Drill rig and associated drill rig traverse system
AssigneeStrada Design Limited
InventorWarren Strange
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A drill rig 10 has a drill tower 12, rotation head 14 and drill table 16. The rotation head 14 is supported on and linearly traversable along drill tower 12. A drill rig traverse system 20 provides pull back and pull down force to the rotation head 14 enabling the rotation head 14 to traverse along drill tower 12 and controlling contact force between a drill bit and toe of a hole being drilled. The system 20 is formed as a combination of a hydraulic ram traverse system 22 providing both pull back and pull down force; and a winch pull back system 24 providing pull back only. Both hydraulic ram traverse system 22 and winch pull back system 24 can traverse the rotation head for the full length of the tower 12 when simultaneously applying pull back to the rotation head 14.
Claims39
A drill rig traverse system for a drill rig having a drill tower and a rotation head linearly traversable on the drill tower, the drill rig traverse system comprising:
- ram traverse system having at least one ram capable of providing both pull down and pull back force to the rotation head and arranged to traverse the rotation head for substantially a full length of an associated tower;
- and,
- a winch pull back system selectively engagable with the rotation head to provide additional pull back force to the rotation head, the winch pull back system having a winch that in use is mounted on the tower.
A method of drilling a hole comprising:
- providing a drill rig having a drill tower, a rotation head arranged to traverse substantially a full length of the tower, and a ram traverse system having at least one ram coupled to rotation head and drill tower to provide pull back and pull down force the ram traverse system arranged to traverse the rotation head substantially a full length of the tower;
- mounting a winch of a winch pull back system on the drill tower;
- operating the drill rig to drill a hole to a depth where pull back force is required to be provided by the ram traverse system during drilling of the hole;
- and
- selectively engaging the winch pull back system with the rotation head to provide additional pull up force while simultaneously operating the ram traverse system to provide pull back force to the rotation head.
A method of increasing the drill depth capacity of a drill rig having a drill tower, a rotation head traversable along the drill tower and a ram traverse system having at least one ram capable of providing both pull down and pull back force to the rotation head and traversing the rotation head for substantially a full length of the tower, the method comprising:
- mounting a winch of a winch pull back system on the drill tower and selectively engaging the winch pull back system with the rotation head to provide additional pull back.
A drill rig comprising:
- a drill tower and a rotation head traversable along the drill tower;
- a ram traverse system having at least one ram capable of providing both pull down and pull back force to the rotation head and arranged to traverse the rotation head along substantially a full length of the tower;
- a winch pull back system having a winch mounted on the drill tower, the winch pull back system selectively engagable with the rotation head to provide additional pull back force to the rotation head and arranged to traverse the rotation head along substantially a full length of the tower.
A drill rig traverse system for a drill rig having a drill tower and a rotation head linearly traversable on the drill tower, the drill rig traverse system comprising:
- ram traverse system having at least one ram capable of providing both pull down and pull back force to the rotation head and arranged to traverse the rotation head for substantially a full length of an associated tower;
- a winch pull back system selectively engagable with the rotation head to provide additional pull back force to the rotation head, the winch pull back system having a winch that in use is mounted on the tower;
- and
- wherein the winch pull back system and the ram traverse system are arranged to apply equal pull back force when the winch is engaged with the rotation head up to a first force being a lowest of the maximum pull back capacity of the winch pull back system and the ram traverse system.
A drill rig traverse system for a drill rig having a drill tower and a rotation head linearly traversable on the drill tower, the drill rig traverse system comprising:
- ram traverse system having at least one ram capable of providing both pull down and pull back force to the rotation head and arranged to traverse the rotation head for substantially a full length of an associated tower;
- a winch pull back system selectively engagable with the rotation head to provide additional pull back force to the rotation head, the winch pull back system having a winch that in use is mounted on the tower;
- and
- wherein the ram traverse system comprises one or more rams and a ram pulley system arranged to cause the rotation head to traverse along the tower by a distance twice an extension or retraction displacement of the one or more rams.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.