Ingersoll-rand Company

Atlas Copco Drilling Solutions, LLC

Donald W Smith

Luke Bender

A rod and rod cup alignment apparatus for a drilling machine has a receptacle for receiving a drill rod of the type having at least one rod flat, where the drill rod has a leading corner and a trailing corner relative to the direction of its rotation. The receptacle has at least one cup flat disposed on the inner surface of the receptacle and the cup flat further has a first top surface and a second top surface. The second top surface has a slope downward toward the bottom of the rod cup, so that, as the drill rod is lowered into the rod cup while the drill rod is rotating, the leading corner of the drill rod is caused to move downward along the second top surface, whereupon the trailing corner of the drill rod contacts the first top surface, thereby aligning the drill rod flat with the rod cup flat.

Rod and rod cup alignment apparatus for drilling machine

The drilling machine of the present invention includes a frame, a tower, a rotary head, and a rotary head guide. The tower is mounted on the frame and includes an elongated member. The rotary head is engageable with the drill string and slidably coupled to the elongated member for movement along the tower. The rotary head guide includes a support, a wear block, a backing bar, and an adjustment mechanism. The support is coupled to the rotary head, the wear block is slidably engaged with the elongated member, and the backing bar is coupled between the wear block and the support. The adjustment mechanism is coupled to the support and engages the backing bar such that adjustment of the adjustment mechanism moves the backing bar away from the support to move the wear block against the elongated member.

Drilling machine having a rotary head guide

The drilling machine includes a frame that is supported for movement over the ground and a tower that is mounted on the frame. A rotary head is movable along the tower and engageable with a drill string for rotating the drill string. A pull down cable is connected to the rotary head for pulling the rotary head downward for pushing the drill string into the ground. A pull back cable is connected to the rotary head for pulling the rotary head upward for pulling the drill string out of the ground. The pull back cable is subject to a slack condition in response to elastic stretch of the pull down cable. A slack take-up device is connected to the pull back cable to remove the slack created in the pull back cable by the elastic stretch of the pull down cable.

Drilling machine having a feed cable tensioner

A device for spinning vertical drill pipe on a drill rig includes a pair of opposed pipe gripping arms pivotably connected to the drill rig at a first end. The other end of one pipe gripping arm includes a drive wheel for frictionally contacting a drill pipe to be spun, and the other end of the second gripping arm includes a plurality of idler drive wheels to support the spinning pipe. A rod and cylinder assembly opens and closes the pipe gripping arms between a storage position and a pipe spinning position.

Device for spinning drill pipe in a drill rig

An apparatus on a drilling tower platform for gripping a vertically extending drill casing includes a drill bushing having a pair of casing gripping assemblies mounted thereon, one assembly of the pair including a first and second gripping jaw, with a common actuator therebetween, and the other assembly of the pair including a third and fourth gripping jaw, with a common actuator therebetween, the pair of gripping assemblies being positioned around the bushing so that the first and fourth gripping jaws grip the casing at approximately diametrically opposed locations and so that the second and third gripping jaws grip the casing at approximately diametrically opposed locations approximately 90 degrees from the first and fourth gripping jaws, as measured around the bushing.

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Garland, TX, United States of America

Donald W Smith