Patent ID: 11898406
Assignee: EPIROC DRILLING SOLUTIONS, LLC
Field: Civil engineering (Other fields)
Classification: CPC E | IPC E

Claim 0:
1. An apparatus for changing a drilling tool for a drilling rig, where the drilling rig comprises a drill tower supporting a drill pipe;
the apparatus for changing a drilling tool comprising:
a drilling tool changer assembly moveable between a storage position and an exchange position;
the drilling tool changer assembly supporting a rotatable carousel assembly;
the rotatable carousel assembly capable of removal from the drilling tool changer assembly and capable of replacement on the drilling tool changer assembly in a same angular position;
the rotatable carousel assembly having a plurality of bit adaptors for holding drilling tools; and
the rotatable carousel assembly selectively rotatable to bring a selected drilling tool into coaxial alignment with the drill pipe when the drilling tool changer assembly supporting the rotatable carousel assembly is moved into the exchange position;
wherein the drilling tool changer assembly further comprises a detector for detecting the presence or absence of a drilling tool in a bit adaptor of the plurality of bit adaptors that is in a predetermined angular position for pick-up or drop-off of a drilling tool in the rotatable carousel assembly.