US3005525A - Recording apparatus clutch for earth bore drilling equipment - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 24, 1961 o. v. PHILLIPS 3,005,525

RECORDING APPARATUS CLUTCH FOR EARTH BORE DRILLING EQUIPMENT Filed Sept. 30, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR. 1 OLIVER v. PHILLIPS ATTORNEY Oct. 24, 1961 o. v. PHILLIPS 0 RECORDING APPARATUS CLUTCH FOR EARTH BORE DRILLING EQUIPMENT 7 Filed Sept. 30, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR- OLIVER y PHILLIPS v ww/d ATTORNEY Oct. 24, 1961 o. v. PHILLIPS RECORDING APPARATUS CLUTCH FOR EARTH BORE DRILLING EQUIPMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 30, 1957 INVENTOR. OLIVER V PHILLIPS ATTOR EY Oct. 24, :1961 o. v. PHILLIPS 3,005,525

RECORDING APPARATUS CLUTCH FOR EARTH BORE DRILLING EQUIPMENT Filed Sept. 30, 1957 4 Sheets-Shee't 4 INVENTOR.

. OLIVER V. PHILLIPS ATTORNEY United States Patent rado Filed Sept. 30, 1957, Ser. No. 687,051 Claims. (Cl. 192-30) This invention relates to an improved recording apparatus particularly usable With earth bore drilling equipment whereby information as to the time required for drilling formations and for conducting operations other than drillmg may be permanently recorded. Among the operations that occur frequently other than drilling are changing of drilling bits, adding sections of drill pipe, reaming and making various connections and repairs and of course these operations result in up and down vertical movement of the drill stern as distinguished from progressive downward movement during drilling and penetration of the earth. Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement upon the recording apparatus shown and claimed in the Oliver V. Phillips US. patent application, Serial No. 570,116, filed March 7, 1956, said application and the present invention being owned by a common assignee.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a recording apparatus including a chart, marking means for the chart and improved drive means for the marking means which is effective to not only cause the latter to reflect drilling penetration, but to accurately reflect each exact movement of the drill stem when operations other than drilling are taking place.

Another object of the invention is to provide in appara tus of the type described improved means associated with the drive means for controlling and positioning the marking means in a plurality of base positions on the chart whereby extremely accurate marking may be reflected, said improved means being simple to operate and connected with the drive means by a minimum of parts.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon considering the detailed description in conjunction with the drawings wherein like numerals represent similar parts throughout and wherein a preferred embodiment is illustrated and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a horizontal sectional view of the recording apparatus of this invention;

FIGURE 2. is a sectional view taken along the lines 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 2A is a detailed view of a portion of the measuring wheel of FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIGURE 1 and illustrating the recording apparatus in its 11 position;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 4 and illustrating the parts when the recorder is in the Out position;

FIGURE 6 is a detailed view of the marking pen supporting means when in the 11 position;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of a modified portion of the apparatus; and

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along the lines 8-8 of FIGURE 7.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the recorder is generally represented by the letter R and it should be mentioned at the outset that many of the elements of the recorder are not illustrated as they form no part of this invention. However, reference may be made to said application for a showing and explanation of the other elements that would preferably be incorporated, such as a single marking pen or stylus, the log chart or sheet, the counter, the timing clock and the footage dial as well as the cable supporting means and guide tube. However, there is illustrated the recording housing H including the side walls 1 and 1a, the rear wall 2 and the front wall 3. Provided in the rear wall and extending interiorly thereof are bearings 4 of any suitable type which rotatably support a main shaft 5, as is clearly shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. Journaled and positioned on this shaft 5 by suitable means including bearings 6 and a snap ring 7 is the measuring wheel or pulley 8 which in turn is driven by a cable C. This cable C is connected for movement, by means illustrated in said application, with the drilling string or stem of earth bore drilling apparatus in such a manner that the cable is continually maintained under tension and each movement of the drilling string is reflected in the cable and in turn wheel 8 whereby all vertical movements of the drilling stem will cause rotation of wheel 8 in one direction or the other. When the drilling string is moving downwardly during penetration of the earth, sheave 8 will normally move in the direction of the arrow illustrated in FIGURE 1. Numeral 9 merely represents a hexagonal nut cooperating with ring 7 and a spacer 11 for maintaining the bearings 6 in position on the main shaft 5.

