Claims
- 1. An in-hole motor adapted for connection with a rotatable pipe string and a bit, said assembly comprising: a motor stator including a housing structure adapted to be installed in a pipe string; a rotor in said stator; a shaft connected at one end of said rotor for rotation therewith and extending at its other end from said housing to drive a drill bit; thrust bearings between said shaft and said housing, a clutch engageable between said shaft and said housing to couple said housing and shaft for mutual rotation upon movement of said housing, relative to said shaft, in the direction of said one end of said shaft, for a predetermined distance; said thrust bearings including a bearing to transfer thrust from said housing to said shaft, said last named bearing having a race on said shaft, a coupling between said shaft and said rotor, and an abutment between said race and said shaft, said abutment normally preventing engagement of said clutch said abutment mounted between said housing and said shaft and spaced from said race for a distance less than said predetermined distance and said abutment releasable when the thrust load is increased to move said housing relative to said shaft for said predetermined distance to permit engagement of said clutch.
- 2. An in-hole motor as defined in claim 1, including a spring acting between said shaft and said housing resisting said relative longitudinal movement and permitting such movement upon release of said connection.
- 3. An in-hole motor as defined in claim 1; including a spring acting between said shaft and said housing resisting said relative longitudinal movement and permitting such movement upon release of said connection, said spring being in said clutch.
- 4. An in-hole motor as defined in claim 1; including a spring acting between said shaft and said housing resisting said relative longitudinal movement and permitting such movement upon release of said connection, said last-mentioned thrust bearing including said spring.
- 5. An in-hole motor as defined in claim 1; including a spring in said clutch and a spring in said last-mentioned bearing resisting engagement of said clutch.
- 6. An in-hole motor as defined in claim 1; including a spring in said clutch and a spring in said last-mentioned bearing resisting engagement of said clutch, said springs being in parallel relation.
- 7. An in-hole motor as defined in claim 1 including a spring in said clutch and a spring in said last mentioned bearing resisting engagement of said clutch, said springs being in parallel relation, said spring in said clutch providing a gap enabling deflection of said spring in said last-mentioned bearing before deflection of said spring in said clutch.
- 8. An in-hole motor as defined in claim 1; said clutch including a driven member connected to said shaft, a drive member connected to said housing, said driven and drive members having surfaces extending transversely of the assembly and engageable upon engagement of said clutch to transmit thrust from said housing to said shaft in the direction of said one end of said shaft.
- 9. An in-hole motor as defined in claim 1; said shaft having a fluid passage therethrough; said releasable abutment being a frangible section between said shaft and said last-mentioned bearing.
- 10. An in-hole motor as defined in claim 1, said shaft having a fluid passage therethrough, said coupling being ported, said releasable abutment being a shearable member between said race and said coupling.
- 11. An in-hole motor comprising a housing connectable to a drilling string, a stator in said housing, a rotor in said stator, a shaft connected at one end to said rotor and connectable to a drill at the other end, bearings between said shaft and said housing and frangeable thrust transmitting connection between said housing and said shaft, said shaft and housing being displaceable relative to each other, on application of a thrust in a direction towards an end of said shaft, a clutch between said shaft and said housing for mutual rotation of said shaft and said housing, said frangeable thrust transmitting connection acting to keep, said clutch disengaged on application of limited thrusts and said frangeable connection breaking on application of a thrust greater than said limited thrusts whereby said housing and shaft are displaced sufficient to engage said clutch.
- 12. An in-hole motor comprising a housing connectable to a drilling string, a stator in said housing, a rotor in said stator, a shaft connected at one end to said rotor and connectable to a drill at the other end, bearings between said shaft and said housing and frangeable thrust transmitting connection between said housing and said shaft, said shaft and housing being displaceable relative to each other, on application of a thrust in a direction towards an end of said shaft, a clutch between said shaft and said housing for mutual rotation of said shaft and said housing, said frangeable thrust transmitting connection acting to keep, said clutch disengaged on application of limited thrusts and said frangeable connection breaking on application of a thrust greater than said limited thrusts whereby said housing and shaft are displaced sufficient to engage said clutch, in which said frangeable connection is a shearable connection.
- 13. An in-hole motor comprising a housing connectable to a drilling string, a stator in said housing, a rotor in said stator, a shaft connected at one end to said rotor and connectable to a drill at the other end, bearings between said shaft and said housing and frangeable thrust transmitting connection between said housing and said shaft, said shaft and housing being displaceable relative to each other, on application of a thrust in a direction towards an end of said shaft, a clutch between said shaft and said housing for mutual rotation of said shaft and said housing, said frangeable thrust transmitting connection acting to keep, said clutch disengaged on application of limited thrusts and said frangeable connection breaking on application of a thrust greater than said limited thrusts whereby said housing and shaft are displaced sufficient to engage said clutch, in which the yieldable connection is an abutment frangeably connected between said housing and said shaft, a spring between said abutment and said bearings for yieldably mounting said shaft relative to said housing, said spring deflecting on the breaking of said frangeable connection to permit displacement to engage said clutch.
