Loading patent…
AssigneeVermeer Manufacturing Company
InventorLouis C. Hartke
Estimating the term…
A biased door member is provided in an external wall of a drill rod supply magazine mounted on a horizontal directional drilling (HDD) machine. The door member swings inwardly from a first position parallel to the external wall to a second position within the distal column. At least one cut-out is formed in the external wall at the bottom of the retaining guides located at the longitudinal ends of the magazine. The cut-out creates a window through which the added drill rod is inserted. In operation, a drill rod is moved through the biased door member and window cut-outs into the distal column. The pocket of a rod transfer mechanism is positioned below the last column, and a rod lifter lowers the added drill rod into the pocket. The rod transfer mechanism then moves the added drill rod into alignment with the drill string.
A horizontal directional drilling machine, comprising:
A drill rod storage magazine, the magazine comprising:
The drill rod storage magazine further wherein opposing retaining guides on the external wall include at least one window defined therein.
The drill rod storage magazine, wherein the supporting structure is arranged and configured to have a length approximately corresponding to the physical distance of the length of the drill rod.
A method for selectively loading drill rod into a storage magazine of a horizontal directional drill machine, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.