US20020018698A1

US20020018698A1 - Electrical ground rod installing system

Info

Publication number: US20020018698A1
Application number: US09/874,743
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald Lolli; Reginald McMurdo
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-06-05
Filing date: 2001-06-05
Publication date: 2002-02-14

Abstract

This auger tipped rotational method of installing electrical ground rods Is superior to the current methods. The installation will be safer,quicker and and more cost effective. The installation will also be less fatigueing to the Installer. This system will also result in the ground rod being more conductive To ground.

Description

BACKGROUND FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to a new method of installing electrical ground rods in the earth.

BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART

Installing electrical ground rods in the earth to ground has been a problem. The National Electrical Code requires electrical service grounding to structures. Ground rods are usually copper plated steel {fraction (9/16)}″ diameter by 8′ long. At least two must be installed in the ground per structure. The rod is then attached through a heavy ground wire to the electrical service box The National Electrical Code has standards for the electrical requirements to these installations.

There have been products designed to make this installation quicker and safer. These attempts usually require the installer to use some kind of heavy hammer. Another way is standing on a ladder with an electrical hammer drill. The hammer approach requires about 50 to 200 hits with a 16 pound hammer. The hammer drill requires placing a two foot long drill on a 8 foot rod. The installer is then 10 feet in the air on a ladder. Both approaches are in trouble when a rock is hit by the ground rod. This requires either cutting the rod off or using a jack to pull the rod out of the ground.

Objects and Advantages

The objects and advantages of this new patent is to make the task of installing electrical ground rods safer and quicker. This results in a better conducting path between the ground rod and earth. The patent consists of two devices. The first is a threaded tip that has an augering capability. The second device is a motor driven rotator to auger the ground rod in the ground. This will auger the ground rod into the earth from a standing position. The system accomplishes these following inprovements over the prior art:

a.The tip has a tapered internal thread that threads onto the ground rod secureing the tip to the down end of the ground rod.

b.The auger thread molded to the outside of the tip provides a downward force. The force pulls the ground rod into the ground when rotated by the motor driver. .

c.The tip being bigger in diameter that the rod creates a gap around the rod. This gap can be filled with a highly conductive slurry. The slurry makes better contact to the ground than the original rod.

d.The motorized driver has a unique cam clutch that allows the driver to be coupled to any part of the ground rod. This allowes the installer to stand on the ground and not a ladder when installing the ground rod.

e.The motorized driver unit allows installing the ground rod in about one minute instead of 5 to 10 minutes.

f.The system allows reverseing the rotation of the motor. This backs the ground rod out if a rock is encountered allowing moving to a new site.

Further advantage is the installer can put in many ground rods in one day This is because the motor does most of the work instead of a hammer.

DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows an overview of the invention which starts with [0012] 10 being the ground Rod which is to be installed .Then 16 which is the auger tip that pulls the rod into the earth. The driver body 30.31 houses a chain coupeling that drives the cam chuck 14 by a drill motor. The drill motor is connected to the drive pin 16. The cam chuck then rotates the ground rod driving it into the earth.
FIG. 2. Shows the auger tip that is screwed onto the ground rod. The tapered threads secure the tip to the ground rod due to the rotation. [0013]
FIG. 3. Shows an end view of the cam chuck used to couple the drill motor to the ground rod. [0014]
FIG. 4. Shows the ground rod installed in the ground. [0015]
FIG. 5. Shows the ground rod installed and the conductive fill material. [0016]
FIG. 6. Showes a cutaway of the chain drive. [0017]
Reference numerals in Drawings [0018]
FIG. 1. Ground rod driver assembly [0019]
[0020] 10 ground rod 17 drive pin lock ring
[0021] 11 chuck lock ring 18 bearing
[0022] 12 bearing 19 bearing
[0023] 13 bearing 20 drive pin
[0024] 14 cam chuck 21 motor drill lock buckle
[0025] 15 auger tip 22 motor drill lock strap
[0026] 16 drill motor drive pin 23 drill motor rubber mount
[0027] 24 housing assembly screw 34 housing assembly screw
[0028] 25 housing assembly screw 35 housing assembly screw
[0029] 26 housing assembly screw 36 housing assembly screw
[0030] 27 housing assembly screw 37 housing end cap
[0031] 28 housing assembly screw 38 lock ring locking screw
[0032] 29 housing assembly screw 39 lock ring locking srcew
[0033] 30 housing body 40 motor drive buckle pin
[0034] 31 housing body
[0035] 32 housing end cap
[0036] 33 housing assembly screw
FIG. 2. auger tip [0037]
[0038] 30 auger tip body
[0039] 31 auger tip auger portion
[0040] 32 tapered threads for connection to ground rod
FIG. 3. cam chuck cutaway [0041]
[0042] 40 ground rod to be installed. 45. roller pin
[0043] 41 cam chuck body. 46 roller cam area
[0044] 42 roller pin holder 47. roller cam area
[0045] 43 roller pin. 48.roller cam area
[0046] 44. roller pin
FIG. 4. Installed ground rod in earth [0047]
[0048] 50 earth
[0049] 51 installed ground rod
[0050] 52 auger created fill space
FIG. 5 Installed ground rod with conductive filler. [0051]
[0052] 60 installed ground rod
[0053] 61 installed conductive filler
[0054] 62 auger tip
[0055] 63 earth
FIG. 6 ground rod driver unit cutaway. [0056]
[0057] 71 ground rod 80 chain links
[0058] 72 locking ring 81 bearing
[0059] 73 bearing 82 chain sproket collar
[0060] 74 drive chain 83 chain drive sprocket
[0061] 75 housing 84 bearing
[0062] 76 cam chuck 85 locking ring
[0063] 77 bearing 86 drill motor drive pin
[0064] 78 chain sprocket collar
[0065] 79 chain sprocket

