US3123163A

US3123163A - Device for soil samples

Info

Publication number: US3123163A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1964-03-03
Anticipated expiration: 1981-03-03

Description

March 3, 1964 B. M. OVERBY DEVICE FOR son. SAMPLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 27, 1962 s Y a R m m m2 0 W m w, M m M EX N March 3, 1964 B. M. OVERBY DEVICE FOR SOIL SAMPLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 27, 1962 BENJAMm M- OVERBY AT-roRN'e'vs United States Patent Ofi ice 3,123,163 DEVlt'JE FER S951 SAMPLES Eeujnni'n M. fiver-by, 16%) Mary St., l-l'cmerville, Ga. Filed duly 27, 1952, er. No. 212,897 9 Gaines. (El. 175-464) This invention relates to a device for taking soil sampies, and in particular to a cylindrical, tubular bore, with cutting teeth on the lower edge, adapted for annular boring to cut a soil sample in the form of a cylindrical mass.

In the determination of soil properties, an important item is density, which requires data concerning both the volume and weight or" a given quantity of soils. Weig t determination is a fairly simple matter, but volumetric determinations are attended with some ditldculty, is therefore an object of the present invention to e a sampling device which automatically extracts a Clnllllc, volume of soil, of fixed amount, in each sarn- Another object, related to the foregoing, is to r vie for removal of the sarnple, with the device, in may rnun'i aniount. Yet another object is to provide a for retrieving small amounts of sample remainin the bore hole after first extraction. in still greater earticular, it is an object to provide an auxiliary tool, cooperating with the device, both to corneact the main sample, and serve the additional function of removing re .-ue from the bore hole.

A still further object is to provide a turning handle for the device, which is alternatively connectiole to the tamper-retriever, as operated within the coring device.

These and other ends, whic will be apparent, are attained by the present invent on, which may be briefly characterized as comprising a tube, with toothed, lower edge, and a cooperati g, flat guide plate, adapted for ground placement at the bore site, and havin an opening with an upwardly extending sleeve, which receives guides the tube, and which acts as a llll'lli'. stop, defining the lim t of penetration of the tube into the ground, by contact with a cross rod carried transversely on the tube, which rod is carried by a turning handle, and is alternatively connectible to the tube or a tarnping-retrieving devi e, operable wit :1 the tube.

For a more detailed description of the invention, reference taken on the plane of the line l of EEGURE 3;

FlGURE 5 is a perspective view showing a cylindrical plug of soil after ejection from the coring tool;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 2, showing the tube replaced in the bore hole, and the turning handle connected to the retrieving device instead of to the tube; FIGURE 7 is a sectional View, taken on the plane or the line 7-7 of FEGURE 6, on enlarged scale;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of the cutting t eth on the lower edge of the tube;

FIGURE 9 is an elevational view of one or" the teeth of FIGURE 8, taken from inside the tube, and

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view taken on the line lillb of FIGURE 9.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, there is shown, in FIGURE 1, a device comprising, essentially a base guide lb, and a cutting tube 32. The

l mented Mar., 3, 11864 base it) comprises a planiiorm ring, or annulus 14, adapted for surface contact of its bottom side even, horizontal zone of ground surface at the site where a sample is to be taken. losing from the central opening of ring 14 is a cylindrical sleeve l6, the inner diameter of which is size to receive the tube 12 in a snug lit, for sliding and rotation. The shape and areal extent of the base ring la may be vaiea, and is shown, for instance, in PZGURES 2, 3, 6 and 7 as elongate, rectangular plate The bottom edge of tube 12 is provided with saw teeth 3 later to be descri ed in detai with reference to FlGUi-JES 8-10.

V i ng tube 12 is rotated and lifted by means of a T-forin handle 'ng a cross rod 29, and a depending rod 22, the latte carrying, at its lower end, a depending yoke 9 V a cross bar The lower ends of the arms 0. olre have bores 2-3, ali ned on a common axis, sized to snugly receive a coupling pin 3-8, by means or" which the yolre is coupled to coring 1'2, the latter b g provided with diametrically opposite bores 32 near .s top edge, for this purpose.

