Earth Tool Corporation

Earth Tool Company LLC

Payce D Reynolds

Steven W Wentworth

Robert F Crane

Jon A Haas

A method of replacing an existing underground pipe, especially a sanitary sewer line, uses a boring machine that advances a drill string of hollow rods through the existing pipe. The method includes the steps of mounting a rotary cleaning tool on a distal end of the drill string, moving the cleaning tool progressively through the underground pipe while rotating the drill string in order to clean the inside of the pipe, flushing debris loosened by the cleaning tool from the pipe using a pressure fluid, removing the cleaning tool from the drill string and mounting a camera assembly on the distal end of the drill string, moving the camera and drill string through the underground pipe on the drill string and inspecting the inside surface of the pipe with the camera, removing the camera from the drill string and replacing it with a pipe destroying apparatus, moving the pipe destroying apparatus through the pipe to destroy the existing pipe, and then installing a replacement pipe along the same line as the destroyed existing pipe. This permits a single piece of equipment, such as a directional drill rig, to perform several different functions as part of the pipe replacement process.

Method and accessories for pipe replacement

A pneumatic ground piercing tool has a head which can be removed and replaced with a replacement head of the same or different design. The detachable head is mounted on the an axial rod behind a threaded surface of the rod, and a nut is threadedly secured on the front threaded portion of the rod, whereby the head is clamped between a front end of the tool housing and the nut. The nut can be unscrewed from the rod to permit replacement of the head. A clamp-loading locking mechanism is used to secure the head to the nut to prevent the nut and head from loosening during operation.

Pneumatic ground piercing tool with detachable head

The weight of a pneumatic ground piercing tool of the type having a stepped air inlet is reduced and tool power increased by providing the tool body with a dual diameter. The tubular tool body has a front section and a rear section which has a greater inner and outer diameter than the front section, thereby reducing overall tool weight. In a preferred embodiment, the rear end portion of the striker likewise has a greater outer diameter than the front end portion thereof. The bearing of the front end portion of the striker remains in sliding contact with the interior of the front body section during tool operation, and the bearing of the rear end portion of the striker likewise remains in sliding contact with the interior of the rear body section. In this manner, the power of the tool is enhanced because the tool has less weight and the air distributing mechanism, located in the rear body section, is the same size as in a conventional tool wherein the entire body has a uniform diameter.

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Oconomowoc, WI, United States of America

Payce D Reynolds