Abstract:
A percussive rotational impact hammer assembly for creating high torques. A generally cylindrical piston rotatably mounted on a hammer inside an outer casing oscillates on the hammer and strikes an impact surface on the hammer. The piston and housing have pressurized fluid ports and passageways for conducting pressurized fluid to alternately load an impact-driving chamber and return chamber. The piston is accelerated against the impact surface and the kinetic energy of the piston is transmitted to the hammer transmitting the rotational movement to a member engaged with the hammer, such as a drill bit or other member. The rotational impact hammer assembly can be adapted for use in a downhole hammer, in break out tongs for drill pipe, in wrenches for loosening or tightening nuts and bolts, or in other mechanical devices where high torque is desired.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/326,061, filed Sep. 29, 2001, the pendency of which is extended until Sep. 30, 2002 under 35 U.S.C. 119(e)(3). 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Technical Field  
           [0003]    This invention relates generally to percussive rotational impact hammers, and more particularly, to a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly for creating high peak torque for use in rotating a drill bit in a downhole hammer, in a wrench for loosening and tightening threaded fasteners, or in other mechanical devices where high torque is required.  
           [0004]    2. Background Art  
           [0005]    Rear, U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,483 discloses a downhole hammer connected to a rotatable drill string. The hammer comprises a top sub and a drill bit support separated by a tubular housing incorporating a piston chamber there between. A feed tube is mounted to the top sub and extends into the piston chamber. A piston is slidably received in the housing and over the feed tube. Fluid porting is provided in the feed tube and the piston to sequentially admit fluid in a first space between the piston and top sub to drive the piston towards the drill bit support and to a second space between the piston and the drill bit support to drive the piston towards the top sub. Rotary motion is provided to the hammer assembly and drill bit by the attached drill string powered by a rotary table typically mounted on the rig platform. A shortcoming of this design is that the whole drill string has to rotate, rather than only the bit, making it difficult to drill directional holes with, for example, coiled tubing.  
           [0006]    Johns, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,837 discloses another downhole air percussion hammer suited for directional drilling. The air compression hammer mechanism comprises a piston that reciprocates while simultaneously rotating in its housing. A hammer drill bit slidably keyed to the bottom of the piston transfers the impact energy to the formation and rotates during operation independent of an attached drill string. The kinetic energy of the reciprocating piston is employed to rotate the bit. The linear motion of the piston is converted into rotational motion by using one or more helical grooves formed by the piston body. To prevent the piston from oscillating in the rotary mode, an indexing clutch mechanism is provided to induce bit rotation in one direction only. A shortcoming of this design is that very high damaging forces are created in the helical grooves, which adversely affects the life of the hammer.  
           [0007]    The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly for creating high torques wherein a generally cylindrical piston rotatably mounted on a hammer inside an outer casing oscillates on the hammer and strikes an impact surface on the hammer. The interior surface of the outer casing and exterior of the hammer form an annulus in which the piston rotatably oscillates and the piston divides the annulus into an impact-driving chamber and return chamber. The piston and hammer have pressurized fluid ports and passageways for conducting pressurized fluid to alternately pressurize the chambers to rotate the piston such that an impact face on the piston strikes an impact face on the hammer and the kinetic energy of the piston and the rotational movement is transmitted via the hammer to a member engaged with hammer, such as a drill bit or other member. The rotational impact hammer assembly can be adapted for use in a downhole hammer, in break out tongs for drill pipe, in wrenches for loosening or tightening nuts and bolts, or in other mechanical devices where high torque is desired. Another aspect of the invention is a downhole percussive hammer/drilling tool incorporating the rotational impact hammer assembly. Still another aspect of the invention is a wrench incorporating the rotational impact hammer assembly for loosening or tightening nuts and bolts or other threaded connections.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly that can create significantly higher peak torque than conventional air hammers.  
           [0009]    It is another object of this invention to provide a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly which can be easily adapted for use in a downhole hammer, in break out tongs for drill pipe, in wrenches for loosening or tightening nuts and bolts, or in other mechanical devices where high torque is needed.  
           [0010]    Another object of this invention is to provide a downhole percussive rotational impact hammer having a hammer member that engages with a drilling bit by means of splines, polygon shape or similar engagement surface as the bit works in a borehole.  