In said application there is described apparatus for causing proper positioning of the marking pen on certain horizontal base positions of the chart, depending upon the direction of movement of the drill stem. This positioning apparatus may be broken down into two categories, namely, drive means and manual operating means for limiting the corresponding movement of the pen by the drive means and it is this positioning means which constitutes the main improvement of the present invention.

The drive means portion of the positioning apparatus will first be described and in this connection particular reference is made to FIGURES 1, 2, 2A and 4. Surrounding the shaft 5 adjacent bearing means 6 is the spacer 1.1 which not only aids in maintaining bearing means 6 in position, but also heating means 12 upon which is journaled a first clutch plate 13, the plate 13 being maintained in place on the bearing 12 by means including spacer 11 and the snap ring 14. On one side of plate 13 is a clutch face 15 which is engageable by the clutch body 16 (the engaging faces being made of suitable gripping material such as cork) upon movement of the latter from the position shown in FIGURE 2. to that of FIGURE 1. Frictionally carried by clutch plate 13 is a reversing clutch ring generally represented by the numeral 17, said ring being composed, as is clearly illustrated in FIGURE 4, of two semi-circular sections 17a and b and being frictionally held on the periphery of plate 13 by a plurality of spaced friction inserts 18. The amount of friction imposed by the inserts 18 on plate 13 may be varied by the spring biased means 19 which couples the two semi-circular sections of the ring 17 together. Essentially, each spring bias means 19 includes a screw 20 slidable in section 17a and threaded in section 17b and having a head 21 and a spring a spring S interposed between the head and the semi-circular section 17a. Obviously the sections 17a and b will be spaced an amount permitted by the adjustable threaded connections of screws 20 in sections 17b and this in turn governs the frictional eifect of inserts 18. Section 17b of the ring 17 is provided with a boss 22 within which is provided a recess 23 for operating a reversing lever generally represented at 24. In any event, the effect of the inserts 18 is adjustable so that movement of wheel 13 will cause corresponding movement of ring 17 until the frictional force is overcome. Hereinafter, body 16 and plate 13 will be referred to as the first clutch assembly or means.

Again referring to FIGURE 2, there is slidable in and carried by wheel 13 a plurality of spaced bolts 25 having heads 26 normally extending through and beyond the clutch face 15 and movable in recesses 27 in the body 13. Interposed between the heads 26 and the base of recesses 27 are springs 28 for continually urging the heads 26 to the position shown in FIGURE 2. The opposite ends of bolts 26 support, as shown in FIGURE 2, an annular clutch plate member 30 which in turn carries adjacent its periphery a plurality of spaced studs 31. As shown in FIGURE 2A, these studs, which have rubber spacers 35 surrounding same, are positioned within spaced cut-out areas 32 of the measuring wheel 8 and carry at their tips a clutch ring 33 having an annular clutch cork-like facing 34 which is engageable with the wheel 8. As will be apparent hereinafter, the second clutch assembly or means may be operated to cause clutch ring or body 33 to engage the measuring wheel 8 whereby movement of the latter will impart exact corresponding movement to the clutch ring 33 and in turn clutch plate 30 or this entire second clutch assembly may be moved to a position shown in FIGURE 1 wherein corresponding movement is imparted only upon spacers 35 engaging wheel 8 and continuing movement in one direction following such engagement.

