Patent Grant
7549489
The present invention relates to the manufacturing of drill bit assemblies for use in oil, gas and geothermal drilling. Drill bits typically have a number of cutting elements brazed onto a drill bit body. Such cutting elements generally comprise a diamond surface bonded to a carbide substrate, which substrate is generally brazed into pocket formed in the body of the drill bit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,144 to Barr et al., which is herein incorporated by reference for all that it contains, discloses a method of mounting a cutter, having a stud portion defining one end thereof and a cutting formation generally adjacent the other end, in a pocket in a drill bit body member. The method includes the steps of forming a channel extending into the pocket, inserting brazing material into the channel, inserting the stud portion of the cutter assembly into the pocket, then heating the bit body member to cause the brazing material to flow through the channel into the pocket, and finally re-cooling the bit body member. During the assembly of the various pieces required in the steps mentioned immediately above, a spring is used, cooperative between the cutter and the bit body member, to retain the stud portion in the pocket and also to displace the stud portion toward the trailing side of the pocket.
In one aspect of the present invention, a drill bit has a body intermediate a shank and a working face, the working face comprising a plurality of blades formed on the working face and extending outwardly from the bit body. Each blade comprises at least one cutting element. The drill bit also has a jack element coaxial with an axis of rotation and extending out of an opening formed in the working face. A portion of the jack element is coated with a stop-off.
A superhard tip may be bonded to a distal end of the jack element. The superhard tip may comprise a material selected from the group consisting of diamond, polycrystalline diamond, natural diamond, synthetic diamond, vapor deposited diamond, silicon bonded diamond, cobalt bonded diamond, thermally stable diamond, infiltrated diamond, layered diamond, monolithic diamond, polished diamond, course diamond, fine diamond, cubic boron nitride, diamond impregnated matrix, diamond impregnated carbide, metal catalyzed diamond, or combinations thereof. The jack element may have a surface with a concave region The jack may also comprise a material selected from the group consisting of steel, a refractory metal, carbide, tungsten carbide, cemented metal carbide, niobium, titanium, platinum, molybdenum, diamond, cobalt, nickel, iron, cubic boron nitride, and combinations thereof. The jack element may either be press fit into a steel sleeve bonded to the working face of the drill bit or it maybe brazed into or onto the working face of the drill bit.
The stop-off may have a melting point higher than 1000 degrees Celsius. In some embodiments, the stop-off may be boron nitride. However, in other embodiments, the stop-off may comprise a material selected from the group comprising copper, nickel, cobalt, gold, silver, manganese, magnesium, palladium, titanium, niobium, zinc, phosphorous, boron, aluminum, cadmium, chromium, tin, silicon, tantalum, yttrium, metal oxide, ceramic, graphite, alumina or combinations thereof. The stop-off may be layered onto the jack element.
In another aspect of the invention, a method has steps for manufacturing a drill bit. A drill bit has a working face and an axis of rotation and a bit body intermediate a shank and the working face. A steel sleeve may be brazed into a pocket formed in the working face of the drill bit. A portion of the jack element may be covered with a stop-off. The stop-off may be applied to the jack element by a process of layering, dipping, spraying, brushing, flow coating, rolling, plating, cladding, silk screen printing, taping, masking or a combination thereof. The jack element may then be press fit into the steel sleeve and at least one cutting element may be brazed onto the working face adjacent the pressed fit jack element.
The stop-off may be boron nitride or it may comprise a material selected from the group comprising copper, nickel, cobalt, gold, silver, manganese, magnesium, palladium, titanium, niobium, zinc, phosphorous, boron, aluminum, cadmium, chromium, tin, silicon, tantalum, yttrium, metal oxide, ceramic, or combinations thereof The material may be combined with an acrylic binder that is dissolved in a solvent in order to form the stop-off. The solvent may comprise xylene, toluene, butyl acetate, or a combination thereof.
