US3319727A - Portable drill with dust collection means - Google Patents

Description

' May 16,1967 7 H. G PYLES 3,319,727

PORTABLE DRILL WITH DUST COLLECTION MEANS Original Filed Jan. 23, 1963 4Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR May 16, 1967 H. G. PYLES PORTABLE DRILL WITH DUST COLLECTION MEANS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Jan. 23, 1963 INVENTOR H. G. PYLES may 16 11%??? PORTABLE DRILL WITH DUST COLLECTION MEANS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Jan. 23, 1963 IINVEIQTOR H. G. PYLES May is, 11%? PORTABLE DRILL WITH DUST COLLECTION MEANS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Jan. 23, 1963 INVENTOR JZ WM fw United States Patent 3,319,727 PORTABLE DRILL WITH DUST COLLECTION MEANS Harley G. Pyles, Fairmont, W. Va., assignor, by mesue assignments, to Galis Manufacturing Company, Fairrnont, W. Va, a corporation of West Virginia Original application Jan. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 254,544, now Patent No. 3,252,525, dated May 24, I966. Divided and this application Feb. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 525,053 4 Claims. (Cl. 175-213) This application is a division of application Ser. No. 254,544 entitled, Portable Drill, filed Ian. 23, 1963, now Patent No. 3,252,525 granted on May 24, 1966, which prior application is a continuation-in-part of my prior application Ser. No. 827,317 entitled, Portable Drill, filed July 15, 1959, now abandoned.

This invention relates to drilling machines and to mobile drilling machines especially adapted to drilling Within mines or other low-roofed structures. This invention relates in particular to drilling machines having dust collection means incorporated therein.

In tunnel mining it is necessary that bolt holes be drilled in the tunnel roof, or in the mine floor, at spaced intervals so that support members may be secured in place. There are many factors which make it diflicult to use automatic machinery in the drilling of these holes. The tunnel height is low and, therefore, unless full advantage of the major portion of the tunnel height can be utilized it is necessary to stop the drilling operation frequently to add extensions to the drill. The drill, of course, must maintain a straight course throughout its full advancing movement, and the mechanism for achieving this must not occupy much vertical space. It is necessary often that several holes be drilled in a row transversely of the tunnel, or the path of movement of the machine, and much time can be saved if all these holes can be drilled without moving the machine. Where the mine floor is not level, the problem of true vertical drilling is present for the machine will be tilted unless some provision is made to level it. In some cases, angular drilling is desirable, or is necessary due to tilting of the machine. Still another problem is the dust, usually rock dust, which is created by the drilling operation.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a drilling machine which will operate etiiciently under all conditions, to perform drilling operations vertically upward, or downward, or at any angle to the vertical, without frequent interruptions.

Another object is the provision of such a machine having novel dust collecting means to prevent the escape of the dust into the atmosphere of the tunnel.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of practical embodiments thereof, when taken in conjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form part of, this specification.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a roof drilling machine embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the machine shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 1, illustrating a portion of the suspension for the machine frame;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged partial vertical section through the machine, taken on the line 4-4 of FIG- URE 2 and showing in detail the mechanism for moving and controlling the boom;

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 5--5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged vertical section through the drill pot and drill, showing the improved means for carrying oil the dust;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a drill used in connection with the device;

FIGURE 8 is a detail view showing the drill pot and the rod which forms part of the parallelogram mechanism for holding the drill pot so that the drill shaft will be vertical at all positions of the boom.

In general, the machine takes the form of a low, selfpropelled car, having means thereon for raising a drill pot along a straight :path for drilling into a mine roof or a mine floor. The car is mounted upon a suspension unit in such fashion that the wheels can follow the mine floor contour while the car frame remains horizontal. The drilled rock dust is removed from the hole through the drill and drill driving mechanism.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 a car 1, which includes a frame 2 mounted upon a wheeled suspension unit 3. The frame may take any convenient form, but is shown as consisting of spaced, parallel side plates 4, interconnected by a front sill 5 and a plurality of transverse bridge members 6 as needed. The frame may be suitably strengthened and braced as may be required.