With the handle comiected the coring tube by means of the pin fill, the bottom end of the tube is inserted into guide sleeve la; of the base plate and lowered until ground contact is made, after which, tut 'ng of the handle is communicate to the tube through pin 39, and as the teeth out the earth n a ring-form path, the tube gradually descends, isola g a cylindrical plug or" earth 556 (FIGURES 3 and 5 rthe process. The cutting and low 0 proceed until the extending ends of coupling pin come to bear on the to; of guide tube 16, which contact edectively stops the downward movement. Thus, the po on of the top edge of sleeve 36 determines the deeth or" and the slugs 36 are therefore always of e same length. Since the diameter of the tube also rerna. is const the vo -nine of sample taken will always be the same, and this need only be determined once.

Aft-er full pen tration has been made, the next step is to remove the soil slug, and it would be most desirable if the tube could be immediately d out, along with the of slug or core. However, this will usually require some compacting, and therefore the handle is disconnected by with wal of pin 38 to permit access by a iHHlZBlilg tool. Any suitable tool may be employed for this purpose, but as will be seen hereinafter, the oresent invention conternr-lates a dual purpose auxiliary tool, which is adapted for tanzping, in addition to rernoving sample residue from the bore hole.

As seen in FEGURES 8-19, the cuttin teeth are such as may be fabricated by machining operations on the wall of coring tube 2. Thus, each tooth has a straigl' front or leading edge 38, parallel to the axis of the tube, and a diagonally disposed following edge 4:"? on its underside, such that when viewed sidewi e, the teeth have the form of an inverted right triangle. As best seen in FEGURE 8, each tooth is cut away on the inside, to provide a triangular recess, similar in shape to the tooth, with a bottom wall 42 parallel to diagonal, under side at; of the tooth, and a back wall 4 3-, of wedgeform cross-section, providing a triangular configuration to the forward face 353 of the tooth. As a consequence of the slope of back wall 44, the bottom Wall 4-2 is also wedge-shaped, and meets the back wall in a comrnon verter: 46. Near its leading end, the shelf defined by bottom wall 42 is beveled, at 48, for a short distance to provide a sharp leading edge St). It will be seen that the slanted faces 48, 42 and d4 all contribute to a cleaning function, wherein the soil plowed up by leading edge 5% is carried upwardly and inwardly, and is thus removed from the annular path of the cutter. in this process, the additional material compacted into the core or slug as- 3 sists in the provision of a coherent mass which will cling to, and be removed with, the coring tube.

However, the compactness and cohesion of the material will necessarily be less pronounced at the bottom of the fully bored slug, and here there will also be less tendency to cling to the tube. Consequently, it may be necessary to employ a final extracting operation, and to this end the invention contemplates an auger-type tool, cooperating with the coring cylinder. This unit, indicated as a whole by the numeral 52 in FIGURE 1, comprises a central rod 54, carrying, on its lower end, an auger bl" d as, shown as consisting of a single convolution, and w ch may be simply fabricated by radially slitting and bending a metal disc or washer. The element 56 is sized for a sliding and rotating fit in coring tube ii, For guiding its co-action with tube 12, the auger rod 5 also carries a disc or washer 58, and an intermediate ring 69, the latter attached by spiders or spokes 62, and providing clearance for moving earth, when necessary. At its upper end, the auger rod is provided with an upper bore 64, and a lower bore 65, engageable alternatively by the pin 39, so that the auger depth may be controlled by dwell of the pin either on the top edge of tube 12, or on the top edge of sleeve 16, when carried in the bores in tube 12. The latter case is illustrated in FIGURE 7, wherein the yoke 24 of handle 29 is also shown as engaged by the pin 39, for ready manipulation of the auger, precise limitation of penetration, and easy withdrawal of the whole assembly, together with the final increment of soil sample. When it is desirable or convenient to use the auger, dissociated from the tube, the pin 3% is placed in upper bore 64 of the auger rod, and the auger inserted in tube 12 as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 7. in this case the auger is rotated by means of the pin 3%, and is stopped in its downward movement when the pin contacts the top edge of tube 12, the bore 64 being so located that when such contact is made, the cutting edge of the auger is at the bottom of the borehole, that is, in the plane of the cutting edge of teeth 3 of the coring tube. Since the tube 12. is not turned in this operation, the depth of bore is not increased.