Now as to the means for operating clutch body 16 whereby it may be engaged with or disengaged from face 15, reference will be made only to FIGURES 1 and 2. This body 16 is keyed for common rotating movement with mainshaft as indicated at 36 whereby rotation of body 16 will likewise impart rotation to shaft 5, but the key arrangement permits longitudinal sliding movement, as in said application, of the body 16 with respect to the shaft 5. On shaft 5 there is a fixed collar 37 and between this collar and the clutch body 16 there is interposed a suitable coil spring 38 which normally functions to urge the clutch body 16 into clutch engagement with face 15. There is provided a clutch throw-out fork 39 which is operable as in said application to move clutch body 16 against the bias of spring 38 from the engaged position of FIGURE 1 to the disengaged position of FIG- URE 2. Fork 39 which is bifurcated at both ends, although only one bifurcation at each end is shown, is pivotally mounted at 40 on a pillar block 41 integrally extending from a partition 42 between side walls 1 and 1A, said partition having a plurality of openings therein, as will become apparent, to accormnodate shafts and clutch body 16. Extending from the front wall 3 of the housing is a lever 43 known in the trade as an In and Out lever and in FIGURE 1 this lever is shown in its 11 position. Lever 43 is mounted on the outside of wall 3 so that it is readily available to the operator of the recording apparatus R and it is connected to operate a shaft 44 which is journaled between partition 42 and front wall 3 by any suitable means. A cam 45 is keyed to rotate with shaft 44 and is provided with a cam face 46 against which one of the forked ends of fork 39 is continually urged by bias means 47 interposed between partition 42 and the fork 39, there also being provided a washer 48 further dividing the spring '47 and fork 39 to form more or less of a supporting base for said spring. When the lever 43 is moved to the right with respect to front wall 3 or vertically as viewed in FIGURE 1, this being a manual operation, then the shaft 44 and cam 45 will likewise be rotated to cause face 46 to pivot the fork 39 to an extent overcoming bias 38 and moving body 16 from the position of FIGURE 1 to the disengaged position of FIG- URE 2 and this is the Out position of lever 43. This latter action is clearly illustrated, perhaps more in detail, in said pending application and it is believed that by referring to said application the above explanations will be entirely apparent.

Prior to describing the overall operation, the means for limiting and controlling the position of the single pen on the chart will now be described. Let us assume that the parts are as in FIGURE 1, which is the In position also illustrated in FIGURES 3, 4 and 6. The pen arm 50, which carries a pen arm assembly 51, extends upwardly from a solid member 52 that is journaled on a stub shaft 53 extending inwardly from a supporting projection 54 on the interior of wall 3. Also journaled on shaft 53 is an L-shaped member 55 having an upstanding portion 56 always urged into engagement, as will be explained, with a cam pin 57. The other leg of member 55 carries an inturned portion 58 which, through the medium of adjustable screw 59, forms a support for body 52. The latter is continually biased against support 58 by spring means 60 connected to arm 50 and a suitable supporting portion (not shown) of housing H and thus similar bias movement is imparted to cause portion 56 to engage pin 57 with the latter limiting the effect of spring 60. Body 52 also carries a leaf spring 61, the purpose of which will become apparent.

Pin 57 functions, as will be apparent hereinafter, as a cam for controlling the pivotal movements of members 52 and 55 and is secured to wheel 63 keyed for movement with a shaft 64 also journaled for rotative movement between front walls 3 and partition 42. Keyed with shaft 64 on the terminal end thereof on the drive side of partition 42 is the lever 24, said lever including a diamond shaped body 65 having surfaces 66 and 67 adapted to engage adjustable stops 68 and 69, respectively, extending from the interior of side 'wall 1, all as illustrated in FIGURE 5. Lever 24 also includes an extension 70 carrying a portion 71 which operates within slot 23 of ring 17. Pivotally mounted on the left side of partition 42, as viewed in FIGURE 1, is a stop member 73, this stop being freely pivoted on stub shaft 74, its pivotal movements being controlled by a pin 75 also extending from partition 42 to prevent too much flopping of member 73 and an eccentric wheel 76 keyed to move with shaft 44, there being an opening 77 in the end flange of partition 42 to permit movement of the eccentric 76 from the position of FIGURE 4 to that of FIGURE 5.

Now referring to said pending application, there is shown a portion of a chart sheet having three base line positions, namely B B and B The marking means or pen, not shown, carried by stylus arm 50 is designed to operate on and off base line B when there is drilling penetration and between base lines B and B when operations other than drilling are taking place. Let us assume that there is drilling penetration and the manually operated lever 43 is in the position of FIGURE 1. This would result in the clutch body 16 being engaged and the clutch face 33 disengaged and rotation of the measuring wheel 8 in the direction of the arrow of FIGURE 1. Also, the eccentric 76 would be positioned as in FIGURE 4. Upon the spacers 35 engaging wheel 8 the member 30 would cause corresponding movement of member 13 which in turn would carry ring 17 therewith until the frictional force caused by inserts 18 was overcome and, in actuality, ring 17 would move to the left or in the direction of the arrow of FIGURE 4. Movement of ring 17 will cause corresponding movement of lever 65 until surface 66 strikes stop 68, whereupon 13 may continue to rotate and ring 17, as well as lever 24, will remain stationary. The positioning of lever 24 as in FIGURE 4 results in the pin 57 which is engaged by leg 56 being positioned as shown in FIGURES l and 6 and this in turn results in the members 55 and 52 being located so that the pen carried by arm 50 is positioned on base line B it being recalled that bias means 60 continually urges body 52 and member 55 to the left as viewed in FIGURE 6.

