Apparatus for inserting and withdrawing coiled tubing with respect to a well

Apparatus for injecting and withdrawing a substantially continuous length of flexible tubing into and from a well, respectively, said apparatus including:

• a frame;
• a pair of opposed endless flexible conveyor members supported on said frame and having opposed elongated parallel runs spaced apart to form a path for engagement of said tubing by gripper means on said conveyor members, said conveyor members being trained over spaced apart drive and idler sprocket means associated with respective ones of said conveyor members;
• said frame including a base member, a pair of spaced apart upstanding plate members supported on said base member and supporting therebetween said conveyor members and at least one of said sprocket means for each of said conveyor members, and spaced apart generally vertically extending column members supported on said base member, said column members are each connected at their upper ends to means supporting a drive housing for supporting said drive sprocket means for each of said conveyor members, respectively, said column members being disposed along opposite vertical sides of each of said plate members and connected to each of said plate members, respectively, for transmitting at least a portion of reaction pulldown and hoist loads from said plate members to said base member during operation of said apparatus to move said tubing into and out of said well;
• a generally rectangular sub-base member disposed under said base member and including means for hinging said base member to said sub-base member along one side of said base member, and
• load sensing means interposed between said base member and said sub-base member along a side of said base member opposite said one side for measuring reaction loads on said frame from injecting and withdrawing said tubing with respect to said well.

Apparatus for injecting and withdrawing a substantially continuous length of tubing into and from a well, respectively, said apparatus including:

• a frame;
• a pair of opposed endless flexible conveyor members supported on said frame and having opposed elongated parallel runs spaced apart to form a path for engagement of said tubing by gripper means on said conveyor members, said conveyor members being trained over spaced apart drive and idler sprocket means associated with respective ones of said conveyor members;
• said frame including a base member, a pair of spaced apart upstanding plate members supported on said base member and supporting therebetween said conveyor members and at least one of said sprocket means for each of said conveyor members, and spaced apart generally vertically extending column members supported on said base member and connected to each of said plate members, respectively, for transmitting at least a portion of reaction pulldown and hoist loads from said plate members to said base member during operation of said apparatus to move said tubing into and out of said well;
• and
• means for urging each of said conveyor members toward the other of said conveyor members along at least a portion of said runs to exert a gripping force on said tubing including at least one elongated ramp member engageable with each of said conveyor members along said portions of said runs, respectively, a support bracket for each of said ramp members, a shaft portion extending from opposite sides of each of said brackets perpendicular to the direction of said path of said runs and through clearance slot means in respective ones of said plate members, and opposed hydraulic cylinder and piston actuators connected at their opposite ends, respectively, to the shaft portions extending in the same direction from respective ones of said brackets, said actuators being hydraulically connected to each other in parallel to provide for exerting equal forces on opposite sides of said brackets and on said ramps for urging said ramps toward each other.

Apparatus for injecting and withdrawing a substantially continuous length of flexible tubing into and from a well, respectively, said apparatus including:

• a frame;
• a pair of opposed endless flexible conveyor members supported on said frame and having opposed elongated parallel runs spaced apart to form a path for engagement of said tubing by gripper means of said conveyor members, said conveyor members being trained over spaced apart drive and idler sprocket means associated with respective ones of said conveyor members;
• said frame including a base member, a pair of spaced apart upstanding plate members supported on said base member and supporting therebetween said conveyor members, and spaced apart generally vertically extending column members supported on said base member and connected to each of said plate members, respectively, for transmitting at least a portion of reaction pulldown and hoist loads from said plate members to said base member during operation of said apparatus to move said tubing into and out of said well;
• and
• at least one idler sprocket supported on said frame spaced from said drive sprockets and engaged with one of said conveyor members, respectively, said idler sprockets each being supported by bearing means movably supported on said frame for rotatably supporting each of said idler sprockets on opposite sides of said idler sprockets, respectively, and a single pair of opposed hydraulic cylinder and piston actuators mounted on said apparatus on opposite sides of said runs, respectively, said actuators being connected at their opposite ends, respectively, to one of said bearing means for each idler sprocket, said actuators being hydraulically connected in parallel for imposing substantially equal tensioning loads on said conveyor members through said idler sprockets.

