Process and apparatus for introducing an optical or electrical cable into solid ground

• US 5,879,109 A
• Filed: 02/10/1998
• Issued: 03/09/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CCS Technology Inc. (Corning Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Dotzer, Peter, Finzel, Lothar, Diermeier, Heinz, Mayr, Ernst
• Primary Examiner(s): Taylor, Dennis L.
• Application Number:
  US09/021,272
• Time in Patent Office: 392 Days
• Field of Search: 405/174-183, 405/155, 405/156, 405/131, 405/128, 219/213, 588/252, 299/14, 175/16, 404/77, 404/79, 404/89, 404/95, 138/105
• US Class Current: 405/174
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 5/12 with equipment for back-filling trenches or ditches
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/50 Underground or underwater installation; Installation through tubing, conduits or ducts
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/504 Installation in solid material, e.g. underground
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 1/06 for laying cables, e.g. laying apparatus on vehicle

Abstract

A process and apparatus for introducing a cable into a channel, which is formed into a heated surface of solid ground, such as asphalt, displaces the material to form a channel, inserts the cable and then reintroduces the displaced material back into the channel to refill the channel.

Claims

1. A process for introducing a cable, which comprises a homogeneous and pressurized-water-tight tube and conductors selected from a group consisting of optical and electrical conductors, into solid ground, said process comprising the steps of heating a ground surface until it softens with a heating unit, forming a channel into the heated ground by displacing the ground material upward onto the surface of the ground to form at least a ridge along one channel border by a channel-forming unit, introducing cable into the formed channel, then reintroducing the displaced ground material into the channel on top of the cable which has been introduced therein by a filling unit, and compacting the ground material which has been reintroduced into the channel with a rolling unit.

2. A process according to claim 1, which includes stabilizing the displaced ground material along the channel during the step of forming the channel.

3. A process according to claim 1, wherein the step of compacting the ground material with the rolling unit levels the reintroduced ground material with the ground surface adjacent the channel.

4. A process according to claim 1, which includes, during the step of reintroducing the ground material, adding a filler selected from a group consisting of epoxy, bitumen and granules of ground material to compensate for the lack of material for the channel.

5. A process according to claim 1, which includes, during the step of forming the channel, vibrating the channel-forming unit vertically.

6. A process according to claim 1, wherein the step of displacing the ground material to form the channel uses a channel-forming unit which has a roller arrangement comprising at least one channel-forming roller.

7. A process according to claim 1, wherein the step of displacing the ground material by a channel-forming unit utilizes a carriage with an oscillating runner for the channel-forming purpose.

8. A process according to claim 1, wherein the step of displacing the ground material by a channel-forming unit uses a ram which vibrates at a high frequency.

9. A process according to claim 1, wherein the step of heating the ground material performs the heating in a stepwise manner utilizing a plurality of individual heating units, one disposed behind the other.

10. A process according to claim 1, which includes heating the channel-forming unit.

11. A process according to claim 1, wherein the step of displacing the ground material with a channel-forming unit utilizes a channel-forming unit having a plurality of rollers which are guided one behind the other and are of a different size.

12. A process according to claim 1, which includes adjusting the vertical position of the cable laying unit, the channel-forming unit and the rolling unit hydraulically.

13. A process according to claim 1, which includes, during the step of displacing the material to form the channel, applying supporting rollers to support the ground surface of the channel borders to prevent cracking.

14. A process according to claim 1, wherein the step of drawing off the cable from a cable drum and introducing it into the channel includes holding the cable in the channel until the ground material has been displaced and reintroduced into the channel on top of the cable.

15. A process according to claim 1, which includes providing an adhesion-promoter selected from a primer and bitumen into the channel between the steps of forming the channel and reintroducing the displaced material back into the channel.

16. A process according to claim 1, wherein the ground material which has been displaced and deposited along the sides of the channel is brought together in the filling unit by a collector, which preferably is formed by a member which urges the material back into the channel and includes compacting rollers.

17. A process according to claim 1, wherein all of the units are combined via couplings to form a complete laying and pressing-in unit to move as a unit along the cable laying route.

18. A process according to claim 1, wherein a channel for receiving the cable is introduced into the top of an asphalt course of the ground material.

19. A process according to claim 1, wherein the step of introducing the cable introduces a tube having an external diameter in a range of 2 mm to 15 mm and contains optical waveguides.

20. A process according to claim 1, wherein the step of forming the channel forms a channel with a depth in a range of 2 cm to 3 cm up to the depth of the total thickness of a top course.

21. A process according to claim 1, wherein the step of introducing the cable includes drawing the cable from an accompanying cable drum by a pull-off arrangement with excess storage between the pull-off arrangement and a hold-down device of the cable insertion unit.

22. An apparatus for forming a channel and introducing a cable therein, said apparatus comprising means for heating the ground surface in the region of the channel including at least one heating unit, means for forming a channel in the heated ground material, means for drawing off a cable from a cable drum and introducing the cable into a channel and holding the cable therein, means for introducing displaced ground material back into the channel to cover the cable, and means for compacting and closing off the channel with the previously displaced ground material.

23. An apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the means for forming a channel comprises at least one roller mounted in a lowerable roller arrangement.

24. An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein at least one of the rollers has a rectangular cross section.

25. An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein at least one of the rollers has a cross section tapering to a wedge shape adjacent the periphery.

26. An apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the means for forming a channel includes at least one vibrating carriage runner for forming the channel.

27. An apparatus according to claim 22, which includes means for storing excess cable being disposed between a means for pulling the cable from a cable drum and the point of introducing the cable into the channel.

28. An apparatus according to claim 22, wherein each of the means are formed as individual functional units which are separated from one another and connected to one another via couplings.

29. An apparatus according to claim 22, wherein at least the means for forming the channel, the means for pulling a cable from a cable reel and introducing it into the channel and the means for reintroducing the material into the channel and compacting and closing off the channel are formed in a single unit.