Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
SPECIFICATION
Thls inventlon relates generall~ to pliers u3~d b~ electri-
cian3 in feeding metal sna~es through conduit tublng.
It 1~ generally well known to ~hose who are skillçd ln this
partlcular ~ield that when ~eeding a metal ~nake lnto a condult
or tubing, upon ocaa~ion the electriclan may have dlfficulty ln
getting the snake around a 90 degree bend, maklng lt necessary to
force the snake lnto the conduit or tubing b~ employing pliers,
the pller~ ~aws gra~ping the snake while pushing the snake with
the pliers. This means that extreme pre33ure must be apPlied by
the workman's hands on the pllers handles. After the snake meet~
the end o~ the conduit or tubing, a wire is then affixed to the
~nake and i~ pulled lnto the raceway. Upon the wire reaching the
20 90 degreee bend, dlf~iculty 18 encountered llkewlse, maklng it
hard to pull the snake ahead, which means that the electrician
must agaln use the pllers and exert great phys~cal pressure on
the pliers handles grasped in his hand~ ln order to move the same
ahead. Thi3 is Pain~ul labor for the ha~s and tlme consumlng, 90
that the situation i8 ob~ectionable and is therefore ln want of
an lmprovement.
Ac^ordingly, it ls a prlnclpal o~ect Or the present lnven-
tlon to provide a snake grlpper that overcome~ the above undes-
l~able situatlon, wherein the pliers are l/2 lnch longer than
30 conventlonal lineman pliers so to glve a greater leverage and
thu~ require less e~fort to obtaln a same firm grasp of the cnake.
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Another ob~ect is to provlde a ~nake grlpper which accord-
lngly 18 much sa~er to use because by u8ing less er~ort the elec-
trlclan's hand would not be ~abbed in~o the conduit end ~lth the
conventlonal hard roroe ln case the pllers Ja~s a¢cide~tally slip
orr the snake, 80 that the hands are thus safer from in~ury, also
allo~lng the Job to be done ln less tlme and reducing labor costs.
It 1~ also well kno~n that upon occaslon, an electriclan 18 obli-
gated to skin an in~ulatçd number 12 gauge ~lre by uslng a spec-
lally de~igned skinner, a knife and flnally by uslng the cutter or
10 the pliers ~hich o~ course risks the poselbility or nicking the
~ire, ~hlch 18 llke~lse an undeslrable ~ituation. Accordlngly,
stlll another obJect o~ the present invention is to provide a line-
~an snake grlp~er having a ~kinner openlng lncorporated between
the pller Ja~s, and ~hich i~ designed rOr the particular ~ire; and
~hl¢h thus ellminate~ the need to carry an extra s~lnnor and kni~e,
Other obJects are to provlae a lineman plier which is ~lmple
ln deslgn, lnexpensl~e to manuracture, rugged ln constructlon, easy
to u~e, and errlcient ln operatlon.
These and other obJects will be readlly evident upon a study
20 of the ~ollo~lng specl~icatlons and the accompan~lng drawlng
~herein:
FI~URE 1 is a ~ide v~ew of the lnventlon.
FI~URE 2 ls a perspectlve vlew o~ the Jaws thereo~ shown
~pread o~ened,
FIo~RE 3 18 a side vie~ or the pller levers sho~n dls-assem-
bled ~ro~ each other and spaced apart eo to more clearl~ ~ee the
3a~ contour o~ ea¢h.
Re~erence 18 now made to the dra~lng ln greater detall ~here-
ln the refere~ce number lO represente a lineman enake grlpper
30 according to the pre3ent lnventlon.
;~QS4i~
The snake gripper i8 comprlsed or a Pair of levers 11 and
12 plvotall~ atta¢hed together by a pivot screw 13 transver~ely
through longltudinally intermediate portions of the leYers ~o
tQ rorm a palr o~ mating Ja~s 14 and 15 respectlvely at one end,
and a Pair o~ non-~llp handles 16 and 17 at an opposlte end ~or
being grasped ~lthln a person'~ hand, and which are covered by
insulatlon 18 80 to not transmit any electric ~hock to a person~
hand holding the ~ame in case the ~aw~ engage a live ~lre or other
electrlcally ch~rged ob~ect.
In the pre~ent lnventlon, che¢kered or toothed ~aces 19 and
20 o~ the Ja~s engage each other when the pller~ i~ fully closed,
and which are used for grasping varlou~ ob~ects firmly therebe-
tween,
A longltudlnal groove 21 along one slde edge of ~aw 14 serves
to recelve a ~nake (and ~hlch ln Figure~ 1 and 2 i8 indlcated only
by a center llne 22a ~or malntalning a clarity of the figures). A
tooth 23 on the ~aw 15 pro~ects forwardly of race 20 and has a
checkered or toothed rorward side 24 that engages a checkered or
toothed portlon 25 or groove 21, 80 to frlctlonally grasp the
20 ~nakes therebet~een.
The Jaw 14 has a groove 26 on one slde 27 thereor which
allgn~ axiall~ ~lth groove 21. m e groove 26 lntercept~3 one end
o~ the pivot 8crew 13 ~hlch has a groove 27 that altgns wlth
groove 26. The alignlng grooves 21, 26, and 27 permit the snake
to extend along a straight llne therethrough.
A checkered or toothed stra~ght face 28 18 formed on lever
11 and i8 located on the handle portlon instead of on the ~aw
that i~ on the oppo~lte s~de o~ the pivot screw. The lever 12
ha~ a corresponding ~tratght, checkered or toothed face 29 that
30 engage~ the ~ace 28. A~3 clearly J3hown ln the d~Ning, the faces
28 and 29 are axially aligned with the above descrlbed grooves
21, 26, and 27, ~o that the snake extends on the ~ame ~tralght
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line al~o therebet~een.
It wlll now be there~ore evidPnt that ln oper~tive u~e when
a ~nake i8 thus gra~ped between faces 24 and 25 on one side of
the plvot pin 13, and between faces 28 and 29 on an opposlte ~lde
Or the pivot pln that the 3traight ~nake i~ more flrmly held over
a longer portion thereof, for either being pulled or pushed.
A 1/2 clrcular notch 30 along mating wire cuttlng edges 31
of a blade 32 on each ~aw ls provided to receive a particular
number 12 gauge wlre ror being skinned, the notches 30 together
10 ~orming a circular openlng 33 ~hen the ~a~s are clo~ed 80 to flt
the ~peclric ~lze of wire, commonly u~ed by the electrician
A notch 34 provided on the handle portlon of lever 12 ~ervea
ror bending ~lre into a loop, to be afrlxed on a scre~.
Thu~ there i8 provided a llneman anake grlpper that provides
l~proved servlce
Whlle varlous change~ may be made in the detall con~tructlon,
lt i9 under~tood that such changes will be wlthin the spirlt and
scope of the pre~ent invention a8 i~ de~ined by the aPPended
claim~.
