The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 28, 1999
Filed:
Jun. 08, 1998
Charles T Webb, Burleson, TX (US);
Roy L Chandler, Arlington, TX (US);
Other;
Abstract
The apparatus, in one embodiment has a front shaft support and a guide housing coupled together for longitudinal movement relative to each other. A shaft extends through the front shaft support and the guide housing and has a drill bit coupled to its forward end. The shaft and front shaft support may be moved to a forward drilling position or to a rearward shifting position relative to the guide housing. A plurality of cams are coupled to the inside of the guide housing at different angular positions around the shaft. A cam follower is coupled to a cam follower housing which surrounds the shaft. In the shifting mode, the cam follower is disengaged from the cams. A clutch is provided for coupling the cam follower housing to the shaft when the shaft is in the shifting position such that the cam follower housing and the cam follower may be rotated with the shaft relative to the cams to allowed the cam follower to engage a selected one of the cams when the shaft is moved to the forward drilling position. In the forward drilling position of the shaft, the clutch releases the cam follower housing from the shaft and the cam follower engages the selected cam to allow straight drilling to occur or to cause the axis of said guide housing to shift relative to the axis of the shaft to cause the direction of drilling by the shaft and drill bit to change.