Holder for drill steels and similar products

Abstract

 Holder for drill steels and similar objects, comprising several cavities (9) extending across the holder and having cross-sections essentially corresponding to half the cross-section of the drill steels so that several steels can be held together in the cavities between two holders facing each other. The holder is provided with locking means (12, 13) arranged in such a manner that two holders facing each other can be held together by mutual engagement of the locking means (12, 13).

Description

Background

[0001] The present invention relates to a holder for drill steels and similar products, which holder comprises a body with several cavities extending across the body and which have a cross-section essentially corresponding to half the cross-section of the drill steels, so that several drill steels can be held in place in the cavities between two holders which are facing each other and joined together.

[0002] DriLL steels are usually produced in Lengths of several meters with a crown or a chisel bit at one end and optionally a connection in the form of a flange or a collar at the other end. Transport and other handling of drill steels cause special problems since both the crown and the connection have to be protected against damages and since the steels, despite their Length, must not be bended. ConsequentLy drill steels are normally transported in holders, as above, made of wood and the steels are placed in the cavities between two halves which are then joined by nailing. Usually several drill steels, for example 5, are held by means of a holder at each end of the steels. These units are sometimes made into a bundle using bands to form larger packages with for example 10 units in each.

[0003] However, use of holders made of wood is associated with some problems. In the LongitudinaL direction the steels are stabilized only by the friction in the holder which is Low and variable. The nail joints tend to be weakened by the great torsional moments which arise at the handling and also when the wood shrinks when drying. Usually the cavities are bored in the wooden holders and this gives poor fit and friction against the generally polygonal cross-section of the drill steels. When the wood swells due to moisture absorption the steel can be deformed due to tensions which have arisen and repeated moisture variations during long storages times Loosen the joint. The cheapest timber can thus not normally be used. Further, joining by nailing is a labour intense operation.

The invention generally

[0004] The object of the present invention is to achieve a holder for drill steels and similar products which does not show the above described disadvantages. The invention relates particularly to a holder which is simply joined and gives a high and invariable friction to the steel drills without any significant weakening at transport and storage.

[0005] These objects are achieved by a holder having the characteristic features evident from the claims.

[0006] According to the invention the holder is provided with Locking means which can be locked by pressing and this means that the time-consuming nailing can be replaced by a rapid compression. The press force is decided by the dimension of the Locking mechanism and the friction will be more reproducable and invariable than at manual nailing. The force keeping the parts together can further be made very great if the pressing is carried out by mechanical devices. If the cavities are not formed by boring but by ridges on a plate shaped bottom part it is possible to adjust the cross-section of the cavities to the cross-section of the drill steels so that a safe holding is obtained and at the same time the amount of material required for the holder can be kept Low. The holder is suitably made of a thermoplastic material and hereby all problems connected with shrinking and swelling at moisture variations can be avoided and at the same time the friction properties are positively influenced.

[0007] Further objects and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following detailed description.

Detailed description of the invention

[0008] Although the invention will be described in relation to the preferred use for drill steels it is evident that it can be used for keeping several other types of goods together where there are similar problems with transport and handling, such as for example tubes and profiles. The holder is primarily intended for elongated goods having an essentially constant cross-section.

[0009] The holder shall be designed with at least two, and preferably several, recesses. For drill steels with lengths of about 3 to 6 m it is suitable to have 3 to 10 cavities and particularly around 5. It is then suitable to make the holder have a greater size across the direction of the cavities than along this and, for example the ratio can be between 3:1 and 10:1 and particularly around 4:1 and 7:1.

[0010] The holder shall be provided with Locking means which can be brought to engagement with each other by simply forcing the parts together or by similar action. The locking means should be an integrated part of the holder so that it will not be necessary to use separate means at the joining. The Locking means are suitably formed in one part with the rest of the holder. The locking means can for example be made up by barbed hooks on one of the surfaces and entrances adjusted to these on the other surface or by other forms of hook and eye. The Locking means should be placed between the cavities in the holders and can, in principle, be placed anywhere in the holder depth, seen in a direction parallel to the axes of the cavities. It is, however, preferred to place the locking means at the front and back surfaces of the holder in the above mentioned depth direction as this gives the most stable joining. It is then preferred that the Locking means are designed as eyes on one half of the holder and as hooks on the other half. It is further preferred that the distribution of the Locking means over the holder is such that these can be brought to engage when two identicaL holders are used in the fixture. If the Locking means are mutually different each holder shall thus be provided with both types of lock parts. The number of Locking means should exceed two and it is preferred that each cavity has one locking means on each side, both on the back and front side of the holder. When the Locking parts are different they can advantageously be placed alternate along the front and back side of the holder so that a symmetrical joint is obtained after pressing together.

