US2365681A - Drill steel centralizer - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 26, 1944. E. G. GARTIN DRILL STEEL CENTRALIZER Filed m. 15, 1941 2 Sheets-S heet 1 Dec. 26, 1944.

E. G. GARTIN DRILL STEEL CENTRALIZER Filed Aug; 15, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IHHH I I I LHHHHHHHNI I I I III IHIIIU III m I I III Patented Dec. 26, 1944 DRILL STEEL CENTRALIZER Elmer G. Gartin, Claremont, N. IL, assignor to Sullivan Machinery Company, a corporation of ,Massachusetts Application August 15, 1941, Serial No. 407,080

Claims.

This invention relates to rock drills, and more particularly to an improved centralizer for a drill steel of a hammer rock drill.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved drill steel centralizer. Another object is to provide an improved drill steel centralizer having improved control means whereby the centralizer may be readily released. A further object is to provide an improved drill steel centralizer having improved control means operable from a remote point. Yet another object is to provide an improved centralizer for the drill steel of a hammer rock drill of the shell guided, drifter type, having improved release means operable from the rear-end of the guide shell. A still further object is to provide an improved drill steel centralizer having improved latch means for holding the centralizer-guide-arms in guiding position together with means for automatically effecting movement of the guide arms out of their guiding. position when the latch substantially on line 'l---! of Fig. 1, showing the automatic control valve.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the manual control valve taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the manual control valve taken on line 9-9 of v Fig. 6.

means is released. A still further object is to provide an improved guide-arm-latch which is fluid actuated and controllable from a remote point whereby the centralizer maybe quickly released from the drill steel. Another object is to provide an improved drill steel centralizer having a novel arrangement and combination of parts.

How these and other objects 'are'accomplished, and the advantageous features of the invention, will be best understood from the following detailed description wherein a preferred and illustrative embodiment and a modification thereof are set forth, reference for the purpose being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a hammer rock drill with which the preferred illustrative embodiment of the inventionis associated, parts beingshown in section to illustrate structural details.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the forward portion of the rock drill shown in Fig. 1, showing the improved drill steel centralizer.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the centralizer in guiding position.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the centralizer in its released position.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken through the guide shell substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially on line 86 of Fig. 1, showing the manual control valve.

' Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken Fig. 10 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken through the centralizer substantially on line IIl-I0 of Fig. l.

Fig. 11 is a detail view in longitudinal section taken substantially on line IIII of Fig. 10, showing a guide arm pivot.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary plan view, with parts shown in horizontal section, of a modified form of construction.

In both illustrative embodiments of the invention the improved drill steel centralizer, generally designated I, is associated with a conventional hammer rock drill of the mounted drifter type generally designated 2. It will be evident, however, that the centralizer may be associated with drills of other types, if desired.

The rock drill 2 comprises a conventional drill hammer motor 3 slidably guided in the guideways 4, 4 of an elongated guide shell 5, the latter having the usual' bottom swivel plate Ii adapted to be clamped in a conventional drill support. Supported in a conventional manner by tie rods and spacing sleeves at the rear end of the guide shell is a cross yoke I, and a feed screw 8 mounted on the guide shell is journaled at its rear end within this cross yoke and is journaled at its front end by means of a front bearing support 9 attached to the front end of the shell, also by the tie rods. The feed screw has a usual manual operating handle II) and engages a non-rotatable feed nut II (Fig. 6) secured within a depending boss I2 integral with a motor cylinder I3. The motor cylinder has longitudinal guides I4 I4 slidingly received in the shell guideways 4. By rotating the feed screw the hammer motor may be fed back and forth along the shell guideways. The hammer motor has a front chuck housing I5 suitably attached to the front end of the motor cylinder I3, and supported within a usual chuck mechanism carried within the chuck housing is the shank of a usual drill stell I6. As is usual in hammer drilling motors, the motor cylinder I3 contains a fluid actuated hammer piston for percussively actuating the drill steel.

