US782043A - Pipe-wrench. - Google Patents

Description

G. H. MOCREADY.

PIPE WRENCH.

APPLIOATION FILED 110v. 9, 190a.

PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905.

2 SHEETSBHBET 1.

UNITED STATES Patented February '7, 1905.

CHARLES H. h'loCREADY, OF YOKOHAMA, JAPAN.

PlPE-WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 782,043, dated February 7, 1905.

Application filed November 9,1903. Serial No. 180,289.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. MGCREADY, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Yokohama, Japan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piperenches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to pipewrenches or wrenches designed to grasp a cylindrical object, and more specifically consists of an improved form of wrench to be made in large sizes to grasp and revolve the long vertical tubes used in boring wells sunk in the earth to reach oil-bearing or other strata.

in certain kinds of ground such wells can be most advantageously sunk by means of a metal tube having its lower end serrated to form teeth and giving a continuous rotation to such tube while held in a vertical position. My invention is designed to effect this rotation most conveniently and at the same time not interfere with the downward feeding of the tube.

The preferred form of apparatus embodying my invention is illustrated in the accompanying two sheets of drawings, in which Figure l is a plan view of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section on line 2 2 of Fig.1. Fig. 3 is a detail edge view of thathalf of the cam-plate to which a handle is attached for setting the jaws of the wrench into action. Fig. e is a plan view of the same. Fig. is a plan view of the bottom ring of the main frame. Fig. 6 is an edge view of the same, and Fig. 7 is a detail view of one of the radiall y-sliding jaws with gripping-roller mounted therein.

Throughout the drawings like referenceligures indicate like parts.

1 indicates the tube with which the boring is to be done or the pipe which is to be rotated. l have also shown in broken lines tubes of smaller diameter 1 and 1 to which the wrench may be adjusted.

The main frame of the wrench is preferably made circular in form and comprises the bottom ringZ, formed in halves 2 2, (see Fig. 5,)

! the top ring 3, also formed in halves 3 3", and a series of connecting-bolts 1 l, &c. Between these rings are located the radially-sliding jaws 5 5, which are guided between the bolts -1L 4.. Any desired form of antifriction apparatus may be used to reduce the friction at these points. In the inner ends of the sliding jaws are journaled or otherwise mounted rollers 6 6, &c., as by means of the journals 6 6, &c'. These rollers are preferably made with concentric corrugations or have their surfaces otherwise roughened, so as to most effectively bite the surface of the pipe or tube. These rollers are preferably made with curved operating-surfaces,as shown, the curvature of the surface being of a radius equal to the average radius of the pipe or tube to be operated on. The said rollers are preferably journaled on axes at right angles to the axis of the pipe which is to be grasped.

The sliding jaws 5 5 are preferably provided with aseries of pins 7 7 7 &c., which are adapted to engage the eccentric cam-ribs 9 9 on the cam-plate 8, which cam-plate is located between the rims .2 and 3 and guided between the bolts 1. This cam-plate 8 is also preferably made in halves S 8" and provided with abutting lugs 18 18 at the meeting edges of said half-sections, so as to prevent one part sliding by the other through any slight disarrangement. The half 8 of the cam-plate is provided with a handle 10, on which is mounted a locking-pawl 11, adapted to cooperate with the ratchet-teeth 12 on the top ring 3 of the main frame. This locking-pawlis controlled by the latch13 in the well-known way, which is clearly shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4.

The upper ring3 of the main frame is provided with perforated lugs 1i 1% at the abutting ends of its half-sections, and the bolts 15 15 on passing through said perforated lugs lock the two halves together. In a similar way the half 2 on the bottom ring 2 is provided with latch-plates 16 16, having perforations which hook over projections 17 17 on the other half 2" of said bottom ring.

On the under side of the bottom ring 2 is a circular rib-plate 19, attached thereto in any convenient manner so that rotation of the circular rib 19 will cause a rotation of the wrench. This circular rib has formed on its under side or attached thereto a toothed rack 19", with which a pinion 20 on the shaft 21 engages, as shown in Fig. 2.

