Claims
- 1. A roller cone drill bit, comprising:a drill bit body with an exterior and defining a bit diameter, a longitudinal axis, and an internal fluid plenum for allowing fluid to pass through, and having at least a first cone; an opening in said drill bit body adjacent said first cone from exterior to said interior plenum; a nozzle retention body for attachment to said drill bit body adjacent said first cone, said nozzle retention body having an interior channel that is in fluid communication with said internal fluid plenum and with fluid outlet means for fluid discharge from said interior channel; wherein said fluid is directed along a centerline within 3 degrees of parallel to said longitudinal axis and said first cone includes at least one cutting element with a cutting tip, the shortest distance between said cutting tip and said centerline being less than 3 percent of said bit diameter.
- 2. The roller cone rock bit of claim 1, said fluid outlet means including a nozzle retained in said nozzle retention body, said nozzle directing said fluid.
- 3. The roller cone drill bit of claim 1, wherein said fluid outlet means includes a nozzle receptacle defining a centroid, said centroid further defining a projected fluid line that is within 3 degrees of parallel to said longitudinal axis.
- 4. The roller cone drill bit of claim 3, wherein said projected fluid path is a face normal projected fluid path.
- 5. The roller cone drill bit of claim 3, wherein said projected fluid path is a parallel-to-centerline projected fluid path.
- 6. The roller cone drill bit of claim 3, wherein said projected fluid path is a projected average fluid path derived from combining directionality information of individual elements at the nozzle exit.
- 7. The roller cone drill bit of claim 1, wherein said fluid is directed along a projected fluid path that is within 2 degrees of parallel to said longitudinal axis.
- 8. The roller cone drill bit of claim 7, wherein said projected fluid path is a face normal projected fluid path.
- 9. The roller cone drill bit of claim 7, wherein said projected fluid path is a parallel-to-centerline projected fluid path.
- 10. The roller cone drill bit of claim 7, wherein said projected fluid path is a projected average fluid path derived from combining directionality information of individual elements at the nozzle exit.
- 11. The drill bit of claim 1, further comprising a second cone, wherein said outlet of said nozzle retention body is closer to said first cone than said second cone.
- 12. The drill bit of claim 11, wherein said first cone is a leading cone and said second cone is a trailing cone.
- 13. The drill bit of claim 11, wherein said first cone is a trailing cone and said second cone is a leading cone.
- 14. The drill bit of claim 2, further comprising:said nozzle having an exit port with an exit surface, said exit surface defining a projected fluid path, wherein said first cone includes a number of cutting elements, the distance from said projected fluid path to said first cone being the minimum measured from the centroid of said exit surface projected along said projected fluid path to the closest point attained by the tips of said cutting elements.
- 15. The drill bit of claim 2, wherein said at least one cutting element is formed at least partially of sintered tungsten carbide.
- 16. The drill bit of claim 2, wherein said at least one cutting elements is formed at least partially of a diamond coating over the sintered tungsten carbide.
- 17. The drill bit of claim 2, wherein the cutting elements are at least partially protected with a hard metal coating.
- 18. The drill bit of claim 2, wherein the cutting elements are of milled teeth.
- 19. The drill bit of claim 2, wherein the cutting elements are of milled teeth at least partially treated to provide more wear resistance.
- 20. The roller cone drill bit of claim 1, further comprising:a second cone; a second nozzle retention body for attachment to said drill bit body adjacent said first cone; said second nozzle retention body having an interior channel that is in fluid communication with said internal fluid plenum and with fluid outlet means for fluid discharge from said interior channel; wherein said fluid from said second nozzle retention body is directed along a projected fluid path, wherein said second cone includes at least one cutting element with a cutting tip, the shortest distance between said cutting tip on said second cone and said projected fluid path being less than 3% of said bit diameter.
- 21. The roller cone drill bit of claim 20, wherein said projected fluid path is generally vertical.
- 22. The roller cone drill bit of claim 20, wherein said projected fluid path is at an angle other than generally vertical.
- 23. The drill bit of claim 1, wherein said nozzle retention body includes a leading and a trailing face, and wherein said fluid outlet is more proximate to said leading face than said trailing face.
- 24. The drill bit of claim 1, wherein said nozzle retention body includes a leading and a trailing face, and wherein said fluid outlet is more proximate to said trailing face than said leading face.
- 25. The drill bit of claim 1, wherein said nozzle retention body attaches to said drill bit body by a keyed engagement.
- 26. The drill bit of claim 1, wherein said nozzle retention body is metallurgically bonded to said bit body.
- 27. The drill bit of claim 26, wherein the metallurgical bond is a weld.
- 28. The drill bit of claim 1, wherein the nozzle retention body is mechanically attached to said bit body.
