US3132914A - Clamp assembly - Google Patents

Description

May 12, 1964 H. R. WENGEN 3,132,914

CLAMP ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 29, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HTTO/P/VEYS CLAMP ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 29, 1961 ATTOR/Vt'V-S United States Patent 3,132,914 CLAMP ASSEMBLY Henry R. Wengen, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., assignor to Fargo Mfg. Company, Inc, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 29, 1961, Ser. No. 134,634 1 Claim. (Cl. 339-109) This invention relates to a functionally and structurally improved clamp assembly primarily intended to connect tap-01f conductors with transmission lines.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide an assembly in which the tap-ofi? conductor may be firmly secured to permanent parts thereof in a manner such that the linesman need not fear that an accidental uncoupling of the tap-off will occur at the time he is manipulating the assembly to associate it with a hot or transmission line; the conductor remaining as a permanent part of the assembly throughout the entire life of the latter.

A further object is that of providing an assembly which may readily be manipulated by the linesman and which may be manufactured at nominal cost.

Moreover, by the present teachings, a structure is furnished such that the clamp may readily be electrically connected with or disconnected from a transmission line without danger of damage to the latter incident to arcing or similar causes.

With these and other objects in mind, reference is had to the attached sheets of drawings illustrating one practical embodiment of the invention, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of an assembly in applied position;

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view taken along the line 2-2 in the direction of the arrows as indicated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 33 in the direction of the arrows as also indicated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an alternative manner of coupling the assembly to a transmission line;

FIG. 5 is a sectional side view taken along the line 5-5 in the direction of the arrows as indicated in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional side view taken along the line 6-6 in the direction of the arrows as indicated in FIG. 1.

In these views the reference numeral 10 indicates a hot or transmission line and 11 one form of tap-off conductor. As shown especially in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the assembly will include a main clamp involving an upper jaw 12 and a lower jaw 13. These jaws are disposed in opposed relationship and are maintained in this position by conveniently providing as part of the lower jaw a rearwardly extending casing portion 14 the interior of which defines in plan a rectangular space. Within that space a block 15 is slidably disposed to be guided by engagement with the adjacent faces of the casing structure 14 and is integral with jaw 12. It is formed with a threaded bore 16' into which the correspondingly threaded shank 16 of an eye-bolt 17 extends. That bolt mounts a collar 18 fixed with respect to its shank and rotatably bearing against the lower face of casing 14.

Downwardly extending portions 19 are conveniently included as part of the casing structure 14 and lie one to each side of the bolt shank. The opening in the lower portion of casing 14 and through which the bolt shank extends is unthreaded. A pin 20 may be mounted by one of the extended portions 19 to underlie the collar 18. It is, of course, apparent that in lieu of an eye-type bolt alternative units ma} be substituted. However, it is in many respects preferred to utilize a bolt of this type in that it lends itself to the technique commonly employed by linesmen in connection with the mounting of assemblies by the use of a hot-line stick. It is also preferred as part of the assembly to employ a spacer bar 21 intervening the jaws 12 and 13. These bars being preferably made of pure aluminum, they provide a short, high conductive path between the transmission line and conductor 11 or its equivalent. This bar has rearwardly extending hook-shaped parts 22 which conveniently mount grommets 23 of any desirable material. These bear against the side edges of flange portions 24 overlapped by the hooks 22 to conveniently hold the bar against unnecessary shifting. 'Also it is preferred that the upper jaw 12 be defined by a downwardly and forwardly extending lip 25.

Now with a view to securing conductor 11 against detachment from the assembly, it will be observed that in the present exemplification lower jaw 13 is provided with an extension 26 projecting laterally beyond the plane into which upper jaw 12 extends. This extension, as in FIG. 6, provides a lower jaw in the form of a grooved and thickened portion 27 coextensive with jaw 13 which receives the conductor engaged by that lower jaw. Portion 27 is preferably provided with an upwardly extending1ip28 which defines the forward end of the conductorreceiving channel. Also it is formed with a threaded bore which engages with the correspondingly threaded shank 29 of a bolt the head 30 of which extends materially above part 27. A second jaw cooperates with the latter part and conveniently includes a body the rear edge of which extends downwardly as at 31 and the forward end of which terminates'in a part 32 overlying the groove defined rearwardly of lip 28 within the thickened portion 27. An upwardly flared bore 33 is provided within this upper jaw portion and accommodates the shank 29 of the bolt; a washer 34 being conveniently interposed between the upper surface of this jaw and the head 36 of the bolt. The downwardly projecting part 31 bears against the upper face of lower jaw 27 which latter is preferably furnished with a groove 35 providing a fulcrum for part 31. It is apparent that upper jaw 32 may be rocked around this point of pivotal coupling so that conductors of different diameters may readily be ac commodated within the opposed jaw portions. So disposed, they may also be firmly clamped against displacement by simply tightening the bolt.

As is apparent, a tap-off conductor may be disposed without difiiculty between the spacer bar 21 and lower jaw 13 to lie between the secondary jaw 32 and body 27. Thereupon, by tightening bolt 29-30 this conductor may be clamped against displacement with respect to extension 26. The assembly may thereupon be associated with a transmission line 10. If it is apparent in a given installation that the clamp will have to be repeatedly removed from and replaced in this association, then a .linesman will be aware of difficulties which may well be experienced as a consequence of arcing incident to this placement and replacement. Those difficulties will be evidenced by damage to the transmission line, which is to be avoided. If such a problem exists, then a stirrup member, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, may conveniently be employed. That stirrup member will be attached to the transmission line and the clamp assembly will be applied to the bail.

