Systems and methods for aerial treatment of overhead cabling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10714913-B2
Application number	US-201816001026-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 6, 2018
Priority date	May 11, 2017
Publication date	Jul 14, 2020
Grant date	Jul 14, 2020

Abstract

An aerial cable treatment system having a cable surface preparation assembly and a coating assembly. The cable treatment system is translatable along an in-situ aerial cable. The cable surface preparation assembly can remove dirt and debris, such as carbon deposit, grease, mud, fertilizers, bird droppings, fungal growth, mosses, soot, ice, and like from aerial cables with varying sizes as it translates along the cable. The coating assembly can apply a coating to the outer surface of the in-situ aerial cable it translates along the cable.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An aerial cable treatment system, comprising:
a housing having a longitudinal axis;
a drive system, wherein the drive system comprises a forward traction wheel having a first axis of rotation and a rear traction wheel having a second axis of rotation, wherein each of the forward and rear traction wheels are coupled to the housing and positioned along the longitudinal axis, wherein the first and second axes are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and wherein at least one of the forward traction wheel and the rear traction wheel are drivable to propel the housing along an aerial cable under treatment;
a cable access assembly comprising an arm and a follower wheel, wherein an axis of rotation of the follower wheel is parallel to the first and second axes of rotation, wherein a first end of the arm is coupled to the housing at a pivot point and a second end of the arm is coupled to the follower wheel, wherein the cable access assembly is pivotable between a first position and a second position, and wherein the cable access assembly is lockable in the first position;
a cable coating system comprising:
a coating storage tank coupled to the housing;
a coating applicator assembly coupled to the housing, the coating applicator assembly comprising an atomizing nozzle;
a coating pump operative to pump a coating material from the coating storage tank to the atomizing nozzle; and
an air delivery assembly operative to supply air to the atomizing nozzle;

an optical guidance system, wherein the optical guidance system comprises an image processing system and at least one camera, wherein the image processing system is configured to receive a video feed from the at least one camera, and wherein the optical guidance system is configured to provide a navigational instruction to the drive system based on real-time image processing of the video feed by the image processing system; and
a power source in electrical communication with the drive system and the cable coating system.

2. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the cable coating assembly comprises an optical coating inspection system.

3. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 2 , wherein the optical coating inspection system comprises a plurality of radially arranged coating inspection cameras.

4. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the housing has a front end portion, and wherein the rear traction wheel is positioned closer to the front end portion than the coating applicator assembly.

5. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the cable coating system further comprises a coating storage tank level sensor.

6. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the coating storage tank is refillable.

7. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the coating storage tank is a single-use tank.

8. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 1 , further comprising the coating material stored within the coating storage tank.

9. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 8 , wherein the coating material is a drying-type coating having a softening temperature of more than 90° C.

10. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the aerial cable under treatment is an electrical transmission aerial cable and wherein the coating material is to increase an ampere capacity of the electrical transmission aerial cable.

11. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the navigational instruction comprises any of a drive instruction, a speed instruction, and a direction of travel instruction.

12. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the cable access assembly further comprises a second arm and a second follower wheel, wherein a first end the second arm is coupled to the housing at a second pivot point, and wherein the second follower wheel is coupled to a second end of the second arm.

13. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 1 wherein, when the cable access assembly is in the first position, the axis of rotation of the follower wheel lies in the same plane as one of the first and second axes of rotation.

14. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 13 , wherein the plane is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

15. An aerial cable treatment system, comprising:
a housing having a longitudinal axis;
a drive system, wherein the drive system comprises a forward traction wheel having a first axis of rotation and a rear traction wheel having a second axis of rotation, wherein each of the forward and rear traction wheels are coupled to the housing and positioned along the longitudinal axis, wherein the first and second axes are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and wherein at least one of the forward traction wheel and the rear traction wheel is drivable to propel the housing at a speed of 3 ft./minute to 100 ft./minute along an aerial cable under treatment;
a cable access assembly comprising a first arm, a second arm, a first follower wheel, and a second follower wheel, wherein the first and second follower wheels are positioned along the longitudinal axis, wherein an axis of rotation of each of the first and second follower wheels is parallel to the first and second axes of rotation, wherein a first end of the first arm is coupled to the housing at a first pivot point and a second end of the first arm is coupled to the first follower wheel, wherein a first end of the second arm is coupled to the housing at a second pivot point and a second end of the second arm is coupled to the second follower wheel, wherein the cable access assembly is pivotable between a first position and a second position, and wherein the cable access assembly is lockable in the first position;
a cable coating system comprising:
a coating storage tank;
a nozzle; and
a coating pump operative to pump a coating material from the coating storage tank to the nozzle; and

a power source in electrical communication with the drive system and the cable coating system.

16. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 15 , wherein the nozzle is one of an air nozzle and a drip-feed nozzle.

17. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 15 , wherein the housing is suspendable from an aerial cable.

18. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 15 , further comprising an air delivery assembly operative to direct an airflow toward an aerial cable under treatment.

19. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 15 wherein, when the cable access assembly is in the first position, the first follower wheel opposes the forward traction wheel and the second follower wheel opposes the rear traction wheel.

20. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 15 wherein, when the cable access assembly is in the first position, the axis of rotation of the first follower wheel lies in the same plane as the first axis of rotation and the axis of rotation of the second follower wheel lies in the same plane as the second axis of rotation.

21. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 15 , wherein when the cable access assembly pivots to the second position, the first follower wheel pivots away from the forward traction wheel and the second follower wheel pivots away from the rear traction wheel.

22. The aerial cable treatment system of claim 15 , further comprising an optical guidance system, wherein the optical guidance system comprises an image processing system and a forward-looking camera, wherein the i

Assignees

• Gen Cable Technologies Corp

Inventors

• Temple William Shawn
• Ranganathan Sathish Kumar
• Baker Gordon Carl
• Siripurapu Srinivas
• Joseph Emmanuel Richards Stephen
• Sangalge Rajesh
• Poovalingam Sundaresan
• Geddam Veera Venkata Ravi Kumar

Classifications

• B08B1/34

  rotating about an axis parallel to the surface · CPC title

• B05C1/08

  using a roller {or other rotating member which contacts the work along a generating line} · CPC title

• G01N21/952

  Inspecting the exterior surface of cylindrical bodies or wires (G01N21/956 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01B19/04

  Treating the surfaces, e.g. applying coatings · CPC title

• B05C5/0241

  for applying liquid or other fluent material to elongated work, e.g. wires, cables, tubes · CPC title