Central Moloney, Inc.

A Darren Barnett

Bobby A Milner

An insulator bushing wildlife guard having features for easier alignment and installation of the guard on the bushing. The guard has two hinged body sections of insulating material. An outer edge of each body section is provided with a plurality of flexible fingers that allow conductors to pass through from the interior to the exterior of the enclosure when the two portions of the guard are engaged. In one embodiment, the guard is spring biased toward a closed position. A handle on the back has inner grooves to make it easier to grasp and manipulate the guard using a shotgun stick. On a lower front side of each portion of the guard, spaced-apart, curved, horizontal upper and lower flanges help align the guard with the topmost skirt of a bushing. Medial walls having a curved, sloped, concave or otherwise inwardly-directed configuration between the two flanges facilitate forcing the guard open by pushing it against the bushing. An external tab limiter, disposed above the upper flange, makes it difficult to install the guard over any part of the bushing other than the topmost skirt of the bushing. An alternative version of the guard has a releasable trigger, which is used to hold the two portions in an open position until the bushing or power line displaces the trigger and allows the biasing spring to close the two cover portions. The guard is provided with a handle for grasping by a manipulator tool. In one embodiment the handle is provided with inner grooves for grasping by a shotgun stick. In another embodiment, an adapter releasably engages the handle and provides means for attachment to a hotstick.

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Sheridan, AR, United States of America

A Darren Barnett