawings, the radial arm 22 also lies in a plane extending through the axis of the shank I5 and extending through the radial arm, the position of this plane being indicated by the broken line 24 in FIG. 5 of the drawings. A pair of opposed inclined arms are secured to the shank 15, a first inclined'arm inclining in outwardly and downwardly inclined relation therefrom as indicated at 26 in the drawings. A second inclined arm 27 inclines outwardly and upwardly from the shank The

inclined arms

26 and 27 are located in a second plane through the axis of the shank l5 and indicated by the broken'line 27. The

planes

24 and 27 are in right angular relation, or 90 apart. The purpose of the angular adjustment between the upper and lower portions of the attachment is so that the upper portion may more readily engage against the wire 29 which may comprise a high voltage power -line or the like.

The operation of the device is substantially as follows. The upperportion of the hot stick or attachment may be rested against the line 29 with the radially extending arm 22 overlying the wire. The hot stick may be lowered until the arm 22 rests upon the wire 29. This is a simple operation, due to the fact that the attachment A is resting against the line 29. 7

When the radial arm 22 is resting upon the wire, the hot stick may be rotated about its axis through an angle of about 90. During this rotation, the wire 29 passes through the gap 30 between the lower extremity of'the upper inclined arm 26 and the upper extremity of the lower inclined arm 27. When the rotation of the hot stick is complete, the wire slips out of engagement with the radial arm 22 to extend between the

inclined arms

26 and 27. The wire 29 may be lowered by moving the hot stick downwardly, the inclined arm 26 engaging the wire to move it downwardly as indicated in FIG. 2 of the drawings. The wire 29 may be raised by moving the hot stick upwardly to engage the wire 29 with the lower inclined arm 27. The wire 29 may also be moved laterally by swinging the hot stick in a lateral direction.

In the drawings 'the

inclined arms

26 and 27 are straight throughout their length. As indicated in FIG. 7 of the drawings, the arms may be curved so that the lower extremities thereof are generally parallel to the axis of the upper portion of the attachment. The lower end of the upper inclined arm 26 terminates in spaced relation to the upper end of the opposed inclined arm 27' so as to provide a gap 30' between the two'incli'ned arms. The hook-shaped form of the inclined arm may serve to simplify the lateral positioning of the wire 29.

In accordance withthe Patent Statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my invention in HOT STICK ATTACHMENT, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodi ment thereof, I desire to have it understood that changes may be made withinthe scope of the following specification and claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

I. An attachment for the upper end of a hot stick including:'

a first arm projecting radially from the attachment on a first plane through the axis of the attachment.

a pair of inclined arms projecting from the hot stick attachment on a second plane through the axis of said attachment in angularly spaced relation'from said first plane,

said second arms including a first arm projecting in outwardly and downwardly extending relation and a second armin outwardly and upwardly inclined relation from said attachment to terminate in spaced relation to provide a gap between the extremities of said inclined arms,

, said gap being slightly below a third plane substantially normal to the axis of said attachment and through the axis of said radially projecting first arm, whereby said hot stick may be rested against a wire to be engaged with said first arm above said wire and the attachment may be lowered until the radial first arm rests upon the wire, and the hot stick may be turned about its axis until said wire extends through said gap.

2. The attachment described in claim 1 and including a lower portion secured to the upper extremity of said hot stick, an upper portion to which said arms are secured,-and a pivot extending through said upper and lower.por tions on an axis extending normally through the axesof said supper and lower portions whereby said upper and lower portions may be angularly adjusted.

3. The structure of claim 2 in which said first pivot comprises a bolt for clamping said upper and lower attachment portions in an adjusted angular position.

4. The structure of claim 2 and in which the lower portion of said attachment includes an axial socket for accommodating the upper end of said, hot stick.

arms are generally hook-shaped.

Claims

1. An attachment for the upper end of a hot stick including: a first arm projecting radially from the attachment on a first plane through the axis of the attachment, a pair of inclined arms projecting from the hot stick attachment on a second plane through the axis of said attachment in angularly spaced relation from said first plane, said second arms including a first arm projecting in outwardly and downwardly extending relation and a second arm in outwardly and upwardly inclined relation from said attachment to terminate in spaced relation to provide a gap between the extremities of said inclined arms, said gap being slightly below a third plane substantially normal to the axis of said attachment and through the axis of said radially projecting first arm, whereby said hot stick may be rested against wire to be engaged with said first arm above said wire and the attachment may be lowered until the radial first arm rests upon the wire, And the hot stick may be turned about its axis until said wire extends through said gap.

2. The attachment described in claim 1 and including a lower portion secured to the upper extremity of said hot stick, an upper portion to which said arms are secured, and a pivot extending through said upper and lower portions on an axis extending normally through the axes of said supper and lower portions whereby said upper and lower portions may be angularly adjusted.

4. The structure of claim 2 and in which the lower portion of said attachment includes an axial socket for accommodating the upper end of said hot stick.

5. The structure of claim 1 and including an axial socket in the lower end of said attachment for accommodating the upper end of said hot stick.

6. The structure of claim 1 and in which said inclined arms are substantially straight.

7. The structure of claim 1 in which said inclined arms are generally hook-shaped.