Patent ID: 8132617

Claim:
A gripper block arranged for use with a conveying apparatus arranged for conveying continuous rod in a well bore in which the conveying apparatus comprises a pair of continuous drive chains supported on a frame to be rotatable within a generally common plane and such that the drive chains comprise opposed, elongate parallel runs spaced apart to form a path arranged to engage the continuous rod passing therebetween, the gripper block comprising: a carrier body arranged to be mounted onto the chain, the carrier body being formed of a first metal; and a gripping element supported on the carrier body so as to be arranged to engage the continuous rod and so as to be arranged to be readily separated from and reattached to the carrier body, the gripping element being formed of a second metal which is softer than the first metal and which is arranged to be softer than the continuous rod; wherein the gripping element comprises a main portion including a recess extending in a longitudinal direction across a working face of the main portion so as to be arranged to receive a portion of the continuous rod therein and a protrusion extending from the main portion opposite the recess in the working face; and wherein the carrier body comprises a socket arranged to receive the protrusion of the gripping element therein, the socket comprising two side walls extending in the longitudinal direction of the recess along opposing sides of the socket and two end walls extending between the two side walls at opposing ends of the socket such that the protrusion is received between the two side walls and between the two end walls in the socket.