Portable drill pipe magazine

Claim 2

Apparatus for removably supporting a plurality of elongated generally cylindrical articles each of which has a relatively short non-circular portion at one end and a relatively long non-circular portion adjacent to the other end comprising a magazine having a rotatably mounted shaft, means for rotating said magazine shaft, said magazine shaft having a seat plate fixed adjacent to one end and a holder fixed adjacent to the other end, said seat plate having a plurality of openings extending therethrough along axes generally parallel to the axis of said magazine shaft, each of said seat plate openings having at least one non-circular portion disposed at a predetermined angle of rotation relative to the axis of said opening and being complementary to the short non-circular portion of one of said elongated articles, said holder having a plurality of openings extending therethrough substantially in alignment with the axes of the openings in said seat plate, each of the openings of said holder communicating with the periphery of the holder through a relatively wide mouth, said mouth being of a width to permit the long non-circular portion only of an article to pass therethrough, stop means on said holder adapted to abut the long non-circular portion of the article when the article is rotated within said opening, and said stop means being in predetermined relationship to the non-circular portion of the seat plate openings, whereby the long non-circular portion of an article is inserted through the mouth of said holder and the article is rotated so that the long non-circular portion abuts said stop means to align the short non-circular portion with the opening in said seat plate and thereafter the article is moved axially so that the short non-circular portion is received within the opening of the seat plate.

Claim 3

The structure of claim 1 in which each of the non-circular portions of each of said articles includes a pair of generally parallel flat portions.

Claim 4

The structure of claim 1 including an upwardly extending guide flange disposed about each of the openings of said seat plate.

Claim 5

The structure of claim 1 including a stop member fixed to said seat plate to limit vertical movement of said articles through the openings thereof.

Claim 6

The combination of a plurality of drill pipe sections and a magazine for removably supporting the same, each of said drill pipe sections comprising an elongated generally cylindrical body having upper and lower ends, said body having at least one relatively short non-circular portion extending upwardly from said lower end and having at least one relatively long noncircular portion located in spaced relationship to said upper end, the plane of said upper non-circular portion being disposed at a predetermined angle relative to the plane of said lower noncircular portion, said magazine comprising an elongated generally vertical shaft, a seat plate fixed to said shaft adjacent one end and a holder fixed to said shaft adjacent the other end, said seat plate having a plurality of openings of a configuration corresponding to the lower non-circular portion of the drill pipe sections, said holder having a plurality of openings substantially in vertical alignment with the openings of said seat plate, each of the holder openings communicating with the periphery of the holder through a relatively wide mouth, said mouth being of a width to receive the long non-circular portion of a drill pipe section, stop means carried by said holder in a position to engage the long non-circular portion of said drill pipe section when the drill pipe section is rotated within a holder opening, aNd said stop means being located in a position such that the short non-circular portion at the lower end of said body is aligned with the non-circular opening in said seat plate when the long non-circular portion is in abutting relationship with said stop means, whereby a drill pipe section is inserted into an opening in the holder and rotated so that the long noncircular portion is in abutting relationship with the stop means and thereafter the drill pipe section is moved axially so that the lower end of the drill pipe section is received within an opening in said seat plate.

Claim 7

The combination of a plurality of drill pipe sections and a magazine for removably supporting the same, each of said drill pipe sections comprising an elongated generally cylindrical body having upper and lower ends, said body having at least one relatively short non-circular portion extending upwardly from said lower end and having at least one relatively long noncircular portion located in spaced relationship to said upper end, the plane of said upper non-circular portion being disposed at a predetermined angle relative to the plane of said lower noncircular portion, said magazine comprising an elongated generally vertical shaft, a seat plate fixed to said shaft adjacent one end and a holder fixed to said shaft adjacent the other end, said seat plate having a plurality of openings of a configuration corresponding to the lower non-circular portion of the drill pipe sections, said holder having a plurality of openings substantially in vertical alignment with the openings of said seat plate, each of the holder openings communicating with the periphery of the holder through a relatively wide mouth, said mouth being of a width to receive the long non-circular portion of a drill pipe section, stop means carried by said holder in a position to engage the long non-circular portion of said drill pipe section when the drill pipe section is rotated within a holder opening, aNd said stop means being located in a position such that the short non-circular portion at the lower end of said body is aligned with the non-circular opening in said seat plate when the long non-circular portion is in abutting relationship with said stop means, whereby a drill pipe section is inserted into an opening in the holder and rotated so that the long noncircular portion is in abutting relationship with the stop means and thereafter the drill pipe section is moved axially so that the lower end of the drill pipe section is received within an opening in said seat plate.