           [0011]    Another object of this invention is to provide a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly having a hammer member sized and shaped to be received in a cylindrical outer casing having a cylindrical interior surface to define an annulus between an outer cylindrical sliding surface of the hammer member and the interior surface of the outer casing in which a piston member rotatably oscillates to transmit kinetic energy and rotational movement in one direction to a member engaged with the hammer.  
           [0012]    A further object of this invention is to provide a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly having a piston member rotatably mounted concentrically on a sliding surface of a hammer member and having an arcuate sidewall portion with an impact face and a return face disposed in circumferentially spaced relation which when rotated in a first direction forcefully strikes its impact face on an impact face of a hammer member and the kinetic energy and rotational movement is transmitted in one direction to a member engaged with the hammer member.  
           [0013]    A still further object of this invention is to provide a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly that is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and rugged and reliable in operation.  
           [0014]    Other objects of the invention will become apparent from time to time throughout the specification and claims as hereinafter related.  
           [0015]    The above noted objects and other objects of the invention are accomplished by a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly for creating high torques wherein a generally cylindrical piston rotatably mounted on a hammer inside an outer casing oscillates on the hammer and strikes an impact surface on the hammer. The interior surface of the outer casing and exterior of the hammer form an annulus in which the piston rotatably oscillates and the piston divides the annulus into an impact-driving chamber and return chamber. The piston and hammer have pressurized fluid ports and passageways for conducting pressurized fluid to alternately pressurize the chambers to rotate the piston such that an impact face on the piston strikes an impact face on the hammer and the kinetic energy of the piston and the rotational movement is transmitted via the hammer to a member engaged with hammer, such as a drill bit or other member. The rotational impact hammer assembly can be adapted for use in a downhole hammer, in break out tongs for drill pipe, in wrenches for loosening or tightening nuts and bolts, or in other mechanical devices where high torque is desired. Another aspect of the invention is a downhole percussive hammer/drilling tool incorporating the rotational impact hammer assembly. Still another aspect of the invention is a wrench incorporating the rotational impact hammer assembly for loosening or tightening nuts and bolts or other threaded connections. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 is an exploded isometric view of the hammer and piston members of the percussive rotational impact hammer assembly in accordance with the present invention, shown in an unassembled condition.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the hammer member shown from the top and rotated slightly from the position shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the piston member, shown rotated 180° from the position shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the assembled hammer and piston installed in an outer cylindrical casing, with the outer casing shown in cross section and the components shown in a first position.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4A is a transverse cross section taken along line A-A of FIG. 4, with the outer casing shown in full, showing the air outlet ports of the hammer and the piston in the first position.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4B is a transverse cross section taken along line B-B of FIG. 4, showing the air inlet port, impact passageway, and return passageway of the hammer and the passageway of the piston in the first position.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the assembled hammer and piston installed in an outer cylindrical casing, with the outer casing shown in cross section and the piston shown in an intermediate position.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5A is a transverse cross section taken along line A-A of FIG. 5, with the outer casing shown in full, showing the air outlet ports of the hammer and the piston in the intermediate position.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 5B is a transverse cross section taken along line B-B of FIG. 5, showing the air inlet port, impact passageway, and return passageway of the hammer and the passageway of the piston in the intermediate position.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of the assembled hammer and piston installed in an outer cylindrical casing, with the outer casing shown in cross section and the piston shown in an impact position.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 6A is a transverse cross section taken along line A-A of FIG. 6, with the outer casing shown in full, showing the air outlet ports of the hammer and the piston in the impact position.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 6B is a transverse cross section taken along line B-B of FIG. 6, showing the air inlet port, impact passageway, and return passageway of the hammer and the passageway of the piston in the impact position.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 7 is a longitudinal cross section showing somewhat schematically a downhole hammer having a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 7A is a transverse cross section view of the downhole hammer taken along line A-A of FIG. 7.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 8 is a side elevation showing somewhat schematically a wrench having a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 8A is a transverse cross section view of the wrench taken along line A-A of FIG. 8. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0032]    Referring to the drawings by numerals of reference, a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly  10  in accordance with the present invention is shown in an unassembled condition in FIG. 1. The percussive rotational impact hammer assembly  10  includes a hammer member  11  and a piston member  25 . FIG. 2 shows the hammer member  11  as seen from the top and rotated slightly from the position shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows the piston member  25  rotated 180° from the position shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0033]    The hammer  11  is a generally cylindrical member with a side wall having a larger diameter circular top portion  12  and a reduced diameter lower portion  13 . The reduced diameter lower portion  13  has a semi-circular raised anvil surface  14  near its bottom end extending partially around its circumference with opposed ends terminating a distance apart to define a raised impact face  15  and a raised return face  16  disposed in circumferentially spaced relation. The raised faces  15  and  16  have stepped upper portions  15  A and  16  A that are disposed a short distance circumferentially beyond the faces  15  and  16 . The interior of the hammer  11  is provided with a longitudinal engagement surface  17 , such as a splined or polygonal surface, for receiving and engaging a member to be rotated, or a shaft connected with the tool to be rotated.  
