Claims
- 1. A cutter on a rotary drag bit for earth boring, comprising:
- a plurality of thermally stable rod-like polycrystalline diamond elements each having a longitudinal axis, said diamond elements being oriented with their axes in a mutually parallel relationship;
- a metal matrix surrounding and securely holding said diamond elements in place, said metal matrix and said diamond elements coextensively terminating at a substantially planar cutting face substantially perpendicular to the orientation of said diamond element axes and predominantly comprised of ends of said diamond elements; and
- a carrier element supporting said diamond elements in said matrix on said bit in an orientation substantially parallel to the instantaneous direction of linear displacement of said cutter resulting from rotation of said bit.
- 2. The cutter of claim 1, wherein said diamond elements are disposed in a compact array, wherein each element is in lateral contact with at least one adjacent element.
- 3. The cutter of claim 2, wherein each diamond element is in lateral contact with at least two adjacent elements.
- 4. A cutting structure fixedly mounted on a rotary drag bit for earth boring, comprising:
- a metal matrix defining a cutting slug;
- a plurality of thermally stable rod-like polycrystalline diamond cutting elements having mutually parallel longitudinal axes embedded in said metal matrix and defining therewith a substantially planar cutting surface substantially perpendicular to said axes and formed predominantly by ends of said cutting elements; and
- a carrier element supporting said cutting slug on said bit, whereby said cutting elements are oriented substantially parallel to the instantaneous linear displacement of said slug resulting from bit rotation.
- 5. The structure of claim 4, wherein said cutting elements are disposed in a compact array, wherein each element is in lateral contact with at least one adjacent cutting element.
- 6. The structure of claim 5, wherein each cutting element is in lateral contact with at least two adjacent elements.
- 7. A cutting structure on a rotary drag bit for earth boring, comprising:
- a metal matrix defining a cutting slug;
- a plurality of thermally stable rod-like polycrystalline diamond cutting elements each defined by a longitudinal axis and a transverse cross-sectional area of lesser dimensions than said longitudinal axis, said diamond cutting elements being disposed in said cutting slug in mutually longitudinally parallel relationship and terminating at a substantially planar cutting surface defined in minor portion by said metal matrix and in major portion by said cross-sectional area of said diamond cutting elements; and
- a carrier element supporting said cutting slug on said bit, whereby said diamond cutting elements are oriented at an acute angle to the instantaneous direction of linear displacement of said slug resulting from rotation of said bit.
- 8. The cutting structure of claim 7, wherein said longitudinal cutting element axes and said planar cutting surface are substantially perpendicular.
- 9. The structure of claim 7, wherein said cutting elements are disposed in a compact array, wherein each element is in lateral contact with at least one adjacent cutting element.
- 10. The structure of claim 9, wherein each cutting element is in lateral contact with at least two adjacent elements.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 184,494 filed Jan. 26, 1988, now adandoned, which was a continuation of application Ser. No. 797,858 filed Nov. 14, 1985, now abandoned, which was a continuation of application Ser. No. 593,124 filed Mar. 26, 1984, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Date |
Country |
233479 |
Apr 1969 |
SUX |
632823 |
Nov 1978 |
SUX |
2044146 |
Oct 1980 |
GBX |
2107298 |
Apr 1983 |
GBX |
2115460 |
Sep 1983 |
GBX |
Continuations (3)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
184494 |
Jan 1988 |
|
Parent |
797858 |
Nov 1985 |
|
Parent |
593124 |
Mar 1984 |
|