Electrician’s invention could save time, prevent injuries
When local hardware stores or home improvement stores come out with a new tool – a base puller – most of us won’t notice. Unless we work in a hardware store or we’re electricians who install lights in parking lots.
But Dan N. sure will notice. He invented a device that is now available for licensing through Invention Technologies, Inc., of Coral Gables, Fla. The firm hopes to find a manufacturer that can put the devise into production soon, Dan said last week.
Dan lives with his wife and three children in home near a Catholic church, is an electrician by trade and a member of an electrical workers guild. He works for a contractor who specializes in parking lots throughout the metropolitan area.
Figuring out an easier way to pull electrical wire through street bases came to Dan over years of hard labor, he said. On his job, he spends each day climbing 4 to 6 feet off the ground onto light pole bases and using his shoulders to pull small electrical wire up through the narrow poles. “That’s really hard on your back, and it’s exhausting,” He said. “I just got tired of doing it the hard way.”
Slowly, Dan came up with the idea of looping the wire over a wheel and raising it on a crane about 10 feet above the pole. “You can’t just walk with wire, and you’re not pulling your with back,” he explained.
If Dan’s invention hits the market, it could save time and money and prevent injuries, the inventor maintained. Without it, he now can pull wire through 10 to 12 pole bases during an eight-hour workday, he said. “I could do a lot more than that using the wheel,” he said. He would be safer on the ground than he was when he was perched on pole, he said.
The device would be particularly useful to contractors that routinely install lights in new parking lots at commuter train station and shopping areas, the inventor pointed out. Designed for efficiency and safety, it is easy to use, he said. “It can save a lot of time and money.
Inquiries about the pole base puller should be directed to Invention Technologies Inc., at (800) 940-9020. The firms Web address is www.invent-tech.com.