US1211020A - Cable-twisting device. - Google Patents

Description

P. A. WELSBY.

CABLE TWISTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION m sc APR.21.'1916.

7 1,21 1,020. Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

IN l/E N TOR fiP/PJ fl W12 55% A TTOR/VEVSV PERRY A. WELSB Y, OF SAPULPA, OKLAHOMA.

CABLE-TWISTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 2, 1917.

Application filed'April 21, 1916'. Serial No. 92,670.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PERRY A. VVELSBY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Sapulpa, in the county of Greek and State of Oklahoma, have invented a certain new and useful. Improvement in Cable- Twisting Devices, of which the following I is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in cable twisting devices, and it consists in the combinations, constructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide asimple tool to be used primarily in twisting the cable used in connection with well drilling, such as oil wells and the like, which will not injure the cable.

A further object of my invention is to provide a tool which may be applied very quickly and which may be removed quickly.

A further object of" my invention is to provide a simple tool made in one piece and therefore which is not liable to get out of order, as are'more' complex devices.

A further object of my invention is to provide a tool of the type described which, when applied to the cable, will grip the cable tightly, and will not work itself up or down the cable.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming. part of this application in which: u

Figure l is a perspective view of the device. Fig. 2 is a viewshowing the tool as applied to a cable whose strands are twisted in one direction. Fig. 3 is a sec tion along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 2 but showing a cable whose. strands are twisted in the opposite direction. Fig. 5- is a section. along the line 55 of Fig. 4.. Fig. 6 is an lenlarged section showing the manner in which the tool engages the strands of the cable.

111 carrying out my invention I provide atool which is made of a single piece of iron, steel, or other suitable material. Thisv tool has a handle portion 1 which is preferably of cylindrical shape, as shown in Fig. 1. At substantially a point 2 the handle is flattened out, and at a point 3 this flattened portion is bent upwardly. At sub= stantially a point 4, see Figs. 1 and 2, the tool is bent so as to form a curve having a constantly shorter radius, except at the end of the tool where there is a flat portion 5.

Not only is the tool curved spirally, but the curved portion is formed in helical or screw shape, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, so that the end of the tool is higher than the handle when the latter is held in horizontal position. There is another feature which will be seen by referring to the drawing, andthat is that one end of the helically formed portion ofthe tool is narrower than the opposite end thereby forming a substantially conical spiral. Take, for instance, the end' X in Fig. 1'. It is narrower than the end Y because the end Y is flared outwardly. The tool terminates, as stated, in a flat portion owhich fiat portion makes an acute angle 6 with the end ,7 of the tool.

A tool built as described will have an edge 8 made by the angl'efl which follows the contour of the strands 9 of the cable.

Right here I wish to state that the angular portion 6 is not in any sense of the word a tooth, since it does not bite into the cable. It is made in angular form merely that the flat portion 5 may be slipped in adjacent to one of the strands 9, as clearly shown in Fig. 6.

From the foregoing description of the parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood.

Consider a cable wound as shown in Fig. 2. Such a cable when supporting tools in a deep well, tends to untwist, and the purpose of the tool is to twist the cable back into shape. The cable is clamped and then the tool is hooked around the cable and brought into the position shown in Fig- 3, in which position the flat edge of the tool is behind-the strand 9 of thecable and in which another portion of the tool bears against a strand, for instance the strand 9 in Fig. 3, at a point 10. If, now, the handle be turned in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3, the cable will be twisted in the direction shown by the curved arrow. It will be observed that the side 5 is bearing on one side of one of the strands 9. handle at the curved part of the latter has a fulcrum point 10, so that the thrust of the flat side 5 is normal tothe surface of the strands, or is in the direction shown by twist the whole cable.

the arrow in Fig. 6. Since the cable is held between the side 5 and the point of contact 10, the cable will be twisted. It will be seen that the cable is not gripped byteeth, as with other gripping devices with which I am 'familar. There is, therefore, no tendency to injure the strands of the cable. This I consider one of the most important features of the invention.

In disengaging the tool from the cable, it is-only necessary to move the handle in the opposite direction, and as will clearly be seen from Fig. 3, this will take the cable out from engagement with the tool, thereby freeing the latter and permitting its instant removal.

In twisting a cable which is wound in the opposite direction as shown in Fig. 1-, the tool is merely turned over, so that in stead of being in the position shown in Fig. 3,'it is in that position shown in Fig. 5. It will be observed that Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the tool, although it shows the cable in section. grips the cable in precisely the same man nor as explained in connection with Fig. 6; that is to say, the flat portion 5 enters the sinus between two strands, and the edge 8 follows the contour of the strand, so that when the tool is turned in the opposite direction to that shown in Fig. 3, the flat side will bear against the strand and tend to Owing to the peculiar construction of'the tool in which the tool is bent into substantially spiral shape and at the same time having a helical form with one end of the coil narrower than the other, there is no tendency of the tool to creep on the cable during the twisting of the latter. The tool is applied and instantly grips the cable but does not injure it when the latter is being twisted.

Owing to the fact that the tool is made in one piece, there are no complex parts to get out of order. As a matter of fact, the tool may be used with one hand, since there are no adjusting devices to operate, such ,as the adjusting screws on wrenches or other devices having more than one part.

I claim f 1. A cable twisting tool comprising a handle and having a spirally bent portion As a matter of fact, the tool provided with an edge conforming to the contour of the strands of the cable, said edge being arranged to enter the space between adjacent strands on the cable, said tool having a fulcrum on another strand 0 a handle and a gripping portion, said gripping portion being curved 1n spiral shape and being bent in helical shape w th respect to the axis of the spiral, the end of the tool having an edge arranged to follow the contour of a strand of the cable;

, 4:. A tool for twisting cables comprising a handle and a gripping portion, said gripping portion being curved in spiral shape and beingbent in helical shape with respect to the axis of the spirahthe end of the tool having an edge arranged to follow the contour of a strand of the cable, and said tool having a flatportion adjacent to said edge arranged to engage a strand of'the cable for exerting pressure on the latter.

5. A cable twisting tool comprising a handle portion and a gripping portion, said gripping portion being bent into spiral form, and being bent into helical form with respect to the axis of the spiral, one end of said helix being of substantially smaller diameter than the other, and said tool having a flat portion arranged to engage a strand of cable and being provided with an angular portion nearest that fiat portion arranged to enter between adjacent strands.

6. A'cable twisting tool having one end portion formed as a handle, and its opposite endportion formed into a screw or substantially conical spiral and presenting an acute angular end edge adapted to enter the sinus between two contiguous external strands of a cable, a portion of the spiral being adapted to rest on a strand of the cable as-a fulcrum.

PERRY A. WELSBY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

" washington D. G, i r

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