The improved drill steel centralizer I, as shown in Figs. 1 to 11 inclusive, comprises a pair of cooperating guide arms I1, Il pivoted on parallel longitudinal axes on lateral lugs l8 integral with the front bearing support 9 and having cooperating guide portions 19 adapted to embrace the in Fig. 3, by a latch 20 pivoted at 2| on the guide portion of one of the guide arms and having a latching 111g 22 engageable with a projection 23 integral with the other guide arm. The guide arms are'pivoted between their extremities and have bottom projections 24 below their pivots connected by a coil spring 25, and this spring constantly urges said arms apart. The latch 20 holds the arms together in guiding relation against the tension of the spring, but when the latch is released the arms are quickly thrown apart by the spr i Manual control means is provided for effectin release of the latch under the actuation of pressure fluid from a point remote from the centralizernear the rear end of the guide shell. Arranged in a transverse bore 25 in a depending boss 21 integral with the guide shell is a rotary control valve 28 having an operating handle 29. This valve is hollow at 30 and its hollow interior is connected to a suitable source of pressure fluid supply through a supply hose connection 3i. A passage 34 connects the valve-receiving-bore 26 to a conduit 35 extending longitudinally along one side of the guide shell, as shown in Fig. 5, and connected by a passage 36 to a passage 31 in the front bearing support 9. The passage 31 communicates with a. passage 38 (Fig. 11) in one of th pivot bolts 39 for the guide arms, and a passage 40 in this guide arm connects the passage Sit/with a bore 4| in the guide arm near the steel-guiding-portion of the arm as shown in Fig. 10. Contained in this bore is a plunger 42 engageable with a lever arm 43 of the latch 20. The bore 4| and plunger 42 cooperate to provide a servo-motor. A coil spring 44 urges the plum;-

-er inwardly within its bore. A spring-pressedplunger 45 on the other guide arm engages the latch 20 yieldingly to hold the same connected. It is accordingly evident that when the operator turns the rotary control valve 28 into a position to supply pressure fluid through the passages 36, 38, 31, 38 and 40 to the bore ll beneath the plunger 42, the latter is moved upwardly against the action of the coil spring #84 and the spring- 54. The rotary valve 28 is traversed by a port 55 (Fig. 9) for continuouslyconnecting the valve interior through an annular groove in the walls of the bore with a passage 58 connected by a I annularly grooved at 59 to connect the passage 58 with a' passage 60, the latter being in communication with a conduit 6L. The conduit 6| is connected by a passage 62 with the passage 31 in the front bearing support 9. It is accordingly evident that as the'drill hammer motor is fed forwardly along the guideways of the guide shell, the elongation 53 of the cylinder guide engases the valve stem 52 at a predetermined point in the feeding travel of the drill hammer motor, and as a result the valve 50'is depressed to move the valve groove 59 into a position to connect the passages 58 and 60, thereby to supply pressure fluld from the passage 56 through the conduits and passages to the inner end of a the bore 4| containing the plunger 42, and as a pressed-plunger to efiect release of the latch 26. When the latch is released the guide arms are quickly thrown open by the coil spring 25. The groove 33 on the valve 28 is connectible to a vent port 46 (Fig. 8), thereby to vent the bore il at the inner end of the plunger, and when the plunger bore is vented the spring 44 moves the plunger inwardly.

Associated with the manual control means is an automatic control means for effecting release of the guide arms at a predetermined point in the feeding travel of the drill hammer motor to prevent the front end of the chuck housing of the hammer motor from striking against the centralizer as the hammer motor is fed forwardly along the shell guideways. This automatic control comprises a plunger valve 50 (Fig. 7) arranged in a bore 5| in the guide shell and having a stem 52 projecting into one of the shell guideways 4. One of the cylinder guides i4 is elongated at 53 (Fig. l), and when this guideelongation engages the valve stem 52 the valve lit is depressed against the action of a coil spring result the latter is moved outwardly to release the guide-arm-latch 20 to effect release of the guide arms l'l. Thus engagement of the front end of the hammer motor with the centralizer arms is impossible. Under the control of the rotary valve 28 the guide arm may be released at will from the operators station at the rear end of the guide shell.