The stop-off may be non-wetting to a braze used for bonding the cutting elements onto the working face or the jack element into a pocket formed in the working face. This may be beneficial in that the jack element may be protected from the braze during the manufacturing process. In some applications, the portion of the jack element may be covered with a stop-off comprising a wax or a lacquer. The jack element may have a concave region.
a is a cross-sectional diagram of another embodiment of a drill bit.
In the preferred embodiment, a drill bit 104 may have a body 200 intermediate a shank 201 and a working face 202 as depicted in
Referring now to
A portion of the jack element 204 may be covered with a stop-off so as to prevent contact between the jack dement 204 and excess braze that may melt during the manufacturing of the drill bit 104. In some embodiments, the stop-off may cover a portion 206 of the jack element 204 extending out of the opening 205 formed in the working face 202. In other embodiments, the stop-off may cover the whole jack element 204.
a discloses a drill bit 104 with a jack element 204 brazed within the opening directly to the bit body. The stop-off 400 is coated onto the portion of the jack element below and above the opening 205 of the pocket. The braze 207 is allowed to bond a majority of the surface area of the jack element to the wall of the pocket, but not the portion of the jack element proximate the opening of the pocket. In some embodiments of the invention, the jack element may have a plurality of fluid holes. These holes may also be protected from braze material with a stop-off. In some embodiments, the stop-off may actually plug off the fluid holes during manufacturing.
In the embodiment of
In
Whereas the present invention has been described in particular relation to the drawings attached hereto, it should be understood that other and further modifications apart from those shown or suggested herein, may be made within the scope and spirit of the present invention.
This Patent Application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/737,034 filed on Apr. 18, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,405 and entitled Rotary Valve for Steering a Drill Bit. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/737,034 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/686,638, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,424,922, filed on Mar. 15, 2007 and entitled Rotary Valve for a Jack Hammer. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/686,638 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/680,997, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,419,016, filed on Mar. 1, 2007 and entitled Bi-center Drill Bit. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/680,997 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/673,872, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,484,576, filed on Feb. 12, 2007 and entitled Jack Element in Communication with an Electric Motor and/or generator. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/673,872 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/611,310, now U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0142264, filed on Dec. 15, 2006 and which is entitled System for Steering a Drill String. This Patent Application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/278,935, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,426,968, filed on Apr. 6, 2006 and which is entitled Drill Bit Assembly with a Probe. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/278,935 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/277,394, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,398,837, which filed on Mar. 24, 2006 and entitled Drill Bit Assembly with a Logging Device. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/277,394 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/277,380, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,337,858, also filed on Mar. 24, 2006 and entitled A Drill Bit Assembly Adapted to Provide Power Downhole. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/277,380 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/306,976, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,610, which was filed on Jan. 18, 2006 and entitled “Drill Bit Assembly for Directional Drilling.” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/306,976 is a continuation-in-part of 11/306,307, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,225,886, filed on Dec. 22, 2005, entitled Drill Bit Assembly with an Indenting Member. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/306,307 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/306,022, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,198,119, filed on Dec. 14, 2005, entitled Hydraulic Drill Bit Assembly. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/306,022 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/164,391, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,270,196, filed on Nov. 21, 2005, which is entitled Drill Bit Assembly. All of these applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
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|---|---|---|---|
| 4535853 | Ippolito et al. | Aug 1985 | A |
| 4683781 | Kar et al. | Aug 1987 | A |
| 4907665 | Kar et al. | Mar 1990 | A |
| 5732784 | Nelson | Mar 1998 | A |
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| 6454030 | Findley et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20070221415 A1 | Sep 2007 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | 11737034 | Apr 2007 | US |
| Child | 11750700 | US | |
| Parent | 11686638 | Mar 2007 | US |
| Child | 11737034 | US | |
| Parent | 11680997 | Mar 2007 | US |
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| Parent | 11673872 | Feb 2007 | US |
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