Adjustable stabilizer

An adjustable blade stabilizer for use in a drill string, comprising:

• a tubular housing with a substantially cylindrical outer wall;
• said housing including a plurality of openings extending radially around said cylindrical outer wall;
• a plurality of blades, each blade movably mounted within a respective opening to extend radially and axially from a first position to a plurality of positions;
• a drive piston driving axial push rods to move said blades in both an axial and radial direction.

An adjustable blade stabilizer for use in a drill string, comprising:

• a tubular body with a substantially cylindrical outer wall;
• said body including a plurality of openings extending radially around the circumference of said outer wall;
• a plurality of blades, each blade movably mounted within a respective opening to extend radially from a first position to a plurality of positions;
• drive means operatively connected to said blades, said drive means being activated to extend said blades when drilling mud is flowing, and being deactivated to permit the blades to retract in the absence of sufficient drilling mud flow;
• and
• remotely controllable positioning means for setting the limits of expansion of said blades.

An adjustable blade stabilizer for use in a drill string located in a borehole, comprising:

• a tubular body having a substantially cylindrical outer wall;
• said body having a plurality of openings radially extending through the outer wall, said openings being circumferentially spaced about said wall;
• a plurality of blades, each blade being movably mounted within a respective opening to extend from a first position to a plurality of positions extending at different radial distances from the tubular body;
• drive means for moving the blades from the first position to the plurality of extended positions, wherein the drive means includes a piston movably mounted in the tubular body and operatively connected to said blades;
• positioning means for limiting the radial extent of the blades;
• and
• measuring means for determining the location of the positioning means for any given point in time and for generating a signal uniquely identifying the position of said blades.

An adjustable blade stabilizer for use in a drill string located in a borehole, comprising:

• a tubular body having a substantially cylindrical outer wall;
• said body having a plurality of openings radially extending through the outer wall, said openings being circumferentially spaced about said wall;
• a plurality of blades, each blade being movably mounted within a respective opening to extend from a first position to a plurality of positions extending at different radial distances from the tubular body;
• drive means for moving the blades from the first position to the plurality of extended positions, wherein the drive means includes a piston movably mounted in the tubular body and operatively connected to said blades;
• positioning means for setting the radial limit of the blades in response to a command signal;
• wherein said positioning means becomes locked in place after being set, and said positioning means does not reset until a new command signal is received.