E21B 31/12
Grappling tools
Official title: Grappling tools, e.g. tongs or grabs
E21B31/12 (Grappling tools) appears on 562 US grants and 420 published applications in this corpus.
Search patents in E21B- Granted patents
- 562
- Published applications
- 420
- Assignees
- 209
- Inventors
- 873
- Latest grant
- 6 Oct 2026
Filings by year
| Year | Granted patents | Published applications |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 6 | 0 |
| 1977 | 11 | 0 |
| 1978 | 9 | 0 |
| 1979 | 2 | 0 |
| 1980 | 6 | 0 |
| 1981 | 6 | 0 |
| 1982 | 4 | 0 |
| 1983 | 4 | 0 |
| 1984 | 5 | 0 |
| 1985 | 5 | 0 |
| 1986 | 4 | 0 |
| 1987 | 9 | 0 |
| 1988 | 4 | 0 |
| 1989 | 11 | 0 |
| 1990 | 5 | 0 |
| 1991 | 12 | 0 |
| 1992 | 8 | 0 |
| 1993 | 8 | 0 |
| 1994 | 6 | 0 |
| 1995 | 14 | 0 |
| 1996 | 4 | 0 |
| 1997 | 5 | 0 |
| 1998 | 9 | 0 |
| 1999 | 10 | 0 |
| 2000 | 8 | 0 |
| 2001 | 4 | 5 |
| 2002 | 9 | 3 |
| 2003 | 8 | 6 |
| 2004 | 7 | 12 |
| 2005 | 5 | 7 |
| 2006 | 7 | 8 |
| 2007 | 8 | 8 |
| 2008 | 4 | 7 |
| 2009 | 8 | 14 |
| 2010 | 10 | 14 |
| 2011 | 9 | 7 |
| 2012 | 8 | 15 |
| 2013 | 9 | 16 |
| 2014 | 18 | 22 |
| 2015 | 19 | 21 |
| 2016 | 18 | 24 |
| 2017 | 14 | 26 |
| 2018 | 28 | 21 |
| 2019 | 25 | 19 |
| 2020 | 24 | 26 |
| 2021 | 31 | 29 |
| 2022 | 31 | 28 |
| 2023 | 19 | 29 |
| 2024 | 28 | 24 |
| 2025 | 22 | 17 |
| 2026 | 14 | 12 |
By publication year. Applications have been published since 2001. 2026 runs to 8 Oct.
Subgroups
Granted patents
Recent patents
- Recoverable fishing tool6 Oct 2026US 12,753,669 B1Saudi Arabian Oil Company
- Axial position-controlled operation toolstring and method8 Sep 2026US 12,729,595 B2Archer Oiltools AS
- Hydraulic actuated tool catcher25 Aug 2026US 12,716,329 B2Schlumberger Technology Corporation
- Retrievable waste capsules, retrieval-tool, systems and methods thereof21 Jul 2026US 12,687,082 B2NuclearSAFE Technology LLC
- Methods and apparatus for casing recovery14 Jul 2026US 12,680,408 B2Ardyne Holdings Limited
- Downhole tool with cone assembly1 Oct 2026US 2026/0298046 A1Welltec A/S
- Casing running tool multi-gripper10 Sep 2026US 2026/0266145 A1Nabors Drilling Technologies USA, Inc.
- Tool for the recovery of a casing hanger from a wellhead10 Sep 2026US 2026/0266154 A1Aker Solutions Subsea AS
- Downhole tool23 Jul 2026US 2026/0210200 A1Welltec A/S
- Tool configured to engage an object25 Jun 2026US 2026/0176930 A1Schlumberger Technology Corporation
Most cited
By later US patents
- Method of extracting a hollow unit laid in the ground195US 5,984,582 A1999
- Apparatus and method for performing imaging and downhole operations at a work site in wellbores165US 6,041,860 ABaker Hughes Incorporated · 2000
- Methods and associated apparatus for downhole data retrieval, monitoring and tool actuation155US 6,343,649 B12002
- Self-driving and self-locking device for traversing channels and elongated structures140US 4,085,808 A1978
- Technique for running casing139US 4,100,968 A1978