The present invention relates generally to a tool that may be used in connection with a horizontal directional drilling system, comprised of a plurality of drill pipes that are joined together at pipe joints and to a method for using such a tool. More particularly, the invention comprises a tool that is used to perform various functions on or with respect to the drill pipe sections of the drill string on the exit side of the bore.
Many utility lines, pipelines and other underground components are installed in or under the ground by boring a borehole in a generally-horizontal direction in the ground rather than by digging a trench. This type of construction, which is sometimes referred to as “horizontal boring”, “directional drilling” or “horizontal directional drilling”, reduces the need to dig a trench in order to install an underground component, and thereby saves several steps in the installation process. If no trench is dug, there will be no trench to fill, and no disturbed surface to reclaim. A directional drilling machine may be operated to drill a bore along a planned path underground. Typically, the planned path is generally arcuate in shape from the entry point at the surface of the ground, continuing underneath a roadway, river or other obstacle, to an exit point on the surface on the other side of the obstacle.
There are several operations that must be performed on the exit side of the bore where the drill string emerges from the ground. For example, the boring tool may be disconnected from the end of the drill string and the pipe sections of the drill string may be disconnected one by one from the drill string. If a backreamer is used, it may be installed in place of the boring tool. High torque is typically used in order to loosen the boring tool or a pipe section for removal from the drill string or to install the backreamer on the drill string. Most commonly, the drill crew will use a pair of large wrenches such as pipe wrenches or oil field tongs to remove the boring tool and each pipe section, or to install a backreamer. Frequently, the drill crew will connect the handle of the wrench to the bucket of a hydraulic excavator using a chain or strap, and then use the excavator to apply a vertical force to the bucket while the drilling rig operator rotates the drill string to loosen the boring tool or a pipe section or to tighten the backreamer on the end of the drill string. If the drill string is to be disassembled on the exit side, the individual pipe sections may be placed in a stack or in a pipe section magazine. These pipe sections are heavy and long, and it is labor-intensive to disconnect them manually on the exit side of the drill site.
The invention is directed to a system for the makeup and breakout of drill pipe. The system comprises a frame, a pair of retainers supported on the frame, and defining a retainer axis, a first wrench supported on the frame, and a second wrench supported on the frame and independently movable relative to the first wrench. The first and second wrench define a wrench axis which is not collinear to the retainer axis.
The invention is also directed to method for breakout of pipe sections from a drill string. The drill string comprises multiple pipe joints using a tool comprising a first wrench, a second wrench, and a retainer assembly. The method comprises pushing the drill string through the ground with a drill rig located at an entry side of a borehole until at least one pipe section extends from the ground at an exit side of the borehole. A spinner assembly is provided proximate the exit side of the borehole. The spinner assembly comprises a spinner and a tray. The spinner assembly aligns to the drill string, and the pipe joint is gripped with the first wrench and the second wrench such that the first wrench is located on a first side of the pipe joint and the second wrench is located on a second side of the pipe joint. The second wrench is rotated relative to the first wrench to break the at least one pipe section from the drill string at the pipe joint. The pipe section is rotated and spun and grasped with the retainer assembly, and removed from the tray.
Referring now to the drawings,
A typical drill rig includes a thrust frame that can be aligned at an oblique angle with respect to the ground. Mounted on a drive carriage on the thrust frame is a pipe-rotation mechanism that is adapted to rotate and thrust or retract the drill string 22. The drive carriage also includes a carriage drive assembly that is adapted to push the carriage along the thrust frame. The combination of rotation of the drill string 22 and longitudinal movement by the drill rig 20 advances the drill string through the ground.
As the drilling operation proceeds, the drill string 22 is lengthened by adding pipe sections to the string. The pipe sections may be provided with a male threaded connector on one end and a female threaded connector on the other end. Each time a pipe section is added to the drill string, the pipe section being added is aligned with the drill string and the threaded connector on its far end is mated with the threaded connector on the near end of the drill string. Generally, the drill string 22 is restrained against rotation while the pipe being added is rotated to engage the threaded connector on the far end of the pipe section with the threaded connector on the near end of the drill string to create a threaded connection between the components.
When the boring tool reaches a desired depth during the drilling operation, it can be directed along a generally horizontal path and back up to break the surface of the ground at a distant exit point 28. To control the direction of the bore 24, a boring tool with an angled-face or a deflection member may be used. When the direction of the bore 24 must be changed, the boring tool is positioned with the angled-face or deflection member oriented to cause the tool to move in the desired direction. This ability to change the direction of travel of the drill string 22 also allows the operator to steer the drill string around underground obstacles like large roots and rocks.
When the pilot bore 24 is complete, the boring tool is removed from the second end of the drill string 22, and the pipe sections are disconnected from each other to disassemble the drill string on the exit side of the bore. In the alternative, the bore 24 may be enlarged by replacing the boring tool with an enlarging device, commonly known as a backreamer. If a backreamer is used, it will be connected to the far or distal end of the drill string 22 in place of the boring tool and moved through the pilot bore back towards the boring machine, either with or without rotation of the drill string. The backreamer expands and stabilizes the walls of the bore, generally while pulling a product pipe or other underground component through the enlarged bore behind it. Movement of the backreamer back towards the drilling machine is accomplished by driving the drive carriage in a rearward direction on the thrust frame to withdraw a pipe section, disconnecting the withdrawn pipe section from the drill string, connecting the next pipe section remaining in the drill string to the pipe rotation mechanism on the drive carriage and repeating the process until all of the pipe sections have been withdrawn from the ground.