         [0034]    A circumferential impact passageway  18  and a circumferential return passageway  19  formed in the outer surface of the reduced diameter portion  13  of the hammer side wall extend partially around the circumference of the reduced diameter portion and their opposed facing ends terminate a distance apart. The passageways  18  and  19  are shallow and do not extend through the side wall to the interior of the hammer. A pressurized air supply port  20  extends longitudinally from the top surface of the top portion  12  of the hammer  11  and exits outwardly through exterior of the reduced diameter portion  13  between the opposed facing ends of the passageways  18  and  19 . An impact air exhaust port  21  and a return air exhaust port  22  disposed beneath the passageways  18  and  19  in circumferentially spaced relation extend through tile reduced diameter portion  13  of the hammer side wall to the interior of the hammer.  
         [0035]    The piston  25  is a hollow cylindrical member having a circumferential portion of its side wall intermediate its ends removed to define a remaining arcuate side wall portion  26  with an impact driving face  27  and a return driving face  28  disposed in circumferentially spaced relation. A circumferential slotted passageway  29  extends through the arcuate portion  26  of the piston side wall and its outer ends terminate a distance inwardly from the faces  27  and  28 . The portions of the arcuate side wall at each side of the outer ends of the passageway  29  define an impact sealing surface  30  and a return sealing surface  31 . The impact sealing surface  30  serves to seal an impact chamber for pressurized air, and the return sealing surface  31  serves to seal a return chamber for pressurized air, as described hereinafter.  
         [0036]    In the assembled condition, the piston  25  is mounted concentrically on the exterior of the hammer  11  for relative rotational movement about a central longitudinal axis. This may be accomplished by constructing the piston  25  in two halves and securing them together around the hammer  11  by welding, fasteners or by other means well known in the art, such that the piston is free to rotatably oscillate relative to the hammer and its impact driving face  27  and return driving face  28  will engage the raised impact and return faces  15  and  16  of the hammer.  
         [0037]    As shown in FIGS. 4, 4A and  4 B, the percussive rotational impact hammer assembly  10  is installed in a cylindrical outer casing  40 , which may be a cylindrical portion of a downhole hammer, break out tongs for drill pipe, a wrench for loosening or tightening nuts and bolts, or other mechanical device where high torque is needed. When installed in the outer casing  40 , the cylindrical inner surface of the casing is spaced concentrically to the outer cylindrical surface of the hammer  11  to form an annulus between the raised impact and return faces  15  and  16  of the hammer. The arcuate portion  26  of the piston side wall divides the annulus into a return chamber  41  and an impact chamber  42 . The upper portion of the return chamber  41  and impact chamber  42  extends a short distance circumferentially beyond the impact faces  15  and  16  terminating at the stepped upper portions  15 A and  16 A of the impact faces defining small end chambers  41 A and  42 A.  
         [0038]    Pressurized air is constantly delivered to the air supply port  20  of the hammer  11  while the rotational impact hammer is in use. In a first position, the outlet of the air supply port  20  is in communication with the passageway  29  extending through the arcuate portion  26  of the piston side wall. The piston passageway  29  is in communication with either of the impact passageway  18  or return passageway  19  on the outer surface of the side wall  13  of the hammer  11 , depending on the location of the piston  25 . The impact passageway  18  and return passageway  19  are in communication with the return chamber  41  and the impact chamber  42 . The impact and return sealing surfaces  30  and  31  on the interior of the arcuate portion  26  of the piston side wall on each side of the passageway  29  will alternately seal off one of the exhaust ports  21  or  22  preventing communication between either the return chamber  41  or the impact chamber  42  and the interior of the hammer  11  while allowing communication through the other exhaust port between either the return chamber or the impact chamber, depending on the location of the piston  25 . In the position shown in FIGS. 4, 4A and  4 B, the piston passageway  29  is in communication with the return passageway  19  on the outer surface of the side wall  13  of the hammer  11 , the return sealing surface  31  has closed off the return air exhaust port  22  preventing air from exhausting from the return chamber  41  into the interior of the hammer and the impact sealing surface  30  allows air to exhaust from the impact chamber  42  into the interior of the hammer through impact exhaust port  21 , reducing the pressure therein and has closed off flow of pressurized air from the air supply port  20  to the impact chamber  42 . Thus, pressurized air passes from the air supply port  20  through the return passageway  19  into the return chamber  41 .  
