As recognized by Pigott et al in U.S. Pat. No. 6,434,810, which issued Aug. 20, 2002, for a Method for High Voltage Power Line Repair, high voltage power lines have been constructed to extend from spaced towers high above terrain which is practically inaccessible to land vehicles so that in recent years a number of methods and devices have been developed to facilitate the repair of high voltage power lines by helicopter where such power lines are often suspended from each support tower by elongate insulators. Pigott et al describe that such repairs have been extremely difficult and time consuming to perform in the past in that the tension on the power line must be broken so that the line can be lifted out of its support shoe to facilitate the line repair and that in an attempt to alleviate this problem some line men have tried to winch the line upward from the crossbar at the top of the tower. Consequently, Pigott et al teach temporarily attaching a template to the yoke plate which supports a plurality of power lines so as to receive and position winch lines on opposite sides of the yoke plate directly above a power line. The winch lines are described as extending from the template to a hand winch, and from the hand winch two attachments with the power line on opposite sides of the yoke plate. The winch lines are described as extending downwardly to connections with the power line spaced outwardly on opposite sides of the yoke plate, and that the winch lines are used to draw the power line upwardly towards the yoke plate to raise the power line out of contact with the yoke plate.
Thus Pigott et al address generally the problem to which the present invention is addressed; namely, that, because maintenance and refurbishment of critical transmission and distribution lines often requires that the lines remain energized and operational during the maintenance procedures, that this requires that the conductors remain live while being temporarily relocated and remain thus insulated from ground and other conductors so as to provide a safe working zone when the energized conductor has been relocated so as to allow safe replacement of hardware, insulators in the working zone or the placement of new conductors. Pigott et al also address the problem addressed by the present invention, namely, that it is often impractical to move cranes or other ground based support vehicles adjacent to the tower or other energized conductor supporting structure so as to facilitate the support and relocation of the energized conductor to allow maintenance and refurbishment. Examples of ground based support vehicles and attachments to ground based support vehicles such as cranes are found for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,207 which issued Jul. 23, 1996, to Devine et al for a Boom Mountable Robotic Arm, U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,671, which issued Jan. 4, 2005 to Devine et al for an Apparatus for Precisely Manipulating Elongate Objects Adjacent to and Such as Energized Overhead High Voltage Transmission Lines, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,535,132 which issued May 19, 2009 to Devine et al for a Live Conductor Stringing and Splicing Method and Apparatus.
In the prior art applicant is also aware of U.S. Pat. No. 1,235,999, which issued Aug. 7, 1917 to Neeley for a Repair Device for High Voltage Electric Transmission Lines. Neeley describes a device adapted to be utilized by workmen for replacing broken or damaged insulators which carry overhead electric conductors and for effecting an immediate attachment of the line wires to the insulators, even though the wires are alive or charged with current. By way of background, Neeley states that overhead lines for conducting electricity generally embody a support consisting of a pull and one or more cross arms, insulators applied to the cross arm at opposite sides of the pole, and live wires attached through the medium of the insulators to the support, and that an important feature in the repairing or upkeep of such lines resides in the renewal or replacement of such of the insulators as may become broken or otherwise damaged. To provide for this, Neeley discloses a repair device for high voltage electric transmission lines which includes a saddle adapted to be adjustably positioned on a cross arm, a pin removably seated in the lower portion of the saddle for retaining the saddle on the cross arm, a loop pivotally connected to the pin to one side of the saddle, a lever carried by the loop, an insulator carried by one end of the lever, and a wire engaging member on the insulator.