Such a member may include an upper jaw 35' and an opposed lower jaw 36, together with a spacer bar 37 intervening these jaws. In common with the clamp struc ture as heretofore described, lower jaw 36 is conveniently integral with a casing 38 defining a rectangular interior configuration accommodating a bored block 39 which may be keystoned with the casing to be slidably accommodated therein. A bolt 40 extends into the bore of block 39 and has threads cooperating with the threads in that bore. A collar 41 extends outwardly adjacent the lower end of casing 38 and forms a part of the bolt. A

Washer 42 preferably intervenes the edge of this casing and the collar. Conveniently, the lower end of the bolt terminates in an eye portion 43.

Downwardly extending fingers 44 are preferably integral with housingportion 38 and underlie collar 41 to prevent its downward displacement. Spacer bar 37 at its ends provides retaining elements 45. These receive the inwardly bent ends 46 of a ball 47. The terminal portions of this bail, as in FIG. 5, are non-annular or serrated (see 48) and the adjacent surfacesof lower jaw 36 and spacer bar 37 may include corresponding configurations. Thus, with a transmission line in position and jaw 36 shifted towards jaw 35, it follows that the faces of the terminal portions of the bail will be engaged to prevent a swinging of the bail so that the latter will be retained in any position to which it has been adjusted. Accordingly, it may extend outwardly and downwardly, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when the stirrup-clamp has been mounted upon and secured against detachment from transmission line 10.

Again, it will be understood that if a stirrup unit is included as part of the assembly, as in FIG. 4, that due to the long contact area at the outer end of the bail one may be assured of a proper electrical connection between the conductor 11 and the transmission line 10. This will be especially true if the spacer bar 37 be of substantially pure aluminum. Both in the case of direct application of the main clamp to the transmission line 10, as in FIG. 1, or to the bail, as in FIG. 4, the lip 25, which is prefererably provided, will assure a ready support of that clamp. Where frequent removal of the latter is not a problem, then it will be unnecessary to employ the stirrup unit. Where the latter is utilized, then damage to the transmission line will not occur due to dismounting of the clamp assembly from that line. The secondary jaw 32 is guided by an integral tongue 49 slidably bearing against the outer side face of portion 27 which will prevent its swiveling around bolt 2930.

Now considering the application of the clamp assembly to either transmission line 10 or the bail 47 of the stirrup member, it will be appreciated that ordinarily a linesman will employ a hot stick which he will couple with the end 17 of bolt 16 to elevate the assembly. In all instances, conductor 11 will previously have been disposed between the jaws 12 and 13 and secured against movements or detachment from the assembly by tightening bolt 29-30 to draw the upper and lower jaws of the secondary clamp into intimate contact with conductor 11. As a consequence of preferably employing an extended lip portion 25, no difiiculty will be experienced by the operator in hooking the assembly into position. Thereafter, by rotating bolt 16, jaws 12 and 13 will be drawn towards each other so that these jaws will intimately engage cable 10 and conductor 11, with the intervening spacer bar pressed into firm contact with the faces of these lines. While in certain instances this bar might be dispensed with, it is preferred to employ it. With this disposition of the parts established, then the hot stock may be uncoupled from the assembly and a proper tap-01f will have been provided.

Thus, among others, the several objects of the invention as specifically aforenoted are achieved. Obviously, numerous changes in construction and rearrangement of the par-ts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claim.

What I claim is:

In an assembly for attaching a tap-off conductor to a high voltage line of the type including upper and lower clamping jaws and first attachment means connecting said upper and lower jaws with said upper jaw shiftable toward and away from said lower jaw and first shifting means forming a pant of said first attachment means for shifting said upper jaw toward and away from said lower jaw that improvement consisting of alignment means for initially aligning said tap-01f conductor with respect to said clamping jaws and a conductor bar supported between said jaws and shiftable therebetween, said alignment means including a lateral extension of said lower jaw, a separate further jaw overlying said extension, said lower jaw and said lateral extension providing an elongated seat for the tap-ofi conductor extending beneath the conductor bar and the further jaw, second attachment means connecting said funther jaw and said extension with said further jaw shiftabl'e toward and away from said extension, second attachment means for shifting said further jaw toward said extension for initially fastening said tapoff conductor to said assembly with said tap-off conduc tor held thereby adjacent said lower jaw and beneath said conductor bar whereby said assembly can be attached to said high voltage line with said high voltage line between said upper jaw and said conductor bar and said upper and lower jaws can be brought toward each other by said first shifting means with said high voltage line and said tap-01f conductor engaging said conductor bar in clamped relation.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,127,840 Church Aug. 23, 1938 2,159,154 Hixon May 23, 1939 2,422,332 Becker June 17, 1947 2,679,032 Thomas et a May 18, 1954 2,698,422 Turner Dec. 28, 1954 2,811,703 Becker Oct. 29, 1957 2,858,522 Wengen et al Oct. 28, 1958 2,885,653 Bethea et al May 5, 1959 3,121,601 Toedtman Feb. 18, 1964

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