AN IMPROVED DRILLING OR BORING APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO SINKING ARTESIAN AND OTHER WELLS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Canard and Claude Mouillera, of
Boulevard de Strasbourg, 23, at Paris, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED DRILLING OR BORING APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO SINKING ARTESIAN
AND OTHER WELLS."
:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Canard and
Claude Mouillera at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 19th November 1875.
We, FRANÇOIS CANARD and CLAUDE MOUILLERA, of Boulevard de
Strasbourg, 23, at Paris, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED DRILLING OR BORING APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO
SINKING ARTESIAN AND OTHER WELLS," to be as follows:-
The sinking of artesian wells involves two distinct operations, the
boring and the clearing. The boring is effected by means of a special
instrument, the trepan, which is inserted into the sounding hole, and
the falling blow of which frequently and rapidly repeated gradually

page_text: augments the depth of the well. The detritus, sand, earth, or broken
rock proceeding from this work is then withdrawn from the well by a
ladle. These two operations are alternately effected, and in order to
effect the boring all the clearing apparatus have to be removed from the
well, which occasions a great loss of time.
In order to remedy these inconveniences we have constructed a new
apparatus, the object of the action of which is to unite into one and the
same operation the boring and the clearing of the well. This apparatus
is distinguished by a special combination of the trepan with the ladle.
It consists of a long stirrup with four branches, in the centre of which
is fixed a large hollow tube provided with helices. The four branches
are united at their summit by a socket united with the rod of the
apparatus, and at their base are terminated by forks, in which are fixed
strong teeth or knives executing the boring. At each blow of the
trepan the water contained in the well and proceeding from infiltrations
offers under the lower surfaces of the helices a certain resistance, which
has the effect of imparting a turning movement to the apparatus, so
that the teeth do not always strike at the same place. Lastly, the
clearing is effected automatically by means of the tube with helices
forming a ladle, the base of which is arranged with a valve opening
under the pressure of the pounded materials.
This helix arrangement, which at each blow produces the automatic
rotation of the trepan, has allowed us to effect a very important improve-
ment in the mode of suspending the apparatus. This improvement,
which is one of the essential characteristics of our Invention, consists in
replacing by a' metallic flexible and continuous cable the ordinary
suspension rod composed of rigid elements, which it is necessary to
dismount at each removal of the trepan. Instead of this long and
laborious manoeuvre a simple rolling or unrolling action is sufficient to
induce the working of the boring and clearing of the well. The work
of piercing the well will thus be expedited in a very remarkable manner,
and an important economy of time and cost will be effected.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said François Canard and Claude Mouillera in the
Great Scal Patent Office on the 17th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FRANÇOIS
CANARD and CLAUDE MOUILLERA, of Boulevard de Strasbourg, 23, at
Paris, send greeting.
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17
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WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto us, the said François Canard and Claude
Mouillera, Her special license that we, the said François Canard and
Claude Mouillera, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said François Canard and Claude Mouillera, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an,Invention for
"AN IMPROVED DRILLING OR BORING APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO SINKING ARTESIAN
AND. OTHER WELLS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said François Canard and Claude Mouillera, our executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain.
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said François Canard and Claude
Mouillera, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Our Invention relates to a drilling or boring apparatus applicable
to the sinking of artesian and other wells, illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings, in which, Fig. 1 is an elevation of the said improved
apparatus; Fig. 2, a central sectional elevation of the same; and Fig. 3,
a. bottom plan view of the same.

page_text: parts.
Our Invention consists,―
Firstly. In applying the helix to the drill, in dispensing thus with
the stiff rods, nippers, or click hooks in ordinary use at the present time,
the automatic rotary motion of the drill no longer necessitating this
stiffness, and in making the drill act by means of a cable instead of the
stiff rods, the pitch of the helix, its shape, diameter, and height varying
according to the weight of the drill, the diameter of the well to be sunk,
and the nature of the soil that has to be crossed.
Secondly. In combining with the drill a central tube, which serves as
a bit for removing the cuttings as they are produced by the action of
the drill.
And, Thirdly. In combining with the drill a case, frame, or guide
above the drill, by means of which the drill is prevented from turning
aside, and a vertical boring is obtained.
Thus, our improved apparatus is composed substantially of a drill A,
in the centre of and above which is adapted a tube B serving as a bit,
and which is provided at its lower part with a valve C, which opens to
allow the cuttings formed by the working of the drill to enter as they
are formed into the tube of a double conical helix D, which winds round
the bit or tube B, and a guide apparatus E consisting of a case or frame
above the drill or its framework, and the diameter of which is about
4 inches (about 10 centimètres) smaller than that of the drill in order
to leave space for the necessary passage of the tubes which it may be
required to place for the hollowing of the well.
The apparatus is suspended to a flexible metallic cable by a double-
linked chape, by means of which a regular and continuous rotary
motion may be imparted to it. The apparatus works in the water; its
fall can be regulated between about 4 and 12 inches (10 to 30 centi-
mètres), according to the hardness of the ground to be gone through.
The depth of the water in which the apparatus works should be from
about 8 to 16 feet (about 2 mètres, 50 centimètres to 5 mètres),
according to the diameter of the hole to be bored that the drill may be
able to turn suitably. When the drill is raised again it turns a little
from left to right, in consequence of the special arrangement of the
helices round the tube and the resistance of the water on these helices.

page_text: The drill drops upright again by reason of the shape and weight of the
helix.
-
This improved apparatus presents incontestable advantages over all
used up to the present time for the same purpose. The doing away
with the stiff rods allows of realising a considerable economy of time
and workmanship required in the use of these stiff rods, the cuttings
can thus be drawn out as soon as they are produced, the boring and
cleansing of the well taking place simultaneously; the drill can be
raised again to the light in relatively a very short space of time to empty
the tube or bit containing the cuttings, in short, a continuous work can
be done with a single machine.
Having thus described our Invention and the manner of carrying it
into effect, what we claim and desire to secure by the said Royal Letters
Patent is,―
1. In constructing the drilling or boring apparatuses the combination.
of the helix with the drill, allowing of dispensing with the stiff rods, and
substituting instead of the said rods a flexible metallic cable, substantially
as above and for the purposes described.
2. In constructing the drilling or boring apparatuses the combination
of a central automatic valve bit with the drill, substantially as above and
for the purposes specified.
3. In constructing the drilling or boring apparatuses the combination
with the drill of a guide preventing its turning aside, substantially as
above described.
4. The arrangement and combination of the different parts, the whole
forming one single and the same instrument, and working all in one
piece, substantially as above and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, we, the said François Canard and Claudo
Mouillera, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirtieth
day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-six.
FRANÇOIS CANARD. (L.S.)
CLAUDE MOUILLERA. (L.S.)