US3832918A - Breakout wrench - Google Patents

Abstract

A breakout wrench for drilling apparatus includes a pivotably mounted slide arm upon which a carriage is slidably mounted and a set of wrench jaws which are attached to a wrench arm swingably disposed upon the carriage for engaging and loosening a drill string section of the drilling apparatus. A hydraulic cylinder associated with and disposed beneath the slide arm is attached to the carriage to provide movement of the carriage along the slide arm and impart a wrenching movement to a drill string section through the accompanying wrench arm. A stop pin is provided to secure the slide arm in a stored position during normal drilling operations.

Description

. United States Patent 1191 Lang et a1. Sept. 3, 1974 BREAKOUT WRENCH 3,288,000 11/1966 Foster 81/57.34 [75] Inventors: David Lang, south Milwaukee; 3,500,708 3 1970 Wilson 111 5733 Jack D. Nelmark, New Berlin; Matthew Smith, Milwaukee, all of Wis.

Primary Examiner-James L, Jones, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Quarles & Brady [5 7 ABSTRACT A breakout wrench for drilling apparatus includes a pivotably mounted slide arm upon which a carriage is slidably mounted and a set of wrench jaws which are attached to a wrench arm swingably disposed upon the carriage for engaging and loosening a drill string section of the drilling apparatus. A hydraulic cylinder as sociated with and disposed beneath the slide arm is attached to the carriage to provide movement of the carriage along the slide arm and impart a wrenching movement to a drill string section through the accompanying wrench arm. A stop pin is provided to secure the slide arm in a stored position during normal drilling operations.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP 14 3.832.918sum 20! 3 PATENTED 3974 I SHEET 3 0F 3 BREAKOUT WRENCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to rotary drilling apparatus and more particularly to a breakout wrench used to loosen and disconnect sections of a drill string. The preferred embodiment is especially useful in the disjointing of pipe sections in a rotary blast hole drill, but the invention is not limited exclusively to this application and may be utilized whereever it is desirable to withdraw pipe sections in drilling apparatus.

In typical blast hole drilling operations, it is customary procedure to drive a drill string formed by several joined sections of drill pipe, each having a typical length of 60 feet, into the earth forming a deep, elongated hole within which a blast or dynamite charge may be inserted subsequent to withdrawal of the drilling apparatus. During such withdrawal, it is necessary to employ a breakout wrench for uncoupling individual pipe sections of the drill string from themselves and from the rotary head mechanism. The disconnecting of the threaded pipe joints in the string is actually effected by gripping tongs or jaws which engage and rotate an upper pipe section while the next lower section is held against rotation by an associated tool wrench or backup tong. Since the drill pipe sections are extremely heavy and cumbersome, it is desirable to provide a breakout wrench which will safely and quickly facilitate a loosening of the joints and require a minimum of manual handling.

Conventional breakout wrenches are known to those in the art as Byron Jackson casing tongs comprising a large size wrenching mechanism which must be lifted into place about a pipe section by means of a suspension cable and fixedly pinned by hand at one end. Such a casing tong further includes jaws atthe other end which are manually disposed and locked about the periphery of the drill pipe, the jaws being actuated to rotatably breakout a pipe joint by retracting a hydraulic cylinder connected to the wrenching mechanism. Utilization of these wrenching appliances provides an eccentric rotation about the drill pipe due to its fixed end construction and necessitates a great deal of skillful manipulation in order toeffectively break a pipe joint.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a breakout wrench for drilling apparatus having a pivotably mounted slide arm, a carriage slidably mounted upon the'slide arm, a

hydraulic actuator connected intermediate the carriage and slide arm, a wrench arm pivotably affixed to the carriage and a set of wrench jaws joined to the outer end of the wrench arm. The slide arm swings in a horizontal plane towards and away from a drill string and the hydraulic actuator causes the carriage to move axially back and forth along the slide arm whereupon the accompanying wrench arm and wrench jaws are pivotable to positively engage and rotate a length of drill pipe.

