US3894589A

US3894589A - Process for positioning various poles and the like and device for embodying the same

Info

Publication number: US3894589A
Application number: US320743A
Authority: US
Inventors: Pierre Alfred Leon Ciraud
Original assignee: CIRAUD LEONE ISAURE MARIE
Current assignee: CIRAUD LEONE ISAURE MARIE
Priority date: 1972-01-03
Filing date: 1973-01-03
Publication date: 1975-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 1992-07-15
Also published as: DE2300036A1; ES410310A1

Abstract

A pin is engaged in a tubular sleeve and both the sleeve and the pin are driven into the ground with the pin protruding beneath the sleeve. A stop is applied on top of the sleeve and the pin is removed and a pole is then inserted into the sleeve.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Ciraud 1 PROCESS FOR POSITIONING VARIOUS POLES AND THE LIKE AND DEVICE FOR EMBODYING THE SAME [75] Inventor: Pierre Alfred Leon Ciraud, Cognac,

France [73] Assignee: Leone Isaure Marie Ciraud, Cognac,

France [22] Filed: Jan. 3, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 320,743

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 3, 1972 France 72.00030 Apr. 13, 1972 France 72.13010 [52] U.S. Cl. "5/23; 173/45; 175/72 [51] Int. Cl E211! 11/02 [58] Field of Search 175/23, 22, 52, 19;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 955,729 4/1910 Welsh 175/23 X 1 July 15, 1975 986,819 3/1911 McGranighan 175/23 X 1,048,470 12/1912 Frankignoul 175/23 1,906,706 2/1933 Moore 175/23 X 2,425,494 8/1947 Taylor 175/22 X 2,655,006 10/1953 Hoen et a1. 175/19 2,918,258 12/1959 Roland 175/23 3,058,533 10/1962 Collins 175/52 X 3,446,296 5/1969 Anderson..... 173/45 X 3,744,578 7/1973 Lisenby 175/23- FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 239,525 10/1911 Germany 175/23 Primary ExaminerDennis L. Taylor Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Browdy and Neimark [57] ABSTRACT A pin is engaged in a tubular sleeve and both the sleeve and the pin are driven into the ground with the pin protruding beneath the sleeve. A stop is applied on top of the sleeve and the pin is removed and a pole is then inserted into the sleeve.

33 Claims, 22 Drawing Figures mvmm 15 I975 3,894,589

SHEET 1 61.6. H Fi 6.1.

up u u m n m u n [IL L.

f JUL I 5 5975 8 9 SHEET 9 5616. Fla? PROCESS FOR POSITIONING VARIOUS POLES AND THE LIKE AND DEVICE FOR EMBODYING THE SAME Positioning poles or posts into the ground for making fences and like constructions has, up to now, necessitated manual handling which is time consuming because a rather broad hole is made in the earth, the pole is introduced into the hole and then the pole is embedded into earth or concrete. Moreover, the poles or posts thus positioned can not be dismantled.

Through the invention all the manual handling is avoided and the poles, although being very strongly fastened to the ground, are dismountable.

According to a first aspect of the invention, the process for placing into the ground sleeves, each intended to receive a pole or like member comprises the steps of preparing a tubular sleeve, of slipping said sleeve onto a penetrating pin up to a retaining stop, of simulta neously driving the sleeve and the pin into the ground with said pin protruding beneath said sleeve, of applying said stop on the top of the sleeve during the penetration, of removing the pin from the sleeve and from the ground while maintaining the stop against the top of said sleeve, of driving off said stop and of inserting a pole into said sleeve, thus forming a housing for the base of the pole.

The invention relates also to a device for embodying the above process.

According to this second aspect of the invention, the device for placing into the ground sleeves, each intended to receive a pole or like member, comprises: a sleeve made of plastic material, a penetration pin engaged into the sleeve and protruding beneath said sleeve; means to simultaneously driving in the pin and the sleeve, means to retain the sleeve during the removal of the pin, and a pole, shaped at the base thereof according to the cross sectional form of the sleeve engaged in the ground.

For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a sectional view of the entire device according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a view of a portion of a fence constructed according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view illustrating the placement of the anchor-sleeves.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 of a slight variant.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, similar to FIG. 1 showing a development of the invention.

FIGS. 6 and 6a are sectional views showing two variants in the construction of the poles.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the device for driving in the sleeves according to the invention.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial diagrammatic perspective view illustrating a detail of realization.

