E21B 7/046
Horizontal drilling
Official title: {horizontal drilling (drilling with mechanical conveying means E21B7/003)}
E21B7/046 (Horizontal drilling) appears on 986 US grants and 942 published applications in this corpus.
Search patents in E21B- Granted patents
- 986
- Published applications
- 942
- Assignees
- 351
- Inventors
- 1,479
- Latest grant
- 6 Oct 2026
Filings by year
| Year | Granted patents | Published applications |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 11 | 0 |
| 1977 | 12 | 0 |
| 1978 | 5 | 0 |
| 1979 | 5 | 0 |
| 1980 | 1 | 0 |
| 1981 | 6 | 0 |
| 1982 | 5 | 0 |
| 1983 | 9 | 0 |
| 1984 | 7 | 0 |
| 1985 | 4 | 0 |
| 1986 | 8 | 0 |
| 1987 | 7 | 0 |
| 1988 | 4 | 0 |
| 1989 | 6 | 0 |
| 1990 | 5 | 0 |
| 1991 | 1 | 0 |
| 1992 | 2 | 0 |
| 1993 | 3 | 0 |
| 1994 | 1 | 0 |
| 1995 | 1 | 0 |
| 1996 | 4 | 0 |
| 1997 | 4 | 0 |
| 1998 | 10 | 0 |
| 1999 | 8 | 0 |
| 2000 | 12 | 0 |
| 2001 | 10 | 4 |
| 2002 | 15 | 19 |
| 2003 | 16 | 21 |
| 2004 | 23 | 19 |
| 2005 | 15 | 16 |
| 2006 | 18 | 14 |
| 2007 | 15 | 17 |
| 2008 | 12 | 29 |
| 2009 | 11 | 26 |
| 2010 | 18 | 18 |
| 2011 | 13 | 27 |
| 2012 | 25 | 23 |
| 2013 | 33 | 44 |
| 2014 | 17 | 38 |
| 2015 | 24 | 41 |
| 2016 | 38 | 46 |
| 2017 | 44 | 49 |
| 2018 | 38 | 53 |
| 2019 | 65 | 63 |
| 2020 | 67 | 77 |
| 2021 | 73 | 52 |
| 2022 | 53 | 65 |
| 2023 | 62 | 44 |
| 2024 | 55 | 49 |
| 2025 | 41 | 47 |
| 2026 | 44 | 41 |
By publication year. Applications have been published since 2001. 2026 runs to 8 Oct.
Recent patents
- Drilling machine attachment for loader6 Oct 2026US 12,753,656 B2The Charles Machine Works, Inc.
- Horizontal directional drilling system and method6 Oct 2026US 12,753,690 B2Vermeer Manufacturing Company
- Communication protocol in directional drilling system, apparatus and method utilizing multi-bit data symbol transmission6 Oct 2026US 12,754,302 B2Merlin Technology, Inc.
- Underground directional drilling apparatus22 Sep 2026US 12,742,358 B1Melfred Borzall, Inc.
- Drill head for use with microtunneling apparatus15 Sep 2026US 12,735,946 B2OptionX Holdings Pty Ltd
- Virtual brake system8 Oct 2026US 2026/0308980 A1The Charles Machine Works, Inc.
- Pipe loader apparatus8 Oct 2026US 2026/0308992 A1The Charles Machine Works, Inc.
- Drilling in hot zones on coiled tubing8 Oct 2026US 2026/0309004 A1Eavor Technologies Inc.
- Wellbore drilling compositions1 Oct 2026US 2026/0297413 A1Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP
- Drill with modular electric skid1 Oct 2026US 2026/0298031 A1The Charles Machine Works, Inc.
Most cited
By later US patents
- Method and apparatus for replacing buried pipe209US 4,507,019 AExpand-A-Line, Incorporated · 1985
- Method and system for drilling and completing underbalanced multilateral wells utilizing a dual string technique in a live well205US 6,065,550 A2000
- Horizontal directional drilling machine employing inertial navigation control system and method190US 6,315,062 B1Vermeer Manufacturing Company · 2001
- Apparatus and method for forming ducts and passageways187US 6,102,137 AAdvanced Engineering Solutions Ltd. · 2000
- Horizontal directional drilling machine and method employing configurable tracking system interface143US 6,484,818 B2Vermeer Manufacturing Company · 2002