Open-faced rod spinner
AssigneeLongyear TM, Inc.
InventorsTrevor Lyndon Light, Emil Kolev, Michael Andreas Kontou
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An open-faced rod-spinning device configured for making and/or breaking joints between threaded drill rods. The rod-spinning device may include a drive gear with an open face. The drive gear may also be coupled to a plurality of drive pins. The rod-spinning device may include a carriage assembly including an open face for receiving and rotating about a drill rod. The carriage assembly may include a plurality of gripping lobes configured to be engaged and rotated by the drive pins about pivot pins. The drive gear may be configured to rotate relative to the carriage assembly to cause the drive pins to engage and rotate the gripping lobes.
Claims35
An open-faced rod-spinning device for making and breaking joints of a drill rod, comprising:
- a drive gear including an open face;
- a plurality of drive pins coupled to said drive gear;
- a carriage assembly including an open face, said carriage assembly being rotatably coupled to said drive gear;
- at least one pivot pin extending from said carriage assembly;
- at least one gripping lobe coupled to said at least one pivot pin, said at least one gripping lobe having first and second gripping surfaces symmetrically positioned relative to said at least one pivot pin;
- a first drive pin positioned on a first side of said at least one gripping lobe;
- and
- a second drive pin positioned on a second side of said at least one gripping lobe;
- wherein upon rotation of said drive gear in a first direction, said first drive pin engages and pivots said at least one gripping lobe about said at least one pivot pin causing said first gripping surface of said at least one gripping lobe to contact the drill rod;
- wherein upon rotation of said drive gear in a second direction, said second drive pin engages and pivots said at least one gripping lobe about said at least one pivot pin causing said second gripping surface of said at least one gripping lobe to contact the drill rod.
An open-faced rod-spinning device comprising:
- a drive gear including an open face;
- a plurality of drive pins coupled to the drive gear;
- a carriage assembly including an open face;
- a plurality of gripping lobes secured to the carriage assembly;
- a first magnet with a first polarity coupled to a gripping lobe and a second magnet with a second polarity opposite the first polarity coupled to the carriage assembly, the second magnet being configured to attract the first magnet and thereby rotate the gripping lobe from a misaligned position to an aligned position;
- and a third magnet with a third polarity equal to the first polarity coupled to the carriage assembly, the third magnet being configured to repel the first magnet and thereby rotate the gripping lobe away from a misaligned position;
- wherein the drive gear is configured to selectively rotate independent of the carriage assembly to cause at least one of the plurality of drive pins to engage and rotate at least one of the plurality of gripping lobes.
A drill mast adapted to support a drill string formed from one or more drill rods, comprising:
- a support structure;
- an open-faced rod-spinning device coupled to said support structure and configured for making and breaking connections between threaded drill rods of the drill string, wherein said open-faced rod spinner comprises:
- a gear system having an open face;
- a carriage assembly having an open face, said carriage assembly being rotatably coupled to said drive system and comprising a plurality of pivot pins;
- a plurality of drive pins coupled to said gear system;
- a plurality of gripping lobes coupled to said plurality of pivot pins, each gripping lobe including first and second gripping surfaces positioned symmetrically relative to a pivot pin;
- a first set of said plurality of drive pins positioned on a corresponding first side of said plurality of gripping lobes;
- and
- a second set of said plurality of drive pins positioned on a corresponding second side of said plurality of gripping lobes;
- wherein:
- said gear system is configured to rotate independent of said carriage assembly,
- rotation of said gear system in a first direction causes said first set of drive pins to engage and rotate said plurality of gripping lobes into contact with the drill string, and
- rotation of said gear system in a second direction causes said second set of drive pins to engage and rotate said plurality of gripping lobes into contact with the drill string;
- and
- a clamping device coupled to said support structure and configured to selectively clamp the drill string.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.