The suspension unit (see FIGURES l, 2 and 3) includes .a pair of side bars 7 pivotally mounted on an axle 8, which extends completely across the car frame and is supported by the frame side plates 4. The axle passes through the side bars and projects beyond them to receive the rear wheels 9 of the car. Although the side bars 7 are free to rock in vertical planes about the axle 8, the wheels 9, being rotatably mounted on the axle, will have no bodily movement relative to the frame. The side bars 7 extend forwardly beyond the sill 5 and pivotally connect to the ends of a transverse equalizer bar 10, which lies in front of the sill and is pivoted at its mid-point to the sill by means of a pivot pin 11, connected to the sill and projecting forwardly on the longitudinal centerline of the bar. The pivotal connections between the ends of the side bars and the equalizer may be formed by seating the ends of the equalizer in openings 12 near the ends of the side bars, with the openings being sufiiciently large to receive the equalizer bar ends and permit them to rock in the openings. Front wheels 13 are mounted on the side bars on stub shafts 14 which are carried by the bars and project outwardly therefrom.

It will be obvious that a vehicle frame, mounted as described above, will maintain a level position and be subject to little vertical movement in travelling over an uneven surface. Movement of one front wheel vertically will result in an equal and opposite vertical movement of the opposite front wheel relative to the frame pivot pin 11, and a vertical movement of the frame equal to but half the wheel movement.

The side bars 7 extend rearwardly beyond the back wheels and each one carries a speed reducer 15 and hydraulic motor 16 (see FIGURES 1 and 2). The motors are operated by fluid fed through lines from a hydraulic pump 17, suitably mounted on the car frame and driven by a motor 18. Sprockets 19 on the speed reducers carry chains 20 which drive sockets 21 on the rear wheels 9. Additional sprockets 22 on the rear wheels and sprockets 23 on the front wheels 13 are connected by chains 24 to carry the drive to the front wheels. This simple chain drive to all four wheels is made possible by the fact that the wheels on each side, and the drive means for the wheels, are all mounted on the side bars, so that there is no relative bodily movement of the several driving and driven elements. The speed reducer and motor also serve to counterbalance the weight of the forward arms of the side bars and front wheels, so that the side bars are free to move about their pivots without lifting excessive weights.

The hydraulic motors are independently operable by means of valve control 25 on a control board 26 (see FIGURE 2), which is located forwardly of the machine and convenient to an operator lying prone upon an operators platform 27 mounted on one of the side bars 7. The independent operation of the motors makes it possible to turn the car by controlling the relative speeds of the wheels on opposite sides of the machine.

The car carries a boom 28 which lies longitudinally over the front part of the car and projects forwardly thereof to carry a drill pot 29. The boom is mounted so that it may be moved vertically and the drill pot will be moved along a straight vertical path (see particularly FIGURES 2, 4 and The boom consists of a pair of side rails 30 held in spaced, parallel relation by an interconnecting web 31 near the base of the boom and a bridge bar 32 at the outer end. The boom is carried by an elevating link 33 and an oscillating link 34, with both links being pivotally mounted on the car frame.

The oscillating link 34 (see FIGURES 4 and 5) is formed as a pair of arms 35 held in spaced parallel relation by a bridging web 36. The arms 35 are connected at their bottoms by pivot pins 37 to longitudinal struts 38 extending between two of the transverse tbridge members 6 of the car frame. The upper ends of the arms are connected by pivot pins 39 to the side rails 30 of the boom. It will be seen by reference to FIGURE 4 of the drawings, that the oscillating link may swing forwardly and backwardly in a vertical plane about the pivot pins 37 and, in so doing, will shift the boom forwardly and rearwardly of the car.

The elevating link 33 is also composed of a pair of parallel arms 40, held spaced by a sleeve 41. One end of the link is pivoted to the frame by means of pins 42, which pass through the arms and vertical brackets 43 carried by the front sill 5 of the frame. The opposite ends of the arms are pivotally connected to the boom by a pivot shaft 44, which passes through the arms and sleeve 41 and the side rails 30 of the boom. This provides a mounting which will permit vertical swinging movement of the elevating link 33 to raise and lower the boom. Due to the fact that the pivot 44 swings in an arc about pivots 42, the boom will be moved forwardly and rearwardly, controlled by the oscillating link 34. The movement of the free end of the boom, that is the end carrying the drill pot, will be the resultant of the actions of the two links. The normal arcuate movement of a boom around a fixed pivot is compensated for in the present arrangement by an equal and opposite arcuate movement of the elevating link, so that the upward travel of the boom outer end and drill pot will be along a straight path. The underlying principle of this linkage arrangement is known as the Scott Russell straight line movement.

