Tool for fishing an object from a bore hole

Claim 1

A tool for fishing an object out of a bore hole, comprising: (a) a tubular body having (i) an upper end for connecting to apparatus extending from the surface to raise and lower the tool in and out of the bore hole, (ii) a lower end for extending around and over a portion of the object, said lower end having a tapered surface located thereon; (b) fingers mounted within said body for coacting with the tapered surface of said body to move between an opened position and a closed position; (c) a spring mounted within said body for urging said fingers toward the lower end of said body for coaction with the tapered surface; (d) camming means mounted within said body for controlling the movement of said fingers between the opened and closed positions having (i) a sleeve rotatably mounted within said tubular body forming a cam face defining "J" slotted grooves with upwardly extending stems located at the closed and opened positions of said fingers and connecting grooves between "J" slotted grooves thereby forming a single cam groove which permits recycling of said fingers between the opened and closed position, (ii) a pin extending from said tubular body into and coacting with the cam groove to cause the sleeve to rotate between the opened and closed positions by moving said body toward and away from the object after engagement with a portion of the object, the fingers moving into the closed position by the urging of the spring and by the movement of the pin upward into the closed position stem of the "J" slotted grooves and the fingers moving into the opened position by overcoming the urging of the spring and by movement of the pin upward into the opened position stem of the "J" slotted grooves; and (e) lugs mounted with said sleeve for nesting within corresponding slots formed in said body which defines first shoulders between the slots and second shoulders at the bottom of the slots, said lugs having downwardly facing shoulders for abutting against the first shoulders to limit movement of the pin in the opened position stem of the "J" slotted grooves and for abutting against the second shoulders to limit movement of the pin in the closed position stem, the opening and closing of the fingers and movement of the lugs being provided by movement of said body toward and away from the object after engagement with a portion of the object, which causes the first and second shoulders to move downwardly relative to the lugs and the pin to move downwardly within and coact with the cam groove for rotating the sleeve and lugs into alignment such that the downward facing shoulders of the lugs will abuttingly engage with the respective first or second shoulders of said body.