Soil drilling apparatus having means to change the direction of the drill

Claim 1

A DEVICE FOR USE IN EARTH DRILLING APPARATUS, COMPRISING AN UPPER SECTION PROVIDING A TUBULAR PISTON HOUSING FOR CONNECTION TO A DRILL STRING IN FIXED RELATION THERETO, A LOWER SECTION FOR CONNECTION TO A DRILLING UNIT INCLUDING A MOTOR, MEANS MOVABLY JOINING THE UPPER END OF SAID LOWER SECTION TO THE LOWER END OF SAID UPPER SECTION, MEANS FOR CONDUCTING DRILLING FLUID FROM SAID DRILL STRING THROUGH SAID UPPER SECTION, PAST SAID JOINING MEANS AND THROUGH SAID LOWER SECTION TO SAID DRILLING UNIT, A PLURALITY OF PISTONS MOUNTED IN SAID UPPER SECTION AND CONNECTED IN ALIGNED RELATION FOR MOVEMENT LONGITUDINAL LY OF SAID UPPER SECTION AS A UNIT, SAID PISTONS BEING AN NULARLY-SHAPED, AND INCLUDING A CENTRAL TUBULAR MEMBER TO WHICH SAID PISTONS ARE CONNECTED, AND MEANS ON SAID UPPER SECTION FORMING AN OPERATING CHAMBER FOR EACH OF SAID PISTONS, MEANS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY SUBJECTING AN UPPER TRANSVERSE SURFACE OF EACH OF SAID PISTONS TO THE FORWARD THRUST OF THE DRILLING FLUID AT THE ENTRY OF OF SAID UPPER SECTION, MEANS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY SUBJECTING A LOWER TRANSVERSE SURFACE OF EACH OF SAID PISTONS TO THE FORCE OF THE FLUID RETURNING FROM THE DRILLING OPERATION SO THAT SAID PISTONS ARE ACTIVATED BY THE RESULTANT OF SUCH FORCES, MOVABLE MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID PISTONS AND SUBJECTED TO THE COMBINED PUSH OF THE LATTER FOR MOVEMENT THEREOF TOWARD SAID JOINING MEANS, SAID MOVABLE MEANS BEING CONNECTED TO SAID LOWER SECTION AND OPERABLE WHEN ADVANCED TOWARD SAID JOINING MEANS TO PIVOT SAID LOWER SECTION ON SAID JOINING MEANS.