Now referring in particular to FIGURES 1 and 3, the arm 50 will remain in said position with the pen on base line B throughout drilling penetration, with the exception of periodic intervals wherein the arm 50 and pen will be moved to the right as viewed in FIGURE 6 to indicate every foot of drilling and further to the right to indicate five feet of penetration. In connection with this latter statement, it will be obvious that shaft will during this time be rotated due to its clutch connection with member 13. Rotation of shaft 5 causes corresponding rotation of a gear 80 keyed thereon, said gear being arranged to drive a pinion 81 keyed to a shaft 82 which is in turn journaled between front housing 3 and supporting bracket 83. Rotation of gear 81 causes corresponding rotation of shaft 82 and in turn rotation of beveled gears 84 which are connected to operate a counter mechanism not shown but in a manner described in said pending application. Rotation of shaft 82 also rotates a gear 85 keyed thereto which in turn drives a gear 86 for causing rotation of stub shaft 87 which is properly journaled and is arranged to operate the pointer 88 of a visual footage dial, the latter also being shown in said application. It will be noted that shaft 5 at the front of the housing is journaled in bearings 89 and that said main shaft 5 is provided with a recess 90 within which stub shaft 87 revolves. The various gears 80, 81, 84, 85 and 86 are all of a selected size to cause the necessary reduction in speed and proper rotation of the counter and footage dial. Rotation of shaft 5 also rotates a sun gear 92 keyed thereto as illustrated in FIGURE 3, which in turn operates three planet gears 93 and the latter mesh with a stationary internal gear 94. A housing 95 is journaled for rotation on a bushing 96 carried by shaft 5 and this housing at spaced intervals carries pawls 97 which may be adjusted to extend varying distances from housing 95. The latter housing is rotatably driven by pins 98 (only one of which is shown) connected with gears 93 and the various gear ratios are such that housing 95 makes one complete revolution for every five feet of drilling. Each pawl 97 extending externally from housing 95 is arranged to strike the leaf '61 of body 52 every time shaft 5 rotates an amount corresponding to one foot of drilling. Such results in momentary pivoting of body 52 independently of member 55 whereby the pen is moved off the base line B to cause a substantial lateral marking on the chart indicating every foot of drilling and one of the pawls may be arranged to extend a greater distance from housing 95 to cause a greater lateral marking indicating five feet of drilling.

Assuming that operations are now to take place other than drilling, lever 43 is manually shifted to the right as viewed from the front of housing H and this results in moving the eccentric 76 to the position of FIGURE 5, the disengagement of clutch body 16 and the immediate engagement of clutch ring 33 with Wheel 8. In other words, the first clutch assembly becomes inoperative and the second clutch assembly, known as the trip timer becomes operative. This in turn results in stop member 73 being locked so that lever 24 may be moved only be tween the solid line position of FIGURE 5 where it engages stop 73 and the dotted position where it is in engagement with stop 69. When lever 24 is in the solid line position of FIGURE 5, the pen carried by arm 50 is on the base line B and when it moves to the dotted line position of FIGURE 5 it is on the base line position of B and the movements of the pen between these two base line positions, which is controlled by means including the position of cam pin 57 as should be apparent by referring to pending application Serial No. 570,116, indicates up or down movement of the drill stem which occurs during operations other than drilling. Of primary importance is the fact that as soon as lever 43 is thrown to the Out position, the springs 27 are free to cause clutch ring 33 to immediately engage measuring wheel 8 and thus every up and down movement of the drill stem is reflected, regardless of how great or minute this movement may be and thus a real accurate indication is provided for the drilling operator.

In Oliver V. Phillips US. Patent, application Serial No. 462,833, filed October 18, 1954, now Patent No. 2,860,509, and entitled Recording Apparatus for Earth Bore Drilling, this likewise being owned with this invention by a common assignee, there is illustrated a double Pen or stylus technique. It is be understood that the drive means of this invention including the second clutch assembly or trip timer is equally applicable to such a recorder whereby the operations pen will reflect every movement when there is no drilling. It also should be mentioned that the manually operatedmeans of this invention including eccentric 76, cam pin 57, stop 73 and its cooperation with lever 24, as well as the arrangement of body 52 and member 55 constitutes 'an improvement in this art, particularly due to the ease of operation thereof and the minimum of parts involved.