In a typical operation, a base plate, such as the plate 18 is laid on a level stretch of ground, with guide sleeve 16 overlying the location where the core sample is to be taken. If necessary, the long, flat sides of the plate may be employed to trowel the bore area to level condition. With the handle and tube assembled, through pin 3%, the tube is inserted into guide sleeve 16 into contact with the ground surface, and rotation of the tube commenced, coupled with downward pressure on the handle, which causes the tube to descend as its teeth cleave the earth in an annular path. In this progress the earth loosened by the cutting teeth is continuously moved inwardly, compacting into the central core being cut. When pin 39 comes to rest on the top edge of sleeve 16 the penetration is arrested, and after a further, slight rotation of the tube, the device is lifted out of the bore hole, after tamping, of such is necessary, carrying with it most of the slug 36, the latter being deposited in a receptacle for further treatment, such as the pan 6% in FIGURE 5.

Necessarily in most cases there will be a certain amount of the soil sample at the bottom of the slug which is too loose to adhere to the slug and be carried out with it. This residue is conveniently taken out by means of the auger blade 56. For this purpose the tube 12 is replaced in the hole, and the auger blade introduced into the tube, to pick up the residue in a rotary motion, after which the tube, with the auger inside is again removed, and the balance of the sample, carried out on the auger blade, is added to the pan 68. To determine the average density of the sample, it is only necessary to weigh it, since the volume is known for the particular instrument used, and remains the same with each use. If the density of the soil in dry condition is sought, the moisture will be removed from the sample by treatment in an oven, or suit- .d. able exposure in a warm, dry atmosphere, and the sample weighed in dry condition. As stated above the angering of the sample residue may be effected either with the auger attached to the coring tube, or separate therefrom.

While a certain, preferred embodiment has been shown and described, modifications will be apparent, in the light of this disclosure, and the invention should not, therefore, be deemed as limited, except insofar as shall appear from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

l Vhat is claimed is:

1. A device for taking soil samples, comprising a first cylindrical tube, with cutting teeth on its lower edge with slant surfaces arranged to move soil from the path of the teeth axially and radially of the tube, a planiform ground plate, a second cylindrical tube extending from one side of said plate, with axis perpendicular thereto, and sized to receive said first tube for rotating and sliding motion, said plate having a through opening coextensive with the passage in said second tube, said first tube having a pair of bores near its upper edge on opposite sides, arranged on a common axis disposed diametrically of the tube, a pin receivable in said bores and adapted to overlie the top edge of said second tube, a T-form handle having a depending yoke adapted for movement along the passage of said first tube, and having a pair of aligned bores adapted to receive said pin; and an auger comprising a rod having a pair of longitudinally spaced bores near one end, each sized to receive said pin to provide alternative positions of use, said rod carrying an auger blade of at least one convolution at its other end, and a pair of circular guide means above said blade, said guide means and said lade sized for a sliding and rotating fit in said first tube and the lowermost of said guide means having substantial, through openings.

2. A device as in claim 1, said ground plate being rectangular and oblong.

3. A device as in claim 1, said lowermost guide means being of ring-form, with radial spiders.

4. A device for taking soil samples, comprising a first cylindrical tube, with cutting teeth on its lower edge with slant surfaces arranged to move soil from the path of the teeth axially and radially of the tube, a planiform ground plate, a second cylindrical tube extending from one side of said plate with axis perpendicular thereto, and sized to receive said first tube for rotating and sliding motion, said plate having a through opening coextensive with the passage in said second tube, said first tube havnig a pair of bores near its upper edge on opposite sides, arranged on a common axis disposed diametrically of the tube, a pin receivable in said bores and adapted to overlie the top edge of said second tube, a T-form handle having a depending yoke adapted for movement along the passage of said first tube, and having a pair of aligned bores adapted to receive said pin; and an auger comprising a rod having a pair of longitudinally spaced bores near one end, each sized to receive said pin to provide alternative positions of use, said rod carrying an auger blade of at least one convolution at its other end, and a pair of circular guide means above said blade, said guide means and said blade sized for a sliding and rotating fit in said first tube. V

