Patent 7722127 was granted and assigned to Schlumberger on May, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
In one aspect of the present invention, a degradation assembly comprises a holder attached to a driving mechanism and comprises a longitudinal central bore. The bore comprises an opening at a distal end from the driving mechanism. A pick comprising a body intermediate a shank and an impact tip is connected to the holder, the shank being disposed in the central bore of the holder and the body extending from the opening of the bore. A tensioning mechanism is disposed within the bore and is adapted to put the shank in axial tension.