         [0039]    As shown in FIGS. 5, 5A and  5 B, as pressurized air fills the return chamber  41  bounded by the return face  16  of the hammer  11  and the return driving face  28  of the piston  25 , the piston will begin to rotate relative to the hammer in a clockwise direction toward the impact face  15  of the hammer. Thus, the air in the impact chamber  42  begins to be compressed as the piston rotates to the impact position.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIGS. 6, 6A and  6 B show the piston in the impact position. As pressurized air fills the return chamber  41  and the piston  25  rotates, the impact face  27  of the piston forcefully strikes the impact face  15  of the hammer. A shock wave will be transferred through the hammer impact face  15  of the hammer  11 , causing it to rotate and transfer kinetic energy and rotational motion to member engaged with the engagement surface  17  of the hammer.  
         [0041]    When the piston  25  has reached the impact position, the sealing surface  12  closes off the return passageway  19  on the outer surface of the side wall  13  of the hammer  11  preventing flow of pressurized air from the air supply port  20  to the return chamber  41 , and the impact sealing surface  30  closes off the impact air exhaust port  21  preventing air from flowing from the impact chamber  42  into the interior of the hammer and allows air to exhaust from the return chamber  41  into the interior of the hammer through return air exhaust port  22 , thus dumping the pressure therein. The piston passageway  29  remains in communication with the air supply port  20  and the pressurized air passes from the air supply port to the impact chamber  42  through the impact passageway  18  on the outer surface of the side wall  13  of the hammer  11  and the impact chamber  42  becomes pressurized to return the piston to the first position shown in FIGS. 4, 4A and  4 B.  
         [0042]    The small end chambers  41 A and  42 A at the upper end portions of the return chamber  41  and impact chamber  42  defined by the stepped upper portions  15 A and  16 A of the impact and return faces  15  and  16  extend a distance circumferentially beyond the impact and return faces and is not closed off during the cycle to prevent sticking.  
         [0043]    The piston  25  will be rotated back to the first position due to rebound from the impact face  15  of the hammer and the supply of pressurized air through the passageways  20 ,  29 , and  18 . The piston  25  will close the impact passageway  18  while moving back to the first position so that the hammer return passageway  19  is able to pressurize the return chamber  41 , and will open the impact air exhaust port  21  emptying the impact chamber  42 . Thus, the cycle is completed and the rotational impact piston  25  will now accelerate again against the hammer impact face  15 . The above-described cycle will continue as long as the pressurized air is supplied to the rotational impact hammer.  
         [0044]    It should be understood that the ports, passageways, and faces of the piston and hammer are spaced relative to one another to achieve the cyclical movement described above and that other combinations of ports, passageways, and faces could be employed to achieve the reciprocating motion of the piston. It should also be understood that the same result of movement of the piston may be achieved with an arrangement of external or internal valves controlled by air, hydraulics or electricity.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIGS. 7 and 7A show a preferred embodiment of a downhole hammer  50  having a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly  10  according to the present invention. The hammer assembly  10  is, mounted in an outer cylindrical casing  51  that is connectable to a drill pipe string (not shown) by means of a top sub  52 , through which pressurized air is conducted. The outer casing  51  is connected to the top sub  52  by threads  53 . An upper piston  54  reciprocates in the cylindrical casing  51 , and pressurized working air is conducted through internal passageways  54  alternately to the upper end  54 B and lower end  54 C of the upper piston to effect its reciprocation in the outer cylindrical casing  51 , as is well known in art.  
