Drill rod uncoupling and storage apparatus

Claim 2

In a drill rig, in combination: an elongated support; a drill motor mounted on said support for longitudinal movement therealong; and a plurality of extension drill rod members for making up an extension drill string; said drill string being connectable at one end thereof to said drill motor to be driven longitudinally with respect to said support; and the improvement comprising: drill rod handling and storage means comprising spaced storage rack members independently mounted on said support and movable laterally relative thereto; said rack members including retaining means for retaining, respectively therebetween, opposite ends of a plurality of drill rods, whereby said drill rods are stored laterally seriatim with respect to the axis of said drill string, and rotary drive means for moving said spaced rack members, in unison, into and out of line with said drill string for adding or removing drill rod sections with respect thereto.

Claim 3

In a drill rig: a. means for rotating a drill string made up of a plurality of coupled rods; b. apparatus operable for holding said rods successively against rotation as each of said rods is uncoupled from said drill string, said holding apparatus comprising:

Claim 4

In a drill rig: a. means for rotating a drill string made up of a plurality of coupled rods; b. apparatus operable for holding said rods successively against rotation as each of said rods is uncoupled from said drill string, said holding apparatus comprising:

Claim 5

clamping means comprising a member slidably disposed adjacent said drill rod receiving member and having recess means comprising a series of jaw surfaces complementary to and coactable respectively with said series of jaw surfaces on said receiving member, and in response to the operation of said clamping member any one of said drill rods received in any one of said openings will be nonrotatively clamped with respect to said receiving member when said one drill rod is successively in position to be uncoupled from said drill string.

Claim 6

clamping means comprising a member slidably disposed adjacent said drill rod receiving member and having recess means comprising a series of jaw surfaces complementary to and coactable respectively with said series of jaw surfaces on said receiving member, and in response to the operation of said clamping member any one of said drill rods received in any one of said openings will be nonrotatively clamped with respect to said receiving member when said one drill rod is successively in position to be uncoupled from said drill string.

Claim 7

means movable with respect to said receiving member and cooperable therewith to clamp any one of said plurality of rods received in said receiving member and to hold only said one rod against rotation when said one rod is in position to be uncoupled from said drill string.

Claim 8

means movable with respect to said receiving member and cooperable therewith to clamp any one of said plurality of rods received in said receiving member and to hold only said one rod against rotation when said one rod is in position to be uncoupled from said drill string.

Claim 9

The invention according to claim 2 wherein: said jaw surfaces on said receiving member substantially surround said drill rods when said drill rods are retained thereby, and said complementary jaw surfaces on said clamping member are operable, in response to the operation of said clamping member to clamp said one drill rod section and the operation of said rotation means to tend to rotate said one drill rod section, to nonrotatably clamp said one drill rod section increasingly tighter.

Claim 10

The invention according to claim 2 wherein: each jaw surface on said clamping member is spaced progressively further apart from its respective coacting jaw surface on said receiving member when the jaw surfaces of an endmost pair of complementary jaw surfaces in said series are positioned coincident with each other.

Claim 11

The invention according to claim 4 wherein: said complementary jaw surfaces on said clamping member and said receiving member are substantially arcuate having a predetermined radius of curvature and the center of each said radius for each jaw surface on said clamping member is located progressively further apart from the radius center of each respective coacting jaw surface on said receiving member when the radius centers of an endmost pair of jaw surfaces in said series are positioned coincident with each other.

Claim 12

In a drill rig, in combination: an elongated support; a drill motor mounted on said support for longitudinal movement therealong; and a plurality of extension drill rod members for making up a rotatable extension drill string; said drill string being connectable at one end thereof to said drill motor to be driven longitudinally with respect to said support; and the improvement comprising: drill rod handling and storage means comprising spaced so storage rack members independently mounted on said support and movable laterally with respect to said suppoRt; said rack members including retaining means for retaining, respectively therebetween, opposite ends of a plurality of drill rods, and drive means interconnecting said spaced rack members comprising an elongated shaft rotatively mounted on said support and operable to be driven by rotary motor means, said drive shaft including gear means adjacent said respective storage rack members and engaged with complementary gear rack means on said storage rack members whereby in response to actuation of said rotary motor said storage rack members are movably positioned, in unison, laterally with respect to the rotational axis of said drill string for adding or removing extension drill rod members.

Claim 13

In a drill rig, in combination: an elongated support; a drill motor mounted on said support for longitudinal movement therealong; and a plurality of extension drill rod members for making up a rotatable extension drill string; said drill string being connectable at one end thereof to said drill motor to be driven longitudinally with respect to said support; and the improvement comprising: drill rod handling and storage means comprising spaced so storage rack members independently mounted on said support and movable laterally with respect to said suppoRt; said rack members including retaining means for retaining, respectively therebetween, opposite ends of a plurality of drill rods, and drive means interconnecting said spaced rack members comprising an elongated shaft rotatively mounted on said support and operable to be driven by rotary motor means, said drive shaft including gear means adjacent said respective storage rack members and engaged with complementary gear rack means on said storage rack members whereby in response to actuation of said rotary motor said storage rack members are movably positioned, in unison, laterally with respect to the rotational axis of said drill string for adding or removing extension drill rod members.

Claim 14

In a drill rig: a. means for rotating a drill string made up of a plurality of coupled rods; b. apparatus for uncoupling and storing said plurality or of rods, said apparatus comprising:

Claim 15

In a drill rig: a. means for rotating a drill string made up of a plurality of coupled rods; b. apparatus for uncoupling and storing said plurality or of rods, said apparatus comprising:

Claim 16

The invention set forth in claim 7 wherein: said clamping means comprises a member slidably disposed adjacent said drill rod receiving member and having recess means complementary to said openings in said receiving member.