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view showing the variant of FIG. 9.

FIGS. 11 and Ila are views showing characteristic operating positions.

FIGS. 12 to 15 are partial sectional views of a variant of the device showing different characteristic operating positions.

FIG. 16 is a sectional view of a pole fitted in place.

FIG. 17 is a diagrammatic sectional view showing another development of the invention.

FIGS. 18 and 19 are sectional views showing another development of the invention.

FIG. 20 is a sectional view showing an additional characteristic of the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an anchor-sleeve, designated by 1, is constituted of a tube, preferably made of synthetic resin, (for example of polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride or the like). The sleeve is driven into the ground with a portion la of the sleeve advantageously protruding above the surface 2 of the ground to prevent soil from penetrating therein when a pole is not yet placed or when it is removed.

Advantageously, the sleeve 1 is provided on the outer wall thereof, with protuberances 3 which can be constituted in various ways, for example as shown in 30 they can be made of slightly folded back barbs cut from the sleeve 1 and protruding in a direction for which they tend to prevent the removal of sleeve 1. The protuberances can also be constituted in the shape of sharp teeth as shown in 3 by providing a protrusion of material on the outer wall of the sleeve.

The pole 4, designed to be engaged inside the anchor-sleeve l, is constituted of a tubular element which preferably is made of synthetic resin, more preferably of thermoplastic synthetic resin in the form of foam or sponge. The pole is covered, at least on the outer wall thereof, with a dense skin in order to obtain, as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawing, a dense and rigid envelope 5 enveloping the foam body 6. To obtain such a pole, the synthetic resin previously provided with a foaming agent is injected into a cooled forming nozzle or into a cooled mobile mold. The nozzle or mold being insidely provided with a mandrel forming the inner wall 7 of the pole. Thus, a continuous tube is made with the forming nozzle or the mobile mould forming the skin or envelope 5 since said nozzle, or mold, is cooled to prevent the development of foam by the resin immediately in contact with the cold wall, while body 6 develops in foam between the immediately cooled skin 5 and the mandrel forming the inner wall 7. Said continuously made tube is then cut into sections, as required, to constitute the poles.

Finally, when a pole is introduced into the anchorsleeve 1, the pole is closed at its upper portion by a cover 8 also made of synthetic resin through molding by injection or another similar process.

Constructing the pole 4, as hereinabove described, gives the outer wall 5 an appearance of wood. The poles are made so as not to be an aesthetic nuisance when they are placed into the ground.

The body 6 of the pole being made of foamed resin, it is possible to fix nails therein or to screw some screws. Then as shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to place wires 9 connecting the various poles. In this respect, FIG. 1 shows a wire staple 10 wherein one of the wires 9 is passed.

The anchor-sleeve l of FIG. I can also be made by extrusion in a forming machine placed at the outlet of an extruding machine and also comprising a mobile mold similar to the mold utilized for forming the tube constituting the poles, that is substantially comprising a mobile mold which can be constituted by cooperating caterpillars forming between them a molding cavity where the formed

protuberances

3 or 3a are.

To place the anchor-sleeves 1 into the ground, a pin 11, (FIG. 3) longer than the sleeve 1, is provided at its lower portion with an ogive l2 facilitating its penetration into the ground. The pin 11 forms at the upper portion of the ogive 12 a small annular groove 13, of a small depth and in which penetrates the folded back end of the sleeve 1. Above the sleeve 1, the pin 11 is provided with an extraction component 14 bearing beneath a shoulder 15 formed by the upper portion of the As it appears from the above disclosure, when hitting or applying a pressure on the top of the pin previously equipped with a sleeve 1, said pin and said sleeve progressively penetrate into the ground, and the soil cannot penetrate between the pin and the sleeve due to the folded back portion 1b placed in the groove 13.

When the penetration is sufficient, the pin 11 is removed while maintaining the extraction component 14 against the top of the sleeve.

To facilitate the extraction, it is possible to design longitudinal grooves or ribs on the wall of the portion of the pin penetrating into the sleeve, said longitudinal grooves causing the pin to bear on the inner wall of the sleeve only by a very small surface. It is also possible that these grooves or ribs the same being not shown in the drawing be spiral-shaped, thus by rotating the pin, its removal is made much easier.

