Method and Apparatus for Managing Rod Changes in Horizontal Directional Drill

摘要

This disclosure concerns methods and apparatuses for managing drill rods in horizontal direction drilling, among other things. Various embodiments concern a horizontal directional drilling machine comprising a rack frame, a carriage longitudinally movable along the rack frame, a mechanical arrangement coupled to the carriage and the rack frame, the mechanical arrangement controlling relative movement between the carriage and the rack frame, a thrust motor coupled to the carriage such that thrust or pullback output from the thrust motor moves the carriage relative to the rack frame, a gearbox mounted on the carriage, the gearbox longitudinally translatable along the carriage, the gearbox comprising a rotation motor, a spindle attached to the gearbox, the spindle rotatable by the rotation motor and having a distal end coupling, the distal end coupling configured to attach to the proximal end of a drill rod, a vise assembly mounted on the rack frame, the vise assembly comprising a proximal vise linearly and rotationally moveable with respect to the rack frame, the proximal vise comprising a clamping mechanism configured to secure the drill rod by clamping onto the drill rod, a rotation encoder sensor configured to output a rotation encoder signal indicative of rotation of the spindle, a rack encoder sensor configured to output a rack encoder signal indicative of relative movement between the carriage and the rack frame, a float sensor configured to output a float signal indicative of relative movement between the carriage and the gearbox, and control circuitry comprising a processor and memory, the processor configured to execute program instructions stored in memory, processor execution of the stored program instructions causing the control circuitry to determine the relative positioning of the gearbox relative to the proximal vise based on the rack encoder signal and the float signal, position the drill rod within the proximal vise using the determined relative positioning of the gearbox and the thrust motor, determine a state of threaded coupling between the drill rod and a drill string based on the rotation encoder signal and the float signal, and rotate the drill rod using the spindle rotated by the rotation motor based on the determined state of the threaded coupling.