Drill String Clamping Head With Cylindrical Jaw Guides
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing clamping head arrangements for drill string elements are complex and costly to manufacture due to the use of undercut guideways, which are susceptible to contamination and require specialized tools for production.
Innovation Solution
The clamping head arrangement features semi-cylindrical guide channels and cylindrical guide bodies for the clamping jaw elements, allowing for easy manufacturing and precise machining, and uses a wedge-type sliding mechanism with hydraulic actuators for clamping and releasing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If undercut guideways (dovetail guide, T-guide) are used to ensure good guidance and reliable retention of clamping jaw elements, then guidance quality and retention reliability are improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase due to requiring special form milling cutters, hardening, and complex grinding or honing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex undercut guideways with simple cylindrical guide channels and cylindrical guide bodies. The cylindrical geometry provides smooth guidance surfaces that are easy to manufacture using conventional drilling and turning tools, while still ensuring reliable retention of the clamping jaw elements through the angled arrangement of the guide channels
2Reliability
If undercut guideways are used to ensure good guidance, then guidance quality is improved, but susceptibility to contamination increases due to the complex geometry creating hidden surfaces and crevices
Solution Approach 1:
The cylindrical guide channels and guide bodies provide smooth, continuous surfaces without the hidden crevices and undercut geometries of traditional guideways. This simplified cylindrical geometry eliminates contamination-prone areas while maintaining effective guidance through the angled configuration of the channels
3Manufacturing precision
If special form milling cutters and complex grinding or honing tools are used to manufacture undercut guideways, then manufacturing precision is improved, but manufacturing cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs cylindrical guide channels that can be manufactured using standard drilling tools followed by simple turning or reaming operations. This eliminates the need for expensive specialized form milling cutters and complex grinding or honing tools, significantly reducing manufacturing costs while achieving sufficient precision for the application
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces expensive, specialized manufacturing tools with conventional, readily available drilling and turning tools. This substitution of manufacturing methodology dramatically reduces tooling costs and makes the clamping head arrangement more cost-effective to produce
4Reliability
If clamping jaw elements are designed to fit undercut guideways, then guidance and retention are improved, but device complexity increases for both the guideways and the clamping jaw elements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent simplifies the overall device complexity by using cylindrical guide channels and cylindrical guide bodies that are geometrically compatible and easy to manufacture. The angled arrangement of these simple cylindrical components achieves the required guidance and retention functionality without complex geometries on either the base body or the clamping jaw elements
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design results in a robust, cost-effective, and efficient clamping mechanism capable of transmitting high torques to drill string elements with reduced manufacturing complexity and improved durability.
Implementation Method 1
the guide rails are angled to a central axis of the clamping head arrangement, so that a displacement of the clamping jaw elements along the guide rails causes an axial and a radial adjustment of the clamping jaw elements with respect to the central axis
Implementation Method 2
uses a wedge-type sliding mechanism with hydraulic actuators for clamping and releasing
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a clamping head arrangement, in particular for clamping a drill string element, with several clamping jaw elements, each of which has a clamping surface designed in particular for clamping against a contact side of the drill string element, and a base body with guide rails along which the clamping jaw elements are slidably mounted, wherein the guide rails are angled to a central axis of the clamping head arrangement, so that a displacement of the clamping jaw elements along the guide rails causes an axial and a radial adjustment of the clamping jaw elements with respect to the central axis.According to the invention, the clamping jaw elements are each designed with a cylindrical or partially cylindrical guide body, and the guide tracks in the base body are designed as partially cylindrical guide channels in which a clamping jaw element with the cylindrical or partially cylindrical guide body is slidably mounted.