Cutting structures for steel bodied rotary drill bits
AssigneeReed Tool Company
InventorsJohn Fuller, Michael C. Regan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rotary drill bit for use in drilling or coring holes in subsurface formations comprises a bit body having a shank for connection to a drill string, a plurality of cutting structures mounted at the surface of the bit body, and a passage in the bit body for supplying drilling fluid to the surface of the bit body for cooling and/or cleaning the cutting structures. The bit body is formed from steel, and each cutting structure comprises a cutting element, in the form of a unitary layer of thermally stable polycrystalline diamond material, brazed to a carrier received in a socket in the steel body of the bit.
Claims18
A rotary drill bit for use in drilling or coring holes in subsurface formations, comprising a bit body having a shank for connection to a drill string, a plurality of cutting structures mounted at the surface of the bit body, and a passage in the bit body for supplying drilling fluid to the surface of the bit body for cooling and/or cleaning the cutting structures, the bit body being formed from steel, at least one of the cutting structures comprising a cutting element, in the form of a preformed unitary layer of polycrystalline diamond material which is thermally stable up to a temperature higher than 750.degree. C., the pre-formed layer being bonded to a carrier received in a socket in the steel body of the bit.
A method of manufacturing a rotary drill bit for use in drilling or coring holes in subsurface formations, comprising forming from steel a bit body having a shank for connection to a drill string, a plurality of sockets at the surface of the bit body, and a passage in the bit body for supplying drilling fluid to the surface of the bit body, forming at least one of a plurality of cutting structures by bonding to a carrier a pre-formed unitary layer of polycrystalline diamond material which is thermally stable up to a temperature higher than 750.degree. C., and mounting the cutting structures at the surface of the steel bit body by securing the carriers of the cutting structures within respective sockets in the bit body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.