US1343902A

US1343902A - Weli-sinking apparatus

Info

Publication number: US1343902A
Application number: US239295A
Authority: US
Inventors: Matthew T Chapman
Original assignee: American Well Works
Current assignee: American Well Works
Priority date: 1918-06-10
Filing date: 1918-06-10
Publication date: 1920-06-22
Anticipated expiration: 1937-06-22

Description

M. T CHAPMAN.

WELL SINKlNG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILEDJUNEI0,1918.

1,343,902, ,Patented Jun@ 22, 1920.

l UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.;v

MATTHEW T. CHAPMAN, or AiIRoRA,v ILLINOIS, AssIGNoRTo THE AMERICAN WELL I WORKS, or AURORA, ILLINOIS, AOORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

wELIk-SINIIING APPARATUS.

` is a specification, reference ,being had to the accompanying. drawings. p

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for sinking or boring. holes in the earth to a considerable depth for the" formation of wells for procuring water, oil,

gas, Snc., and has for one of its objects to provide an improved.construction of drill tool that is peculiarly well. adapted to utif lize small and hard particles Aof material as an effective aid in the boring operation, such small hard particles of material beingvin some instances such as are broken from the hard strata through which the boring is be ing done, and in other instances being material dropped in from above for the eX- 'press purpose of coperating with the drill to cut and grind away the bottom and sides of the hole. Another object of the invention is to so construct the drill tool that as it wears away in use such wear will be of a'.

character that will tend to preserve a cut-l ting edge even up to the time that the drill has been worn away by attrition so that it is but a small portion of its original length. These objects I accomplish as illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter particularly described. That which I believe o be new will be set forthv in the claims.

In the drawings, v Figure 1 is a view partly in side4 elevation and partly inA vertical section of the 'mechanism for rotating the drill-carrying ipe, and showing also a side elevation o my. improved drill at the bottom of a hole that has been formed by it; Fig. 2 is a Vertical central section through the drill shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of. the drill.

Referring to the several v figures of the 10 indicates my improved drill which is adapted to be securedto thelower end of a line of boring pipe, such connectiongbeing effected in the construction shown by means of a coupling 11 that is screwed upon a neck 12 formed at the upper end of the drill and also screwed to the lower end 'of the line of Specification Of Letters 'Paten-t.

Application, med :une io,

yPatented June 22,1920. 191s. serian No. 239,295.

boring pipev referredto-such boring pipe being 1nd1cated by 13. If deemednecessary,

the coupling may-be locked in place b any suitable ,means such' as a key and s ot in v'order to prevent disengagement of the parts during the reverse rotation of the lboring pipe, as hereinafter described. The drill is formed vto provide two spiral flights, indi-7 cated respectively by 14 and 15, which are each formed with a comparatively wide vertically-disposed falce adapted Lto present a broad bearing surface to the wall of the hole being formed. These spirals terminate at their lower cnds,.as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in flat horizontally-disposed faces .which results in the formation at such lower en d of two sharp edge portions indicated by 16 and `17, Ysuch cuttmg edge' portions being so directed that when theA drill is rotatiig Y i in boring direction, as indicated by the arrow on the boring pipe'in Fig. 1, the loosened material from the bottom of the 'hole will be cut into and directed up over such sharpened edge portions and, with the water which is as 'usual forced under pressure down through the boring pipe, will pass up the in'clines afforded by the

spiral flights

14 and 15. 18 indicates openings-quite a. large number being shown-extending through each of the fli hts, said openings being, as best shown in vig. 2, inclined downwardly away from the outer rwalls of the flights.

These openings 18 are provided for the purpose of receiving small particles of the hard rgritty material which is broken off from the hard layers or strata through which the drill progresses. Such fine hard particles will pass down these Openings' and lodge beneath the end of the boring tool or drill and be by such boring tool or drill further crushed and rubbed around on the bottom,

and thus grind away the bottom of the hole immediately behind the cutting edges of the tool. In the vertical outer sidesof the spiral flights are formed a large number of slots 19, such slots being open at their ends and gradually tapering from their upper ends to the lower ends. The object of these slots is to receive small pieces of the hard gritty substances that are broken'away during the boring operation and are carried up valong with the water under pressure. The

shape ofthese slotslarger at the top than at the bottonifacilitates the entrance 'at `their tops of these small hard gritty pieces and insures their retention in the slots. When so retained they serve as a` grinding medium for rubbing and wearing away the wall of the hole being bored, and result in such hole being niade a little larger in diameter than the diameter of the drill, thus facilitating the more ready withdrawal of the drill Whenrequired for renewals or repairs, or when the boring operation is coinpleted, and also preventing binding of the drill in the hole while heilig rotated.