5. A device for taking soil samples, comprising a first cylindrical tube, with cutting teeth on its lower edge with slant surfaces arranged to move soil from the path of the teeth axially and radially of the tube, a planiform ground plate, a second cylindrical tube extending from one side of said plate, with axis perpendicular thereto, and sized to receive said first tube for rotating and sliding motion, said plate having a through opening coextensive with the passage in said second tube, said first tube having a pair of bores near its upper edge on opposite sides, arranged on a common axis disposed diametrically of the tube, a pin receivable in said bores and adapted to overlie the top edge of said second tube, a handle having a depending portion adapted for movement along the passage of said first tube, and having a bore adapted to receive said pin;

and an anger comprising a rod having a pair of longitudinally spaced bores near one end, each sized to receive said pin to provide alternative positions of use, said rod carrying an anger blade of at least one convolution at its other end, and a pair of circular guide means above said blade, said guide means and said blade sized for a sliding and rotating fit in said first tube.

6. A device for taking soil samples, comprising a first cylindrical tube, with cutting teeth on its lower edge With slant surfaces arranged to move soil from the path of the teeth axially and radially of the tube, a planiform ground plate, a second cylindrical tube extending from one side of said plate, with axis perpendicular thereto, and sized to receive said first tube for rotating and sliding motion, said plate having a through opening coextensive With the passage in said second tube, said first tube having a pair of bores near its upper edge on opposite sides, arranged on a common axis disposed diametrically of the tube, a pin receivable in said bores and adapted to overlie the top edge of said second tube, a handle having a depending portion adapted for movement along the passage of said first tube, and having a bore adapted to receive said pin; and an anger comprising a rod having a bore near one end, also adapted to receive said pin, said rod carrying an auger blade of at least one convolution at its other end, and a pair of circular guide means above said blade, said guide means and said blade sized for a sliding and rotating fit in said first tube.

7. A device for taking soil samples, comprising a first cylindrical tube, with cutting teeth on its lower edge with slant surfaces arranged to move soil from the path of the teeth axially and radially of the tube, a planiform ground plate, a second cylindrical tube extending from one side of said plate, with axis perpendicular thereto, and sized to receive said first tube for rotating and sliding motion, said plate having a through opening coextensive with the passage in said second tube, said first tube having a pair of bores near its upper edge on opposite sides, arranged on a common axis disposed diametrically of the tube, a pin receivable in said bores and adapted to overlie the top edge of said second tube, a handle having a depending portion adapted for movement along the passage of said first tube, and having a bore adapted to receive said pin; and an auger comprising a rod having a bore near one end, also adapted to receive said pin, said rod carrying an auger blade of at least one convolution at its other end, and guide means for maintaining said rod axially of said first tube.

8. A device for taking soil samples, comprising a first cylindrical tube, with cutting teeth on its lower edge, a planiform ground plate, a second cylindrical tube extending from one side of said plate, with axis perpendicular thereto, and sized to receive said first tube for rotating and sliding motion, said plate having a through opening coextensive with the passage in said second tube, said first tube having a pair of bores near its upper edge on opposite sides, arranged on a common axis disposed diametrically of the tube, a pin receivable in said bores and adapted to overlie the top edge of said second tube, a handle having a depending portion adapted for movement along the passage of said first tube, and having a bore adapted to receive said pin; and an auger comprising a rod having a bore near one end, also adapted to receive said pin, said rod carrying an anger blade of at least one convolution at its other end, and guide means for maintaining said rod axially of said first tube.

9. A device for taking soil samples, comprising a first tube, with cutting teeth on its lower edge, a planiform ground plate, a second tube extending from one side of said plate, With axis perpendicular thereto, and sized to receive said first tube for rotating and sliding motion, said plate having a through opening coextensive With the passage in said second tube, said first tube having a pair of diametrically opposite bores near its upper edge, a pin receivable in said bores and adapted to overlie the top edge of said second tube, a handle having a depending portion adapted for movement along the passage of said first tube, and having a bore adapted to receive said pin; and an auger comprising a rod having a bore near one end, also adapted to receive said pin, said rod carrying an auger blade of at least one convolution at its other end, and guide means for maintaining said rod axially of said first tube.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 370,810 Newman Oct. 4, 1887 568,077 Thonar Sept. 22, 1896 719,800 Hogle Feb. 3, 1903 1,340,927 Whitman May 25, 1920 2,084,686 Howard June 22, 1937 2,152,707 Orr Apr. 4, 1939 2,385,441 Hill Sept. 25, 1945