FIG. 4 shows a variant in the realization of the anchor-sleeve, wherein said sleeve, designated by 1,, forms at the lower portion thereof, an inner shoulder 16 having an outer wall 160 which is substantially in the shape of a truncated cone, or of an arc of circle, or of parabola. In addition, the upper portion of the sleeve forms a collar 17 designed to bear on the surface 2 of the ground.

In this realization, the pin 1 provided to drive the sleeve into the ground comprises an added ogive 12, forming in front of the shoulder 16 a slightly smaller portion 12 preven ing the soil to penetrate between the pin and the inner wall of the sleeve. In this embodiment it is to be noted that stresses due to the driving-in are applied by the pin directly on the top of the shoulder 16. This is on the lowest portion of the sleeve and also the portion having a greater strength.

Samely as for the annular groove 13 shown in FIG. 3, the portion 12 has a very small depth in order that the further removal of ogive 12 does not present any difficulty.

The ogive 12 in FIG. 3 and ogive 12 in FIG. 4 can be made, for example, of plastic material and be only placed to be removable from the pin 11 whereby these ogives remain in the ground. It is also possible that said ogive be directly formed from the shoulder 16 and then the pin bears only on the top of the ogive being thus an integral portion of the anchor-sleeve 1.

FIG. 5 shows a variant wherein the pole 4 laterally has longitudinal wings 18 containing apertures 19. The apertures 19 are provided for placing of the wires 9 in FIG. 2. The tubular shape of the poles is provided for placing in the inner channel they delimit, a reinforcement web 20 which can be constituted by a metal or concrete tube of any shape. The shoulder 16 of the anchor-sleeve 1, is then particularly advantageous since it centers the reinforcement web 20 upon its position- FIGS. 6 and 60 show two variations of the construction of the tubular pole, wherein said poles have an outer annular envelope 5 and an inner annular envelope; the two said envelopesbeing connected by struts 20 radially placed in FIG. 6, or by struts 21 forming successive triangles as shown in FIG. 6a.

In FIG. 7, reference 101 designates the rear portion of a tractor and 102 the lifting mechanism usually designed at the rear portion of said tractor, said lifting mechanism supporting a frame 103 advantageously provided with a trailer 104 comprising skids 105.

The group including the frame 103 and the trailer 104 is preferably setoff laterally to the tractor or placed in the vicinity of its longitudinal axis, between the wheels, depending on the path the tractor will follow to place into the ground the sleeves 106 designed to receive the poles 4.

In FIG. 7, the frame 103 supports a driving in jack 107, constituted by a double-effect jack advantageously provided with a vibrating device, and an extruding jack 108 called.

Piston 109 of the driving-in jack 107 passes through the end ofa feeder 110 wherein are maintained the sleeves 106a, l06b l06n. The feeder 110 is represented in the drawings as comprising with reference to FIG. 8 two slide-guides 1100, N012 wherein the sleeves 106a, lO6b.....l06n can slide to be brought in the extraction position of the feeder, said position being the position where the piston 109 passes the driving-in jack 107.

The lower portion of the piston 11] of extraction jack 108 is provided with an extraction component constituted by a ring or a fork 112 passing around the piston 109 of the jack 107.

In front of the

jacks

107, 108 and as shown in FIG. 8 the slide-guides 110a, 1 10b are replaced by swivelling

flaps

113, 114 usually kept in line with said slide-guides by sets of

springs

115, 115a and 116, 116a. The

flaps

113, 114 comprise retaining stops 117 and respectively 117a, against which bears a collar 106' similar to the collar 17 of FIG. 4 and provided on each of the sleeves having to be driven into the ground. FIG. 8 shows, for the sleeve 106 that the collar 106' is retained by the stops 117, 117a.

The swivelling flaps 113, 114 are connected, at the ends thereof directed towards the sliding-guides 1100, 110b, to swivelling

arms

118, and 118a, respectively the same being placed in the position shown when the

flaps

113, 114 are in the horizontal position.

The above described device operating as follows: To drive in a sleeve, the

jacks

107 and 108 being in the position shown in FIG. 8, through an external control, the piston 109 starts to penetrate into the sleeve 106, and the piston 111 begins to move down so that the fork 112 begins to bear on the collar 106'. While this downward motion continues, the fork 112 bearing on the collar 106' makes the

flaps

113, 114 swivel downwards until collar 106' of the flaps is released. At the same moment the

arms

118, 118a swivel at the same time and bear on collar 106'a of sleeve 106a to hold said sleeve.