The whole apparatus rests on any convenient supporting-frame,such as the beams 23 23, (see Figs. 1 and 2,) on the upper surface of which are journaled a series of antifrictionwheels 22 22, which are journaled in hearings on the supporting-frame and inclined at an angle to the plane of the horizon, so as to engage the rib 19 on opposite sides and support and guide the same during its rotation, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The mode of operation of my invention is as follows: The parts being assembled as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the corrugated rollers 6 6 are forced into engagement with the pipe or tube 1 by seizing thehandle 10 of the cam-plate and forcing the same in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 1. This causes the eccentric cam-ribs 9 9, engaging the pins 7 7 to force the radially-sliding jaws inward and the locking-pawl 11,dropping in between the ratchet-teeth, locks the parts in the final position of adjustment. Rotation of the shaft 21 by means of any suitable power device (not shown) then causes the entire wrench to rotate, and the latter carries around with it the pipe or tube 1. As the pipe sinkslower and lower into the well, which is bored out by its action, the gripping-rollers 6 6 rotate freely in their journals 6 and permit the downward motion of the tube, so that the entire weight thereof is operative in forcing it downward. When it is desired to release the pipe from the wrench, the pawl 11 is tripped by means of the latch 13 and the handle 10 moved in the direction opposite to that of the arrow shown in Fig. 1, thereby withdrawing the jaws from engagement. When the wrench is to be taken apart, the bolts 15 15 are withdrawn and the half 2* of the bottom ring liftedup suflicientl y to disengage the latch-plates 16 16 from the projections 17 17 on the other half, 2 This completes the disconnection of the two halves of the frame, and the cam-plate 8 being separable, as above described, the wrench can be taken away from the pipe in two parts. When the limit of adjustment by means of the camribs 9 9 is exceeded, the top ring 3 may be lifted up by loosening the bolts 1 4: and the jaws 5 5 slid in or out so as to bring another pair of pins, as 7* and 7, into engagement with said cam-ribs, and the parts fastened together again in a new position. In this manner pipes or tubes of smaller diameter can be operated on.

The advantages of my invention comprise the firmness of the gripping action of the wrench on the pipe, so far as circular motion is concerned, without interference with perfect freedom of endwise motion of the pipe, the facility with which the various adjustments may be made, the ease with which the entire wrench may be divided into two parts, and thereby removed without lifting heavy apparatus over the end of the pipe, the absence of friction resulting from the use of the inclined guiding and supporting wheels 22 22, which take up all horizontal thrusts as well as the downward thrusts of the wrench, and the compactness and simplicity of structure resulting from the arrangement of parts shown.

It is evident, of course, that various changes can be made in the details of construction illustrated in the drawings without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, so long as the essential feature of the grippingrollers is preserved. Other means of producing the setting-up action of the jaws might be substituted, and other devices for hooking and unhooking the parts of the wrench-frame might be employed. These and similar variations in detail I should consider mere matters of mechanical skill, and the resulting structures would be still within the boundaries of my invention.

Having therefore described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a pipe-wrench, the combination of a frame comprising upper and lower rings with bolts connecting the same, radially movable jaws guided between said rings and said bolts, a cam-plate also located between said rings and guided between said bolts, and projections on said jaws engaging said cam-plate.

2. In a pipe-wrench, the combination of the circular frame, the radially movable jaws mounted therein, the circular cam-plate provided with eccentric cam-ribs, and a series of pins mounted in each jaw and adapted to engage said ribs.

3. In a pipe-wrench, the combination of the circular frame, the radially movable jaws mounted therein, the circular cam-plate provided with eccentric cam-ribs, and a series of pins mounted in each jaw and adapted to engage said cam-ribs, together with a circular rack fastened to the under side of said frame, and a pinion meshing therewith.

4:. In a pipe-wrench, the combination of a frame comprising upper and lower rings with bolts connecting the same, each of said rings divided diametrically and the halves thus formed being provided with engaging mechanism, radially-movable jaws guided between said bolts, a circular cam-plate also made in two parts with abutting ends, and also guided between said bolts, and intermeshing projecguide-rib, and means for rotating said frame tions on said jaws and cam-plate. and jaws on said guide-wheels. I 5. The combination of the horizontal circu- Signed at Yokohama, Japan, this 6th day lar frame, radially-movable jaws mounted of October, 1903.

thereon, said frame having a circular rib on its CHARLES H. MOOREADY.

under side, a series of supporting and guiding WVitnesses:

wheels inclined at an angle to plane of the GENJI KURIBARA,

horizon and engaging opposite sides of the K. TOYODA.

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