Portable drilling rig
OwnerJack M. Cooperinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A portable drilling rig 20 for drilling water wells or installing geothermal pipe systems in the ground 22. The portable drilling rig 20 is removably mounted on a truck bed 24. The single I beam mast 30 of the rig 20 pivots to a horizontal position 32 on the truck bed 24 for transport and pivots to a vertical position 34 for drilling, or alternately, pivots to a slanted position 38 for drilling at an angle “A” into the ground 22. A swivel 78 that is normally parallel to the mast 30 is movable along the length of the mast 30. The swivel 78 can be pivoted to its non-parallel position 122 relative to the mast 30 in order to attach or remove pipe segments 126 from a drive shaft 136 provided on the swivel 78.
Claims13
A portable drilling rig comprising:
- a mast constructed of a single I-beam, said mast pivotally secured to a frame so the mast can be pivoted between a horizontal position relative to the frame and a vertical position relative to the frame, said frame removably attached to a truck bed,
- a swivel movably secured to said mast so that the swivel moves parallel to said mast, a pair of chain drives functionally attached to said swivel, one of the pair of chain drives provided on either side of the I-beam, each of the pair of chain drives extending the length of the I-beam, a drive motor engaging each said chain drive as a means of moving the chain drive and said swivel relative to the mast, said swivel pivotally attached to said mast so said swivel can be pivoted out of parallel alignment with the mast and back into parallel alignment with the mast,
- a drive shaft extending through said swivel, a lower end of said drive shaft provided with threads for removably engaging threads on segments of pipe that collectively form a pipe drill string, and
- means for rotating said drive shaft provided on the top of said swivel in order to rotate the attached pipe drill string and a drill bit that is attached at a lower end of the pipe drill string, an inlet opening provided on the side of the swivel for admitting fluid to the interior of the swivel, and sides of said drive shaft being provided with inlet holes extending therethrough to allow fluid to enter the drive shaft from the interior of the swivel.
A portable drilling rig according comprising:
- a mast constructed of a single I beam, said mast pivotally secured to a frame so the mast can be pivoted between a horizontal position relative to the frame and a vertical position relative to the frame,
- a slide holding a drilling head movably secured to said mast so that the slide moves parallel to said mast, a pair of chain drives functionally attached to said slide, one of the pair of chain drives provided on either side of the I beam, each of the a pair of chain drives extending the length of the I beam, a drive motor engaging said chain drive as a means of moving the chain drive and said drilling head relative to the mast, said drilling head pivotally attached to the slide so that the slide can be pivoted out of parallel alignment with the mast and pivoted back into parallel alignment with the mast,
- a drive shaft supported at the upper part by two bearings, one bearing provided on each side of a plate fixed approximately perpendicular on the slide, the shaft extending down through a fluid containment chamber that is attached to the slide for support of the lower part of said drive shaft, the bottom end of the drive shaft removably engaging threads for attaching segments of pipe that collectively form a drill pipe string, power for rotating the drill pipe string being supplied by at least one motor,
- the fluid containment chamber attached to the slide being provided with a side opening for admitting fluid to the interior of the chamber, sides of said drive shaft being provided with inlet holes extending therethrough to allow fluid to enter the drive shaft from the interior of the fluid containment chamber, and said drive shaft continuous with the drill pipe string so that fluid moves through the drive shaft to reach the drill bit located at the end of the drill pipe string.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.