Hughes rotary cone drill bit
Broca de conos giratorios de Hughes
- Date
- 1909 · confidence high
- Place
- Houston, Texas, United States
- Credited to
- Howard R. Hughes Sr. and Walter Sharp
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
A bit with two toothed cones that roll over the bottom of the hole and crush hard rock, opening up formations previously unreachable. It allowed drilling to deeper oil.
Reed's tricone bit (1933) later replaced the two-cone bit.
What it led to
- drilling in hard rock and at greater depth
- the fortune of the Hughes Tool Company
- the tricone bit as the industry standard