- 29. The drill bit of claim 28, wherein the method of attachment is screw or bolt.
- 30. The drill bit of claim 1, wherein as said first cone rotates, said at least one cutting element on said first cone enters said directed fluid for cleaning.
- 31. The drill bit of claim 1, wherein said fluid is directed along a projected fluid path that is within 3 degrees of parallel to said longitudinal axis, said projected fluid path being computed by a mass-weighted average fluid directionality.
- 32. The roller cone drill bit of claim 1, further comprising:a second cone, wherein said fluid outlet means is a nozzle retention port laterally offset closer to said first cone than to said second cone.
- 33. The roller cone drill bit of claim 2, further comprising:a second cone, wherein said centerline is parallel to said longitudinal axis and offset closer to said first cone than to said second cone.
- 34. The roller cone drill bit of claim 2, wherein said nozzle retention body has a centerline parallel to said longitudinal axis and said fluid outlet means is at an angle to said centerline of said nozzle retention body.
- 35. The roller cone drill bit of claim 34, said nozzle retention body and said drill bit body being constructed for keyed attachment between said nozzle retention body and said drill bit body.
- 36. The roller cone drill bit of claim 1, wherein said drill bit body has a top end, a bottom end, and a side between said top end and said bottom end, said opening being located on said side.
- 37. The drill bit of claim 1, wherein said fluid impinges on the well bore bottom to within 3 degrees of perpendicular to said well bore bottom.
- 38. A roller cone drill bit, comprising:a drill bit body with an exterior and defining a bit diameter, a longitudinal axis, and an internal fluid plenum for allowing fluid to pass through, and having at least a first cone; an opening in said drill bit body adjacent said first cone from exterior to said interior plenum; a nozzle retention body for attachment to said drill bit body adjacent said first cone, said nozzle retention body having an interior channel that is in fluid communication with said internal fluid plenum and with fluid outlet means for fluid discharge from said interior channel; wherein said fluid impinges on the well bore bottom perpendicular to said well bore bottom and wherein said fluid is directed along a centerline and said first cone includes at least one cutting element with a cutting tip, the shortest distance between said cutting tip and said centerline being less than 3% of said bit diameter.
- 39. A drill bit, comprising:a drill bit body defining a longitudinal axis and a bit diameter; a first nozzle retention body engaged with said drill bit body, said nozzle retention body having a first fluid exit port and being positioned between and adjacent a first pair of roller cones; a second nozzle retention body engaged with said drill bit body, said second nozzle retention body having a second fluid exit port and being positioned between a second pair of roller cones; a first nozzle engaged with said first nozzle retention body and defining a first projected fluid path that is generally parallel to said longitudinal axis; a second nozzle engaged with said second nozzle retention body and defining a second projected fluid path that is not generally parallel to said longitudinal axis; a third nozzle attached to said drill bit body and defining a third projected fluid path; wherein said first fluid exit port is closer to one of said first pair of roller cones than the other and wherein said roller cone closer to said first fluid exit port includes at least one cutting element with a cutting tip, the shortest distance between said cutting tip and said first projected fluid path being less than 3% of said bit diameter.
- 40. The drill bit of claim 39, wherein said third projected fluid path is generally parallel to said longitudinal axis.
- 41. The drill bit of claim 39, wherein said third nozzle attaches to said drill bit body via a third nozzle retention body, said third nozzle retention body having a third fluid exit port and being positioned between a third pair of roller cones and further wherein said third projected fluid path is generally parallel to said longitudinal axis.
- 42. The drill bit of claim 41, wherein said third fluid exit port is closer to one of said third pair of roller cones than the other, and wherein said roller cone closer to said third fluid exit port includes at least one cutting element with a cutting tip, the shortest distance between said cutting tip and said third projected fluid path being less than 3% of said bit diameter.
- 43. The drill bit of claim 39, wherein said drill bit has three rolling cones.
- 44. The drill bit of claim 39, wherein said third nozzle attaches to said drill bit body via a third nozzle retention body, said third nozzle retention body having a third fluid exit port and being positioned between a third pair of roller cones and further wherein said third projected fluid path is not generally parallel to said longitudinal axis.
- 45. The drill bit of claim 39, wherein said third projected fluid path is not generally parallel to said longitudinal axis.
- 46. The drill bit of claim 39, wherein said third nozzle attaches directly to said drill bit body.
- 47. The drill bit of claim 39, wherein said third nozzle attaches to said drill bit body via a third nozzle retention body, said third nozzle retention body having a third fluid exit port that is positioned generally midway between a third pair of roller cones.
- 48. The drill bit of claim 39, wherein said first projected fluid path is computed by computational fluid dynamics using a mass-weighted average.
