Ingersoll-rand Company

J George Land, Iii

Eugene Y Cheng

A drilling device has a drilling mast and a movable drifter thereon with a drill rod stabilizing device for stabilizing drill rods in position during drilling. The stabilizer travels along the mast along with the drifter, and includes a locking arm that automatically opens and closes the stabilizer to allow passage of drill rods into an out of the drill line from storage, while supporting the drill rods during drilling. In a substantially vertical drilling position, the stabilizer is moved downwardly by gravity, and upwardly by the drifter's drive chain, which is retained in contact with the stabilizer by a pick-up link on the drive chain contacting stop blocks on the stabilizer. In a substantially horizontal drilling position, the stabilizer is moved in a return direction by the pick-up link and stop block combination. The stabilizer is advanced in the opposite direction by the drifter's pick-up link, which is retained in contact with the stabilizer by a pair of spaced-apart rollers on the stabilizer that frictionally contact and retain the pick-up link and stabilizer together.

Drill rod position stabilizing device

A mechanism for gripping drill rods in a carousel of a drilling rig provides a dual function of extending and gripping in a single movement of a pair of opposed gripper arms pivotally connected to each other about a first, longitudinally movable pivot pin. A pair of opposed link arms is pivotally connected to each other about a second, fixed pivot pin, each link arm being also pivotally connected at an outer end to a gripper arm. A piston moves the pivot pin longitudinally in the housing, the gripper arms first spread apart from each other and then close toward each other, while simultaneously moving along the housing.

Growing community of inventors

Roanoke, VA, United States of America

J George Land, Iii