It is a general objective of the invention to provide a breakout wrench which will loosen pipe joints between successive sections of drill pipe and between the rotary head mechanism and a drill pipe section quickly and effectively with a minimum of manual effort. This is accomplished by employing a construction which furnishes threefold movement of the components to insure that a centralized rotation of the drill pipe is attained. A single hydraulic cylinder allows for an efficient positioning of the wrench jaws about the pipe when in a relaxed position and serves to impart a positive uncoupling of the drill pipe during extension. This feature especially provides for a substantial reduction in cost and weight of the entire device and ofiers a breakout arrangement not only fimctionally preferable but economically attractive.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a breakout wrench which eliminates the need for manually connecting a cable to the wrench unit and subsequently pinning a hydraulic cylinder to the wrench. By pivotably mounting the slide arm to the drilling apparatus and disposing a hydraulic cylinder beneath the slide arm for pivotal movement with it, the only manual task entailed is for a single man to lock the wrench jaws about the pipe. As a result, not only is the amount of manual labor significantly decreased but also the margin of safety in handling is tremendously improved.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown by way of illustration and not of limitation a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Such embodiment does not represent the full scope of the invention, but rather the invention may be employed in many different embodiments, and reference is made to the claims herein for interpreting the breadth of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of a rotary blast hole drill incorporating the breakout wrench of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the breakout wrench, as mounted in FIG. 1, showing the hydraulic actuating cylinder in retracted position and illustrating the manner in which the wrench jaws engage a drill pipe section;

FIG. 3 is a topview of the breakout wrench, similar to FIG. 2, showing the slide arm swung away from the mast upright and the hydraulic actuating cylinder in a fully extended position;

FIG. 4 is a side view in elevation of the breakout wrench of FIG. 2 taken on the plane 4-4;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view in cross section of the slide arm, wrench arm and carriage of FIG. 4 taken on theplane 5--5; and

FIG. 6 is a viewin cross section of the breakout wrench of FIG. 4 taken on plane 6- 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, a rotary blast hole drill, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, includes atiltable mast 2 pivotably movable between a horizontal transporting position and a series of variable, raised drilling positions, one of which is vertical as illustrated. A number ofdrill pipe sections 3 are joined together by threaded pipe joints 4 and the drill string thus formed is driven downwardly into the earth by means of a rotaryhead driving mechanism 5 which runs longitudinally along themast 2. Since a blast hole drill of the character above outlined is well known and does not per se comprise substance of the present invention further description thereof is unnecessary. While the invention is suitable for such drills, however, it should be understood that it is applicable to any oil, gas or water drilling rig as well as any other equipment which necessitates uncoupling of drill pipe sections.

As shown best in FIGS. 2-4, the improved breakout wrench, generally designated by thereference numeral 6, has aslide arm 7 mounted at its inner end on apivot hinge 8 for swinging movement towards and away from thedrill pipe 3. Thehinge 8 is preferably secured to a supportingframe 9, but may be located at any desirable point upon the drilling apparatus 1. Theslide arm 7 comprises an elongate, cantileveredbox beam 10 having a flat guide rail 1 l welded, or otherwise affixed, to the underside of the outer portion of thebeam 10. Thebox beam 10 is also formed at its inner end with a vertical,keyshaped opening 12. Atubular sleeve 13 and a downwardlyprojecting reaction plate 14 are inserted through theopening 12, and thesleeve 13,plate 14 andbeam 10 are welded together to form a unitary whole. Thesleeve 13 forms a mounting post for theslide arm 7 that is disposed between and vertically aligned withapertures 15 of two parallel, spaced apart and horizontally disposedsupport plates 16 of thepivot hinge 8. A drop pin 17, that is a part of thehinge 8, is inserted through theapertures 15 and thesleeve 13, with its lower end resting upon the topside of atransverse crossbeam 18 to serve as the axis about which theslide arm 7 pivots.

A carriage I9 is slidably mounted upon and hangs beneath the guide rail 11. Thiscarriage 19 has aflat base plate 20 on which a pair of spaced,parallel slides 21 are mounted that extend upwardly and turn over the side margins of the guide rail 11. Theslides 21 thus define a trackway within which the guide rail 11 fits to form the slide mounting for thecarriage 19. As viewed in FIG. 5, theleft hand slide 21 includes ashallow levelling strip 22 which functions to cant thebase plate 20 at a slight angle, for a purpose to be hereinafter described. v

Disposed immediately beneath and fixed to thebase plate 20 is aspindle 23 that is an integral part of the carriage .19. Thespindle 23 includes abearing collar 24, and resting upon thecollar 24 is asocket end 25 of awrench arm 26. The-socket end 25 is annular, surrounds thespindle 23, and is held captive by thecarriage 19 to provide a pivoted mounting for thewrench arm 26. Anelongate shank portion 27 of thewrench arm 26 extends horizontally in cantilever fashion from thesocket end 25 and terminates in a curvedouter end portion 28. Pivotably attached to theouter end portion 28 is a set ofwrench jaws 29 similar, or like, those of a Byron Jackson casing tong. Thewrench arm 26 is positioned in a substantially horizontal plane, and to facilitate this orientation thelevelling strip 22 is provided which cants thecarriage 19 to counteract for the looseness of the assembled parts and'the mass of thewrench arm 26, which combine to slightly depress thewrench arm 26 from the axis of thespindle 23.