DESCRIPTION FIGS. 1-6

An overall description of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. The two major pieces of the invention are the ground rod driver unit built in the [0066] housings 30,31 and the auger tipl5.The auger tip has tapered internal threads 32 FIG.2 which bite into the ground rod 10 FIG. 1. The driver unit is driven by a standard drill motor through the drive pin 16 to the chain drive sprocket 83 FIG. 6. Driving the other drive sprocket 79 FIG. 6 through the chain 74 FIG. 6. This rotates the cam chuck 14 FIG. 1.The cam chuck when rotated has internal roller pins 43,44,45 FIG. 3 that are jamed into the ground rod by the cam chuck body 41 FIG.3 which has flat portions 46,47,48 that decrease the diameter of the drive pins jamming them into the ground rod 10 and theirby rotating the ground rod 10.
FIG. 4. showes the [0067] ground rod 51 installed in the ground by the rotation of the auger tip 53. The drawing showes a gap around the rod because the tip is a bigger that the rod diameter. This gap then is filled with conducting medium61 FIG. 5 such as copper sulfate and sea salt to achieve better contact with the ground. FIG.5. showes in an expanded view the fill gap around the ground rod 60.
FIG. 6 showes a cutaway view of the internal chain drive mechinism utilized to Couple the rotational energy from the motor driver to the cam chuck. [0068]
Operation FIGS. [0069] 1,2,3,4,5,6
FIG. 1 The ground rod driving system is powered by a standard electricans dill motor connected to the main housing by the [0070] rubber pad 23 and the motor strap 22 and buckel 21.The motor chuck is attached to pin 16 and tighened. The next procedure is to hand tighten the auger tip 15 to the ground rod 10. The next procedure is to slide the ground rod 10 into the cam chuck clearence hole about four feet from the auger tip 15. The next procedure is to plug the drill motor into an approprate power source (115 v.a.c.) and stand the ground rod vertical to the ground and starting the drill motor screwing the ground rod 10 into the ground. The drill motor will lower by the amount the ground rod 10 is driven into the earth and the operator can stop the drill motor at a comfortable level .The cam chuck 14 will release when the motor stops and allow the operator to lift the drill motor up about two feet and start the procedure again until the ground rod is driven to ground level where the drill motor is stopped and the driver unit is then lifted off of the ground rod compleating the driving procedure. The operator then fills the gap around the ground rod with the conductive slurry in a squeez bottle which finishes the installation.
FIG. 2FIG. 2 shows the [0071] auger tip body 30 with the cast auger spiral 31 and the internal tapered threads 32 that bite into the ground rod when the motor driver is rotated pulling the ground rod into the ground.
FIG. 3FIG. 3 showes a cutaway of the cam chuck body [0072] 41 which is uniquely machined to press the roller pins 43,44,45 onto the ground rod 40 by centrifical force and cam action thereby rotating the ground rod and augering it into the ground. The roller pin holder 47 keeps pins at the proper place in the chuck body 41.
FIG. 4FIG. 4 shows an installed [0073] ground rod 51 in the earth 50 driven in by the motor driver and pulled there by the rotated auger tip 53. The gap around the ground rod caused by the larger diameter auger tip is then filled by a conductive slurry.
FIG. 5FIG. 5 is an exploded view of FIG. 4 to better see the gap around the ground rod and showing the [0074] conductive slurry 61 that is placed in the gap giving more surface area of the conductive material to the ground.
FIG. 6FIG. 6 showes a cutaway of the motor driver unit to show the [0075] chain 74 and the chain links 80 that couple the drive from the drive pin 86 through the sprockets 79,83 and the sprocket collars 78,82 to the cam chuck 76 that rotates the ground rod.
Conclusions,Ramifications,and Scope [0076]
The ground rod installation system takes the heavy work out of a nasty job that no electricians like to do. It is also much safer as the installer is standing on the ground and not swinging heavy hammers or using ladders. The system is also quite a lot quicker to install the ground rods and one person can install many more per day without fatigue. the system also improves the grounding properties of the rod since the hole produced by the auger tip has more surface area to the ground and the conducting slurry can also leach into the surronding earth making it more conductive and safer with lightining and trancients. [0077]

Claims

I claim:

1. The ground rod system utilizing the auger tip installs a ground rod in a more efficient manner by rotation of the ground rod than pounding with a hammer.

2. The ground rod system utilizing the auger tip leaves a void around the installed ground rod that can be filled with a conductive slurry making a larger contact area with the earth achieveing a more conductive ground.

3. The ground rod system allows backing the rod out of the hole by reverseing the drill motor rotation if a rock is hit enabeling the same rod to be tried in another place.

4. The cam chuck driver allows the installer to stand safely on the ground instead of a ladder while installing the ground rod.