In order to raise and lower the boom, a hydraulic jack 45 is employed (see FIGURES 4 and 5). The jack has trunnions 46 on opposite sides of the jack cylinder 47 seated in recesses 48 in the underside of the elevating link arms 40. The jack piston rod 49 is pivotally connected at 50 to cars 51 projecting rearwardly from the front sill 5. The jack is connected by fluid lines 52 with the hydraulic pump 17, and the flow of fluid in the lines is controlled by a lever 53 on the control board. It will be obvious that the jack will be operative to lift the elevating link 33 and allow it to lower, thus serving to raise and lower the boom and drill pot. By connecting the jack to the elevating link midway between the link pivots, and connecting the link to the boom relatively close to the pivotal connection to the oscillating link, a very compact linkage is provided which will enable the drill pot to be movedalong a relatively long path. Thus, in a car having an overall height of but two feet the linkage can provide for movement of the drill pot along a path well over four feet in length.

The drill pot 29 is pivotally connected to the boom arms 30 by means of trunnions 54 which project from its sides (see FIGURES 4 and 5). During upward movement, the boom constantly changes its angular position and it is necessary, therefore, to provide means to maintain the drill pot level with its drill shaft axis vertical. To accomplish this, a pivot link 55 is freely mounted on the pivot shaft 44, intermediate one arm of the elevating link 33 and a side rail 30 of the boom. The link is provided with oppositely projecting arms 56 and 57. Arm 57 is connected by a rod 58 to one of the brackets 43. The pivotal connection 59 between the rod and the bracket is a fixed point and, together with the fixed pivot 42, the pivot 44 and the pivot 60 between the arm 57 and rod 58 form the four pivotal points of a parallelogram. Thus, if the position of the pivot link is vertical in one position of the elevating link, it will remain vertical in all positions of the elevating link. The upper arm 56 of the pivot link is connected by a rod 61 to a lever arm 62 fixed to one of the trunnions 54 on the drill pot. Pivot 44, pivotal connection 63 between arm 56 and rod 61, pivotal connection 64 between rod 61 and lever arm 62, and trunnion 54 form the pivots of a second parallelogram. Consequently, if pivot link 55 is maintained vertical the position of the drill pot will remain unchanged throughout all movement of the boom.

Referring particularly to FIGURE 6, the drill pot is shown to include a gear box or housing 65 and a hydraulic motor 66 connected to it. The motor is connected by fluid lines 67 with the fluid pump 17 and controlled by valve lever 68. Shaft 69 of the motor 66 is coupled to a bevel gear 70 in the gear box, which gear is in mesh with a bevel gear 71 fixed to the bottom of a drill turret 72. The turret is mounted on a suitable antifriction bearing 73 seated upon a vertical column 74 rising centrally of the gear box. The column 74 is connected to the bit-receiving head 75 of the turret by means of a sleeve 76. A bit 77 is mounted in a bit seat 78 centrally of the bit-receiving head 75. The bit seat 78 and the column 74 are in vertical alignment. The bit head has an opening 79 from the bit seat to the sleeve 76, and the column has a passageway 80 in communication with the bottom of the sleeve. The passages 79 and 80 and the sleeve 76 form a continuous duct, coaxial with the vertical center of the drill turret, leading from the drill seat to the bottom of the gear case. The bottom of the passage communicates with a duct 81 under the gear case. Duct 81 is connected by hose line 82 with a blow er 83 and from the blower to a dust collector 84. The bit 77 is centrally drilled, as at 85, and has its shank aperture just below the cutting head to provide a plurality of inlet ports 86 communicating with the central bore 85 in the bit. Rock dust ground by the bit in drilling may be drawn in through ports 86 and through the bore 85, passage 79, sleeve 76, passage 80, conduit 81 and hose line 82 to the blower 83 and into the collection box 84; In this way the dust is drawn through the bit and its rotating turret and into a collection box without escaping into the air. The blower is driven by a chain 87 from the main motor 18.

The car may be equipped with one or more stabilizing jacks 88 (see FIGURES 2, 4 and 5) mounted on the frame. These jacks are fluid operated and controlled by lever 89. The jacks operate to contact the mine floor and hold the car rigid during the drilling operation.

The car may also carry a cable spool 90 and a cable fairlead 91 (see FIGURE 2). These may be driven from a hydraulic motor 92 by chains 93 and 94. The cable mechanism may be used as a winch, or as means for raising and lowering the car along steep inclines, or with jacks for moving the car from place to place in the mine. The car may also carry a cable spool for paying out or collecting the electrical power cable.