The piston 109 passes entirely through the sleeve 106, The ogive shaped end portion 109a protrudes beneath said sleeve 106, and digs the ground. The fork 1 12 going down at the same time and at the same speed as the piston 109 of the driving-in jack 107, the sleeve 106, is also moved down and is introduced into the ground when the collar 106' comes in contact with the surface of the ground as shown in FIG. 7. The piston 109 is then raised while the piston 11 l of the jack 108 is kept motionless as shown in FIG. 7, thus the fork 112 connected to the piston 111 prevents extraction of the sleeve 106, while the piston 109 is removed. Finally the piston 111 is then taken up, the fork 112 lifting the

flaps

113, 114 together with the

arms

118, 118a said fork is when coming back to the position represented in FIG. 8. During lifting of the flaps, the sleeve 106a cannot go forward since the end of said flaps constitutes a stop for the collar 106'a. Finally the

flaps

113, 114 are taken back to the horizontal position thereof by the

springs

115, 115a and 116, 116a, thus providing the sleeve 106a to slide up to the position previously occupied by the sleeve 106, and a new driving-in process can take place after having displaced the trailer 104.

It is to be noticed that the various operations as above described can easily be automatically controlled by a simple programming unit, the same being advantageously placed on the frame 103 of the trailer together with the feeding pumps and tanks of the

jacks

107 and 108. This assembly is diagrammatically represented as a whole by reference 120 in FIG. 7.

FIGS. 9 and show a variant wherein the sleeves 106 can be not provided with the collars 106' as it was the case in the preceeding realization. In such a case the

flaps

113, 114 and retaining

arms

118, 118a are placed at the end of a lower slide-guide l10c provided on the feeder 110, and they are generally designated by 114,.

In said variant, and as better seen in FIG. 10, only the driving-in jack 107 remains, of which the piston 109 has at its lower portion section 1091: having a diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the sleeves 106 and the height of said section being higher than the height of said sleeves. This will allow an ogive shaped end 109a protrude beneath said sleeves. A sleeve 121 is placed coaxially to the piston 109 and is supported by a spindle 122 connecting the head of two sets of connecting-

rods

123, 124 and 123a, 124a, the bases thereof being hinged to two other sets of

connectingrods

125, 126 and 125a, l26a, the heads thereof being hinged on a spindle 128 supported by the body of the jack 107.

The connecting-rods are respectively hinged around two

axles

129, 130 and around a common axle 131 laterally protruding to delimit fingers cooperating with retaining stops 132 formed by levers 133, 134 hinged at one of their ends on the

axles

129, 130 and connected together, at their other end, by an operating handle 135. Springs, such as 136, 137 are designed to connect, for example, the

axles

129, 131 to steady arms 138 supported by the body of the jack 107.

The operation of this device is as follows: FIG. 9 shows the piston 109 of the jack 107 in the starting position with the sleeve 12] being above a sleeve 106, which will be placed into the ground and which is retained by the flaps 114,. The portion 1091) of the piston comes out from the sleeve 121 and penetrates into the sleeve 106,.

When the portion 109!) is entirely introduced into the sleeve 106,, the portion of piston 109 having a bigger diameter than the portion 10% bears on the top of the sleeve 121, thus driving the sleeve 106, downward through the retaining flaps 114 While the piston 109 is moving downward, the sleeve is driven into the ground as shown in FIGS. 11 and 11a, while the hinged connecting-

rods

125, 126, a and 126a swivel around their axles.

When the driving-in step is completed the stops 132 of the levers 133, 134 cover the axle 131 in the position shown in FIG. 11. At that moment the piston 109 of the jack 107 is taken up, the sleeve 12] remaining in place to retain the sleeve 106, engaged into the ground.

When the piston 109 is sufficiently lifted, a lug 139 (FIG. 10) laterally provided on said piston, comes in contact with a stop 140 supported by the lever 134 which is lifted up as well as the lever 133 to release the axle 131. The

springs

136, 137 being stressed, then return the connecting-rods and the sleeve 121 from the position shown in FIG. 10 to the position shown in FIG. 9, and a new operating cycle can start.

In order that the motion of the connecting-rods, when returned to their first position be not too brutal, friction dampers can be provided on the hinging

axles

129, 130.

FIGS. 12-20 show that the piston rod 111 of the jack 108 is provided with an arm 141 on which is placed a sleeve 142 which is able to slide with a low clearance on the piston rod 109 of the jack 107.

