Probes for testing butt end of poles

Claim 1

Two spike-type sonic probes, for being hammered into the soil on opposing sides of a utility pole parallel to and closely along the butt, for coupling sonic transducers above ground to opposing contact points on the buried butt at any depth, to achieve a soundness test by the diametral sound transmission method, whereby one probe is a transmitter probe and the other a receiver probe, each probe comprising in combination: a solid shaft, of adequate length with respect to the butt, for sound transmission between said transducer above ground and said contact point below ground, a solid conical head at the upper end of said shaft for low loss sound transmission from a transducer to said shaft, said conical head at the smaller diameter end solidly welded or forged to said shaft of same diameter, and said head at the other end a flat surface for hammering the probe into the soil and for mounting of a sonic transducer, wherein the improvement comprises: means for wedging a vertical hole into the soil, said means mounted at the lower end of said shaft and designed to wedge a hole of larger cross section than said shaft tightly along the butt when the probe is hammered, so that said shaft in the hole will not touch the butt when the probe is in test position, means for making a pressure contact point for sonic coupling of the lower end of said shaft to the butt, when the probe is turned into test position, so that the pressure at said contact point is essentially perpendicular to said shaft and butt, means for deflecting part of the sonic beam, coming down along said shaft, into the direction of said pressure contact point when the probe is a transmitter and for deflecting the sonic beam, coming from pressure contact point, up into the direction of said shaft when the probe is a receiver, means, at the upper end of said shaft, for turning the probe into test position after hammering the probe to the desired depth, whereby generating pressure contact between butt and said means for making a pressure contact point, means for spacing the upper End of said shaft off the pole when the probe is in test position, whereby pressure is generated between said means for spacing and the pole, so that the pressure is essentially perpendicular to said shaft and pole, said means for spacing also providing acoustical isolation of said shaft from the pole, said shaft designed for high bending strength, so that perpendicular pressure forces, from said means for spacing and from said means for making a pressure contact point and from the pressure of the soil on said shaft, are balanced without excessive bending of said shaft, to prevent said shaft from touching the butt when the probe is in test position.