In operating the machine, it is driven by means of the motors 16 to the desired place of use. The boom will be in fully lowered position and the car can move freely through very low tunnels. The car can be steered by increasing or decreasing the speed of the Wheels on one side of the car relative to those on the other side. When the position of use is reached, the stabilizing jack is lowered to fix the car position and brace the frame. A bit is inserted in the bit seat in the drill pot, and jack 45 is put into operation to lift the elevating link 33 and thereby lift the boom and raise the drill. As the elevating link follows its arcuate path, the boom will be moved longitudinally as well as vertically. This will cause rocking movement of the oscillating link 34 and maintain the bit 77 on a substantially straight course, in this case, vertically upward. When the drilling is completed, the boom can be lowered, the stabilizing jack lifted, and the car moved to a new location. The drilling will be substantial-1y dust free, due to the collection of the dust from the hole through the bit and its rotating mount.

The apparatus of this invention can be used to drill downwardly as well as upwardly. In order to prepare the machine for downward drilling, it is necessary to release the drill pot from its connection to the parallelogram control linkage and loosening the hoses 67 and 82 so that the drill pot may be rotated on its trunnions 54 to reverse its position to orient the drill holder downward. The control linkage can be reconnected, but the lever 62 must be reversed relative to the drill pot to maintain the proper relationship with the remainder of the control linkage. With this adjustment, the control linkage will occupy the same position as before, and the drill pot will be maintained in a vertical position.

It is believed that the operation of the several embodiments of the mobile drill and the dust collection means will be completely clear from the above description without the necessity of further review.

While in the above, practical embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it will be understood that the details of construction shown and described are merely for purposes of illustration, and the invention may take other forms within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of a portable drilling machine and dust collecting means comprising,

a wheeled car having main drive means mounted therea drill means,

drill support means carried on said wheeled car for moving said drill means in a vertical plane,

a hydraulic motor supported by said drill means and drivingly connected to said main drive means,

said drill means having a first gear connected to said hydraulic motor,

said hydraulic motor arranged to rotate said first gear said drill means having a vertical column with a cen tral passageway extending longitudinally therethrough,

a drill turret rotatably mounted on said vertical column and having bit receiving means,

said bit receiving means having a central opening in communication with said vertical column passagesaid drill turret having a second gear extending there from and in meshing engagement with said first gear so that upon actuation of said hydraulic motor said first gear rotates said drill turret through said second gear,

a drill bit secured in said bit receiving means and having an axial bore extending longitudinally therethrough, said bit axial bore communicating with said bit receiving means central opening,

said bit having dust ports opening into said axial bore,

dust collection means mounted on said wheeled car 6 and having a dust receiver spaced from said drill means,

a conduit connected at one end to said vertical column central passageway and to said dust collection means, and

suction means connected to said dust collection means operable to withdraw dust formed by said drill bit through said dust ports in said drill bit and through said communicating passageways in said drill bit receiving means, said drill turret vertical column and said conduit into said dust collection means while said hydraulic motor rotates said drill turret.

2. The combination of a portable drilling machine and dust collecting means comprising,

a wheeled car having a frame,

main drive means for said Wheeled car mounted on said frame,

a boom pivotally mounted on one end on said frame for swinging movement in a vertical plane,

a drill pot pivotally mounted on the other end of said boom remote from said wheeled car frame,

a hydraulic motor supported by said boom drill pot and connected to said main drive means,

a first bevel gear positioned within said boom drill pot and drivingly connected to said hydraulic motor, said hydraulic motor arranged to rotate said first bevel gear,

an upwardly extending vertical column integral with the bottom of said drill pot and having one end extending into the interior of said drill pot in spaced relation to said first bevel gear,

said vertical column having a central passageway extending longitudinally therethrough,

a drill turret rotatably mounted on said vertical column and extending into the interior of said drill pot, said drill turret having a second bevel gear within the interior of said drill pot,

said second bevel gear meshing with said first bevel gear so that upon rotation of said hydraulic motor the drill turret rotates on said vertical column,

Said drill turret having bit receiving means with a vertical passageway communicating with said vertical column central passageway,

a drill bit secured in said bit receiving means and having an axial bore extending longitudinally therethrough, said bit axial bore communicating with said bit receiving means vertical passageway,

said drill bit having dust ports opening into said axial bore,

dust collection means mounted on said wheeled car and having a dust receiver spaced from said drill means,

a conduit connected at one end to said vertical column central passageway and to said dust collection means, and

suction means connected to said dust collection means operable to withdraw dust formed by said drill bit through said dust ports in said drill bit and through said communicating passageways in said drill bit receiving means, said drill pot vertical column and said conduit into said dust collection means while said hydraulic motor rotates said drill turret.