The sleeve 142 supports on its bottom side, a compression plate 143 advantageously forming a sleeve 143a wherein is placed the upper portion of a sleeve 106 which is placed into the ground.

The rod 109 of the jack 107 forms, just above the sleeve 142, a shoulder 144, thus the sleeve 142 is lowered at the same time as the driving-in rod 109 when said jack 107 is slid into the direction of arrow f, to introduce the sleeve 106 into the ground.

When the rod 109 has sufficiently penetrated into the ground, the plate 143 bears against the surface of the ground and compresses it as shown in FIG. 14, the action of compression being improved by the vibrations which can be transmitted to said plate 143 through the rod 109. The compression thus operated on the ground increases the holding of the sleeve 106.

Finally the jack 107 is controlled to lift-up its rod 109 in the direction of arrowf (FIG. 15), while the rod 111 of the jack 108 is maintained down to cause the sleeve 142 to immobilize both the plate 143 and the sleeve 106 during the lifting of the rod 109. A pole 145 is then placed in the sleeve 106 as shown in FIG. 16. The pole 145 can be of any kind, that is it can be made of metal, of synthetic resin, of wood, of concrete, etc...

FIG. 17 shows a development of this invention wherein the rod 109 of the driving-in jack 107 is axially provided with at least one channel 147 communicating with distributing holes 148 running in the boring ogive 109a. It is thus possible to inject into the ground, either when the rod 109 is entirely introduced, or during introduction of said rod, different materials, such as liquid mortar, concrete, resins, etc..... In this embodiment the sleeve 106 around which the ground is compressed by the compression plate 143, is practically embedded in the ground and it is possible, in some cases, to utilize sleeves shorter than the sleeves usually utilized when an injection of adding and setting material is not practiced.

In some cases, the sleeves 106 must be placed into very light soils and must be able to support poles which can be submitted to important stresses. To take into consideration the possible instability of the ground, this invention comprises an additional development, illustrated in FIG. 18, wherein a container 149 (cylindrically shaped, for example) is placed on the ground, be-

fore lowering the rod 109, and open at the two ends and having a width corresponding to that of the compression plate 143. Into the container is placed some sand, gravel or a shallow concrete as shown at 150.

To engage the sleeve, the process is the same as above described, with said sleeve being introduced through the material contained in the container 149. When the engagement step is completed, the compression plate 143 makes the sand, gravel or shallow concrete to penetrate into the ground while compressing said material around sleeve 106, as shown in 1500 in FIG. 19.

If the rod 109 is provided with the channel 147 utilized to bring an added material, then the sleeve 106 can be embedded on the whole portion thereof engaged in the ground.

The sleeves 106, set into the ground, can be not immediately provided with a stake or a pole or, in some cases, the stakes or poles can be removed. To prevent the sleeves to be filled with soil, it is advantageous, when not in use, to provide them with a cover 151 as shown in FIG. 20.

I claim:

1. A device for placing sleeves into the ground, each sleeve to receive a pole or like member, comprising:

a frame;

a sleeve detachably mounted on said frame;

a penetration pin having an inner diameter slightly smaller than that of said sleeve and a length longer than that of said sleeve;

inserting means connected to said frame for causing said pin to downwardly pass through said sleeve for inserting said pin into the ground, and for lifting said pin upwardly when said pin and said sleeve are embedded in the ground;

following means connected to said frame for causing said sleeve to follow the downward movement of said pin;

reciprocably movable means connected to said frame for retaining said sleeve in the ground when said pin is removed from said sleeve; and

coordinating means connected to said frame for synchronizing the movements of said inserting means and said reciprocably movable means;

whereby said sleeve remains in the ground when said pin is extracted and whereby a pole may thereafter be inserted into said sleeve.

2. Device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said pin includes a shoulder at the upper portion of the pin and an extracting component bearing beneath said shoulder.

3. Device as set forth in claim I, wherein said inserting means is a pressure operated vibrating means.

4. Device as set forth in claim 1, further including means in conjunction with said sleeve for compressing the surface of the ground immediately adjacent said sleeve.

5. Device as set forth in claim 1, further including a means for positioning a pole into the sleeve.

6. Device as set forth in claim I, further comprising means connected to said frame for positioning covers removably closing the sleeves inserted into the ground.

7. Device as set forth in claim 1, further including supporting and positioning means for supporting the sleeve and positioning said sleeve concentrically with respect to said pin.

