Sonic drill head
AssigneeDiedrich Drill, Inc.
InventorsBrian Smith, James Lange
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sonic drilling head includes a spindle which is both rotated and vibrated at sonic frequency to effect ground penetration of members such as drill rods, etc. Two pairs of rotating eccentric masses are mounted in a sine generator housing. The pairs of masses have intersecting axis. A spiral bevel gear and drive shaft rotate the first pair of masses which engage the second pair of masses so that the pairs of masses are driven in opposite directions. Rotation is imparted to the spindle through a geared bearing isolated by a pack of precision disc springs, which also cooperate with a second set of precision disc springs to isolate the vibrations of the rotating eccentric masses from an outer housing of the sonic drill head.
Claims40
A sine generator drill head including an outer housing, a spindle having a first axis, said spindle being mounted to said housing for rotational and vibrational movement, a first pair of coaxial eccentric masses mounted in a sine generator housing and rotatable about a second axis, and a second pair of coaxial eccentric masses mounted in said sine generator housing and rotatable about a third axis, said first and second pair of eccentric masses imparting said vibrational movement upon said spindle.
A sine generator drill head comprising an outer housing, a spindle having an axis, a set of unevenly balanced masses rotatably mounted to a sine generator housing, a motor for causing rotation of said masses to thereby cause vibration of said spindle along the axis of the spindle, and a resilient coupling mounting said spindle for vibrational movement relative to said outer housing while substantially isolating said housing from the vibration of said unevenly balanced masses.
A sine generator drill head comprising an outer housing, a spindle having an axis, a vibrating mechanism for vibrating said spindle, a first motor mounted on said housing for rotating said vibrating mechanism to thereby cause vibration of said spindle, a second motor mounted on said housing for rotating the spindle about the axis thereof, and a pair of resilient couplings, said resilient couplings including resilient members maintained in a compressed state throughout a vibratory cycle of said vibrating mechanism.
A sine generator drill head comprising an outer housing, a spindle having an axis, a set of eccentric masses rotatably mounted in a sine generator housing, a first drive motor mounted on said housing for causing rotation of said masses to thereby cause vibration of said spindle along the axis of the spindle, a first gear drivingly engaging said masses, a second drive motor, and a drive shaft driven by said first drive motor and drivingly engaging said first gear while permitting axial movement of said drive shaft relative to said first gear when said drive shaft is driving said first gear.
A sine generator drill head comprising an outer housing, a spindle having an axis, a first motor driving a vibratory mechanism for providing vibratory movement to said spindle, a second motor for providing rotational movement to said spindle, a first gear driven by said first motor, a second gear engaging said vibratory mechanism, and a drive shaft drivingly connecting said first and second gears, said drive shaft connected to said second gear by a ball and raceway connection providing axial movement of said drive shaft relative to said second gear.
A set of resilient members comprising at least two disc springs, each of said disc springs consisting of a ring having a slightly frusto-conical shape such that said disc springs do not lie flat when placed upon either of said disc springs opposing major surfaces, said disc springs further configured to stack one upon the other such that a major surface of one disc spring is in partial contact with the major surface of the other disc spring in a non-loaded condition, and at least part of the major surfaces of each disc spring in contact with one another include mating radially aligned serrations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.