Apparatus for moving a substantially continuous length of tubing into and out of a well, said tubing being stored on a reel and being adapted to be paid off of and onto said reel in response to operation of said apparatus, said apparatus including:

• a frame;
• a pair of endless conveyor chains supported on said frame and arranged to form opposed vertical runs, said chains including means for gripping said tubing along a portion of a path disposed between said runs for conveying said tubing in either direction along said path, said frame including means for supporting a drive mechanism including respective rotatable drive sprockets for each of said chains, at least two elongated opposed ramp means extending along said runs and engageable with respective ones of said chains for urging said chains toward each other to grip said tubing, said ramp means including bracket means including portions extending on opposite sides of said ramp means, respectively, and opposed hydraulic cylinder and piston actuators connected at their opposite ends, respectively, to portions of said brackets extending on the same side of said ramp means, said actuators being hydraulically connected in parallel to provide for exerting equal forces on said ramp means on opposite sides of said bracket means to grip said tubing along said portion of said path, at least one idler sprocket for each of said chains supported on said frame spaced from said drive sprocket and engaged with one of said chains, respectively, bearing means movably supported on said frame for rotatably supporting each of said idler sprockets on opposite sides of said idler sprockets, respectively, and a single pair of opposed hydraulic cylinder actuators connected at their opposite ends, respectively, to one of said bearing means for each idler sprocket, said actuators being hydraulically connected in parallel for imposing equal tensioning loads on said chains through said idler sprockets and on opposite sides of said idler sprockets, respectively.

Apparatus for moving a continuous length of flexible tubing between a well and a reel for storing said tubing in a coiled condition, said apparatus comprising:

• a frame including means for supporting a pair of elongated endless flexible conveyor members, said conveyor members including elongated parallel runs spaced apart to form a first substantially vertically extending portion of a path of said tubing between said reel and said well along which first portion said tubing is gripped by means on said conveyor members for moving said tubing;
• and
• a guide mechanism mounted on said frame for guiding said tubing along a second curved portion of said path for changing the direction of movement of said tubing between said reel and said first portion of said path, said guide mechanism comprising a generally arcuate boom having tubing guide means disposed thereon comprising a plurality of guide roller assemblies mounted spaced apart on said boom, at least one of said roller assemblies including at least a first pair of spaced apart guide rollers for guiding said tubing therebetween in a first substantially vertical plane, one of said guide rollers of said first pair being mounted on a housing member pivotally mounted on said boom for movement between an open position wherein said one guide roller is displaced out of the path of said tubing and a closed position wherein said one guide roller is disposed adjacent to the other of said guide rollers for journalling said tubing.

Apparatus for moving a continuous length of flexible tubing between a well and a reel for storing said tubing in a coiled condition, said apparatus comprising:

• a frame including a first frame section;
• a pair of elongated endless flexible conveyor members supported on said first frame section, said conveyor members including elongated parallel runs spaced apart to form a first substantially vertically extending portion of a path of said tubing between said reel and said well along which first portion said tubing is gripped by means on said conveyor members for moving said tubing;
• a second frame section hinged to said first frame section;
• a guide mechanism mounted on said second frame section for guiding said tubing along a second curved portion of said path for changing the direction of movement of said tubing between said reel and said first portion of said path, said guide mechanism comprising an arcuate boom having tubing guide means disposed thereon, said boom being mounted at one end on said frame and connected to said frame by bearing means whereby said boom may be pivoted about an axis substantially aligned with said first portion of said path to follow changes in direction of said tubing over a portion of said path extending between said reel and said apparatus;
• and
• load sensing means interposed between said frame sections for sensing reaction loads imposed on said first frame section in response to movement of said tubing by said conveyor members.

Apparatus for moving a continuous length of flexible tubing between a well and a reel for storing said tubing in a coiled condition, said apparatus comprising:

• a frame including means for supporting a pair of elongated endless flexible conveyor members, said conveyor members including elongated parallel runs spaced apart to form a first substantially vertically extending portion of a path of said tubing between said reel and said well along which first portion said tubing is gripped by means on said conveyor members for moving said tubing;
• a guide mechanism mounted on said frame for guiding said tubing along a second curved portion of said path for changing the direction of movement of said tubing between said reel and said first portion of said path, said guide mechanism comprising an arcuate boom having tubing guide means disposed thereon, said boom being mounted at one end on said frame and connected to said frame by bearing means whereby said boom may be pivoted about an axis substantially aligned with said first portion of said path to follow changes in direction of said tubing over a portion of said path extending between said reel and said apparatus;
• and
• said bearing means comprises a bearing plate mounted on a support member of said frame and including arcuate slot means in said bearing plate having a radius center coinciding substantially with the central axis of said first portion of said path, and pin means extending through said slot means for securing said bearing plate to said support member.