U.S. patent number 3,599,445 [Application Number 05/013,080] was granted by the patent office on 1971-08-17 for coupling arrangements for drill rods of earth-drilling tools.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Delmag-Maschinenfabrik Reinhold Dornfeld. Invention is credited to Achim Kehrberger.
United States Patent |
3,599,445 |
Kehrberger |
August 17, 1971 |
COUPLING ARRANGEMENTS FOR DRILL RODS OF EARTH-DRILLING TOOLS
Abstract
A coupling member for transmitting rotational displacement to a
drill rod is disclosed. The drill rod, which has one or more rib
members projecting from its periphery, passes through a bore in the
coupling member. One or more expendable bearing strip members are
detachably mounted on the coupling member and project into the bore
to cooperate with the respective rib members to transmit rotational
displacement to the drill rod. Preferably, each of the expandable
bearing strip members comprises a plurality of parts and is
provided with a built-up weld in that region of the respective
bearing strip member which is adjacent to a cooperating projecting
rib member.
Inventors: |
Kehrberger; Achim (Nellingen,
DT) |
Assignee: |
Delmag-Maschinenfabrik Reinhold
Dornfeld (Esslingen, DT)
|
Family
ID: |
5726746 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/013,080 |
Filed: |
February 20, 1970 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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|
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Feb 28, 1969 [DT] |
|
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P 19 10 360.7 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
464/163;
464/901 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E21B
3/04 (20130101); Y10S 464/901 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E21B
3/04 (20060101); E21B 3/00 (20060101); F16d
003/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;64/23.5,23.6 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Favors; Edward G.
Claims
I claim:
1. A coupling arrangement comprising in combination a drill
rod,
a coupling member to transmit rotational movement to said drill rod
and disposed coaxially therewith,
at least one rib member provided on said drill rod and projecting
from the periphery thereof,
at least one expendable bearing strip member detachably mounted on
said coupling member and cooperating with said at least one rib
member to couple said coupling member to said drill rod.
2. A coupling arrangement as defined in claim 1, comprising a
built-up weld provided on each of said expendable bearing strip
members, said built-up weld being provided in that region of each
of said expendable bearing strip members located adjacent one of
said cooperating rib members.
3. A coupling arrangement as defined in claim 2, wherein each of
said expendable bearing strip members comprises a plurality of
parts.
4. A coupling arrangement as defined in claim 1, comprising at
least one bearing pad strip member mounted on said coupling member
and disposed adjacent said periphery of said drill rod.
5. A coupling arrangement comprising in combination;
a cylindrical drill rod,
a coupling member to transmit rotational movement to said
cylindrical drilling rod, said coupling member comprising annular
portions disposed concentrically of said cylindrical drill rod and
surrounding the circumference thereof,
at least one expendable bearing strip member detachably mounted on
each of said annular portions of said coupling member to couple
said coupling member to said cylindrical drill rod.
6. A coupling arrangement as defined in claim 5, wherein said rod
has at least one radially projecting rib member, an annular groove
being defined in each of said annular portions of said coupling
member, each of said grooves being disposed substantially
concentrically of said cylindrical drill rod and being
discontinuous in the region of each of said radially projecting rib
members and at least one of said bearing strip members being
secured in each of said annular grooves.
7. A coupling arrangement as defined in claim 6, comprising at
least one bearing pad strip member secured in each of said annular
grooves, each of said bearing pad strip members being disposed
adjacent the circumference of said cylindrical drill rod.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a coupling arrangement for
coupling the drill rod of an earth-drilling tool to a driving
motor.
In earth-drilling rigs, a drill rod carrying a drilling tool passes
through a drilling table. The drill rod is rotatably driven from a
suitable motor mounted on the drilling table and power from the
motor is transmitted to the drill rod by means of a coupling
member. Because of the nature of drilling operations, such coupling
arrangements are normally subjected to considerable, and usually
intermittent, stresses and strains and are thus particularly liable
to rapid wear and, consequently, may frequently require extensive
maintenance.
Therefore, it is desirable for the coupling members to be
constructed as simply as possible in order to facilitate the
carrying out of repairs at the drilling site.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a coupling
member for transmitting rotational displacement to a drill rod
provided with one or more rib members projecting from the periphery
of the rod, the coupling member comprising a bore, through which
the drill rod may pass, and one or more expendable bearing strip
members detachably mounted on the coupling member and projecting
into the bore for cooperating with the or each rib member to
transmit rotational displacement to the drill rod.
Preferably, each of the expendable bearing strip members comprises
a plurality of parts and is provided with a built-up weld in that
region of the respective bearing strip member which is adjacent to
a cooperating projecting rib member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
An embodiment of the present invention will now be more
particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings,
in which:
FIG. 1 shows, in section along I-I of FIG. 2 a coupling arrangement
for a drilling tool embodying the invention;
FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the coupling arrangement of FIG. 1;
and
FIG. 3 shows an overall view of a drilling rig which utilizes the
coupling arrangement of FIGS. 1 and 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 3 shows an overall view of an
earth-drilling rig comprising a drilling table 2, which is adapted
to slide up and down a vertical guide mast 1. The drilling bit is
carried on the lower end of a vertical drill rod 8, which is
coupled to a motor (not shown) for rotating the drill rod 8. The
coupling arrangement comprises a coupling member whose position on
the drilling table 2 is indicated in FIG. 1 by the reference 3. The
coupling member 3 is rotatably driven through gears and a suitable
motor (not shown) and torque is transmitted via the coupling member
3 and the cylindrical drilling rod 8 to rotate a spiral
earth-drilling bit carried at the lower end of the drill rod. As
indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the coupling member 3 is coaxially
mounted around the drill rod 8, which is provided with radially
projecting rib members 7 which engage cooperating bearing strip
members 11 provided on the coupling member 3. The coupling member 3
comprises two annular portions, namely an upper portion 4 and a
lower portion 5. Each of these portions 4 and 5 is provided with
annular groove 6 which is discontinuous in the region of each of
the projecting rib members 7. Annular strip bearing pads 10 are
located adjacent the periphery of the casing 9 of the drill rod 8
and expendable bearing strip members 11 are located adjacent each
of the projecting rib members 7. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the
bearing pads 10 and the bearing strip members 11 fit in the grooves
6. The bearing strip members 11 are reinforced by built-up welds 12
in the regions where they bear on the projecting ribs 7 of the
drill rod 8. These built-up welds 12 may project beyond the edges
of the grooves 6 so as to provide abutments for transmitting the
driving torque to the rib members which project from the
circumference of the drill rod.
The bearing pads 10 and the bearing strips 11 can be loosely
inserted into the grooves 6, in which they may be secured by
appropriate means, such as for example elastic locking elements, in
order to facilitate assembly.
Furthermore, the bearing strips 11 may be obliquely faced for
adaptation to spiral projecting ribs 7 on the drill rod 8.
The advantage of a coupling arrangement embodying the invention
resides in the fact that the coupling member 3 need not be
subjected to any difficult machining process, which would entail
dismantling the coupling member from the drilling table. If wear
occurs, it is necessary only to remove the drill bit from the drill
rod so that the latter can be pulled through the drilling table.
The worn bearing pads and strips may then be removed and replaced
by new pads and strips. This operation can be performed rapidly by
unskilled personnel, and further dismantling of the drilling rig is
unnecessary.
* * * * *