Patent Grant
9422772
The present application generally relates to drilling devices for drilling holes in the ground. More particularly, the present application relates to a device that may be used to clean out debris, dirt, or clay that collects inside of a drill head during the drilling process. The present application is particularly useful as a clean out device for removing clay, dirt, or debris that collects inside a drill head that may be used for drilling holes in a landfill.
Landfills are used to store the vast majority of municipal solid waste generated in the United States. In fact, there are thousands of such landfills throughout the country. Landfill gas is produced by the chemical reactions and microbes during the decomposition of the waste material. The landfill gas typically contains methane gas, which is a combustible gas. As the landfill gas increases, the pressure and quantity of landfill gas may create a dangerous condition. As a result, holes are drilled into the landfill that are used to monitor the landfill gas or vent the landfill gas where it can be flared or “burned off.” In addition, in recent years efforts have been made to harness the gas produced in the landfill and use the gas as an energy source. Therefore, there are a number of reasons why holes are required to be drilled in a landfill.
The holes are typically drilled using a mobile drill rig, such as a drill rig based on a tractor or truck. A drill head or drill bucket is used to drill and remove the landfill materials as the hole is being formed. The holes may be of various sizes. For example, holes are typically in the range of 24-48 inches in diameter, with a 36 inch diameter hole being fairly common. However, in some applications holes 6 feet or more in diameter may be required. The drill head or drill bucket is typically formed as a hollow cylinder having a plurality of cutting teeth located on a periphery of the bottom of the drill head. The drill head is rotated and the cutting teeth drill into the landfill until the generally open interior of the drill head becomes filled with the debris from the landfill. The drill head is removed from the hole and the debris within the interior of the drill head is emptied from the drill head. The process is repeated until the hole reaches a desired depth.
Drilling holes in a landfill presents a number of problems. Many different types of materials are encountered in the solid waste of a landfill. For example, plastic bags, household waste, tree branches, and rebar may be encountered. This debris may become caught within the interior of the drill head and must be removed before the drilling operation can continue. Furthermore, landfills often contain clay, which may be used as a cover barrier or to absorb leachate in the landfill. Clay poses the additional problem of “sticking” to the interior of the drill head. Thus, removal of the landfill debris and/or clay from the drill head is an important aspect of the drilling operation.
In the past, a variety of different approaches to removing the landfill debris and/or clay from the drill head have been used. For example, drill rig operators have tried to “shake” the debris and/or clay loose by raising and then lowering the drill head with an abrupt stop, or by rotating the drill head back and forth with abrupt reversals. Another approach has been to swing the drill head back and forth to try to loosen the debris and/or clay from the drill head. These approaches may not work, or may only partially work, leaving some debris and/or clay stuck within the drill head. However, even if these approaches do work, they result in undesirable wear and fatigue on the components of the drill rig. For example, the slewing ring between the operator cab and the base of the drill rig may undergo undesirable wear and tear that shortens its lifespan, or the Kelly bar typically attached to the drill head may undergo fatigue and stress that limits its useful lifespan. The cost of replacing or repairing the Kelly bar can be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Recognizing that various manipulations of the drill rig in an attempt to loosen and remove the debris and/or clay within the drill head may not be effective and result in undesirable wear on the drill rig components, other methods of removal have been attempted. For example, a vertical bar welded to a large steel trench plate has been constructed. To clean out the drill head, the drill head is lowered onto the vertical bar so that the vertical bar is positioned within the interior of the drill head, and then the drill head is rotated in an attempt to remove the debris and/or clay from the drill head. The vertical bar contacts the debris and/or clay as the drill head is rotated and may knock loose some of the debris or clay within the drill head. However, the vertical bar can often get “hung up” on the debris and/or clay. When this happens the force of the rotating drill head (created by the over 50,000 foot/pounds of torque that may be provided by the drill rig) is transferred to the vertical bar, and in turn to the large trench plate causing the vertical bar and large trench plate to rotate together with the drill head.
Another approach has been to pound or screw a vertical bar into the landfill. However, when using this technique when the vertical bar gets “hung up” on the debris and/or clay, the force of rotating the drill head may cause the vertical bar to become loose from the ground and wobble as the vertical bar rotates together with the drill head.
Cleaning out the drill head is an important part of the process of drilling holes in a landfill. When a drill rig operator is unable to remove the debris and/or clay from the drill head, no drilling can occur, resulting in costly downtime. Therefore, there is a need to provide a method and/or device that may be used to clean out the drill head that does not require excessive manipulation of the drill rig and that does not include an apparatus that rotates together with the drill head when the clean out tool gets “hung up” in the interior of the drill head.
