This application claims the benefit of Serial No.: CL202201438, filed Jun. 1, 2022 in Chile, and which application is incorporated herein by reference. To the extent appropriate, a claim of priority is made to the above disclosed application.
This invention is related of the mineral drilling, probing and exploration industry, specifically it refers to a handling device that reduces risks and facilitates the handling of a drilling rod or tube of different sizes, which works in an automated way, reducing the intervention of operators in its operation.
Among the stages of the mineral exploration process is included the drilling or probing stage that aims to make holes or wells that allow characterizing the subsoil through obtaining samples in a study area. Drilling provides information on mineralization, verify grades, and determine mineral resources within the deposit, which makes it possible to evaluate and determine if the study area is economically exploitable.
The most widely used drilling systems are diamond drilling and reverse air drilling:
In the case of diamond drilling, one of the most widely used forms of drilling is rotary drilling. The components that comprise a drilling rig are:
The components described above are large and heavy, which in the systems currently used must commonly be handled manually by site operators or the operators partially participate in the handling processes supporting the action of devices. or systems that transport said components, being said risky operations being carried out slowly because the operators must take the pertinent safeguards to avoid accidents.
In particular, the handling of drilling rods or tubes presents various complexities when large volume and mass suspended loads are generated, which are an important cause of accidents at work.
In addition, on site, it will be necessary to handle drilling rods or tubes of different sizes or lengths depending on the particular needs of a drilling process or the availability of items on site. In this sense, it is important that a handling device be adaptable, allowing for the efficient handling of drill rods or tubes with different characteristics, without the need to use multiple devices or that their parts must be modified or replaced depending on the length of their operation. the drill rod.
In the state of the art, solutions have been developed that include the use of devices that allow the manipulation of drill rods, the manipulation of drill rods from a rod platform to the drilling rig and vice versa, in addition to the coupling between rods.
In this regard, the document CL0375-2014 can be mentioned, which describes a drilling and probing system, a manipulator arm and a method for diamond drilling or wire line that comprises at least one rig, at least one rotation head and at least one press. bars, where said tower supports a column of bars through the rotation head and presses bars at a defined angle, where the drilling system further comprises: a bar lifting system, comprising a bar lifting system command, a platform work areas, platform perimeter railings, access stairs, an inner tube tray and a sample tray, and an assistant command; a bar manipulator arm; and an arm bar head.
Another document is U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,443B1, which discloses a drill rod handling device adapted to be fixed to the frame of a drilling rig, comprising: elongated guide means extending longitudinally on one side of the drilling rig frame; mounting means for attaching said guide means to said frame; a guided carriage assembly for sliding movement longitudinally along said guide means; drive means for carrying out said sliding movement of the carriage assembly; a laterally projecting swing arm pivotally mounted on the carriage to rotate in an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the frame; a grip assembly pivotally connected to the free end of the rocker arm, comprising an elongated support arm and a pair of opposed grip assemblies arranged to secure a drill rod during transportation. The support arm includes guide assemblies for the drilling rod at its ends. The grip assembly may include rollers to support and rotate the drill rod to make or break it.
A third relevant document is the application WO 2020/154804 A1 that discloses a manipulator apparatus for bars, outer tubes, and inner tubes, which comprises an adapter manipulator element to be aligned with an elongated bar, which includes a set of alignment jaws on a first end of the manipulator element that supports an inner tube and/or an outer tube in coaxial alignment with the elongated bar; a set of high speed jaws at a second end of the manipulator adapted to support at least one inner tube and operable to cause translation of said inner tube into or out of the elongate bar; and a low speed jaw assembly, located between the alignment jaw assembly and the high speed jaw assembly, adapted to support an outer tube and operable to generate translation and rotation of the outer tube to screw the elongated bar. The low speed jaw assembly has two drive rollers and two driven rollers, the assembly being mounted in a frame on the manipulator element for translation with respect to said frame to impart simultaneous translation and rotation to the outer tube. In this document, the movement of one of the jaw assemblies is aimed at allowing it to perform two actions on an outer tube simultaneously and does not allow modifying the handling capacity of bars or tubes.