8. Device as set forth in claim 7, wherein said supporting and positioning means comprises pivotally mounted and springly urged flaps.

9. Device as set forth in claim 8, wherein said flaps further include stop members.

10. Device as set forth in claim 8, further including guide means aligned with said flaps for supporting successive sleeves.

11. Device as set forth in claim 10, wherein said guide means is at least partly sloped whereby the successive sleeves are urged by gravity.

12. Device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said penetration pin comprises a cylindrical part connected to a digging portion.

13. Device as set forth in claim 12, wherein the diggin g portion is ogive shaped.

14. Device as set forth in claim 12, wherein a peripheral groove is provided between the cylindrical part and the digging portion for housing the lower portion of the sleeve.

15. Device as set forth in claim 12, wherein the digging portion of the penetration pin is removably connected to the cylindrical part thereof.

16. Device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said penetration pin further includes a friction preventative means for limiting the friction thereof with the inner wall of the sleeve, whereby extraction of the pin is facilitated.

17. Device as set forth in claim 16, wherein said friction preventative means includes longitudinal ribs provided on the pin.

18. Device as set forth in claim 16, wherein said friction preventative means includes helical ribs provided on the pin.

19. Device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising limiting means for limiting the downward movement of the pin and the sleeve, whereby the inserted sleeves are slightly protruding above the ground.

20. Device as set forth in claim 7, wherein the supporting and positioning means includes two sliding guides for positioning the sleeves therebetween, said sliding guides including swivelling flaps with a resilient return as well as swivelling arms and retaining stops for maintaining the sleeve next to the sleeve concentrically position to the pin.

21. Device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said inserting means comprises a penetration jack and said pin comprises the piston of said penetration jack, said following means and said reciprocably moving means comprises a second jack and a holding member supported by the piston of said second jack, and said coordinating means causes the operation of said second jack to be in a time relation to said penetration jack such that the sleeve placed in the ground is prevented from being extracted when the piston of the penetration jack is moved upwardly.

22. Device as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

said penetrating pin and said inserting means comprise a penetration jack having a piston having an upper portion with a diameter greater than the inside diameter of the sleeve and a lower extension portion having a diameter slightly smaller than that of said sleeve and a length longer than that of said sleeve, said lower extension portion of said piston being said penetrating pin,

said following means and said reciprocably movable means comprise a cylindrical part disposed coaxially to said piston, said cylindrical part being supported by hinged parallelograms carried by the body of the penetration jack, resilient elements being further provided to urge said hinged parallelograms against deformation thereof during the downward movement of the piston, whereby during downward movement of the pin said lower extension of said piston passes through the cylindrical part and through the sleeve until the larger diameter portion of said piston bears on top of the cylindrical part to cause the sleeve to follow the downward movement of the pin, a locking member being further provided to lock the parallelograms in the deformed position thereof during the upward movement of the pin whereby the cylindrical part retains the sleeve during said upward movement of the pin, means being still further provided to unlock said locking member when the pin is moved up a given length whereby the resilient elements return said parallelograms to the undeformed position thereof.

23. Device as set forth in claim 22, wherein means are provided on said parallelograms to damper its return.

24. Device as set forth in claim 22, wherein the locking members for the parallelograms comprise levers provided with stops, said levers being unlocked when the pin is moved up a given length by means of a lug supported by the piston of the penetration jack and coming against a further stop provided on one of said levers.

25. Device as set forth in claim 1, further including a tractor frame being connected at the rear portion thereof.

26. Device as set forth in claim 1, further including a drive means with a trailer connected thereto, said frame being placed on said trailer in line with the median axis of said drive means.

27. Device as set forth in claim 1, further including a drive means with a trailer connected thereto, said frame being placed on said trailer laterally set-off with respect to the median axis of said drive means.

28. Device as set forth in claim 21, wherein a compression plate is placed beneath said holding member whereby the ground surface around the sleeve is compressed upon completion of the introduction of the sleeve into the ground.

29. Device as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

said penetrating pin and said inserting means comprise a penetration jack having a piston having an upper portion with a diameter greater than the inside diameter of the sleeve and a lower extension portion having a diameter slightly smaller than that of said sleeve and a length longer than that of said sleeve, said lower extension portion of said piston 5 being said penetrating pin,

said following means comprises a cylindrical part positioned concentrically with said piston having an inside diameter greater than the lower extension portion of said piston and less than the upper portion of said piston such that the shoulder between the two portions of said piston can bear upon said cylindrical part,

said following means further including a compression plate connected to said cylindrical part therebeneath,

whereby the piston of said penetration jack drives said cylindrical part and said compression plate during its downward movement.