' with or wholly prevent the desired passage of-water. At intervals there are formed through the drill transverse passages. indi-l` cated by 19", which inteisect the longitudinal passage 19, these transverse passages being provided for permitting the water under pressure inthe longitudinal passage 19a to be forced out laterally to mix with and agitate the borings, and as it is desirable to have such water emitted near the lower end ofthe drill I provide plugs suchl as'19C for' stopping up any desired number of the upper series of transverse openings 19h. As the drill wears away these plugs will be from time to time withdrawn so as to leave one or more openingg for the discharge of water near the part that is then the bottom of the drill.

Referring now to the mechanism through which the rotation of the boring pipe and its attached drill' is effected, and the support for such mechanism,-20 indicates a frame of wooden beamsl as shown, or otherwise, upon which is supported a bed plate `21, such bed plate in the construction shown having formed with it brackets 22 whose outer, ends rest upon and are bolted to the framework 20. 23 indicates a large horizontally-disposed rotatable ring gear which is secured upon the upper end of a short cylinder 24, which cylinder extends through a large opening inthe bed plate 21. Be-

tween the ring 23 and the bed plate 21 areA interposed a series of anti-friction bevel rollers'25, such rollers projectin into suitable raceways formed in the ower and upper surfaces of the ring gear and bed plate, respectively. Secured upon-the lower end of the cylinder 24 is another ring gear indicated by 26, such latter ring gear being located below the bed plate. Both of. the

gears

23 and 26 are shown as being secured to the cylinder 24 by being screwed thereon, which is a convenient manner of attaching them to the cylinder as it facilitates, of

course, the ready assembling of the parts in' operative position. I have shown no means for locking these gears to the cylinder, but

it will be understood that if found necessary oi desirable they may be locked thereto in any appropriate manner, as for example, in the manner suggested 1for locking the coupling 11 to either or both of the parts that it connects. "\The gear 23 is provided on its lower face with beveled teeth 2T and the gear 2G has on its upper face a corresponding set of beveled teeth, indicated by 28, and with either of these teeth a driving pinion 29 is adapted to engage for producing the desired rotation of the boring pipe and its attached drill. This bevel pinion 29 is fast on one end of a shaft 30, upon the other end of which is suitably secured a driving pulley, which, in the form of conject truniiions 33 that are rotatably mounted in bearings V35 supported from the framework 20. 36 indicates collars ixedly se cured to the shaft A3() at opposite ends of the bearing 32, which collars hold-the shaft against eiidwise movement. i

Any suitable means may be employed for lswinging the shaftBO to bring the pinion 29 alternatively into engagement 'with either4 of the gears 23 and 2G. In the constructionl shown I have provided for this purpose a rock-shaft 37 having slightly offset end portions jouriialed in standards 39 rising from the frame 20. The rock-shaft 37 is connected with the shaft 3() by means of links 40 journaled at their upper ends on the rock-shaft and pivotally connected at their lower' ends with trunnions 42 extending laterally from a bearing 41 through which the shaft 3() passes. Upon a. partial rotation of the shaft 37 by any suitw able means about the axis dened by its offset portions, the shaft 30 is swung downward about 4the trunnions 33 serving to bring the pinion-29 into mesh with the gear 26 in lieu of the gear 23 as thc parts are shown in Fig. 1. The gear 23 is thus 'capable of being driven in either direction as may be desired,-in one direction .by direct contact with the pinion 29 and in the other direction through the medium of the cylinder 24 and the gear 26. l

T he boring pipe 13 is adapted to be driven in either direction as desired by the gear 23 by means of posts 48 rising therefrom and clamping mechanism 47 of any l.suitable type slidably mounted with respect sinking rig `to said posts. In the construction shown, a

brace-ring 49 is mountedI on the upper end ,portionsof said posts'for holding'the posts in parallel position with'respect to eachl other. "1 l' In connection with the description of the construction and Aarrangement'ofthe parts,

the operation of the' variousfeaturesrentering into this invention` have been, toa considerable extent, described. Briefly sum-r the position'show'n in Fig. 1, a rotation ofv the drive shaft 30 will, as hereinbefore described,v cause a rotation of the boring pipe and. its attached drill, during all of which time water will'be forced from a suitablesource of supply through the boring pipe and drill. Some of the water passing down the passage 19a of the drill will be forced out through the unstoppered transverse open-L ings 19-b and vwill wash up and agitate the crushed material causing it to fiow up theV spiral flights with the water, and where the material being bored through is of a veryv hard, fiinty, or gritty character many'of .the small particles thereof that are dislodged will enter theinclinedopenings 18 and work down through the successive flights and be brought beneath the bottom of the drill, and their action is such as Vto cause a continued grinding and 'disintegration of the. material at the bottom ofthe hole with a result that the hole is rapidly made deeper, and,"while a Wearing effect is also produced on the ma.- terial of the drill itself, such wearing) has been found to be of a kcharacter that preserves in a'large measure the sharpened lcuttingv edges of the lowermos't turns of the ights. In other words, the continued grinding effect of. the comparatively small loosened hard particles between the bottom of thedrill and the bottom of the hole acts to rapidly wear away the 'material through which the drill is progressing,and, while also acting, but, of course, in a .very much slower manner, to wear away the drilly itself,

