US 12,060,775 B2Granted

Liquid hammer drill

AssigneeWarren Ross Strange

InventorWarren Ross Strange

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Abstract

A liquid hammer drill comprising: a housing; a drill bit at a leading end of said housing wherein said drill bit includes a trailing end and a leading end that defines a cutting portion; a piston member located inside said housing and having a trailing end, a leading end and an intermediate portion therebetween, said piston member being capable of movement between a first position and a second position at which it impacts the trailing end of the drill bit; a liquid circuit for delivering a liquid to the piston member to cause the piston member to oscillate between its first and second positions and transfer the liquid outside the housing via a liquid outlet; a sealing member for isolating the trailing end of the drill bit from the liquid circuit wherein, in use, the piston member impacts the trailing end of the drill bit in a liquid free environment.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A liquid hammer drill configured for insertion into a cutter head of a tunnel boring machine comprising:

(a) a housing;
(b) a drill bit disposed at a leading end of the housing the drill bit including a trailing end and a leading end, the leading end defining a cutting portion;
(c) a piston member located inside the housing and having a trailing end and a leading end, the piston member configured to move between a first position and a second position, such that in the second position the leading end of the piston impacts the trailing end of the drill bit;
wherein the trailing end of the drill bit defines a strike face for the piston member and the strike face comprises at least one liquid relief groove;
(d) a closed liquid circuit for delivering a liquid to the piston member within the housing to cause the piston member to oscillate between the first and second positions;
and a sealing member for isolating the trailing end of the drill bit from the closed liquid circuit, such that the piston member impacts the trailing end of the drill bit in a liquid free environment.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/765,768Filed 2 Oct 2020
Priority: AU 20199037183 Oct 2019
Published: US 2022/0372820 A124 Nov 2022
Granted: 13 Aug 2024
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

E21B 4/14
Down-hole impacting means, e.g. hammers: fluid operated hammers
E21B 4/003
Drives for drilling, used in the borehole: bearing, sealing, lubricating details
E21D 9/106
Making by using boring or cutting machines: with percussive tools, e.g. pick-hammers
E21B
Earth or rock drilling