US1055326A - Drilling-cable. - Google Patents

Description

T. GORE.

` DRILLING CABLE.

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1,055,326, Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

'rnfoMAs GonE, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

DRILLING-CABLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

Application filed February 7, 1912.` Serial No. 675,982.

To aZZ whom izhmay concern Be it known that I, THOMAS Gone, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of` the borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drilling-Cables, of which the following is a specification.

The cable of my present invention is designed primarily'for drilling purposes, and I Will describe the same in that connection.

The drilling of oil wells, etc., is usually accomplished by the Vraising and loweriug of a drilling tool which is'suspended on the end of a long cable, the cable being paid out as the bore increases in depth. It is a known fact that the cutting is due more to the sharp impact of the tool than to the mere Weight of the tool,, and hence the practice is to give the cable a suap at the end of each downward movement so as to throw the tool With percussive force into contact With the material. In order to get, this I Snap at the end 1of the stroke the cable must bemore or less elastic in its nature, for it is by the stretchin'g and rebounding action of the cable that the suap is obtained. For this reason, Manila or fibcr cables have usually been employed heretofore for drilling purposes, since these were the .only

- Cables possessing suflicient elasticity for the Work. The use of Manila and fibcr Cables is, however, attended with'certain diflieulties and disadvantages--for instance if water is encountered 4the Cable swells u and loses its elasticity. Then too these ca Jles become frayed, and unravel; in some cases unraveling to such an extent as to choke up the bore. Steel cables, while possessing the necessary durability and being immune to the effects of water, nevertheless Cannot be used successfully because they are not sufficiently elastic. It has been attcmpted to Combine the advantages 'of the two different types of cable by attaching a so-Called cracker ,f of Manila cable (perhaps two or three hundred feet long) onto the end of a steel cable-but at best this is a make-shift and has not proven very satisfactory.

Having explained in a measure the difficulties encountered in drilling work, I Would state that the object of my invention is to secure in a single cable the strength and Wearing qualities of a steel cable, together with the flexibility and elastic qualities of'the Manila cable, so necessary to successful drilling operations. I

Accordingly my invention consists in a preferred form of twisted substantially nonelastic strands, and cushions of elastic compressible material interposed between the strands. The strands' are usually made up of twisted steel wires, and the elastic cushions are prefcrably in the form of strips of vulcanized rubber.

Various other objects and features of the invention will appear as the specification proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated my invention in a concrete and preferred form but I Would have it understood that chanfres and modifications such as come within the scope of the ap ended claims may be made therein without eparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, And I would state at this point also that while m invention is of particular utility for dril ing purposes, I do not by any means intend to limit it to this particular purpose.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is an elevation of a section of rope or cable constructed in .am-,ordance with and embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same. a

According to my invention I Construct the cable of a number of strands 3 Which.

themselves are twisted, the wires Comprising" the strands will preferably be twisted in one directionl while the strands themselves Will be twisted in the opposite direction. This `or normal length.

method of twisting the strands in a direc-l t-ion opposite to the lay of the individual wires has a tendency to balance the internal twisting tensions of the rope and'prevent' the rope from twisting or Spinning too is provided with a core such as indicated at.

5 in the cross-sectional view, around which the strands are laid.

The Wire strands composing the body of the rope areV substantially inelastic and incompressible in their nature, so that if no other means were provided, the cable itself Would be so inelastic as to be unsuited for drilling and other like purposes for which it is intended. Accordingly I place between these substantially incompressible strands, cushions of `elastic and compressible material. These cushions are preferably in the form of strips 6 which are laid in between the strands. These strips may be made of any suitable material, and the material `which I have so far found best suited to this purpose is vulcanized rubber or rubber composition, and I have accordingly illustrated the strips as made of this material in the drawings. The cushioning strips may be made in different shapes and different means may be employed for Securing the strips in position between the strands. In a preferred form the strips are made with oppositely facing concave sides 7 and with somewhat broadened base portions 8, so that as shown in Fig. 2, the st-rips will fill in the interstices between the strands and the broadened base portions of the strips will be interlocked beneath adjoining strands so as to secure the strips in place.

In order that the functions andl operation of the 'cable may be fully understood, I would explain that the action of the cable is to be comparedv to that of a spiral spring. It is well known how when a drawing tension is placed on a spiral spring theM convolutions of this spring will separate and the,

spring will 4* Stretch out. In the same way when the sudden tension is placed uponmy cable, the strands will Compress the interposed cushioning strips whereby a lengthening or stretching action of the cable will be produced, just as in the case of the spiral spring. Now When the tension is removed or lessened, the cushioning strips will expand back to their normal dimensions,l

thereby drawing the cable back to its true' This in brief is the man"- ner in which the snap is produced'when4 the cable is used for drilling purposes the cable stretchesl out` when the sudden strain is placed upon it and then rebounds under of Manila or other fibrous material, but if desired, greater resiliency in the cable may be secured by making this core of the same material as the Cushioning strips, such a s vulcanized rubber or rubber compound.

lVh'at is claimed, is:

l. A drilling'cable composed of twisted wire strands, and strips of vulcanized rubber interposed between the strands and held in place by having their base portions interlooked between adjacent strands.,

2. A ,drilling cable made up of wires twisted in one direction to form strands, said strands twisted together in a direction opposite to the lay of the wires to pro- 'vide the body of the cable, and strips of elastic compressible material twisted in between the strands and secured m. place between adjacent strands. A

3. Means for adding elasticity toa cable' of twisted substantially non-elastic strands, comprising strips of compressible elastic material twisted and secured in place between adjacent strands.

4. Means for adding elasticity to a cable of twisted substantially non-elastic wire strands, comprising strips of vulcanized rubber twisted in andsecured in place between adjacent strands, whereby upon a heavy strain being applied to the cable the strips Will be compressed by the strands and thus allow the strands to lengthen out somewhat, while upon lessening the strain the strips will exp-and to return the strands back to their normal twisted len th.

. A drilling rope compose of wires vtwisted together to form strands, the strandsb so formed being ,twisted together in a 'direct-ion opposite to the lay of the wires lessenin of the strain, expand to restore the strands ack to their normal twisted length.

[i, A cable for drilling or like purposes 'comprising strands' made up' of twistedV wires, the .said strands being twistedptogether into a cable body, and strips Iof' elasotic- Cushioning material secured in place between the relatively non-elastic and noncompressible wire strands, whereby when a strain is placed upon the cable the elastic 'cushioning strips will be compressed by the relatively non-compressible strands to thereby permit the strands to lengthen out after the nature of a helical-spring, and said cushioning strips rebounding upon relieving of .the strain to restore the strands sto their 'original twisted relation.

'7. A relatively elastic drilling cable com-- i prising substantially nonelastic strands York city in the county of Kin s and State t-Wisted together into a cable body, and of New York, this lst day of Fe ruary A. D. strips of compressible and elastic Cushioning 1912.

material twisted in between the strands to THOMAS GORE.

x 5 form spiral cushions separating adjacent Witnesses:

convolutions of the strands. LEICESTER LoCKWooD, Signed in the borough of Brooklyn, New I ROBERT J. SCHNEIDER.

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