- 14. An in-hole motor comprising a housing, a stator in said housing, a rotor in said stator, a shaft connected to said rotor, bearings between said shaft and housing, said shaft and housing mounted for displacement relative one to the other, a clutch, one member of said clutch connected to said shaft, an other member of said clutch connected to said housing, said members engaging on a predetermined movement of said housing in relation to said shaft, in the direction of said rotor, an abutment between said shaft and said housing releasably mounted between said shaft and housing to limit said displacement to less than said predetermined movement and preventing engagement of said clutch on application of a limited thrust to said bearings, and permitting engagement of said clutch when the thrust is increased beyond said limited amount to cause said predetermined movement.
- 15. An in-hole motor comprising a housing, a stator in said housing, a rotor in said stator, a shaft connected to said rotor, bearings between said shaft and housing, said shaft and housing mounted for displacement relative one to the other, a clutch, one member of said clutch connected to said shaft, an other member of said clutch connected to said housing, abutment between said shaft and said housing releasably mounted between said shaft and housing to limit said displacement and preventing engagement of said clutch on application of a limited thrust to said bearings, and permitting engagement of said clutch when the thrust is increased beyond said limited amount, in which said releasable abutment is mounted on a breakable connection to said shaft whereby on imposition of said increased load, said connection breaks to permit relative displacement of said shaft and housing to engage said clutch.
- 16. The in-hole motor of claim 15, in which said breakable connection is a shearable connection.
- 17. An in-hole motor adapted for connection with a rotatable pipe string and a bit, said assembly comprising: a motor stator including a housing structure adapted to be installed in a pipe string; a rotor in said stator; a shaft connected at one end to said rotor for rotation therewith and extending at its other end from said housing to drive a drill bit; thrust bearings between said shaft and said housing, a clutch engageable between said shaft and said housing to couple said housing and shaft for mutual rotation upon predetermined movement of said housing, relative to said shaft, in the direction of said one end of said shaft; said thrust bearings including a bearing to transfer thrust from said housing to said shaft, said last named bearing having a race on said shaft, a coupling between said shaft and said rotor, and a releasable abutment between said race and said shaft, said abutment normally preventing engagement of said clutch and releasable when the thrust load is increased to permit engagement of said clutch; including a spring acting between said shaft and said housing resisting said relative longitudinal movement and permitting such movement upon release of said connection.
- 18. An in-hole motor adapted for connection with a rotatable pipe string and a bit, said assembly comprising: a motor stator including a housing structure adapted to be installed in a pipe string; a rotor in said stator; a shaft connected at one end to said rotor for rotation therewith and extending at its other end from said housing to drive a drill bit; thrust bearings between said shaft and said housing, a clutch engageable between said shaft and said housing to couple said housing and shaft for mutual rotation upon predetermined movement of said housing, relative to said shaft, in the direction of said one end of said shaft; said thrust bearings including a bearing to transfer thrust from said housing to said shaft, said last named bearing having a race on said shaft, a coupling between said shaft and said rotor, and a releasable abutment between said race and said shaft, said abutment normally preventing engagement of said clutch and releasable when the thrust load is increased to permit engagement of said clutch; including a spring acting between said shaft and said housing resisting said relative longitudinal movement and permitting such movement upon release of said connection, said spring being in said clutch.
- 19. An in-hole motor adapted for connection with a rotatable pipe string and a bit, said assembly comprising: a motor stator including a housing structure adapted to be installed in a pipe string; a rotor in said stator; a shaft connected at one end to said rotor for rotation therewith and extending at its other end from said housing to drive a drill bit; thrust bearings between said shaft and said housing, a clutch engageable between said shaft and said housing to couple said housing and shaft for mutual rotation upon predetermined movement of said housing, relative to said shaft, in the direction of said one end of said shaft; said thrust bearings including a bearing to transfer thrust from said housing to said shaft, said last named bearing having a race on said shaft, a coupling between said shaft and said rotor, and a releasable abutment between said race and said shaft, said abutment normally preventing engagement of said clutch and releasable when the thrust load is increased to permit engagement of said clutch; including a spring acting between said shaft and said housing resisting said relative longitudinal movement and permitting such movement upon release of said connection, said last-mentioned thrust bearing including said spring.