         [0046]    Each downward stroke of the upper piston  54  inflicts an impact blow upon the anvil portion  55  of a drill bit  56  mounted within the hammer  11  of the percussive rotational impact hammer assembly  10  at the lower portion of the cylindrical casing  51 . A shock wave will be transferred through the bit to carbide inserts on the front surface of the drill bit  56 , thereby crushing rock material. The bit is simultaneously rotated via the rotational impact hammer assembly  10 . Pressurized air is supplied to the hammer  11  of the percussive rotational impact hammer assembly  10  from the lower piston end  54 C via channels  54 A (or through air channels in the casing  51  ) to the air supply port  20  of the hammer, and the piston  25  is rotated impacting against the hammer impact face  15 , as previously described. This rotational movement is then transferred to the drill bit  56  over the engaging surface  17  of the hammer, such as splines or other engagement means between the bit and the hammer member. To prevent the rotational impact hammer from oscillating, an indexing clutch mechanism, pawl or a ratchet or similar device  57  known in the art is provided to allow bit rotation in one direction only. The drill bit  56  rotates independently of the downhole hammer and drill string.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIGS. 8 and 8A illustrate an example of a wrench  60  having a percussive rotational impact hammer assembly  10  in accordance with the present invention for loosening or tightening a threaded member such as a bolt or a nut  61 , a threadedly connected rod or tube, or other assembly that requires high torque. The wrench  60  has an outer casing  62  in which the rotational impact hammer assembly  10  is installed, and is equipped with a handle  63  for ease of operation. When pressurized air is delivered to the hammer  11 , the piston  25  rotates to strike against the hammer impact face  15 . The rotational movement is transferred to the nut or bolt  61  via the engagement surface  17  of the hammer, which, in this case is in the shape of the nut or bolt itself. The orientation of the hammer  11  will determine the direction of the rotation.  
         [0048]    The calculations presented below indicate that much higher peak torques can be achieved with the present percussive rotational impact hammer assembly compared with conventional air motors.  
         [0049]    Conventional Air Motor, C  
         [0050]    The momentum M C , can be expressed  
               M   C     =         F   C        D        1   2       :             (   1   )                               
 
         [0051]    where: F C  is the force and D the diameter.  
         [0052]    The driving force  
         F C =Ap:   (2)  
         [0053]    where: A is the driving area and p is the acting pressure  
         [0054]    Impact motor, I  
         [0055]    The momentum M l , can be expressed  
               M   I     =         F   I        D        1   2       :             (   3   )                               
 
         [0056]    where: F l  is the impact force and D the diameter.  
               F   I     =       1   2        v                 A                   E   /     c   :                 (   4   )                               
 
         [0057]    where: v is the impact velocity, A is the area, E is the Young&#39;s modulus and c is the wave speed.  
         [0058]    Newton&#39;s first law applied on the impact piston  
         F d =ma   (5)  
         [0059]    where: m is the mass of the piston and a is the acceleration.  
         [0060]    Piston driving force F d    
         F d =Ap:   (6)  
         [0061]    where: A is the area and p is the acting pressure.  
         [0062]    (5),(6) and m=Alp and l is the length of the piston and p is the density of the piston  
         a=p/lp   (7)  
         [0063]    The acceleration a, can be expressed as  
             a   =       v   2          1     2      s                 (   8   )                               
 
         [0064]    where: v is the impact velocity and s is the piston stroke.  
         [0065]    (7) and (8)  
                 v   2          1     2      s         =       p   /   l                   ρ             (   9   )                               
 
         [0066]    (9), (4) and c 2 =E/p  
               F   I     =         1   2              2      sp       l                 ρ            A                   E   /   c       =           s                 p                 E       2      l            A               (   10   )                               
 
         [0067]    (10) and (3)  
               M   I     =           s                 p                 E       2      l            A                 D        1   2               (   11   )                               
 
         [0068]    The ratio λ=M l /M C , typical values would be that the length l of the piston is 10 times longer than the stroke s, Youngs modulus E for steel is 210 GPa and a typical value for a pressurized air is 30E5 Pa  
       λ   =           1   2          s   l          E   p         =           1   2          1   10            210      E9       30      E5           ≈   60                             
 
         [0069]    Thus, it may be concluded that the peak torque generated with the present percussive rotational impact hammer assembly could easily be 60 times higher than with a conventional air motor.  
         [0070]    While this invention has been described fully and completely with special emphasis upon preferred embodiments, it should be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.