Claims
- 1. A rotary rock bit comprising:
- a main bit body having at least one leg extending therefrom, each leg having a journal bearing projecting substantially radially inwardly from said leg, said journal having a first base portion and a second end, said journal further forms a first annular groove in a bearing surface formed by said journal bearing, said groove is transverse to an axis of said journal;
- a cutter cone adapted to be rotatively mounted on said journal bearing, each cone forming an inwardly facing bearing surface adapted to register with said journal bearing surface, said cone further forms a second annular groove in said cone bearing surface transverse to the axis of the cone, said second annular groove in said cone registers with said first annular groove in said journal when said cone is properly positioned on said journal;
- two or more substantially annular cone retention segments, said segments when positioned within one of said grooves allow said cone to pass over said second end of said journal; and
- segment biasing means to bias each of said two or more segments into the other of said grooves when said first and second annular grooves register with one another thus retaining said rotatable cone on said journal said biasing means is a coil spring means adjacent said outside diametrical surface formed by each of said segments, said coil spring means is in tension to urge said segments into said first annular groove.
- 2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said spring means is a continuous garter spring.
- 3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein said garter spring is fabricated substantially from steel.
- 4. The invention as set forth in claim 3 wherein an annular groove is formed in said outside diametric surface of each of said cone retention segments, said groove serves to retain said garter spring biasing means within each of said segments.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a division of application Ser. No. 371,360, filed Apr. 23, 1982, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,518.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
371360 |
Apr 1982 |
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