- 49. A roller cone drill bit, comprising:a drill bit body with an exterior and defining a bit diameter, a longitudinal axis, and an internal fluid plenum for allowing fluid to pass through, and having at least a first cone; an opening in said drill bit body adjacent said first cone from exterior to said interior plenum; a nozzle retention body for attachment to said drill bit body adjacent said first cone, said nozzle retention body having an interior channel that is in fluid communication with said internal fluid plenum and with fluid outlet means for fluid discharge from said interior channel; wherein said fluid is directed along a centerline within 3 degrees of parallel to said longitudinal axis and said first cone includes at least one cutting element with a cutting tip, the shortest distance between said cutting tip and said centerline being less than 3 percent of said bit diameter. a second cone, wherein said centerline is offset closer to said first cone than to said second cone.
- 50. The roller cone drill bit of claim 49, further comprising:wherein said centerline is parallel to said longitudinal axis.
- 51. A drill bit, comprising:a drill bit body defining a longitudinal axis and a bit diameter; a first nozzle retention body engaged with said drill bit body, said nozzle retention body having a first fluid exit port and being positioned between and adjacent a first pair of roller cones; a second nozzle retention body engaged with said drill bit body, said second nozzle retention body having a second fluid exit port and being positioned between a second pair of roller cones; a first nozzle engaged with said first nozzle retention body and defining a first projected fluid path that is generally parallel to said longitudinal axis; a second nozzle engaged with said second nozzle retention body and defining a second projected fluid path that is not generally parallel to said longitudinal axis; wherein said first fluid exit port is closer to one of said first pair of roller cones than the other and wherein said roller cone closer to said first fluid exit port includes at least one cutting element with a cutting tip, the shortest distance between said cutting tip and said first projected fluid path being less than 3% of said bit diameter.
- 52. The drill bit of claim 51, wherein said first projected fluid path is computed by computational fluid dynamics using a mass-weighted average.
- 53. A drill bit, comprising:a drill bit body defining a longitudinal axis and a bit diameter; a first nozzle retention body engaged with said drill bit body, said nozzle retention body having a first fluid exit port and being positioned between and adjacent a first pair of roller cones, said first fluid exit port defining a first projected fluid path that is generally parallel to said longitudinal axis; a second nozzle retention body engaged with said drill bit body, said second nozzle retention body having a second fluid exit port and being positioned between a second pair of roller cones, said second fluid exit port defining a second projected fluid path that is generally parallel to said longitudinal axis; wherein said first fluid exit port is closer to one of said first pair of roller cones than the other and wherein said roller cone closer to said first fluid exit port includes at least one cutting element with a cutting tip, the shortest distance between said cutting tip and said first projected fluid path being less than 3% of said bit diameter.
- 54. The drill bit of claim 53, further comprising:a third nozzle retention body, said third nozzle retention body having a third fluid exit port, defining a third projected fluid path, and being positioned between a third pair of roller cones.
- 55. The drill bit of claim 54, wherein said third projected fluid path is generally parallel to said longitudinal axis.
- 56. The drill bit of claim 54, wherein said third fluid exit port is closer to one of said third pair of roller cones than the other, and wherein said roller cone closer to said third fluid exit port includes at least one cutting element with a cutting tip, the shortest distance between said cutting tip and said third projected fluid path being less than 3% of said bit diameter.
- 57. The drill bit of claim 54, wherein said drill bit has three rolling cones.
- 58. The drill bit of claim 54, further comprising a third nozzle attached to said drill bit body and, wherein said third nozzle attaches to said drill bit body via said third nozzle retention body, said third nozzle retention body having a third fluid exit port and being positioned between a third pair of roller cones and further wherein said third projected fluid path is not generally parallel to said longitudinal axis.
- 59. The drill bit of claim 54, wherein said third projected fluid path is not generally parallel to said longitudinal axis.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/547,691 filed Apr. 12, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,571,887 issued on Jun. 3, 2003 and entitled Directional Flow Nozzle Retention Body, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
US Referenced Citations (21)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2328234 |
Feb 1999 |
GB |
2348449 |
Oct 2000 |
GB |
2348912 |
Oct 2000 |
GB |
1613563 |
Dec 1990 |
SU |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (3)
Entry |
UK Search Report for British Application No. GB 0109304.6 dated Aug. 23, 2001 (2 p.). |
Magnum Rock Bits; Smith Tool, a Business Unit of Smith International, Inc.; 1998; (16 p.). |
United Kingdom Patent Search for Application No. GB0206832.8 dated Jul. 1, 2002, 3 pages. |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/547691 |
Apr 2000 |
US |
Child |
09/814916 |
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US |