France Telecom

France Telecom Etablissement Autonome De Droit Public

Plumettaz S.a.

Alain Pecot

Jean-Luc Campion

Joel Le Cam

Daniel Lecoq

Andrzej Bogdan Wacinski

Philippe Lesueur

Aandzej Wacinski

Gerard Le Goff

Yvon Beaumanoir

A device for installing or removing a cable in cable conduits within which a current of water is also conveyed is disclosed. The device includes an electric motor to provide for progression of the cable, a heat engine controlling either a hydraulic circuit or an air compression circuit, and sensors to measure the progression of the cable. The sensors are linked to a CPU to drive the electric motor and the heat engine. The device is compact and can be positioned on a single trailer that is towable by a light vehicle, making the device easy to move on a job site.

Method for installing and/or removing a cable in cable passage conduits and implementing device

A method for installing and/or removing a cable ( ) in conduits ( ) for the passage of cables and to an associated implementing device. According to this method, a current of water is conveyed inside the conduits ( ), the cable ( ) to be installed has a conduit fill rate that can attain 90%, and the conduits ( ) form a winding course on a length greater than 2000 m. This method is chiefly characterized in that the cable ( ) is subjected to a thrust force that drives its speed of progression (v), and in that said thrust force and the pressure of the water flowing in the conduits are regulated so as to maintain a constant water flow rate inside the conduits ( ).

This invention was a portable pushing and pulling apparatus for in-conduit cable installations, the aforementioned device is of the type which comprises a casing that, viewed from above, is in the shape of a rectangle and is formed of a base ( ) joined to a cylindrical handle ( ), a cover ( ), a hinged joint ( ) connecting the base ( ) and the cover ( ) on a short side, a set of screws ( ) for ensuring the cover's closure on the base, a drive capstan ( ) driven by a rotary drive shaft ( ) mounted in the handle ( ), an idler disk ( ) with an axle parallel to the capstan ( ), and both the capstan ( ) and the disk ( ) are mounted in such a way as to receive a cable ( ) to be driven and gripped between them. The invention itself contains in the handle ( ), between the drive shaft ( ) and the power take-off ( ), a torque regulating device at its end, for the torque limiting clutch which indicates the maximum pushing or pulling force selected by the operator.

Portable apparatus for laying a cable inside a conduit

To lay an underground cable, a first drum is stationarily positioned and supplies the cable to a trench that is dug in the ground. A hauling pig is connected to the leading end of the cable. A second drum, mounted to a movable tractor, supplies a tube to the trench and is intended to receive the cable. The tractor also has a plowshare mounted to its forward end for forming the trench as the tractor moves. A compressor is connected to a tube section, rearwardly of the pig, for propelling the leading end of the cable to a predetermined point in a turn of a rolled tube as stored on the second drum. In the event an obstacle is encountered by the tractor, the compressor is interrupted and a length of tube, at least as long as one turn on the second roll, is payed out from the second drum and temporarily remains unoccupied by cable. The payed out length of tube is cut at an end so that the tractor becomes free to move around the obstacle. The payed out length is repositioned to negotiate the obstacle and the cut end is then spliced to the corresponding end of the tube on the second drum. Restoration of compressor operation continues to propel the leading end of the cable to the predetermined point in the turn of the rolled tube on the second drum.

Method and device for laying an underground telecommunications cable

A process for simultaneously lubricating the interior wall of a underground conduit, while by use of compressed air, placing in the conduit a cable along the entire length of the conduit. The cable is drawn through the conduit by a puller, or comparable device, which is connected to the head of the cable, and rests in the conduit in a substantially air tight relation. This puller transmits a traction force to draw the cable through the conduit. The internal surface of the conduit is lubricated substantially uniformly over the entire length as the puller travels along the conduit by means of a reservoir of lubricant of a variable volume. This reservoir is at the rear of the puller, but in front of the cable. The lubrication and placement of the cable is along the entire length of the conduit. The invention also concerns an apparatus for carrying this process.

Growing community of inventors

Lannion, France

Alain Pecot