Hydraulically driven kelly crowd

In a vertical drilling rig, a kelly crowd comprising the combination:

• a derrick;
• a drive kelly having on its upper end a swivel head movable longitudinally in said derrick and having a drilling tool supported from the lower end thereof;
• a rotatable drum;
• a first cable on said drum, said first cable coupled to said swivel head and said derrick to permit said drive kelly to be lowered relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in a given direction and to raise said drive kelly relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in the opposite direction;
• a second cable on said drum, said second cable coupled to said swivel head and said derrick to crowd down said drive kelly relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in said given direction and to permit said drive kelly to be raised relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in said opposite direction;
• a main hydraulic line;
• a bi-directional hydraulic motor connected in the main hydraulic line and coupled to rotate said crowd drum;
• a source of pressure regulated fluid;
• a motor control valve capable of being positioned to supply fluid from said source to flow in either direction through said main hydraulic line and cause said hydraulic motor to rotate in said given direction or said opposite direction;
• and
• a flow control valve in said main line, said flow control valve being settable to control the rate of the flow of fluid from the source to the hydraulic motor to modify the rate of rotation of the latter.

In a vertical drilling machine a kelly crowd apparatus comprising in combination:

• a derrick;
• an upper fixed pulley near the top and a lower fixed pulley near the bottom of said derrick;
• a drive kelly having a swivel head which is movable longitudinally within said derrick;
• means for rotating said drive kelly;
• a pair of said pulleys, an angularly disposed pulley, and a vertically disposed pulley on said swivel head;
• a rotatable drum mounted on the middle portion of said derrick;
• a first cable having one end connected near the top of said derrick and extending down about the vertically disposed pulley on said swivel head and up about the upper fixed pulley on said derrick and then down to wind about said drum in one sense;
• a second cable having one end connected near the bottom of said derrick and extending up about one of the side pulleys, across the angularly disposed pulley, over the other of the side pulleys on said swivel head, down about the fixed lower pulley on said derrick, and then up to wind about said drum in the other sense;
• and
• means for rotating said drum in a direction which provides for paying out the first cable to permit the swivel head of said drive kelly to be lowered in said derrick and for simultaneously taking up the second cable to apply a downward force on said swivel head and thereby crowd down the drive kelly.

In the art of drilling a hole in the surface of the earth by means of a rotating auger supported from a drilling rig, the method of crowding the rotating auger downward comprising:

• providing a hydraulic motor having a rate of rotation that is substantially directly proportional to the rate of flow of fluid therethrough,
• drivingly coupling the motor between the rig and the auger so that rotation of the motor crowds the auger downward relative to the rig,
• providing a source of hydraulic fluid having a regulated substantially constant pressure level, and
• supplying fluid from the source to flow through the motor to provide a constant crowd force on the auger,
• whereby the variation of the hardness of the formation of the earth encountered by the auger serves to vary the rate of rotation of the motor and accordingly vary the rate of fluid supplied by the source to the motor.

In a vertical drilling rig including a vertically movable swivel head having a drive kelly rotatably suspended therefrom, said swivel head being of generally square horizontal cross-sectional configuration and having a central vertical opening therethrough, and a kelly hoist line extending through said opening, means for crowding the drive kelly downwardly comprising:

• a pair of mutually perpendicular side pulleys mounted in vertical planes on respectively adjacent sides of said swivel head, the side pulleys being located near diagonally opposite corners of said swivel head;
• an angularly disposed, partly vertical and partly horizontal pulley mounted near the top of said swivel head, intermediate said two side pulleys and spaced away from said kelly hoist line;
• a cable looped over said angularly disposed pulley and having end portions disposed about respective ones of said side pulleys so as to extend downwardly at diagonally opposite corners of said swivel head;
• and
• means for applying a downward force on the end portions of said cable;
• whereby a balanced crowd down force is applied to said swivel head.

In a vertical drilling rig, a kelly crowd apparatus comprising,

• an upright derrick;
• a drive kelly having
• a swivel head on the upper end of said drive kelly and vertically movable in said derrick,
• an outer kelly member swivelly suspended from said swivel head and having
• bearing means located on the lower edge of said outer kelly member, and
• an inner kelly member telescopically received within said outer kelly member and having
• at least one pair of coaxially aligned bores in said inner kelly member, said bores being coaxially alignable with said bearing means;
• a hoist line swivelly coupled to the upper end of said inner kelly member;
• a drilling tool fastenable to the lower end of said inner kelly member;
• means for rotating said drive kelly;
• a rotatable drum mounted on said derrick;
• a first cable on said drum and coupled between said swivel head and said derrick to raise said drive kelly relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in one direction;
• a second cable on said drum and coupled between said swivel head and said derrick to crowd down said drive kelly relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in the opposite direction;
• means for rotating said drum;
• and
• pin means selectively locatable in said bores for abutment with said bearing means when said drum rotates in said opposition direction.

In a vertical drilling rig, a kelly crowd apparatus comprising in combination:

• an upright derrick;
• a drive kelly having on its upper end a swivel head movable vertically in said derrick and having supported from its lower end a drilling tool;
• means for rotating said drive kelly;
• a rotatable drum mounted on the derrick;
• a first cable on said drum, said first cable coupled between said swivel head and said derrick to permit said drive kelly to be lowered relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in one direction and to raise said drive kelly relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in the opposite direction;
• a second cable on said drum, said second cable coupled between said swivel head and said derrick to crowd down said drive kelly relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in one direction and to permit said drive kelly to be raised relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in said opposite direction;
• and
• means for rotating said drum in either direction including
• a bi-directional hydraulic motor;
• and
• a source of pressure-regulated fluid connected to flow through said motor, including,
• a pump;
• a bag-type accumulator charged with fluid supplied by said pump;
• and
• an unloading valve means operable in response to the pressure of the fluid charge in the accumulator to unload the fluid being supplied by the pump to the accumulator when the pressure in the latter reaches a predetermined value.

In a vertical drilling rig, a kelly crowd apparatus comprising in combination:

• an upright derrick;
• a drive kelly having on its upper end a swivel head movable vertically in said derrick and having supported from its lower end a drilling tool;
• means for rotating said drive kelly;
• a rotatable drum mounted on the derrick;
• a first cable on said drum, said first cable coupled between said swivel head and said derrick to permit said drive kelly to be lowered relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in one direction and to raise said drive kelly relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in the opposite direction;
• a second cable on said drum, said second cable coupled between said swivel head and said derrick to crowd down said drive kelly relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in one direction and to permit said drive kelly to be raised relative to said derrick when said drum rotates in the opposite direction;
• means for rotating said drum in either direction;
• and
• means, powered by said drum rotating means, for taking up any slack in said second cable by imposing a tension-generating force thereon.

In a vertical drilling rig having a drive kelly rotatably suspended from a swivel head, a kelly crowd apparatus comprising:

• a cable,
• means for supporting said cable in a loop,
• means for securing a swivel head to said loop near the mid-point thereof,
• means for selectively driving said cable in opposite directions to selectively raise and lower said swivel head securing means, and
• means, actuated by said driving means, for taking any slack out of said cable loop by exerting a tensioning force thereon.