In one aspect, a drill head clean out apparatus is provided having a clean out tool, a first bar having a first end and a second end, wherein the clean out tool is adapted to be positioned on the first end of the first bar, a coupling member having a first aperture adapted to receive the first bar when the first bar is in a vertical orientation, a second bar having a first end and a second end, wherein the coupling member has a second aperture adapted to receive a first end of the second bar when the second bar is in a horizontal orientation, and wherein the second end of the second bar is adapted to be positioned within an aperture in a base of a drill rig.
In a further aspect, a drill head clean out apparatus is provided having a drill rig having a base, with an aperture in the base, a first bar having a first end and a second end, a clean out tool positioned on the first end of the first bar, a coupling member retaining the first bar, wherein the first bar extends upwardly from the coupling member, a second bar having a first end and a second end, wherein the coupling member retains the first end of the second bar; and wherein the second end of the second bar is positioned within the aperture in the base of the drill rig.
In a further aspect, a method of cleaning out a drill head is provided having the steps of providing a drill rig having a base, with an aperture in the base, a first bar having a first end and a second end, a clean out tool positioned on the first end of the first bar, a coupling member retaining the first bar, wherein the first bar extends upwardly from the coupling member, a second bar having a first end and a second end, wherein the coupling member retains the first end of the second bar, wherein the second end of the second bar is positioned within the aperture in the base of the drill rig; positioning a drill head such that the clean out tool is positioned within an interior of the drill head; rotating the drill head to clean out debris or clay within the interior of the drill head; and preventing rotation of the drill clean out apparatus while the drill head is rotating by the positioning the second end of the second bar within the aperture in the base of the drill rig.
In addition, the embodiments also disclose means for preventing rotation of the drill head clean out apparatus when the clean out tool is positioned within the interior of the drill head and the drill head is being rotated.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described herein with reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like reference numerals, and wherein:
The present embodiments are directed to a drill head clean out apparatus that operates in conjunction with a drill rig. As noted above, mobile drill rigs are often used to drill holes in a landfill. The weight of the drill rig may be well over 50,000 pounds, and commonly used drill rigs may be 90,000 pounds or more. The disclosed drill head clean out apparatus embodiments advantageously use the weight of the drill rig to prevent the drill head clean out apparatus from rotating together with the drill head when the clean out tool gets “hung up” within the interior of the drill head.
As used herein the term “drill rig” is to be construed broadly to include mobile drill rigs, such as a drill rig where the drilling apparatus is supported on a truck or tractor, or a trailer, as well as stationary drill rigs that are capable of being moved from one location to another. The drill rigs are provided with a base, which may be the vehicle frame on a truck or trailer, or the frame about which the track rotates in the case of a tractor. The base of the drill rig supports (indirectly) the drill head that is used for drilling a hole. The base of the drill rig is provided with an aperture that in a preferred embodiment extends into an undercarriage of the drill rig.
The drill head clean out apparatus includes a first bar that extends in a vertical orientation and has a clean out tool positioned on an upper end of the first bar. The first bar extends into a coupling member which is used to retain the first bar, and preferably includes an aperture that encloses a portion of the first bar. The first end of a second bar is secured to the coupling member and extends in a horizontal orientation where the second end of the second bar is positioned within the aperture in the base of the drill rig. As used herein the term “vertical orientation” does not require the first bar to be absolutely vertical, only that it extends in a direction that is more vertical than horizontal. Similarly, the term “horizontal orientation” does not require the second bar to be absolutely horizontal, only that it extends in a direction that is more horizontal than vertical.
In order to clean out the drill head, the drill head is positioned over the clean out tool and then lowered so that the clean out tool is positioned within an interior of the drill head. The drill head is then rotated. As the drill head rotates the clean out tool removes debris and/or clay from within the interior of the drill head. The clean out tool is prevented from rotating together with the drill head because the second end of the second bar is positioned within the aperture in the base of the drill rig. In order for clean out tool to rotate together with the drill head (as happens in prior designs when the clean out tool gets “hung up” within the drill head), the base of the drill rig would have to be rotated as well, given that the clean out tool is indirectly attached to the base of the drill rig. It will be appreciated that given the various connections between the components of the drill head clean out apparatus, the term “preventing rotation” or “to prevent rotation” does not require that there is no rotation of any portion of the drill clean out apparatus, rather it means that the drill head clean out apparatus is prevented from rotating more than 90 degrees.
Example embodiments are shown in
Drill head clean out apparatus 10 is shown positioned adjacent base 150 with bar 14 extending horizontally from base 150 and secured to coupling member 18. Clean out tool 30 is positioned on top of bar 20 that extends upwardly from coupling member 18. A base 22 is provided on the bottom of bar 20 that may be positioned on ground 40, although a base is not required.
