Ice Drill

Abstract

A tool for drilling holes through ice has a central drill rod (2) having a spiral (5) for lifting crushed ice formed by the drilling, a carrier (6) attached to one end of the drill rod (2) and being fixed to at least one cutting blade (12) extending substantially radially with respect the drill rod (2) and having a cutting edge (13) for cutting and thereby drilling into the ice upon rotation of the drill rod (2). A member is fixed with respect to the carrier (6) for support on the ice through a surface (15) at a distance in the direction of the axis of the drill rod (2) in the drilling direction behind the cutting edge of the cutting blade (12) for defining the cutting depth when drilling by the tool.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART [0001] The invention relates to a tool for drilling a hole through thick outdoor ice, on lakes and the like, which comprises a central drill rod having a spiral therearound for lifting crushed ice formed by the drilling, a carrier attached to one end of the drill rod and having fixed thereto at least one cutting blade extending substantially radially with respect to the drill rod and having a cutting edge for cutting and thereby drilling into the ice upon rotation of the drill rod. [0002] Such a tool is normally called ice drill, for what reason this expression will be used hereinafter. [0003] Outdoor ice means ice on lakes, rivers, oceans and the like, where a flowing water is present under the ice. [0004] Such an ice drill is normally used for making holes through ice for fishing, such as jigging, but other intensions of the hole production is also possible. Such ice drills may be designed to make holes with varying diameters, in which a typica...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] By arranging such a ring the smoothness of the drilling is improved further, since it means that the drilling will be smooth to the last cutting blade, i.e. until the ice is completely penetrated. Another advantage of the existence of the ring is that it gets possible to drill “hole in hole”, i.e. to drill one hole which will partly be located in a hole already existing in the ice. This has so far not been possible, since the drill has in such a case been pushed away from the desired drilling position when a cutting blade has hit the wall of the hole already existing. In particular when the ring, such as in another preferred embodiment of the invention, is combined with a central tip extending axially at one end of the drill rod, which is arranged to project in the axial direction beyond the cutting blade or the cutting edges of the cutting blade so as to be pressed down into the ice when drilling, “hole in hole” may be comfortably drilled.

[0016] According to another preferred embodiment of the invention said support member is arranged on the ring or is a part thereof. A definition of the cutting depth is in this way easily and reliably obtained.

[0017] According to another preferred embodiment of the invention said carrier has the character of a bore crown which also comprises said member providing a support surface. It is then advantageous if an attachment fixed to the drill rod is there for removably fixing the bore crown to the drill rod.

[0018] According to another preferred embodiment of the invention the bore crown, except for the cutting blades thereof, is substantially made of a plastic material. Thanks to the arrangement of a carrier in the form of a said ring as bore crown it will be possible to design this of plastic material, which results in several advantages. It will for instance be easier to produce an attachment for cutting blades allowing exchange of the cutting blade by the fact that it may be snapped on or the like through said attachment. It will also be possible to manufacture such a bore crown of plastic material in larger series to an attractive cost per unit.

[0019] According to another preferred embodiment of the invention said spiral is together with a sleeve being central with respect thereto moulded into one piece of a plastic material, and the sleeve receives and is secured to a rigid drill rod extending therethrough, preferably of metal. The completely unique about making a spiral on an ice drill of plastic material means a considerable saving of weight with respect to conventional ice drills having a spiral of steel. This is an important advantage, since the ice drills are often carried along by hand or are attached to a rucksack or the like. Furthermore, a spiral of this type may be manufactured in larger series to a lower cost than a steel spiral which has to be welded to the drill rod. Another advantage is that the manufacturing accuracy of the spiral may be increased.

Problems solved by technology

The ice drills known until now have a tendency to occasionally treat the ice irregularly and deliver uncomfortable hits and pulls to the arm of the person drilling by means of the ice drill or holding it.

This problem varies depending upon the nature of the ice, and it may for some ice be experienced as very uncomfortable and irritating to have the irregular operation of the cutting blades and the drill when drilling.

This makes the boring more difficult and makes the person carrying out the drilling tired.

This problem gets greater the more holes are to be drilled on one day and the thicker the ice.

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