[0011] The cavities in the holder for the drill steels can advantageously be formed by means of ridges placed on an essentially plane bottom plate, although the ridges advantageously form an integrated part of the bottom plate whereby the stand-up ridges are arranged between the cavities. The height of the bottom plate as well as the mutual distances between the cavities shall at first hand be dimensioned with respect to the fact that the thickest parts of the drill steels should not be able to get into contact with steels in adjacent cavities or steels in other similar holders even if the steel should happen to rotate in their cavities. When the bottom plate has a height greater than required with respect to strength cut-in portions in the material can as a rule be made in the bottom plate, preferably on its underside, ie on the side turned from the cavity. The ridges on upper side of the bottom plate can be solid and extend along the entire depth from the front to the back side of the holder along the cavities but instead it is preferred to place a Limited number of plates, with planes perpendicular to the axes of the cavities, along the sides of the cavities. The shape of the ridges and the positioning of them on the bottom plate is decided with respect to the cross-section of drill steel, which as a rule is polygonal.

[0012] To increase the friction between the holder and the drill steel it is possible to arrange crests or spots of thinner materials along the edges of the ridges which are turned towards the cavities or on the bottom plate so that a certain resilience and adjusting capability to the drill steel form is obtained. Such crests and spots can optionally be made of other material than the rest of the holder, such as of thermoplastic rubber. ALternativeLy, a higher friction can be obtained by placing a film of a softer plastic materiaL, a foamed plastic material or rubber, in the cavities before the drill steels are put inplace and the holder parts are joined.

[0013] The holder is preferably made of a thermoplast such as HD-poLyethyLene. To avoid cold flow the plastic can advantageously be reinforced, and can suitably be gLassfibre reinforced polypropylene. The holder is suitably made in one part, for example by injection moulding. Surfaces of another material for increasing the friction can optionally be co-moulded in the same production operation.

[0014] The holder is intended for use in the same manner as previously known holders have been used. A pair of holders are suitably placed at each end of the drill steels to be joined. If the holder is provided with suitably designed caviites the pair of holders can be fixed around the flange or collar of the connection which gives and additional guiding in the Length direcetion. Several units can be bundled together using bands according to previously known custom. The bundling is simplified if the sides of the holders which are turned outwards are provided with protrusions or guiding pins which can engage corresponding hollows in adjacent holders. If the holders are provided with further locking means of the type described above, turned away from the underside of the bottom plate, several units of drill steels which are hedl together can be formed into fixtures and bundled by means of these locking means making it unnecessary to use bands.

Description of drawings

[0015] Figure 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the holder according to the invention. Figure 2 shows drill steels held together between two such holders.

[0016] The holder is moulded in one part but structurally it comprises a bottom plate 1 with an essentially smooth upper side 2 having cut-in portions on the underside 3. In the remaining material holes 4 have been made to simplify fixing of a plate, name-plate, steering pins or similar. On the upper side 2 of the bottom plate a plurality of fairly thin ridges 5 have been arranged to be parallel to each other. SeveraL ridges are arranged in the depth from the holder front surface 6 to the holder back surface 7 so that the edges 8 of the ridges together with part of the upperside 2 of the bottom plate form the cavities 9 in which the drill steels shall be placed. From the figure it is evident that the cavities in this case are adjusted to drill steels with a hexagonal profile. Edges 10 and pins 11 for friction increase are distributed on the ridges and the bottom pLate. On the front and back sides, 6 and 7 respectively, of the holder eyes 12 and hooks 13 are placed between the cavities 9 alternating so that when two holders of the shown type are forced together the eyes on one will engage the hooks on the other and a Locking will be obtained at six positions along each side 6 and 7 of the holder.

Claims

1. Holder for drill steels and similar products comprising several cavities extending across the holder and having cross-sections essentially corresponding to half the cross-section of the drill steels so that several drill steels can be held inplace in the cavities between two holders which are facing each other and joined together, characterized in that the holder comprises Locking means (12,13) arranged in such a manner that two holders facing each other can be joined by mutual engagement of the locking means.

2. HoLder according to claim 1, characterized in that the locking means (12,13) are arranged in the area between or outside the cavities (9) at the front (6) and/or back (7) side of the holder, seen along the axes of the cavities.

3. Holder according to claim 2, characterized in that non-identical locking means (12,13) are positioned on the holder in such a manner that they engage when two identical holders are placed against each other.

4. Holder according to claim 3, characterized in that non-uniform locking means (12,13) are arranged on both the front side (6) and back side (7) of the holder alternating between each cavity (9).

5. Holder according to claim 1, characterized in that the holder comprises a bottom plate (1) and in that the cavities (9) are formed by several ridges (5) placed on the upper side (2) of the plate and the plane of the ridges (5) is essentially perpendicular to the axes of the cavities.

6. Holder according to claim 5, characterized in that cut-in portions (3) are arranged in the lower side of the bottom plate (1).

7. HoLder according to claim 6, characterized in that holes (4) are made in the material between the cut-in portions for insertion of pins and similar.

8. HoLder according to claim 5, characterized in that surfaces for increased friction in the form of thin crests (10) or spots (11) are arranged at the cavities (9) on the bottom plate (1) or the ridges (5).

9. Holder according to claim 1, characterized in that the holder is made of glassfibre reinforced thermoplast.

10. HoLder according to claim 9, characterized in that friction increasing surfaces (10,11) of other material than the main part of the holder are co-moulded with the main part.

Drawing