US2715954A - Hydraulic tower elevating device - Google Patents

Description

g- 23, 1955 T. M. ROWAN HYDRAULIC TOWER ELEVATING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 4, 1949 INVENTOR. T JUmQEMFM VQLZ Aug. 23, 1955 T. M. ROWAN HYDRAULIC TOWER ELEVATING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 4, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

B13 150.222 QSMED W022 [/15 FEE/VT Aug. 23, 1955 'r. M. ROWAN HYDRAULIC TOWER ELEVATING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 4, 1949 INVENTOR. Thamas MHzm azz Aug. 23, 1955 T. M. ROWAN HYDRAULIC TOWER ELEVATING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 4, 1949 INVENTOR. g TbDZZZQEMJ FUWQZZ WT I United States Patent HYDRAULIC TOWER ELEVATING DEVICE Thomas M. Rowan, Long Beach, Calif., assignor to Wilson Manufacturing Company, Wichita Falls, Tex., a corporation of Texas Application April 4, 1949, Serial No. 85,299

Claims. (Cl. 189-14) This invention relates to improvements in hydraulic elevating devices, and more particularly to guiding hydraulic elevating devices which employ long slender, hy-

portion of the derrick partly broken away and with a 7 part thereof shown in dash outline;

draulically operated plungers, such as might be used in elevating derricks, elevators, and the like to a considerable height.

While hydraulic cylinders have been employed heretofore in connection with lifting or elevating mechanisms, these for the most part, have been restricted as to use, due to the fact that, when suflicient length was used for elevating an elevator or derrick, for instance, such plungers were subject to lateral deflection, due to the great slenderness ratio.

An object of this invention is to provide an extensible hydraulically operated elevating device, the plunger of which is supported against lateral deflection.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hydraulic cylinder, the plunger of which is guided against lateral deflection at spaced intervals throughout the length thereof.

The present invention introduces certain modifications in the device which forms the subject of a Patent No. 2,336,432, to John Hart Wilson on Oil Well Service Mast, issued December 7, 1943.

In the drilling of deep wells by the rotary drilling method, relatively tall derricks are preferably employed,

and while it is desirable to make these derricks portable,

certain difiiculties in this respect have usually been encountered, such as for example the inevitable conflict between the attainment of adequate size as opposed to facility of transportation. It is therefore desirable to construct such derricks in such manner that they may be collapsed, so as to reduce the size during transportation, as by telescoping one section into another, or the like.

The present invention utilizes a hydraulic cylinder with a plunger therein, which plunger is adapted to lift the inner or upper part of the derrick a sufiicient distance to give the desired extension to the derrick, and with the guide member or members arranged to give lateral support to the extended plunger, at a point or points intermediate the end of the cylinder and the point of anchor of the plunger, so as to prevent lateral deflection of the plunger. The plunger thus braced is sustained against lateral deflection, and it is possible for a plunger, so braced, to extend upward for forty feet or more with perfect safety.

An embodiment of this invention, together with a modification thereof are illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a drilling rig and derrick mounted on a vehicle, with parts broken away and shortened, with the derrick shown in raised position in full lines and in transport position in dot-dash outlines, and with the invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the upper portion of the derrick or mast, showing the hydraulically extensible member in telescoped position, and showing the outer Fig. 3 is an enlarged front elevational view of the lower portion of the derrick with parts broken away, shortened, and showing the plunger in partially extended position, and with a portion of the outer portion broken away and shown in dash outline and a portion thereof in full outline;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view partly in section, of. the plunger guide device;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through the hydraulically operated raising mechanism, showing the mechanism in telescoped position;

.Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing the plunger extended and showing the plunger guide member intermediate the ends thereof; with parts shortened and broken away;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section and shortened, showing the details of construction of the plunger guide mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 9 is an elevational View partly in section and with parts broken away and shortened, of a modified form of plunger guide mechanism; and

Fig. 10 is an elevational view of a hydraulic cylinder raising mechanism, showing a plurality of plunger guides with the lifting mechanism therefor.

With more detailed reference to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a vehicle on which a drilling mechanism 2 is mounted. A derrick or mast, generally designated at 3, is shown as being pivotally mounted at 4, on the rear end of the vehicle 1, in the usual manner.

A hydraulic cylinder 5 is shown as pivoted to the vehicle or truck frame 6, and which cylinder has a plunger 7 telescopically positioned therein and connected to the derrick 3 by means of a pivot pin 8. The hydraulic cylinder 5 is adapted to raise the derrick from the horizontal position, as shown in dot-dash outline in Fig. 1, to the raised, full line position as shownin Fig. l.