In place of some of the structure illustrated in FIG- URE 4 there may be utilized the embodiment shown in FIGURES 7 and 8 and in connection with these latter figures only the new elements thereof are being described as it should be apparent how they coact with the like elements of FIGURES 1 to 6, inclusive, in view of the aforesaid discussion. Specifically, plate 13 and ring 17 are replaced by a gear or driven member 101 that is freely journaled on shaft 5, said gear being driven in the same manner as the plate 13. Freely movable or journaled on shaft 64 is a second gear 102 which is of a size to mesh with and be driven by gear 101 and which, as shown, carries discs 103 and 104 of gripping material such as cork. The end of shaft 64 illustrated in FIGURES 7 and 8 is threaded to receive a nut 105 and interposed between nut 105 and disc 103 are suitable spring means 106 and a washer 107, both movable longitudinally on shaft 64. On the gear 102 side of partition 42 there is a suitable cork disc 108 which is primarily for the purpose of damping the arrangement and between disc 108 and disc 102 there is provided a member 109 having a circular washer-like disc part 110 and a part 111 which, as illustrated, is keyed to the shaft 64 by suitable set screw means 112. Two of the exterior surfaces of part 111 are shaped comparable to surfaces 66 and 67 of FIGURE 4, as indicated as 66 and 67'.

As should be obvious, gear 101 drives gear 102 and nut 105 may be tightened sufiiciently to cause enough friction so that there will be corresponding movement of member 109 and shaft 64 until the surfaces 66 or 67' engage one of the other of stops 68 or 69, whereupon the gear 102 is driven independently of member 109 and shaft 49. From a manufacturing and durability standpoint, the structure of FIGURES 7 and 8 has been found to be more desirable than the friction ring 17 and inserts 18 of FIGURE 4 and in the claims the expression driven member" is intended to include gear 101.

It is to be understood that the recorder disclosed is merely an example of the preferred embodiments of the invention and that modifications are possible in the particular structure without departing from the fundamental principles of the invention. Although the recorder is shown as having a special use, its principles may be used for other purposes. Thus, being aware of these possible modifications and uses, I desire it to be understood that the scope of the invention is not to be limited except in accordance with the terms of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a drilling recording apparatus, a clutching mechanism comprising a shaft, a drive member journaled on said shaft, means for rotating said drive member an amount corresponding to vertical movement of the drill stem, a driven member journaled on said shaft, marking means including a stylus arm adapted to reflect on a chart vertical movements of the drill stem with respect to time, means connected for limited movement with the driven member operable to cause movement of said marking means, a first clutch means comprising the driven member and a clutch body having a face engageable with the driven member, means for coupling and uncoupling said body face and driven member, cooperating means between the drive and driven members, including means operable when said first clutch means is engaged to cause, upon movement of said drive member a predetermined amount, corresponding movement of the driven member, said cooperating means including a clutch plate member interposed between said drive and driven members and movable axially of said shaft, and second clutch means including said plate member and a clutch ring carried thereby and engageable with said drive member, said second clutch means being operable .when said first clutch means is disengaged to immediately cause the ring to engage the drive ember and thus impart the exact corresponding movement of the drive member to said driven member.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the 00- operating means includes additional means permitting limited free play of said drive member prior to causing movement of said driven member when said second clutch means is disengaged.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said clutch ring is annular and surrounds said shaft, said drive member having a plurality of cut-out areas and rod-like means connected between said plate member and ring and extending through said areas, said areas and rod-like means forming a lost motion connection between said drive and driven members when said first clutch means is coupled.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said driven member includes supporting means for the plate member, said supporting means being movable relative to said driven member.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein the supporting means is positioned for movement by said clutch body from a biased position wherein the clutch ring of the second clutch means engages said drive member and' the second clutch means is coupled to a position wherein the ring is disengaged from said drive member and the first clutch means is coupled.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,679,161 Yancey May 25, 1954 2,831,347 Yancey Apr. 22, 1958 2.883.256 Nichols Apr. 21, 1959

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