With reference now to
The tool 30 comprises a frame 34. The frame 34 is connected to the construction machine 32 by an attachment assembly 42 which will be described in greater detail with reference to
With reference now to
With continued reference to
Bracket assemblies 72 provide attachment between the components 62, 64, 66, 68, 70 of the tool and the frame 34. In one embodiment, the roller assembly 70 and retainer assemblies 66, 68 may be detachable, or movable along the frame 34. As shown, the bracket assemblies 72 have multiple configurations relative to the frame 34. The bracket assemblies 72 may be welded to a bottom side of the frame 34, or may include a top portion 73 that extends over the top of the frame 34. Further, a cap 74 may be bolted on top of the bracket assembly 72.
The first vice assembly 62 and second vice assembly 64 each comprise a first jaw 84 and second jaw 86. First jaw 84 and second jaw 86 are mounted so as to be moveable with respect to each other between an open position and a closed position in which the jaws may grip a pipe section. An actuator 88 is mounted on the first jaw 84 and adapted to move the first jaw between the open position and the closed position. Similarly, an actuator 88 is mounted on the second jaw 86 and adapted to move the second jaw between the open position and the closed position. The actuators 88 may comprise a hydraulic motor or other suitable actuator. Thus, first jaw 84 and second jaw 86 of the first vice assembly 62 will cooperate to grip a pipe section when in the closed position.
With reference now to
The first vice assembly 62 is shown offset from second vice assembly 64. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that second vice assembly 64 may alternatively be fixed and first vice assembly 62 may be moveable with respect thereto. Furthermore, in another embodiment of the invention, both vice assemblies 62, 64 may be moveable with respect to each other to apply a rotational force to the drill string 22 (
With reference now to
The second retainer assembly 68 is shown with identical components as the first retainer assembly 66, spaced apart from the first retainer assembly to provide two retaining locations for the pipe section 80. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the first 66 and second 68 retainer assemblies may be given different locations along the frame 34. As shown, the second retainer assembly 68 is proximate the second end 40 of the frame 34. Further, it is anticipated that the functions of the tool 30 may be performed with only one retainer assembly.
The roller assembly 70 comprises a means for rotating the pipe section 80 that is held in the first retainer assembly 66 and in the second retainer assembly 68 about a long axis of the pipe section. The roller assembly 70 may be used to rotate the drill pipe section 80 to engage the threads or disengage the threads of the threaded connectors of drill pipe section 81. In the embodiments shown herein, limited radial extent of the rotational force that second vice assembly 64 would require that second vice assembly grip, twist and release the pipe section 80 multiple times to disconnect it from the drill string. The roller assembly 70 is provided to overcome this limitation.
The roller assembly 70 comprises first roller jaw 130 comprising a first roller 134 and second roller jaw 132 comprising a second roller 136. Each of first roller jaw 130 and second roller jaw 132 is pivotally mounted with respect to the frame 34. Preferably, each roller jaw 130, 132 comprises a plurality of rollers that are rotationally driven. The roller assembly 70 further comprises a motor 138 to rotate the rollers 134, 136. As shown in
With continued reference to
Control valve assembly 150 may include a radio control receiver that is operatively connected to the hydraulic actuators 88, 116, 122, 140 of the tool 30 and the cylinders 50, 60 (
While the majority of this description describes using the tool 30 for the purpose of removing, or breaking out, sections of pipe from the drill string 22, one of ordinary skill could envision the opposite purpose. For example, after a drill bit (not shown) used for primary boring operations is removed from the exit point 28 of the bore 24 and removed from the drill string 22, a backreamer or other tool can be provided to the drill string. This is accomplished by “making up” the drill string 22 using the tool 30. As shown in
With reference now to
The tool 200 comprises a frame 202. The frame 202 is connected to the construction machines 32 (
As shown in
With reference again to
The first retainer assembly 208 comprises both fixed tines 220 and movable tines 222. The fixed tines 220 provide a channel defining a retainer axis 252 to allow the pipe section to be correctly positioned within the first retainer assembly 208. The movable tines 222 are movable between an open position and a closed position, such that a pipe section may be held in the first retainer assembly 208 when the movable tines are in the closed position. The second retainer assembly 210 similarly comprises fixed tines 220 and movable tines 222 that may be independently or cooperatively operated with the first retainer assembly 208 between an open position and a closed position.
The wrench assembly 206 comprises a first wrench 226 and a second wrench 228 (
With reference again to
With reference now to
With reference now to
The spinner substructure 304 comprises a first support tray 314, a second support tray 316, a plurality of spinners 318, a table actuator 320, and a pivot connection 322. The first support tray 314 and the second support tray 316 provide locations for adjacent pipe sections (not shown) to rest when the spinner substructure 304 is in operation. The spinners 318 are provided to rotate a distal pipe section relative to a drill string 22 (
Likewise, the table actuator 320 may comprise a hydraulic cylinder or other linear actuator. The table actuator 320 manipulates the spinner substructure 304 about the pivot connection 322 to match an exit angle of an exit side pipe such that the exit side pipe is supported on the first 314 and second 316 support tray. The first 314 and second 316 support tray may be fixed relative to one another, or may be movable relative to one another by several means, including hydraulically telescoping a frame element 326 of the spinner substructure 304. As shown in
One of skill in the art will appreciate that the frame 302 of the spinner assembly 300 may include and support a power pack (not shown) to power the table actuator 320, spinners 318, and other dedicated elements of the spinner assembly. Additionally, a power pack may be utilized to power elements of the tool 200 (
With reference to
Although this description contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments thereof.
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/005,275, filed on May 30, 2014, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/094,321, file Dec. 2, 2013, which claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/732,068, filed Nov. 30, 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
62005275 | May 2014 | US | |
61732068 | Nov 2012 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 14094321 | Dec 2013 | US |
Child | 14726767 | US |