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US 11,530,577 B2Granted
Drill bit for boring earth and other hard materials
AssigneeUlterra Drilling Technologies, L.P.
InventorNathan Andrew Brooks
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure provides a cutting head adapted to removably couple to a bit body of a drill bit assembly. The cutting head includes a leading cutting tip for cutting into earth and a trailing receiving portion for receiving a second end of the bit body in an internal cavity defined by the trailing receiving portion to allow the cutting head to be removably coupled to the second end of the bit body.
Claims18
A drill bit assembly, comprising:
- a bit body defining a central bore having a first diameter at the first end and a smaller second diameter at the second end;
- a cutting head adapted to removably couple to the bit body, the cutting head including a leading cutting tip for cutting into earth and a trailing receiving portion for receiving a second end of the bit body in an internal cavity defined by the trailing receiving portion to allow the cutting head to be removably coupled to the second end of the bit body;
- a pin member that is receivable within the central bore, the pin member comprising a pin body portion and a head portion having a smaller diameter than the pin body portion, the pin body portion defining a notch;
- a resilient member that is positionable about the head portion of the pin member, the resilient member having a smaller diameter than the pin body portion, wherein:
- the cutting head defines a second internal cavity adapted to receive the head portion of the pin member;
- the trailing receiving portion further comprises an inner groove provided along an inner wall thereof configured to receive a portion of a split ring or detent;
- the notch and the inner groove are misaligned when the resilient member is in a neutral position;
- and
- the pin body portion is translatable to compress the resilient member to align the notch with the inner groove, thereby causing the split ring or detent to retract into the notch to enable the cutting head to be removed from the bit body.
6 more elements
A method of replacing a cutting head of a drill bit assembly, the method comprising:
- decoupling a bit body from a first cutting head by axially translating a pin body portion of a first pin member received within the bit body to compress a resilient member disposed between an axial surface of the pin body portion and an interior surface of the bit body and to align a notch defined by the pin body portion with an inner groove formed within the first cutting head such that a split ring or detent securing the bit body and the first cutting head moves into engagement with the notch to enable the first cutting head to be slid out of engagement with the bit body;
- and
- removably coupling the bit body to a second cutting head by locating an end of the bit body within an internal cavity of a trailing receiving portion of the second cutting head, wherein the second cutting head is removably coupled to the bit body by a retaining arrangement, wherein the step of removably coupling the bit body to the second cutting head further comprises:
- effecting relative axial movement between the second cutting head and the bit body such that the trailing receiving portion of the second cutting head receives the end of the bit body and the axial movement results in a detent assembly removably coupling the bit body to the second cutting head;
- and
- inserting a resiliently biased second pin member of the retaining arrangement through a hollow passage defined in the bit body such that a tail portion of the pin member extends beyond an end of the bit body and is received within a second internal cavity defined by the second cutting head.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.