Patent ID: 11897090
Assignee: nan
Field: Machine tools (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 11:
12. An apparatus, comprising:
a housing defining a volume between a distal face and a proximal face;
a plurality of parallel bores distributed in the volume to dispose a distal end of each bore as an opening communicating through the distal face;
a plurality of fingers, at least one finger of the fingers comprising a working end and a held portion, the working end being configured and arranged to protrude distally beyond the distal face to a desired extended position, the held portion to fit in registration inside one of the bores for reciprocal displacement parallel to a bore length axis: wherein:
the bores are arrayed to dispose distal ends of adjacent fingers in a spaced apart relationship to resist direct transverse load transfer from a distal portion of a load-carrying finger to an adjacent finger; and further comprising:
a plurality of stop elements, at least one stop element of the stop elements to resist displacement of the working end of the at least one finger in a distal direction beyond the desired extended position; and
a plurality of biasing elements, at least one biasing element of the biasing elements to urge motion of the at least one finger in a distal direction, wherein:
the housing comprises a front wall associated with the distal face and a rear wall associated with the proximal face, the front wall and rear wall cooperating to capture a full complement of installed fingers and biasing elements inside the housing and in registration for reciprocal displacement along respective bore length axes during assembly of the housing;
the housing comprises anti-stiction structure to resist stiction during insertion and withdrawal of the housing into and from an access port having a two inch inside diameter and extending from a ground surface opening toward a target subterranean stop and waste valve, the anti-stiction structure comprising a bypass area between a blocking cross-section area of the housing and an open cross-section of the access port, the bypass area being greater than 0.14 square inches; and
the at least one finger comprises a cylindrical held portion having a first diameter and a cylindrical working end having a second diameter, the first diameter being greater than the second diameter, a first shoulder disposed between the first diameter and the second diameter;
the at least one stop element comprises a protrusion disposed in one of the bores to form a structural interference between the first shoulder and the protrusion;
the apparatus further comprising:
an attachment mechanism configured to removably couple the housing to the distal end of an elongate shaft to dispose a desired axis of rotation of the housing substantially collinear with the length axis of the shaft, the shaft to apply a torque to the housing, the attachment mechanism comprising a primary coupling element and a redundant secondary coupling element to resist axial separation between the housing and the shaft.