The derrick, generally designated at 3, is composed of a base section 9 and an upper or inner section 10, which upper section is adapted to telescope into the base section 9, substantially as set out in the Patent No. 2,336,432 mentioned above. A hydraulic plunger 11 is connected to the lower section 9. of the derrick by means of a bolt 12, and said plunger passes upward through a gland into the hydraulic cylinder 14, which cylinder is anchored by a lug 15 at its upper end, to the upper portion 10 of the derrick. In as much as a derrick, when extended, may be ninety or more feet in height, it is often necessary to raise the upper section 10 thereof, forty or more feet, therefore, the plunger 11, which usually has a high slenderness ratio, will not have suflicient strength as a column, unless supported laterally, to raise the upper section 10 of the derrick to the full height. Therefore, to successfully utilize a slender plunger that extends to such great height, it is necessary to provide means for bracing the plunger against lateral deflection, intermediate the end of the cylinder and the point at which the plunger is anchored. A guide member 16, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, is sleeved over plunger 11 and is adapted to be guided in the angular frame members 17, which frame members 17 are the upright frame members of the base portion 9 of the derrick 3.

Rods 18 connect to the guide members 16, and each of the rods 18 extend upward into the respective, upstanding tubular members 19. The tubular members 19 are supported on a member positioned on the lower end of the upper derrick section 10. A boss 20 is secured near the upper end of each of the rods 18, which 1 to 8 inclusive.

boss forms a stop for engagement'with' cross member 21 positioned on the lower end of the upper derrick section 10. Each of the rods 18 extends into its respective tubular member 19 a suflicient distance to give a true guided relation therebetween, and each of the rods 18 has another boss 22 spaced upward from theboss 20 so as to insure proper guided relation of the 'rods 18 in their respective tubular members 19. The lower end of each rod 18 ispreferably threaded, and has nuts 23 positioned thereon, on each side of a ,web 24; These webs-.24, one for each of the rods 18,

are connected to plunger guide member 16. Therods '18 cause the liftingof the plunger guide member 16 upon engagement of the boss 20 with cross member 21, upon the upward movement of upper derrick section 10;

Upon application of'hydraulic pressure, through pipe *25, to the lower end of tubular plunger 11, hydraulic reaction will be caused on hydraulic cylinder.14, as the hydraulic cylinder '14 is sealed around plunger 11 at V its lower end by a packing member 26 which'prevents 7 V tains the plunger 11 in guided'relation a predetermined distance above the lower support pin 12. When the 30 derrick has reached its full extended position," it is preferable to have this plunger guide member approximately halfway betweenthe lower end of the cylinder 14 and the support bolt 12, to raise the derrick shown in Figs.

Operation V In the operation of the mechanism, hydraulic pressure is applied bya suitable pump P positioned on the vehicle in theusual manner, through a hose H which leads to the lower end of the cylinder 5. This will cause der rick or? mast 3 to move from the horizontal position T as shown in dot-dash outline in Fig. l to an upright position. I to the upright position, it is still telescoped, the section 10 being telescoped within the base section 9.

However, after the derrick 3 has been raised With thederrick in upright position, and with snub 'lines S properly tightened, hydraulic pressure 'is' applied by pump P through hose 25 to the lower end of plunger 11 which will cause a hydraulic reaction to lift the cylinder 14, the upper end of which cylinder is anchored at 15 near the upper end of the upper section 10 of the derrick. This will cause the upper section 10 l 'of the derrick to move into extended position, as shown in'full outline in Fig. 1; After the derrick is' extended to the desired height, latches, such as those shown in Patent No. 2,336,432, will be caused to engage and lock the two derrick sections together. 7 9

Upon extending the upper section 10 of the derrick, the cross member 21 on the ,lower end thereof-will engage bosses 20 on the rods 18, which will raise the plunger guide member 16 to a position approximately one-half the length of the laterally unsupported. plunger 11, so as to guide the. plunger against lateral deflection when a load is applied thereto, as by raising the derrick section 10. The outer corners of the plunger guide member 16 will interfit within angular frame members 17, which will brace the plunger guide member 16 against lateral displacement.

Guy lines L may be used to brace the upper portion of the derrick against displacement while it is in operating position. The derrick 3 is thus held in this position until the latches are released and the guy lines redeflection of the plunger.