such wearon the drill is behind the acting or cuttingedges ltr-17 of the flights and hence cutting edges "of the general character shown are effectively maintained through- .out the life of the drill.v Furthermore, the

shape of the surface slots 19 is such that many particles of the very hardl material thatare broken off from the various strata are caught and held therein and serve as very effective abrading agents to contact and slightly but 'sufficiently wear away the aient NQ. 11,104,409, datedfJeiy;

side-'wall of the: hole, as hereinbefore de-ff.

scribed. .The character of thevarious strata through which the drill or boring tool passes in the making ofadeep wellvariesgreatly,

of course, audattimes` some of the strata gritty material to serve as an abrading or cuttlng means 'beneath and around the drill. In such casessuchv needed elements can be vsuppliedibyl dropping intothe hole the requisite quantity of'such material as, `for example, granite chips, gravel, -coarse sand,

crushed stond-chilled shot or crushed steel will not afford the requisite amount of hard l particlesindeed, any small hard substance that can`be'\carried around with the boring tool and that' will serve the purpose of cutting andgrinding away the lbottom and sides of the hole.

In lthe operation of boring it will be foundof advantage to turn the boring tool backwardafew revolutions from time to.'

. time for forcing the'borings beneath the drill so that they 'may loeA more, readily crushed, lrolled around and. washed outand up, this being lattained by the shifting of the shaftBO as above described.

"It will also be necessa from time to time to raise and lower the drill in order to properly force beneath the 3drill. a quantity of the loosenedhard particles of material to be rolled and crushed so as to serve as a proper abrading means, but' I have not deemed it necessary to show such raising and lowering' means. A construction for such purpose will be found fully illustrated and described in my said Letters Patent No. 1,104,409...

The invention has been described more particularly in connection with boring oper- -ations conducted through strata of very hard materials, but the ap aratus will, of course, be' equal effective 1n strata of different characte and without the employment of much, if any, of the hard particles 'mentioned I might also mention that when The angle of the flights 14 and 1,5 may be j con- I A varied within wide limits 'from that shown' to better adapt the drill to differin ditions or to conform to theideas o individual users.

The slots 19 may, if desired, extend only partly 'across theedges of the flights, being -.the' space between adjacent portions of the groove of Substantially the same width vertically as that of the groove. lnasm'uch as this form of drill is very heavy and durable and may be produced readily by casting with very little machine work necessary for ,completing the drill, I consider this feature of my invention of very considerable importance. ly making the spiral grooving of a depth of approximately oneth1rd of the diameter of the'drill, ample clearance `is afforded for the'escape of the dirt and rock torn loose during* the drilling operation while at the same time thedrill presents to the walls of the hole being boredsuch a surtace and masts ofmetal as to be capable of i long-continued use without replacement,

' ed to protect the drill and prevent undue particularly in viewof the adaptability of the device for carrying about with it the loosened particles of abrading material as is above described, such. material being adaptwear. l

While I have shown the slots 19 wedgeshaped for better holding the particles of abrading material in position on the face of the drill and prefer to employ this form, it will bevunderstood that Iv do not limit myself to the use of this particular form except-as hereinafter. specifically claimed,

the provision of shoulders or ribs in the pej riphery by means of these slots being of importance for carrying the particles of abrading material about withlthe drill whether or not the slots tapertoward their llower ends. l/Vhat Iclaim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters atent, is-

1. A rotary well-boringdrill comprising a flight having means in its edge for receivingv and retaining small hard particlesV so that they will project from such edge and act against and wear away the wall ofthe hole being bored.

2. A rotary welllboring drill comprising a flight having means in its ed e for receiving and retaining small har particles so that they will project from such edge and act against and wear away the wall of the hole being bored, in combination with means for conducting water under pressurev to the bottom of such hole whereby some of such hard substances as have been loosened by the action ofthe drill will be forced up the flight and caught and held`by said retaining means.

3., A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight having means in its edge for receiving and retaining small hard particles so that they will project from such edge and act against and wear away the wall of the hole being bored, the` spiral being also provided 'with openings therethrough for conducting j small particles of hard material below the drill to serve as an abrading means for wearing away the bottom ofthe hole.

