Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1087~(JA
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"WELL DRILL PIPE SUPPORT"
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to new and useful improve-
ments in vise supports particularly adapted for use with well
drill strings and although it is designed primarily for re-
latively small diameter well drilling, nevertheless it can
readily be adapted for larger diameters if necessary or desir-
able.
In gas or oil drilling rigs, means are provided to
support the drill string while the uppermost length of pipe is
attached if the drill string is being lowered or detached if
the drill string is being withdrawn.
However with smaller diameter rigs often used for
drilling of wells for water and the like, such facilities are
not readily available so that it is difficult to support the
drill string while additional lengths of drill pipe are attach-
ed or detached.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages
~ 20 by providing a vise clamp which is easily securable over the
; top of the casing and which can be swung out of the way when
~ drilling is taking place or can be moved into position when it -
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i5 deslred to support the drill string therefor removal of or
attachment of additional drill pipe lengths.
In accordance with the invention, there is provided
a vise support for use on the upper end of a well casing for
use with a drill string which includes lengths of well pipe
adjacently connected together with conventional cylindrical
couplings, the outer diameter of the couplings being larger
than the outer diameter of the drill string pipe; comprising in
combination a fixed jaw and a movable jaw operatively connected
therewith, means to adjust the distance between said jaws and
means whereby said movable jaw can be moved into a drill string
supporting position and swung clear of said drill string sup- -
porting position and vice versa, said means to adjust the dis-
tance between said jaws including a plurality of pins extending
from said fixed jaw, said movable jaw being mounted upon said
pins for sliding movement towards and away from said fixed jaw
and detachable clip means selectively engageable in any one of : :
a plurality of positions upon at least one of said pins, to re-
tain said movable jaw in any one of a plurality of positions ~ :
relative to said fixed jaw against outward movement only upon
said pins, clamp means detachably engageable adjacent ~o the
upper end of the well casing, to support said vise support,
said clamp means including an apertured vise support anchor
plate, and a pivot pin secured to and depending from adjacent
one corner of said vise support whereby said vise support is
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pivotally mounted for movement in a substantially horizontal
plane, across the upper end of said casing.
Also in accordance with the present invention, clamp
means may be provided if desired, to detachably engage adja-
cent to the upper end of the well casing to support said vise
support, said clamp means including an apertured vise support
anchor plate, and a pivot pin secured to and depending from ad-
jacent one corner of said vise support whereby said vise sup-
port is pivotally mounted for movement in a substantially hor-
izontal plane, across the upper end of said casing.
The use of the present invention provides means which
are economical in manufacture, simple in construction, and
otherwise well suited for the purpose for which it is designed.
D
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With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as
will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this
invention relates as this specification proceeds, my invention
consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of
parts all as hereinafter more particularly described, reference
being had to the accompanying drawings in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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Figure 1 is an isometric view of the vise support
per se shown in the closed pOSitiOIl.
Figure 2 is an isometric view of the clamp which
may be attached to the upper end of a drill casing.
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Figure 3 is a fragmentary side view of Figure 1
substantially along the line 3-3 thereof.
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Figure 4 is a ragmentary end view substantially
15 along the line 4-4 of Figure 1.
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Figure 5 is a fragmentary end view substantially
along the line 5-5 of Figure 1.
.
'~ Figure 6 is a partially schematic view of a well
casing showing the device supported upon the upper end there-
20 of and reduced in scale with reference to the remaining draw-
ings.
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In the drawings like characters of reference indi-
cate corresponding parts in the different figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Proceeding therefore to describe the invention in
detail, reference should first be made to Figure 7 in which 10
illustrates the drill casing extending above ground level 11
and showing part of a drill string 12 extending downwardly in-
to the bore hole 13, said drill string including a length of
drill pipe 14 having a cylindrical coupling 15 upon the upper
end thereof into which the next adjacent length of drill pipe
14A may be secured if the drill string is being lowered or re-
moved if the drill string is being raised.
Figure 6 also shows the invention collectively de-
signated 16 engaged upon the upper end of the casing 10 by
means of the clamp assembly collectively designated 17.
.
This clamp assembly 17 is used if the upper end of
the casing 10 extends above ground level 11. If however the
upper end of the casing is flush with the ground level 11, then
the vise support 16 may be bolted to a pair of angle iron mem-
bers (not illustrated) which in turn are rested across the
. upper end of the casing 10 in order to support the vise support
16.
The vise support 16 includes a fixed jaw collectively
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designated 18 and a movable jaw collectively designated 19
operatively connected to the fixed jaw 18.
In this embodiment, the fixed jaw 18 comprises an
angle iron 20 having a substantially horizontal flange 21
which acts as a well casing upper end engaging flange. A
substantially vertical flange 22 extends upwardly from the
horizontal flange 21 as clearly illustrated in Figure 1 and
this vertical flange acts as a coupling support flange as will
hereinafter be described.
A handle member 23 is secured to one end 24 of the
fixed jaw 18 and a pivot pin 25 is secured to the underside of
the horizontal flange 21 adjacent the opposite end 26 of the
fixed jaw 18. This pivot pin extends downwardly and may be
used to pivotally support the vise support upon the clamp as-
sembly 17 as will hereinafter be described.
The movable jaw 19 also comprises a length of angle
iron having a horizontal flange 21A and a vertical flange 22A.
A manipulating handle 27 is secured to and extends from one
; . end 24A of the movable jaw and a further handle 28 extends
from adjacent the other end 26A of the movable jaw.
