Roller cone bit

[2] The oil boom in the southern United States in the early 20th century lead to the need for higher efficiency drill bits for well boring.

After the Spindletop Gusher, Howard R. Hughes Sr. recognized the growing demand for oil and the ineffectiveness of the standard fishtail bit against harder rock formations.

The first roller cone patent was for the rotary rock bit and was issued to American businessman and inventor Howard Hughes Sr. in 1909.

American businessman Walter Benona Sharp worked very closely with Hughes in developing the rock bit.

In 1933 two Hughes engineers, one of whom was Ralph Neuhaus, invented the tricone bit, which has three roller cones.

[4][5] Drilling bits are attachments that are added to the end of a drillstring to perform the cutting necessary to penetrate the many rock layers between Earth's surface and oil/gas reservoirs.