Finally, the closest prior art document corresponds to application CL 2516-2020, on behalf of the applicant, which discloses a handling device (1) associated with a drilling rig (2) to handle and transport drilling rods when it is required to extend or decrease the reach of the drilling string of the drilling rig (2), in an automated way reducing the risks in the operation, comprising: a support (4) comprising: —upper and lower guides (5, 6) that are mounted on the support structure (4); a sliding carriage (7) comprising: —upper (8) and lower (9) sliding supports; —upper and lower guides (10, 11); —a carriage actuator (20); —a carriage arm actuator (15); —adjustable stroke limiters (28); where the sliding carriage (7) slides horizontally on the support (4) by means of the carriage actuator (20) in the upper (5) and lower (6) guides on which the carriage (7) rests in a sliding manner by the upper (8) and lower (9) sliding supports in which the adjustable stroke limiters (28) limit the stroke of the carriage (7); an arm (13) that slides horizontally on the sliding carriage (7) through the action of the carriage arm actuator (15), where the arm (13) is made up of: —an arm support (16) made up of a parallel right (26) and left (27) vertical plate, on which is the arm (13) joined by an articulated joint; —An arm actuator (12) that joins the arm support (16) with the arm (13) and that controls the movement between both; —an upper (29) and lower (30) sliding support located in the arm support structure (16), so that the arm support (16) slides on the upper (10) and lower (11) guides of the sliding carriage (7); —at least two gripping means (34, 35) in the arm structure (13) and separated from each other to support the drilling rods, so that when the arm is in a horizontal position, said gripping means (34, 35) 35) remain in a position facing the ground surface; method for using a handling device (1) associated with a drilling rig (2). A disadvantage of this solution is that the gripping means (34, 35) in the arm structure (13) are in a fixed position, so that the separation distance between them is constant, thus handling the bars Drilling of certain lengths or sizes will be made difficult depending on the dimensions of said arm (13) and the arrangement of the gripping means (34, 35).
The above documents disclose drill rod or pipe handling devices that the movement of said device follows a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of a drilling rig which is not taught and/or suggests that a manipulator arm can move in one direction. perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the derrick allowing the arm to travel between the derrick and a side in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the derrick and, simultaneously, including at least one clamp or gripping means arranged in such a way that it can move or translate along the manipulator arm, varying the separation distance between the gripping means of the device.
The invention discloses a handling device associated with a drilling rig to manipulate drilling rods or tubes between a vertical position and a horizontal position in an automated manner that reduces risks in the operation, which is basically made up of a support, a carriage, and an arm with an arm support and at least two gripping means on the arm, separated from each other, for holding, capturing or gripping the drill rods, wherein at least one of said gripping means is movable in such a way that can move or move along the length of the arm, allowing the separation distance between the arm gripping means to be varied, facilitating the handling of different length perforation rods or pipes. The handling device allows the reach of the drill string to be extended or decreased from the derrick by transporting rods towards the derrick, adding them to the drill string, or transporting rods from the derrick, removing them from the drill string to deposit them in a storage place for said bars.
The carriage allows horizontal movement in the support on two cylindrical guides and, in turn, the arm and its support slide with respect to the carriage also horizontally on two other cylindrical guides, thus forming a mechanism that allows controlled horizontal movement. The movements of the carriage, the arm and its support are made by means of actuators. The arm and its support are joined by means of an articulated joint, which allows handling of the drilling rods or tubes from a position parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drilling rig and from a horizontal position, and vice versa. The arm operates automatically or is activated and/or controlled remotely from an external control panel or console.
The handling device for handling drill rods or pipes can be adapted to any working angle of the drill string, preferably between −90° to −45°.
The invention refers to a handling device that facilitates the handling of different-sized drill rods or tubes, also reducing the risks in handling a tube from the drilling line and depositing it horizontally in an automated manner in a storage place for said tubes and vice versa.
In the front view shown in
The connection between the sliding carriage (7) and the upper guide (5) and lower guide (6) of the support (4) is produced by means of two sliding supports (8) mounted on the upper part of the sliding carriage (7) and two sliding supports (9) mounted at the bottom of the sliding carriage (7), wherein said sliding supports (8, 9) are arranged between a left wall (23) and a right wall (23′) of the sliding carriage structure (7). The sliding carriage (7) comprises a cable-carrying chain (14), which comprises two opposite ends, being fixed at one end to the right wall (23′) of the sliding carriage (7) and at the opposite end it is fixed to a wall of the support (4) in such a way that it restricts the maximum horizontal displacement or stroke that the sliding carriage (7) can move. The horizontal sliding movement of the sliding carriage (7) is carried out by means of a carriage actuator (20) joined at one of its ends to the support structure (4), by means of an articulated joint (21) and, at the other end, to the right wall (23′) of the sliding carriage structure (7) by means of a fixed joint (22). The sliding carriage (7) further comprises an upper guide (10) and a lower guide (11) arranged between the left wall (23) and the right wall (23′) of the sliding carriage (7).