- 20. An in-hole motor adapted for connection with a rotatable pipe string and a bit, said assembly comprising: a motor stator including a housing structure adapted to be installed in a pipe string; a rotor in said stator; a shaft connected at one end to said rotor for rotation therewith and extending at its other end from said housing to drive a drill bit; thrust bearings between said shaft and said housing, a clutch engageable between said shaft and said housing to couple said housing and shaft for mutual rotation upon predetermined movement of said housing, relative to said shaft, in the direction of said one end of said shaft; said thrust bearings including a bearing to transfer thrust from said housing to said shaft, said last named bearing having a race on said shaft, a coupling between said shaft and said rotor, and a releasable abutment between said race and said shaft, said abutment normally preventing engagement of said clutch and releasable when the thrust load is increased to permit engagement of said clutch; including a spring in said clutch and a spring in said last-mentioned bearing resisting engagement of said clutch.
- 21. An in-hole motor adapted for connection with a rotatable pipe string and a bit, said assembly comprising: a motor stator including a housing structure adapted to be installed in a pipe string; a rotor in said stator; a shaft connected at one end to said rotor for rotation therewith and extending at its other end from said housing to drive a drill bit; thrust bearings between said shaft and said housing, a clutch engageable between said shaft and said housing to couple said housing and shaft for mutual rotation upon predetermined movement of said housing, relative to said shaft, in the direction of said one end of said shaft; said thrust bearings including a bearing to transfer thrust from said housing to said shaft, said last named bearing having a race on said shaft, a coupling between said shaft and said rotor, and a releasable abutment between said race and said shaft, said abutment normally preventing engagement of said clutch and releasable when the thrust load is increased to permit engagement of said clutch; including a spring in said clutch and a spring in said last-mentioned bearing resisting engagement of said clutch, said springs being in parallel relation.
- 22. An in-hole motor adapted for connection with a rotatable pipe string and a bit, said assembly comprising: a motor stator including a housing structure adapted to be installed in a pipe string; a rotor in said stator; a shaft connected at one end to said rotor for rotation therewith and extending at its other end from said housing to drive a drill bit; thrust bearings between said shaft and said housing, a clutch engageable between said shaft and said housing to couple said housing and shaft for mutual rotation upon predetermined movement of said housing, relative to said shaft, in the direction of said one end of said shaft; said thrust bearings including a bearing to transfer thrust from said housing to said shaft, said last named bearing having a race on said shaft, a coupling between said shaft and said rotor, and a releasable abutment between said race and said shaft, said abutment normally preventing engagement of said clutch and releasable when the thrust load is increased to permit engagement of said clutch; including a spring in said clutch and a spring in said last-mentioned bearing resisting engagement of said clutch, said springs being in parallel relation, said spring in said clutch providing a gap enabling deflection of said spring in said last-mentioned bearing before deflection of said spring in said clutch.
- 23. An in-hole motor adapted for connection with a rotatable pipe string and a bit, said assembly comprising: a motor stator including a housing structure adapted to be installed in a pipe string; a rotor in said stator; a shaft connected at one end to said rotor for rotation therewith and extending at its other end from said housing to drive a drill bit; thrust bearings between said shaft and said housing, a clutch engageable between said shaft and said housing to couple said housing and shaft for mutual rotation upon predetermined movement of said housing, relative to said shaft, in the direction of said one end of said shaft; said thrust bearings including a bearing to transfer thrust from said housing to said shaft, said last named bearing having a race on said shaft, a coupling between said shaft and said rotor, and a releasable abutment between said race and said shaft, said abutment normally preventing engagement of said clutch and releasable when the thrust load is increased to permit engagement of said clutch; said shaft having a fluid passage therethrough; said releasable abutment being a frangible section between said shaft and said last-mentioned bearing.
- 24. An in-hole motor adapted for connection with a rotatable pipe string and a bit, said assembly comprising: a motor stator including a housing structure adapted to be installed in a pipe string; a rotor in said stator; a shaft connected at one end to said rotor for rotation therewith and extending at its other end from said housing to drive a drill bit; thrust bearings between said shaft and said housing, a clutch engageable between said shaft and said housing to couple said housing and shaft for mutual rotation upon predetermined movement of said housing, relative to said shaft, in the direction of said one end of said shaft; said thrust bearings including a bearing to transfer thrust from said housing to said shaft, said last named bearing having a race on said shaft, a coupling between said shaft and said rotor, and a releasable abutment between said race and said shaft, said abutment normally preventing engagement of said clutch and releasable when the thrust load is increased to permit engagement of said clutch; said shaft having a fluid passage therethrough, said coupling being ported, said releasable abutment being a shearable member between said race and said coupling.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 067,924, filed Aug. 20, 1979, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
4187918 |
Clark |
Feb 1980 |
|
4232751 |
Trzecial |
Nov 1980 |
|
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
291027 |
Nov 1971 |
SUX |
395557 |
Nov 1973 |
SUX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
67924 |
Aug 1979 |
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