Turning now to FIGS. 4 and 6, a double-actinghydraulic cylinder 30 is located beneath thebox beam 10 of theslide arm 7 for pivotal movement therewith. Thecasing end 31 of thecylinder 30 is pinned to the lower end of thereaction plate 14, and therod end 32 is pinned to the underside of thecarriage spindle 23. As a result of these connections, actuation of thehydraulic cylinder 30 causes thecarriage 19 to move back and forth along the longitudinal axis of theslide arm 7.

In order to prevent thebreakout wrench 6 from interfering with a drill string during normal drilling operations, means are provided to secure theslide arm 7 adjacent an upright of themast 2. Specifically, with reference to FIGS. 2, 4 and 6, ahorizontal bar 33 is secured to the mast upright and projects toward the mast center in parallel relationship with themast crossbeam 18. When theslide arm 7 is pivoted clockwise, as viewed from above in FIG. 2, thebar 33 is beneath theslide arm 7 and above thehydraulic cylinder 30. Thebar 33, then serves as a rest for theslide arm 7 and its end extends beyond the bottom of thebeam 10, to present avertical bore 34. Aremovable stop pin 35 with ahead 36 is inserted in thebore 34, and thehead 36 acts as a stop holding theslide arm 7 from swinging toward the drill string. Thewrench arm 26 may be swung outward to the outboard side of themast 2, where it will not obstruct rotary drilling operations.

To operate thebreakout wrench 6, thewrench arm 26 is swung into the position shown in FIG. 2, and thewrench jaws 29 are locked about the periphery of thedrill pipe section 3 above one of the pipe joints 4. The next successive lowerdrill pipe section 3 is held against rotation by a conventional holding wrench (not shown). Referring to FIG. 3, thestop pin 35 is removed to allow theslide arm 7 to swing freely, and thehydraulic cylinder 30 is extended. Such extension of thecylinder 30 causes thecarriage 19 to move outwardly along theslide arm 7 to apply a turning force to thewrench arm 26 in a wrenching movement around the upperdrill pipe section 3. The threaded pipe joint 4 is thus broken, or uncoupled, efficiently and safely and usual drill pipe handling apparatus may be employed to remove the drill pipe section from the drill string.

The pivotal connection of theslide arm 7 and the sliding attachment ofthewrench arm 26 eliminates the need for using a cable for positioning a breakout wrench. The combination of elements also greatly reduces the amount of manual handling incurred in the setup and operation of a breakout mechanism. Accordingly, the possibility of serious injury is lessened and safety in disjointing drill string sections is improved. In addition, the movable carriage l9 andpivotable wrench arm 26 andjaws 29 coact to transmit a positive, centralized wrenching movement for loosening the joints of a drill string.

We claim:

I. In a breakout wrench for grasping and turning sections of a drill string of a drilling apparatus, the combination comprising:

a slide arm pivotally mounted at one end on the drilling apparatus which swings in a plane substantially normal to a drill string of the drilling apparatus;

a carriage slidably mounted upon said slide arm for movement back and forth along said slide arm;

a hydraulic cylinder associated with said slide arm for pivotal movement therewith, and having one end connected to said carriage for moving said carriage along said slide arm;

an elongate wrench arm pivoted to and extending from said carriage for a swinging movement relative to said slide arm in a plane substantially paralleling the plane of movement of said slide arm; and

a set of wrench jaws attached to the outer end of said wrench arm adapted to close upon a section of a drill string to apply a wrenching movement thereto.

2. A breakout wrench as in claim 1, wherein said slide arm comprises an elongate cantilevered beam with a guide rail affixed to the underside of the outer portion of said beam, and said carriage hangs from and slides along said guide rail.

3. A breakout wrench as inclaim 2, wherein said carriage has a base plate underlying said guide rail and a pair of spaced, parallel slides affixed to said base plate that extend upward and turn over said guide rail to hang from and slide along said rail.

