Tool for Sinking Wells. Page: 2 of 3
[1], 2 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this patent.
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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
JAMES D. STEPHENSON, OF BOERNE, TEXAS.
TOOL FOR SINKING WELLS.
SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,082, dated June 16, 1891.
Application filed September 29, 1890. Serial No. 366,439. (No model.)To all whomnb it may con0cernP:
Be it known that I, JAMES D. STEPHENSON,
a citizen of the United States, residing at
IBoerne, in the county of Kendall and State of
5 Texas, have invented certain new and useful
Improvements in Tools for Sinking Wells, of
which the following is such a full, clear, and
exact description as will enable any one skilled
in the art to which it appertains to make and
io use the same, reference being had to the ac-
companying drawings, forming part of this
specification.
My invention relates more particularly to
improvements in tools for sinking Artesian
S5 wells.
The object of the invention is to construct
a tool for such purpose that will perform its
duty under all circumstances and excavate
as well in hard material as in soft earth, as
20 quicksand and cavey formations, and will
not have its functions interfered with when
an insufficient flow of water is encountered.
The invention consists of a socket-piece,
preferably in the center of which is arranged
25 a diaphragm or central plate carrying at the
lower end two hinged valves opening upward,
the lower extremity of the central plate or
diaphragm forming a chisel or cutting-edge
protruding from the end of the tool. The
30 central plate or diaphragm is secured to the
tool, so that it can be readily detached, where-
by when the tool is lifted to the surface of
the ground the excavated material contained
therein will readily free itself from the tool.
35 The invention will best be understood by
referring to the accompanying drawings, in
which-
Figure 1 is an elevation of a tool made in
accordance with my invention, illustrating
40 the same as partly cut away to show the in-
ternal arrangement. Fig. 2 is an elevation
thereof taken at right angles to the plane of
Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through
the center of the tool on the line 3 3 of Fig.
45 1, and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line
4 4 of Fig. 3.
The same figures of reference indicate the
same parts throughout the several views.
The tool is made up of a stub 5, which has
50 a screw-thread 6 at its upper part, by which
it may be secured to the bit which is flexibly
suspended above. To arms 7 7 that dependfrom the stub 5 is secured a hollow cylinder
8, at the lower end of which is a cutting ring
or annulus 9. 55
In sinking wells by the dropping method,
for which the present tool is adapted, and in
strata that could notbe penetrated by the ordi-
nary open-sided drop-auger or earth-socket,
when an insufficient flow of water is encoun- 6o
tered, the contents slip from the tool and thus
prevent the well from being excavated. So,
also, when alternate layers of slate and clay
or other hard and soft formations are en-
countered, they cause the ordinary open- 65
sided earth-socket to expand and lock in the
well. The tool has therefore to be aban-
doned and more tedious methods resorted to.
The object of the present invention is to
obviate these difficulties and to construct a 70
tool that will perform the required duty un-
der all the circumstances named. For this
purpose I provide the socket8S with a central
diaphragm or plate 10, which is removably
held to the stub 5 by a key 11, that passes 75
through perforations in said stub and the
upper part of said plate. This key is held in
place by a set-screw 12. The lower part of
the plate or diaphragm 12 is provided with
semicircular hinged valves 13 13, which open So
upwardly. These valves are adapted to fit
snugly the inside of the tool. The hinges of
said valves are riveted on the central dia-
phragm taperingly, so as to offer as little ob-
struction as possible to the material passing 85
in the tool. The lower end of this central
diaphragm is fashioned into a cutting-edge
that precedes the annular cutting-edge 9,
making a chisel cutting-edge, which acts to
penetrate the different strata, so that the an- 90
nular cutting-edge 9 will more easily perform
its work.
The tool is intended to be used by raising
it by any suitable machinery and allowing it
to fall. The material cut loose by it will, as 95
the tool descends, push the valves 13 upward,
which will close as the tool is raised, and will
retain the material therein, preventing any
flow of water that is encountered from wash-
ing said material out of the tool, or causing ioo
the contents thereof to slip from it. So, also,
when quicksand, mud, or other soft earth is
encountered, the valves 13 will allow such
material to readily pass into the tool, but
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Stephenson, James D. Tool for Sinking Wells., patent, June 16, 1891; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth172716/m1/2/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.