US776425A - Automatic rope-spear. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED NOV. 29, 1904.

M. J. RIGGS.

AUTOMATIC ROPE SPEAK.

APPLUJATION FILED AUG. 9, 1904.

u v a I 'I V j fardhal- J H0 MODEL.

llnrrnn fi'rarns Patented November 29, 1904,

MARSHALL J. RIGGS, OF MARIETTA, OHIO.

AUTOMATIC ROPE-SPEAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 776,425, dated November 29, 1904;.

Application filed August 9, 19043 To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARSHALL J. RIGGS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marietta, in the county of Washington and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Automatic Rope-Spear, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to an automatic ropespear for removing ropes from oil-wells.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of devices for extracting lost ropes from oil-wells and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efiicient device of great strength and durability adapted to be readily forced through a rope without packing the same against the bottom of a well and capable when drawn upward of securely gripping a rope, whereby the same is conveniently removedfrom a well.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character capable of operating effectively in both large and small well-casings and provided with rope-engaging means arranged to fold substantially within the device when the latter moves downward and capable 'of expanding and engaging a rope automatically when it is drawn upward.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details of construction within the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automatic rope-spear constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is an edge View of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one of the pivotally-mounted rope-engaging prongs or teeth.

Like numerals of reference designate correeapable of firmly gripping a rope.

Serial No. 220,134. (No model.)

spending parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 1 designate similar sections of the body of the tool fitted together and tapered at the lower end to form a point 2. The sections or members of the body are welded together at the point 2, and at the upper end 3 they are welded to a shank 4, which is forged and turned and which is provided with a polygonal wrench-receiving portion 5 and a threaded end 6 for connection with the operating mechanism. The sections of the body are provided at their inner abutting faces with oppositely-disposed recesses 7, forming sockets for the reception of prongs or teeth 8, which extend upward at an inclination, being slightly curved outward and tapered to a point, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 5 of the drawings. The. prongs or teeth, which have convexlycurved inner longitudinal faces and concavelycurved outer longitudinal faces, have their points at their upper ends and are provided at their lower ends with eyes 9, through which pass pivots 10, which consist of rivets or other suitable fastening devices. The prongs or teeth are provided at their outer sides adjacent to the eyes with shoulders 11, which engage shoulders 12 of the sections of the body portion, whereby the outward movement of the prongs or teeth is limited. The sections or members are also connected between the prongs or spurs by rivets 13, whereby the sections or members are firmly held together between the points of welding.

When the automatically operable ropespear is lowered into an oil or other well for extracting a lost rope, it will readily pass through the rope without packing the same against the bottom of the well, as the lower end or point of the body is tapered and the prongs are foldable within the body. The prongs or teeth slightly project when folded, so that they will catch into the coils of the rope and be drawn outward. When thrown outward, as illustrated in Fig. 1, they are arranged at an angle and form tapering recesses or spaces between them and the body and are Also as the prongs or teeth are adapted to fold substantially within the body the device is capable of operating as efiectively in small wellcasings as in large ones, as the teeth or prongs are adapted to project to a greater or less extent. This is an advantage, for the reason that where fixed rope-engaging devices are employed it is often impossible to oper-' ate them within small well-casings. The side faces of the sections are flat, and the longitudinal corners or edges are preferably cut off or beveled, as illustrated in Fig. 4:.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A device of the class described, comprising a body composed of two similar sections having corresponding recesses in their abutting faces and secured together at their lower ends, a shank secured to the upper ends of the sections, and movable rope-engaging devices mounted in the said recesses.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a body composed of sections or members having inner flat faces fitted together, said sections being welded together at their lower ends, a shank welded to the upper ends of the sections or members, and rope-engaging devices mounted between the sections or members.

3. A device of the class described, comprising a body provided at the lower end with a point and composed of sections or members having inner flat faces fitted together and provided at intervals with recesses, said sections or members being welded together at their lower ends, a shank welded to the upper ends of the sections or members, rope-engaging devices arranged in the recesses of the sections or members, and fastening devices connecting the sections or members at points between the rope-engaging devices.

4. A device of the class described, comprising a body tapered at the lower end and having independent openings or recesses, and pivotally-mounted prongs or teeth foldable within the recesses to permit the body to pass through the coils of a rope without packing the same.

5. A device of the class described, com priswhereby they are adapted to clamp a rope between them and the body.

6. A device of the class described, comprising a body provided with an opening or recess and having a shoulder at the lower end thereof, and a prong or tooth pivotally mounted in the opening or recess and arranged at an inclination and provided with a shoulder arranged to engage that of the body.

7 A device of the class described, comprising a body, and a rope-engaging prong or tooth pivoted at one end to the body and having a limited inward and outward movement arranged at an inclination, said prong or tooth being tapered and slightly curved and presenting an inner con vex face and an outer concave face.

8. A device of the class described, comprising a body, a pivotally-mounted rope-engaging prong 01' tooth arranged at an inclination, said prong or tooth being tapered and slightly curved and presenting an inner convex face and an outer concave face, and means for limiting both the inward and outward movement of the prong or tooth for causing the points to project slightly when the same is swung inward.

9. In a device of the class described, a body having projecting from opposite sides a plurality of rope-engaging prongs or teeth, each prong or tooth being curved and tapered to a point at its free end and mounted on independent fixed pivots carried by the body, the prongs or teeth being movable independently of one another.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

MARSHALL J. RIGGS. l/Vitnesses:

A. B. HOYT, DANIEL BALL.

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