System and method for facilitating underground communication cable installation utilizing soil erosion techniques

Abstract

A technique for aiding an underground communications cable installer in the installation such cable in underground utilities neighborhoods. The technique manages the problem presented by a surface-visible, underground-pathway obstruction such as a sidewalk, which lies across the path of installation. The technique, or method, is useful with any kind of cable, such as fiberoptic cable or copper wire cable. Hydraulic water pressure is applied through a biased, flexible conduit to erode a pathway under the obstruction from ground surface on one side to ground surface on the opposite side of the obstruction, thereby forming a tunnel under the obstruction through which the cable can be easily pulled. In alternative embodiments, the cable can be inserted directly into and through the conduit while it is underground, the conduit then acting as a sleeve for the cable which is subsequently removed prior to burying the cable in a trench dug from street-located handhole to house. Special apparatus connects a water hose to the flexible conduit (PVC plastic) to provide watertight operation while allowing manual flow control.

1 - 17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . Apparatus, comprising:
 a removable connector located at one end of said apparatus for providing a water-tight connection to a water hose;   a compression fitting located at the opposite end of said apparatus for providing a water tight, removable connection to a tube used for underground erosion tunneling; and   a manually-operable valve control located between said one end and said opposite end of said apparatus to control flow of water from a source through said water hose, through said apparatus. and into and out-from said tube,   wherein said tube is biased into a curve for traversing underneath an obstruction blocking a desired underground pathway for underground installation of communication cable.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein said tube is made from polyvinylchloride (PVC). 
     
     
         20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the periphery of the output end of said tube is rimmed with sharpened metal to permit ease of penetration into eroded soil caused by said flow of water. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein said tube further comprises a circumferential cable-lashing groove formed into the outside of said tube and near the end of said tube from which said flow of water emerges, said groove fixedly holding lashing material in said groove lashed around both said tube and said cable, thereby fixedly holding said tube to said cable and allowing a person to pull said tube and said lashed cable together through said underground pathway underneath said obstruction. 
     
     
         23 . A system comprising:
 a valve control adapter mechanism having an input end configured to be operatively couplable to a source of liquid and an output end from which liquid introduced to the input end through a source of liquid coupled to the input end exits;   a conduit having an input end, an output end, and a circumferential groove formed into the outside of the conduit near the conduit output end, and   a communication cable fixedly lashed with the conduit via lashing material, wherein   the conduit input end is operatively coupled to the mechanism output end,   the conduit is shaped such that liquid exiting the conduit output end is directed to erode and soften soil adjacent to the conduit to facilitate penetration of the soil by the conduit at a first side of a surface obstruction under and emergence from the soil at the opposite side of the obstruction, and   the groove fixedly holds the lashing material therein while the lashing material is lashed around both the conduit and the cable, thereby allowing a human operator to pull the lashed conduit and the lashed cable together through an underground pathway formed underneath the obstruction in a direction from the opposite side of the obstruction to the first side of the obstruction and enabling the cable to bypass the surface obstruction during installation of the cable.   
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23  wherein the cable is copper wire cable or fiber optic cable. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 23  wherein the obstruction is a sidewalk. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 25  wherein the installation runs from a hand-hole located at a street in front of a residence by way of a trench formed in soil from the hand-hole to one side of the sidewalk, under the sidewalk through the underground pathway, and from the other side of the sidewalk by way of a continuation of the trench formed in soil from the other side of the sidewalk to the residence. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 23  wherein the conduit is flexible and biased into a curve. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 23  wherein the conduit output end is tipped with a rim of hard metal having cusps formed therein in the direction of liquid flow to facilitate the soil penetration. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 23  wherein the adapter mechanism is constructed from standard metal plumbing and/or plastic plumbing hardware. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 23  wherein the valve control adapter mechanism includes a valve to control flow of the liquid over a range from no flow to a desired flow. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 30  further comprising a pressure boosting mechanism to boost the pressure of the liquid exiting the conduit. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 31  wherein when water pressure from municipal supplies is inadequate to allow soil penetration by the conduit, the water pressure is able to be increased by the pressure boosting mechanism to a pressure level sufficient for hard clay to be eroded.