4. A breakout wrench as inclaim 3, wherein said base plate of said carriage has a depending spindle portion about which said wrench arm rotates, and the connecthat extends beneath said slide arm, and with said hydraulic cylinder disposed beneath said slide arm with one end connected to said reaction plate.

6. In a breakout wrench for grasping and turning sections of a drill string of a drilling apparatus having a mast framework, the combination comprising:

an elongated slide arm pivotably affixed at one end to the drilling apparatus and swingable towards and away from a drill string in a plane substantially normal to the drill string;

a substantially upright pivot hinge securing the one end of said slide arm to the drilling apparatus;

a carriage having a trackway slidably engageable with said slide arm for longitudinal movement therealong and a spindle portion disposed beneath said trackway;

a hydraulic cylinder associated with said slide for pivotal movement therewith and having one end connected to said carriage for moving said carriage along said slide arm and another end attached to said pivot hinge;

an elongate wrench arm disposed on and pivoted about said spindle portion for a swinging movement relative to said slide arm in a plane substantially paralleling the plane of movement of said slide arm; and

a set of wrench jaws pivotably attached to the outer end of said wrench arm and adapted to grippingly engage and rotate a section of a drill string.

7. A breakout wrench as recited inclaim 6, wherein said wrench arm includes a curved outer end portion to which said wrench jaws are attached, an elongated shank portion extending horizontally from said curved outer end portion and a socket end connecting said shank portion with said spindle portion for rotation thereabout.

Claims (7)

1. In a breakout wrench for grasping and turning sections of a drill string of a drilling apparatus, the combination comprising: a slide arm pivotally mounted at one end on the drilling apparatus which swings in a plane substantially normal to a drill string of the drilling apparatus; a carriage slidably mounted upon said slide arm for movement back and forth along said slide arm; a hydraulic cylinder associated with said slide arm for pivotal movement therewith, and having one end connected to said carriage for moving said carriage along said slide arm; an elongate wrench arm pivoted to and extending from said carriage for a swinging movement relative to said slide arm in a plane substantially paralleling the plane of movement of said slide arm; and a set of wrench jaws attached to the outer end of said wrench arm adapted to close upon a section of a drill string to apply a wrenching movement thereto.

2. A breakout wrench as in claim 1, wherein said slide arm comprises an elongate cantilevered beam with a guide rail affixed to the underside of the outer portion of said beam, and said carriage hangs from and slides along said guide rail.

3. A breakout wrench as in claim 2, wherein said carriage has a base plate underlying said guide rail and a pair of spaced, parallel slides affixed to said base plate that extend upward and turn over said guide rail to hang from and slide along said rail.

4. A breakout wrench as in claim 3, wherein said base plate of said carriage has a depending spindle portion about which said wrench arm rOtates, and the connection of said slide arm with said hydraulic cylinder is with such spindle portion.

5. A breakout wrench as recited in claim 1 having a pivot hinge on the drilling apparatus which includes a substantially upright rotatable member, said slide arm being secured to said rotatable member, and there being a reaction plate secured to said rotatable member that extends beneath said slide arm, and with said hydraulic cylinder disposed beneath said slide arm with one end connected to said reaction plate.

6. In a breakout wrench for grasping and turning sections of a drill string of a drilling apparatus having a mast framework, the combination comprising: an elongated slide arm pivotably affixed at one end to the drilling apparatus and swingable towards and away from a drill string in a plane substantially normal to the drill string; a substantially upright pivot hinge securing the one end of said slide arm to the drilling apparatus; a carriage having a trackway slidably engageable with said slide arm for longitudinal movement therealong and a spindle portion disposed beneath said trackway; a hydraulic cylinder associated with said slide for pivotal movement therewith and having one end connected to said carriage for moving said carriage along said slide arm and another end attached to said pivot hinge; an elongate wrench arm disposed on and pivoted about said spindle portion for a swinging movement relative to said slide arm in a plane substantially paralleling the plane of movement of said slide arm; and a set of wrench jaws pivotably attached to the outer end of said wrench arm and adapted to grippingly engage and rotate a section of a drill string.

7. A breakout wrench as recited in claim 6, wherein said wrench arm includes a curved outer end portion to which said wrench jaws are attached, an elongated shank portion extending horizontally from said curved outer end portion and a socket end connecting said shank portion with said spindle portion for rotation thereabout.

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