A hollow member 155 is shown extending from base 150 of drill rig 100. The second end of bar 14 is designed to extend into the aperture within hollow member 155. A rolling member 156 may be positioned at the lower entrance to the aperture of hollow member 155 to facilitate movement of bar 14 into and out of the hollow member 155. Another rolling member may be positioned above the entrance on the opposite side of hollow member 155 that also facilitates the movement of bar 14 into and out of hollow member 155. The hollow member 155 may be comprised of a square tube adapted to receive bar 14. The hollow tube 155 may extend all the way through base 150 and hollow member 155 into the undercarriage of drill rig 100.
In a preferred embodiment, bar 14 is comprised of Kelly bar that has a square cross section. The Kelly bar may be a solid steel bar comprised of 4140 heat treated and tempered steel. In a preferred embodiment, the bar 14 may have a 3½×3½ inch cross section. Bar 20 also may have the same construction as bar 14 and be made from Kelly bar having a 3½×3½ inch cross section. This size Kelly bar has proven to provide sufficient strength to be suitable for use as bars 14 and 20 in drill head clean out apparatus 10. However, different size bar stock may be used for bars 14 and 20 having different size and shape cross sections as desired. For example, bars having rectangular, hexagonal or even round cross section could be used for bars 14 and 20, although a square cross section is preferred. In additions, bars 14 and 20 could also be hollow. In addition, bars 14 and 20 are not required to be a continuous member, and may be formed of a number of different components. For example, bars 14 and 20 could take the form of a truss having various members welded or connected together to form bars 14 and 20. Hollow member 155 may be made of five inch square tube having ¾ inch thick walls that is available from Timken.
It will be appreciated that the aperture in base 150 into which bar 14 extends is not required to extend all the way through the base 150. However, in a preferred embodiment the aperture extends all the way through base 150 so that the second end of bar 14 may be moved into the undercarriage of drill rig 100 as shown in
It will be appreciated that bar 20 extends all the way through aperture 18b in
Moreover, although apertures 18a and 18b are shown being enclosed by material of coupling member 18 on all sides, that is not required. For example, an aperture may be only partially enclosed. In this regard, the aperture in base 150 into which second bar 14 extends could be formed as an extension attached to the base 150. For example a plate with having walls could be attached to the plate (perhaps by welding) and the second bar 14 could extend between the walls on the extension, in which case the walls on the extension would be considered an “aperture.” The walls could be hinged to the plate or base 150 so that the second bar 14 could be rotated from a first, operational position perpendicular to the base 150 to a second, stowed position where the second bar 14 is parallel to the base 150. In this manner, the drill head clean out apparatus 10 could be moved to the second, stowed position during movement of drill rig from one hole site to the next.
Similarly, it will be appreciated that bar 14 does not extend all the way through aperture 18b as shown in
Accordingly, the term “aperture” as used herein does not require a hole that extends all the way through the coupling member 18 or the base 150, and an aperture may or may not extend all the way through a given member. Furthermore, given that bar 14 and bar 20 may be positioned within or extend through apertures 18a and 18b respectively, an end of a bar may be “received” within an aperture if it is positioned within the aperture or has been extended through the aperture.
In
In addition, it is also possible that bar 14 is permanently secured to coupling member 18. For example bar 14 could be welded to coupling member 18. As used herein, the term “secured to” includes components that are removably or permanently secured to each other. Similarly, first bar 20 is shown removably retained within aperture 18b of coupling member 18 in
In
In
A method of cleaning out a drill head using the drill head clean out apparatus 10 shown in
The method 1100 shown in
Method 1100 may further include the step 1104 of positioning the drill head such that the clean out tool is positioned within the interior of the drill head, as well as the step 1106 of rotating the drill head to clean out debris or clay within the interior of the drill head, and the step 1108 of preventing rotation of the drill clean out apparatus while the drill head is rotating by positioning the second bar within the aperture in the base of the drill rig.
The method 1100 may further include the step of placing a pin into a hole in the second bar to prevent the second end of the second bar from exiting the undercarriage of the drill rig.
It will be appreciated that the above disclosed embodiments are useful for drilling holes in a landfill. However, the use of drill head clean out apparatus 10 is not limited to drilling holes in a landfill, and may be used anywhere where a hole is drilled and there is a need to clean out the drill head.
Example embodiments have been described above. Those skilled in the art will understand that changes and modifications may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the true scope and spirit of the present invention, which is defined by the claims.
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| Entry |
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| Pre-Sep. 2013 vertical shaft welded to trench plate, 1 page. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20150068807 A1 | Mar 2015 | US |