30. Device as set forth in claim 28, wherein said compression plate is connected to the holding member by a sheath through which said sleeve is provided to pass.

3]. Device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a tank mounted on said frame for distributing liquid mortar or concrete and wherein the penetration pin is insidely provided with a duct emerging near the bottom of said pin, said duct being connected to said tank, whereby the liquid mortar or concrete is injected into the ground during the penetration of the pin into the ground.

32. Device as set forth in claim 28 comprising further a container opened at the two ends thereof and having a cross-sectional area slightly larger than that of said compression plate, means to place the container on the ground surface concentric to said compression plate, said container containing a contributing material of sand, gravel, concrete or the like, whereby said contributing material is compressed into the surface of the ground by the compression plate during the downward movement of the pin.

33. Device as set forth in claim 29 comprising further a container opened at the two ends thereof and having a cross-sectional area slightly larger than that of said compression plate, means to place the container on the ground surface concentric to said compression plate, said container containing a contributing material of sand, gravel, concrete or the like, whereby said contributing material is compressed into the surface of the ground by the compression plate during the downward movement of the pin.

Claims

1. A device for placing sleeves into the ground, each sleeve to receive a pole or like member, comprising: a frame; a sleeve detachably mounted on said frame; a penetration pin having an inner diameter slightly smaller than that of said sleeve and a length longer than that of said sleeve; inserting means connected to said frame for causing said pin to downwardly pass through said sleeve for inserting said pin into the ground, and for lifting said pin upwardly when said pin and said sleeve are embedded in the ground; following means connected to said frame for causing said sleeve to follow the downward movement of said pin; reciprocably movable means connected to said frame for retaining said sleeve in the ground when said pin is removed from said sleeve; and coordinating means connected to said frame for synchronizing the movements of said inserting means and said reciprocably movable means; whereby said sleeve remains in the ground when said Pin is extracted and whereby a pole may thereafter be inserted into said sleeve.

3. Device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said inserting means is a pressure operated vibrating means.

6. Device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising means connected to said frame for positioning covers removably closing the sleeves inserted into the ground.

13. Device as set forth in claim 12, wherein the digging portion is ogive shaped.

22. Device as set forth in claim 1, wherein: said penetrating pin and said inserting means comprise a penetration jack having a piston having an upper portion with a diameter greater than the inside diameter of the sleeve and a lower extension portion having a diameter slightly smaller than that of said sleeve and a length longer than that of said sleeve, said lower extension portion of said piston being said penetrating pin, SAID following means and said reciprocably movable means comprise a cylindrical part disposed coaxially to said piston, said cylindrical part being supported by hinged parallelograms carried by the body of the penetration jack, resilient elements being further provided to urge said hinged parallelograms against deformation thereof during the downward movement of the piston, whereby during downward movement of the pin said lower extension of said piston passes through the cylindrical part and through the sleeve until the larger diameter portion of said piston bears on top of the cylindrical part to cause the sleeve to follow the downward movement of the pin, a locking member being further provided to lock the parallelograms in the deformed position thereof during the upward movement of the pin whereby the cylindrical part retains the sleeve during said upward movement of the pin, means being still further provided to unlock said locking member when the pin is moved up a given length whereby the resilient elements return said parallelograms to the undeformed position thereof.

29. Device as set forth in claim 1, wherein: said penetrating pin and said inserting means comprise a penetration jack having a piston having an upper portion with a diameter greater than the inside diameter of the sleeve and a lower extension portion having a diameter slightly smaller than that of said sleeve and a length longer than that of said sleeve, said lower extension portion of said piston being said penetrating pin, said following means comprises a cylindrical part positioned concentrically with said piston having an inside diameter greater than the lower extension portion of said piston and less than the upper portion of said piston such that the shoulder between the two portions of said piston can bear upon said cylindrical part, said following means further including a compression plate connected to said cylindrical part therebeneath, whereby the piston of said penetration jack drives said cylindrical part and said compression plate during its downward movement.

31. Device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a tank mounted on said frame for distributing liquid mortar or concrete and wherein the penetration pin is insidely provided with a duct emerging near the bottom of said pin, said duct being connected to said tank, whereby the liquid mortar or concrete is injected into the ground during the penetration of the pin into the ground.