3. A rotary drill apparatus comprising,

a housing having a bottom portion with a vertical column extending upwardly into said housing, said vertical column having a central passageway extending longitudinally therethrough,

bit receiving means rotatably supported on said vertical column, said bit receiving means having a central opening extending longitudinally therethrough and communicating with said central passageway,

a first gear rotatably supported in said housing,

drive means carried by said housing and drivingly connected to said first gear, said bit receiving means having a second gear extending therefrom and in meshing relation with said first gear so that said drive means is operable to said first and second gear to rotate said bit receiving means on said vertical column,

a drill bit secured to said bit receiving means and rotatable therewith, said drill bit having an axial bore extending longitudinally therethrough and communicating with said bit receiving means central opening,

said drill bit having dust ports opening into said axial bore, and

suction means connected to said vertical column central passageway externally of said housing and operable to withdraw dust formed by said drill bit through said dust ports into said drill bit axial bore and through said communicating passageways in said drill bit receiving means and said vertical column while said drive means rotates said bit.

4. A rotary drill apparatus comprising,

a gear box having a bottom portion with a vertical column extending upwardly into the interior of said gear box,

said vertical column having a central passageway extending longitudinally therethrough,

a drill turret rotatably mounted on said gear box and having a portion extending into said gear box and rotatably supported on said vertical column, said drill turret having a passageway extending therethrough in communication with said vertical column central passageway,

a first gear rotatably mounted in said gear box,

a hydraulic motor carried by said gear box and drivingly connected to said first gear,

said drill turret having a second gear extending therefrom within said gear box in meshing relation with said first gear so that said hydraulic motor is operable through said meshing gears to rotate said turret on said gear box vertical column,

a drill bit secured to said drill turret and rotatable therewith, said drill bit having an axial bore extending longitudinally therethrough and communicating with said drill turret passageway, said drill bit having dust ports opening into said axial bore, and

suction means connected to said gear box vertical column central passageway externally of said housing and operable to withdraw dust formed by said drill bit through said dust ports into said drill bit axial bore and through said communicating passageways in said drill turret and said gear box vertical column while said hydraulic motor rotates said drill bit.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,121,858 6/1938 Chew 175213 2,683,587 7/1954 Gunning 175206 X 2,843,361 7/1958 Miller 175206 X 2,854,217 9/1958 Benjamin 173-27 X 2,919,901 1/1960 Sandvig 175206 X CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

N. C. BYERS, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. 2. THE COMBINATION OF A PORTABLE DRILLING MACHINE AND DUST COLLECTING MEANS COMPRISING, A WHEELED CAR HAVING A FRAME, MAIN DRIVE MEANS FOR SAID WHEELED CAR MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME, A BOOM PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON ONE END ON SAID FRAME FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT IN A VERTICAL PLANE, A DRILL POT PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE OTHER END OF SAID BOOM REMOTE FROM SAID WHEELED CAR FRAME, A HYDRAULIC MOTOR SUPPORTED BY SAID BOOM DRILL POT AND CONNECTED TO SAID MAIN DRIVE MEANS, A FIRST BEVEL GEAR POSITIONED WITHIN SAID BOOM DRILL POT AND DRIVINGLY CONNECTED TO SAID HYDRAULIC MOTOR, SAID HYDRAULIC MOTOR ARRANGED TO ROTATE SAID FIRST BEVEL GEAR, AN UPWARDLY EXTENDING VERTICAL COLUMN INTEGRAL WITH THE BOTTOM OF SAID DRILL POT AND HAVING ONE END EXTENDING INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID DRILL POT IN SPACED RELATION TO SAID FIRST BEVEL GEAR, SAID VERTICAL COLUMN HAVING A CENTRAL PASSAGEWAY EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THERETHROUGH, A DRILL TURRET ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID VERTICAL COLUMN AND EXTENDING INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID DRILL POT, SAID DRILL TURRET HAVING A SECOND BEVEL GEAR WITHIN THE INTERIOR OF SAID DRILL POT, SAID SECOND BEVEL GEAR MESHING WITH SAID FIRST BEVEL GEAR SO THAT UPON ROTATION OF SAID HYDRAULIC MOTOR THE DRILL TURRET ROTATES ON SAID VERTICAL COLUMN,

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