4. A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight having means in its edge for receiving and retaining `small hard particles so thatthey will project from such edge and act against and wear away the wall of the 4hole being bored,A the spiral being also provided with openings therethrough for conducting small particles of hard material below the drill to serve as an abrading means for wearing away the bottom of the hole,

each of said openings being inclined to di? -l with openings therethrough for conducting small particles of hard materialbelow the drill to serve as an abrading means -for wearing away the bottom of the lhole, in combination with means for' conducting water under pressure to the bottom of such hole, whereby hard substances that 'have been loosened by the action of the drill will be `forced up the flight and some of the smaller particles thereof will enter said retaining means in theedge and other particles will pass down through said openings.

' 6. A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight having aplurality of wedge-shaped slots in its edge for receiving and retaining small hard particles so that they will project from such edge and act against and wear away the wall of the hole being bored.

7. A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight having a plurality of wedge-shaped slots in its edge for receiving and retaining smallhard particles so `that they'will pro' jectfrom such edge and act against and wear away the wall of the hole beingbored,

the flight ybeing also provided with openings therethrough for conducting small particles of/hard material'below the drill to wear away the wall of the hole being bored,-

the flight being also provided with openings therethrough for conducting small particles of hard material below the drill to serve as an abrading means for wearing away the -.bott om'of the hole, each of said openings being inclined t0 direct the said particles back of the cutting edge of the drill.

9. A rotary well-boring'drill comprising a flight having its lower face substantially at right angles to the axis of the drill whereby, a cutting ed e is formed on the lowermost.

turn of the ight, openings being provided through theflight for the passage of particles of hard material 'to the bottoinof the hole being bored to serve as an abrading means beneath the drill.

10. A rotarywell-boring drill comprising va flight having its lower face .substantially at right angles to the axis of the drill whereby a cutting edge is formed on the lowermost turn of the flight,y each turn of the flight beingi provided with one or more inclined openingsV therethrough to direct the passage ofparticles of hard material to the bottom of the hole being bored and in'rear of the said cutting edge, whereby such material will serve as an abrading means beneath the drilll 'Y 11. A rotary well-boring drill comprising 'a ilight having its lower face substantially at right angles to the axis of the drill whereby a cnttingedge is formed on the lowermost turn of the flight, the` light having .openings therethrough for directing particles of hard material to the bottom of the hole being bored to serve as an abrading means beneath the drill, and the flight having indentations in its edge for receiving and holding other particles of hard material that serve to abrade the wall of such hole.

12'. A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight having its lowerface substantially at right angles to the axis of the drill whereby a cutting edge is formed on the lowermost turn ot the flight, the flight having openings therethrough for directing particles of hardmaterial to the bottom of the hole being bored to serve as an abrading means beneath the drill, and the flight having indentations in its edgefor receiving and holding other particles of hard material that serve to abrade the wall of such hole, in

` combination with -means for conducting water under pressure to the bottom of the hole to force the borings up the flight and carry small hard particles thereof to said openings and indentations. j

13. A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight the lower face of which has a sub.- stantial ly horizontal face whereby a cutting edge is formed on the lowermost turf; of the flight and having the several turns of the flight Lformed with relatively wide edges that are` substantially parallel with the axis of Ytially in the formof a cylindrical .block groovedspirally in its periphery,` the space between adjacent groove portions being of substantiallythe same width vertically as 4that of the groove.

l5. A rotary well-boring drill substantially in the form of a cylindrical block provided in its periphery with a plurality of spiral grooves of substantially the 4same width vertically as that ofthe space between adjacent turns-of said grooves.

16. A rotary well-boring drill substantially in the form of a cylindrical block grooved spirally on its periphery to a 'depth ird of the diameter of approximately one-t ofl the drill, the space between adjacent groove portions being of-substantially as great width vertically as that of the groove.

17. A rotary well-boring drill substantially in the lform of cylindrical block grooved spirally in its periphery, the space between adjacent groove portions being of substantially the same width vertically as that of the groove, and the peripheryrof the drill f being provided with substantially vertically disposed shoulders between adjacent groove portions for carrying about with the drill loosened particles of abrading material.

18. A rotary well-boring drill. substantially in the form of a 'cylindrical block grooved spirally in its periphery, the space between adjacent groove portions being of substantially the same width vertically as that of the groove, said drill'beingA provided with a longitudinal conduit therethrough and diagonally disposed openings from the groove to said conduit for conducting loosened particles of abradingmaterial to the bottom of the hole being bored.

19. A rotar well-boring drill comprising a flight, t e drill having a conduit extending longitudinally therethrough and opening at its lower end in eccentric position withvrespect to the axis of the flight,

and also having `laterally-directed passages communicating with said conduit between the several turns of the lli ht.

' MATTHEW CHAPMAN.