In the modification shown in Fig. 12, the latchrelease-plunger is removed from the guide arm of the centralizer and is placed on the guideshell. As shown, a lateral boss 65 integral with the guide shell has a bore 56 for receiving a plunger 6! which is held rearwardly by a coil spring 68. This plunger has a stem 69 engageahle with a lever arm It of a latch I I. This latch is pivoted at 12 on one of the guide arms and has a latch in projection 13 eng geable wi h a pr j tion 14 integral with the other guide arm. The above described fluid conducting passages 34, 35 in the guide shell are connected to a conduit 15 communicating with the rear end of the plunger-reeeiving-bore, and when pressure fluid is supplied to the plunger-receiving-bore under the control of the rotary valve 28, the plunger is moved forwardly to release the latch. As in th other form. of the invention, a coil spring swings the arms wide open when the latch is released. Otherwise this form of the invention is similar to that above described.

As a result of this invention an improved drill steel centralizer is provided having novel control means whereby release of the guide arms may be effected from a remote point. This is a particularly desirable arrangement since the operator can effect release of the centralizer from his station at the rear end of the guide shell. Also by providing the fluid actuated latch means and the spring means for opening the guide arms the cen-. tralizer may beeasily and quickly released from the drill steel. Further, by the provision of the automatic control means for. the latch-releaseplunger, any possibility of the drill hammer m0- tor striking against the centralizer arms is preeluded. Other uses and advantages of the improved drill steel centralizer will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art.

While there are in this application specifically described one form and a modification which the invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this form and the modification or the same are shown for purposes of illustration and that the invention may be further modified and embodied in various other iorms without departing from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a drill steel centralizer, a support, a, pair of cooperating guide arms pivoted on said support, said arms being pivoted intermediate their ends and engaging the drill steel at one sided their pivots, and a coil spring extending between the guide arms at the other side of their pivots for urging said arms widely apart.

2. In a drill steel centralizer, a support, a pair of cooperating guide arms pivoted on said support, said arms being pivoted intermediate their ends and engaging the drill steel at one side of their pivots, a coil spring extending between the guide arms at the other side of their pivots for urging said arms-widely apart, and a releasable latch for holding said guide arms in guiding position against the action of said spring.

3. In combination, a guide for supporting a drill steel actuator and for guiding the same for movement therealong, a centralizer at one end of said guide for centralizing a drill steel and comprising pivoted guiding elements having means for constantly urging the same out of steel guiding position, a lock engageable with said guiding elements at the ends thereof remote from their pivots for holding the same in steel guiding position against the action of said'constantly-urging means, said lock being releasable to free said guiding elements for swinging movement away from the drill steel, means operable from the rear end 01 said guide irrespective of the position of a steelactuator on said guide for eflecting release 01! said lock, and automatically operable means operative when a steel actuator is in a predetermined positlon with respect to said guide for releasing said lock to cause said guiding elements to move out of steel guiding position thereby to preclude engagement of the steel, actuator with the centralizer.

4. In a drill steel centralizer. a support, a pair or cooperating guides pivoted on said support, a pivoted latch for holding said guides in guiding relation, and a fluid actuated plunger for releasing said latch.

5. In a drill steel centralizer, a support,'a pair of cooperating guides pivoted on said support, a latch for holding said guides in guiding relation, and a fluid actuated plunger mounted on one of said guides for releasing said latch.

6. In a drill steel centralizer, a support, a pair of cooperating guides pivoted on said support, a pivoted latch for holding said guides in guiding relation, a fluid actuated plunger for releasing said latch, and resilient means for throwing said guides apart when said latch is released.

'7. In a drill steel centralizer, a support, a pair of cooperating guides pivoted on said support, a pivoted latch for holding said guides in guiding relation, and a plunger on said support and rela- 20 tive to which said guides are swingable for releasing said latch.

8. In a drill steel centralizer, a support, a pair ing means movable into and out of guiding relaas controlling fluid flow to said fluid actuated means.

tion with respect to a drill steel, releasable swingable latch means for holding said guiding means in guiding relation, fluid actuated means for releasing said latch means, and valve means for 40 inguiding relation, fluid actuated means i'or releasing said latch means, and valve means located at a point remote from the guiding means for controlling fluid flow to said fluid actuated means.

ELDER G. GARTIN.

Images