On the upper guide (10) and the lower guide (11) of the sliding carriage (17) the arm support (16) is mounted by means of a sliding joint that allows movement in a horizontal direction parallel to the floor on the sliding carriage (7), and through an upper sliding support (29) and a lower sliding support (30) located in the arm support structure (16), where said sliding supports (29, 30) are arranged between a right vertical plate (26) and a left vertical plate (27) of the arm support (16), being parallel to each other.
In one embodiment, the support guides (5, 6), carriage guides (10, 11) and sliding support (8, 9) of the sliding carriage (7) are cylindrical.
As shown in
To produce the horizontal movement of the manipulator arm (13), with respect to the sliding carriage (7), a carriage arm actuator (15) is used, which is attached by one of its ends to the left wall (23) of the sliding carriage (7).), by means of an articulated joint (24) and, at the other end, it is connected, by means of a fixed joint (25), to the right vertical plate (26) of the arm support (16). The horizontal movement of the arm support (16) on the sliding carriage (7) is regulated by two adjustable limiters (28) located on the left wall (23) of the sliding carriage (7). The arm support (16) also includes a cable chain (31), which includes two opposite ends, a first end being fixed to the right vertical plate (26) of the arm support (16) and a second fixed end. to the support (4), restricting the maximum horizontal displacement that the arm support (16) and the manipulator arm (13) can move.
The manipulator arm (13) comprises at least two capture or gripping means (34, 35) of the drilling rods, installed in the structure of the manipulator arm (13) and separated from each other, so that when the manipulator arm (13)) is in a horizontal position, said gripping means (34, 35) remain in a position facing the ground surface; and an adjustable stop (32) attached to the structure of the manipulator arm (13) by means of a square (33) located in an area close to the end of the manipulator arm (13), to regulate or ensure the alignment of the bar with the head when the manipulator arm (13) will position the rod in the drill string.
The handling device (1) is connected to a control console (3), which is located at a safe distance from the drilling rig (2) so that an operator controls and actuates the handling device (1) without intervening directly on it. The handling device (1) is connected to the control console (3) through a wired system or through a wireless connection. The control console (3) allows to activate and control the arm actuator (12), the carriage arm actuator (15), the carriage actuator (20) and the gripping means (34, 35).
In this invention, a manipulation device is provided that corresponds to a modification of the manipulation device (1), providing a new manipulator arm (13′), as shown in
The manipulator arm (13′) comprises means for capturing or gripping drilling rods, which include at least one clamp or gripper (36) and at least one press (37) installed in the structure of the manipulator arm (13′) and separated from each other, so that when the manipulator arm (13′) is in a horizontal position, said gripper (36) and press (37) remain in a position facing the ground surface, position shown in
In one embodiment, as shown in
The press (37) is mounted on a frame (38) in the structure of the manipulator arm (13′) that allows its movement on said frame (38), moving along the arm (13′) allowing to vary the distance of separation between the press (37) and the gripper (36) to facilitate the manipulation of perforation rods of different lengths.
In one embodiment, the frame (38) has a rectangular shape and is fixed to the structure of the manipulator arm (13′) so that the long sides of the frame (38) are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the manipulator arm (13′), being fixed on the face of the manipulator arm (13′) that faces the ground, floor or surface when the manipulator arm (13′) is in a horizontal position, as shown in
In one embodiment, the press (37) is mounted on the frame (38) by means of a movable support (50), which is linked to at least one advance actuator (39) to produce a sliding movement of the press (37) at along the frame (38) determining the stroke of the press (37). Said advance actuator (39) is located on a side face of the manipulator arm (13′), as shown in
In one modality, the gripper (36) and the press (37) allow manipulating drilling rods between 3 and 6 meters long. In another embodiment, the vise (37) can handle 3 meter long drill rods by itself without the need to use the grip of the drill rod with the gripper (36). Optionally, the manipulator arm (13′) It can include an additional press, for example, installed between the gripper (36) and the jaw (37), favoring the screwing or unscrewing of the drilling rod.
The handling device is connected to the control console (3), which is located at a safe distance from the drilling rig (2) so that an operator can control and activate the handling device without directly intervening on it. The handling device is connected to the control console (3) through a wired system or through a wireless connection. The control console (3) allows activating and controlling the arm actuator (12), the carriage arm actuator (15), the carriage actuator (20), the actuators inside the clamp junction box (43) and inside the jaw junction box (45), and the advance actuator (39) of the press (37).
In an alternative embodiment of the manipulator arm (13′), as shown in
As can be seen in
In one modality, the principle of operation of the manipulator arm (13′) for the manipulation device, when it includes a clamp (54), consists of screwing and unscrewing the drilling rods of a drilling string, for which it is used a hydraulic circuit that operates under the flotation principle according to the following sequence:
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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CL 202201438 | Jun 2022 | CL | national |