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. 04, 2001
Filed:
Feb. 17, 1999
Paul Devlugt, Val Caron, CA;
David Lloyd Hoover, Hamilton, CA;
Inco Limited, Toronto, CA;
Abstract
An automated drill road loader particularly suited for thin walled drill rods. The loader, generally affixed to a drill, includes an open frame sufficiently wide to accommodate and store drill rods. A clamp rod gripper and a swing gripper consisting of two pendulums are affixed to a side of the frame. A lift first raises a stored rod from the open frame. The rod is then grasped by the clamp rod gripper and the swing gripper to index the rod in a drill mast. By sequentially manipulating and translating the clamp rod gripper and the swing gripper, the rod is carefully held for threading. The drill rod may be establishing a new drill string or it may be inserted into an existing drill string.