While only two plunger guide members 43 and. 47

In order to put the derrick back into transport position from the operating position, pressure is released from the plunger 11 by meansof valve V, and with the pressure released the upper section 10 of the derrick will telescope into the lower section. After the derrick section 10 is telescoped intobase section 9, the pressure a is released from hose H by valve V, which will permit retraction of the plunger 7 into cylinderS, uponmovement of the derrick about pivot 4. The derrick may either be pulled rearward by snub lines S, or the double acting cylinder 5 may be employed. Upon the derrick assuming the position as shown in dot-dash outlinein Fig. l, the vehicle 1 may be used to transport the derrick and the rotary drilling rig, as desired.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Figs.' 9 and 10 for laterally supporting hydraulic plungersj which are of such length as to require a plurality of lateral support members.

as an elevator, or the like.

The hydraulic cylinder 31 is secured to the cross or support member 32. Aplunger 33 'is adapted to telescope into cylinder 31 to the extent necessary to accommodate a section of the desired length to give the proper ,height to the derrick when in fully extended position.

The cylinder 31' is provided with an anchor lug 34' atthe upper end and the plunger 33 is provided with an anchor lug 35 at the lower end thereof. A suitable conduit 36' isconnected with the interiorof plunger 33,.so upon application of pressure by a, pump 37, the hydraulic cylinder 31 will be caused to move upward into extended position, as shown in Fig. 10. Also connected to cross member 32 is a tubular member 38, in which a second tubular member 39 is telescoped. The tubular member 39 is substantially as disclosed in Fig. 9, having a cap threadably secured thereon to. form a guide boss 40 on the upper end thereof, and a stopboss 41 is spaced downward from the upper endso as to maintain a length of tubing 39 within tubing 38 in axially aligned relation The tubular member 39 passes through cross member 32, but the stop 41 is of such construction as to prevent its passagetherethrough when the tubular member 'is in extended position as shown in Fig. 9. The tubular member 39 has a rod 42 positioned therein which is 39. A guide boss.44 is positioned on the upper end of rod 42 and a stop boss 45 is positioned a spaced distance downward on the rod 42, from guide boss 44, for engagement with a guide member 43 when the rod 42 is in extended position. The rod 42 is preferably threaded at its lower end to receive nuts 46 thereon.

A plunger guide 47 is slidably mounted on plunger. 33 V and is secured on the lower end of rod 42rbetween the 7 nuts 46, so that, upon raising rod 42, the guide member 47 will be. raised along the plunger have been described and shown, it is to be understood that, by making the guide members tubulan the principle can be carried forward to employ any desired numberof guides within a reasonable limit and that the plunger 33 may be of any reasonable length and still be maintained against lateral movement by guides positioned at a spaced intervals along the length thereof. h

It is also understood that changes. and a may be made in the minor .detailsof construction, without departing from the spirit of the invention as-claimed.

extending substantially throughout the length of said.

I The hydraulic cylinder 31' may be installed ,in' a derrick similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1, or applied to any'other suitable structure, such 33 to prevent lateral dap tations inner element substantially parallel with the axis thereof, a movable member slidably mounted within said rigid frame, means anchoring an end of one said element to said movable member, means anchoring the opposite end of said other element against movement relative to sad rigid frame, bracing means mounted in axial sliding contact with said inner element and an axial sliding engagement with said rigid frame, and lost motion linkage means connecting said movable member and said bracing means for moving the latter along said inner element during extension of said structure beyond the extent of lost motion of said linkage, whereby said bracing means act between said rigid frame and said inner element intermediate the ends of the latter when said structure is fully extended.

2. The combination defined in claim 1, said rigid frame being of rectangular section and comprising corner members and said bracing means comprising a rectangular framework slidably engaged between said corner members, said framework having a central bearing portion in sliding engagement with said inner element.

3. The combination defined in claim 1, said lost motion linkage comprising a pair of telescoping elements of smaller length than that of said first-named elements.

4. The combination defined in claim 1, said lost motion linkage comprising a series of telescoping elements of successively smaller section, and said bracing means including a plurality of bracing members each secured to one of said last-named elements other than that of largest section.

5. The combination defined in claim 1, said extensible structure comprising a cylinder and plunger, said movable member being the upper part of an extensible derrick and said rigid frame comprising the lower part of said derrick, said cylinder being anchored to said upper derrick part and said plunger being anchored against movement relative to said lower derrick part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 143,182 Pierson Sept. 23, 1873 669,492 Gill Mar. 5, 1901 762,627 Fink June 14, 1904 2,305,181 McCray Dec. 15, 1942 2,336,432 Wilson Dec. 7, 1943 2,453,350 Stegeman Nov. 9, 1948

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