A plurality of pins are provided to mount the movable
jaw relative to the fixed jaw.
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Upper pins 29 and 30 are screw threaded at one end
thereof and engage through apertures (not illustrated) adja-
cent each e~d of the vertical flange 22 of the fixed jaw 18
and nuts 31 engage these screw threaded ends as clearly shown.
Adjustment of these nuts upon the screw threaded ends of the
pins 29 and 30 give fine adjustment to the position of the
fixed jaw relative to the movable jaw as will hereinafter be-
come apparent.
A lower pin 32 is also screw threaded at one end
thereof and extends through an aperture (not illustrated) in
the vertical flange 22 of the fixed jaw just below the pin 30
and a further nut 33 screw threadably engages the end of this
pin and may be adjusted in a manner similar to nuts 31 and 33.
The movable jaw is mounted upon pins 29, 30 and 32
for sliding movement towards and away from the fixed jaw 18.
Insofar as the mounting of the movable jaw on the pin 29 is
: concerned, a horizontal sleeve 34 forms part of a mounting
block collectively designated 35 and this sleeve freely engages
over pin 29 so that the jaw attached to the sleeve 35 can be
moved inwardly and outwardly relative to the fixed jaw 18 but
can also be rotated or pivoted in a vertical plane around the
substantially horizontally situated pin 29.
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Also mounted in block 35 are vertically situated
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mounting pins or stub shafts 36 which engage within upper and
lower bearing blocks 37 secured to adjacent the one end 26A
of the movable jaw. These vertical stub shafts 36 permit pivot-
ing of the movable jaw in a plane at right angles to the axis
of pin 29 so that this block assembly 35 acts as a universal
joint within limits.
The front portion of the horizontal flange 21A of
the movable jaw is cut away and vertically situated slots 38
and 39 are formed in the vertical flange portion adjacent the
cutaway portions 38 thus enabling the movable jaw to engage
over pins 30 and 32 when in the position shown in Figure 1.
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However because these slots 38 and 39, the jaw can
be pivoted upwardly in the direction of arrow 40 around the
axis of pin 29.
When in the raised position, the movable jaw can be
pivoted sideways in the direction of arrow 41, pivoting around
the stub shafts 36 thus enabling the movable jaw to be engaged
or disengaged relative to the casing as desired.
A double bearing sleeve component collectively desig-
nated 42 s-lidably engages over the pins 30 and 32 and clip
means collectively designated 43 are provided upon pins 30 and
29 to limit the outer sliding movement of the movable jaw upon
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the pins.
The pins specifically designated 29 and 30 are pro-
vided with a plurality of annular grooves 44 and the clip means
43 consists of a U-shaped retainer 45 which engages over the
shafts or pins 29 and 30 respectively and engages within any-
one of the annular grooves 44 to limit the outward movement as
aforesaid. A swivel ring 46 may form part of these U-shaped
clips to manipulate same.
The clamp assembly 17 includes a V-block collectively
designated 47 engageable upon the outer surface of the casing
10 and adapted to be clamped in position by a clamp assembly
collectively designated 48 which consists of a length of chain
49 which extends around the casing 10 and is anchored by one
end thereof (not illustrated) to the casing and is pivotally
secured by the other end thereof as at 50, to screw threaded
rod 51 which screw threadably engages a lug 52 extending from
the V-block 47. A handle 53 rotates the rod 51 and tightens
or loosens the chain 49 around the casing 10 and to clamp the
V-block 47 in position. A plurality of apertures 54 are formed
20 through the V-block and the aforementioned pivot pin 25 freely
engages these apertures so that the entire vise support 16 may
be swung clear of the casing 10 or may be swung into position
with the horizontal flanges 21 and 2IA engaging the upper end
of the casing 10.
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In operation, it will be noted that the outer
diameter of the coupling 15 is larger than the outside
diameter of the drill rods 14 and 14A. The adjustable jaw
assembly 19 is adjusted relative to the fixed jaw 18 by the
course adjustment provided by clip 43 and annular grooves 44.
Fine adjustment may take place if necessary by means of nuts
31 and 33. The distance between the inner faces of the
vertical flanges 22 and 22A of the jaws are adjusted so that
the pipe 14 passes freely between the jaws but the underside
10 of the coupling 15 engages the upper edges 55 of the vertical
and
flanges 22/22A so that the entire drill string therebelow is
suspended and supported by the vise support whereupon the pipe
length 14A may be detached or attached to the coupling 15 de-
pending upon whether the pipe string is being withdrawn or
15 inserted.
When the pipe length 14A has been attached or de-
tached, the drilling assembly is attached to the coupling 15
in the usual way so that the pipe string can be raised slight-
the
ly whereupon the movable jaw is swung upwardly in/direction of
` 20 arrow 40 around horizontal pin 29 and then swung sideways in
- the direction of arrow 41 around the vertical stub shafts 36
thus clearing the vise support from the drill string. If mount-
ed upon the assembly 17 the entire vise support may then be
swung clear of the casing if desired.
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As mentioned previously, the vise support may be
bolted by the flanges 21 and 21A to lengths of angle iron
(not illustrated) if the casing is flush with the ground and
these lengths of angle iron may be rested upon the upper end
of the casing so that the vise support can act in a similar
- manner as hereinbefore described.
Since various modifications can be made in my in-
vention as hereinabove described, and many apparently widely
different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope
of the claims without departing from such spirit and scope,
it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying
specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and
not in a limiting sense.
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