Method and apparatus for monitoring and recording of operating conditions of a downhole drill bit during drilling operations

An improved drill bit for use in drilling operations in wellbores, comprising:

• a bit body;
• a threaded coupling member formed at an upper portion of said bit body for connecting said bit body to a drill string;
• at least one cutting structure carried by said bit body:
• at least one bit failure sensor located in, and carried by, said drill bit body for monitoring at least one bit operating condition during drilling operations, which has been empirically determined to be predictive of likely bit failure;
• at least one electronic memory device, located in and carried by said bit, for recording data pertaining to said at least one bit operating condition for a time interval which is substantially co-extensive with said drilling operation;
• a data processor device, located in and carried by said bit body, for performing at least one predefined diagnostic analysis of said at least one bit operating condition in order to determine if bit failure is impending prior to the occurrence of bit failures;
• and
• an electrical power supply for supplying electrical power to at least said data processor device, located in and carried by said bit body.

A method of monitoring for impending failure of a downhole drilling apparatus, during drilling operations in a wellbore, comprising the method steps of:

• providing a drill bit assembly including at least one bit body;
• providing at least one cutting structure on said bit body;
• locating at least one operating condition sensor in said bit body;
• locating at least one electronic memory unit in said bit body;
• securing said drill bit assembly to a drillstring and lowering said drillstring into a wellbore;
• disintegrating geologic formations with said drill bit assembly;
• utilizing said at least one operating condition sensor to monitor at least one bit operating condition, which has been empirically determined to be predictive of likely bit failure, during said step of disintegrating geologic formations with said assembly;
• and
• recording in said at least one electronic memory data pertaining to said at least one bit operating condition during said step of disintegrating geologic formations with said assembly for a time interval which is substantially co-extensive with said drilling operation.

A method of monitoring for impending failure of a drill bit, during drilling operations in a wellbore, comprising the method steps of:

• providing a drill bit including a bit body;
• locating at least one bit failure condition sensor in said bit body;
• locating at least one electronic memory unit in said bit body, which has been empirically determined to be predictive of impending bit failure before failure occurs;
• securing said drill bit to a drillstring and lowering said drillstring into a wellbore;
• disintegrating geologic formations with said drill bit;
• utilizing said at least one bit failure condition sensor to monitor at least one bit operating condition during said step of disintegrating geologic formations with said drill bit;
• recording in said at least one electronic memory data pertaining to said at least one bit operating condition during said step of disintegrating geologic formations with said drill bit for a time interval which is substantially co-extensive with said drilling operation;
• locating a data processor device in said bit body;
• and
• performing during drilling operations at least one predefined diagnostic analysis in order to determine if bit failure is impending prior to the occurrence of bit failure.

A method of monitoring at least one operating condition of a drill bit during drilling operations, comprising:

• placing a plurality of operating condition sensors on at least one test drill bit;
• subjecting said at least one test drill bit to at least one drilling operation;
• recording data with plurality of operating condition sensors;
• identifying impending drill bit failure indicators in said data;
• including selected ones of said plurality of operating condition sensors in a production drill bit;
• including in said production drill bit a monitoring system for comparing data obtained during drilling operations with particular ones of said impending drill bit failure indicators;
• conducting drilling operations with said production drill bit;
• utilizing said monitoring system during drilling operations to identify impending drill bit failure;
• and
• telemetering data uphole during drilling operations to provide an indication of impending drill bit failure.

An improved drilling apparatus for use in drilling operations in wellbores, comprising:

• a bit assembly including a bit body;
• a threaded coupling member formed at an upper portion of said bit body;
• at least one operating condition sensor carried by said drill bit for monitoring at least one of:
• (1) temperature, (2) pressure, (3) strain, and (4) acceleration;
• and providing at least one output signal indicative thereof;
• a comparator carried in said bit assembly for (1) receiving said at least one output signal (2) comparing said at least one output signal to at least one predefined impending failure threshold and (3) communicating an impending failure signal.

An improved drill bit for use in drilling operations in a wellbore, comprising:

• an integrally-formed bit body;
• a coupling member formed at an upper portion of said integrally-formed bit body to allow connection to a drillstring;
• at least one operating condition sensor carried within said integrally-formed bit body for monitoring at least one operating condition during drilling operations;
• at least one memory member, located in and carried by said integrally-formed bit body, for recording in memory data pertaining to said at least one operating condition for a time interval which is substantially co-extensive with said drilling operations, without any required interaction with any other component of said drillstring;
• and;
• an electrical power supply carried by said integrally formed bit body for supplying electrical power to at least said at least one memory member during drilling operations.

A method of monitoring at least one operating condition of a drill bit, during drilling operations in a wellbore, comprising:

• providing a drill bit including an integrally-formed bit body;
• locating at least one operating condition sensor in said integrally-formed bit body;
• locating at least one electronic memory unit in said integrally-formed bit body;
• securing said drill bit to a drillstring and lowering said drillstring into a wellbore;
• disintegrating geologic formations with said drill bit;
• providing an electrical power supply for supplying electrical power to at least said at least one electronic memory unit during drilling operations;
• utilizing said at least one operating condition sensor to monitor at least one operating condition during said step of disintegrating geologic formations with said drill bit;
• and
• recording in said at least one electronic memory data pertaining to said at least one operating condition during said step of disintegrating geologic formations with said drill bit for a time interval which is substantially co-extensive with said drilling operation, without any required interaction with any other component of said drillstring.

An improved drill bit for use in drilling operations in a wellbore, comprising:

• a bit body including a plurality of bit heads, each supporting a rolling cone cutter;
• a coupling member formed at an upper portion of said bit body;
• at least one operating condition sensor carried by said bit body for monitoring at least one operating condition during drilling operations;
• at least one memory member, located in and carried by said bit body, for recording in memory data pertaining to said at least one operating condition for a time interval which is substantially co-extensive with said drilling operation, without any required interaction with any other component of said drilling;
• and
• an electrical power supply carried by said integrally formed bit body for supplying power to at least said at least one memory member during drilling operations.

A method of monitoring at least one operating condition of a drill bit, during drilling operations in a wellbore, comprising:

• providing a drill bit including a bit body which includes a plurality of bit heads, each supporting a rolling cone cutter;
• locating at least one operating condition sensor in said bit body;
• locating at least one electronic memory unit in said bit body;
• locating an electrical power supply in said bit body for supplying electrical power to at least sat at least one memory member during drilling operations;
• securing said drill bit to a drillstring and lowering said drillstring into a wellbore;
• disintegrating geologic formations with said assembly;
• utilizing said at least one operating condition sensor to monitor at least one operating condition during said step of disintegrating geologic formations with said drill bit;
• and
• recording in said at least one electronic memory data pertaining to said at least one operating condition during said step of desintegrating geologic formations with said drill bit for a time interval which is substantially co-extensive with said drilling operation, without any required interaction with any other component of said drillstring.

An improved drilling apparatus for use in drilling operations in wellbores, comprising:

• a bit body;
• a cutting structure carried by said bit body;
• a communication system located in said wellbore and communicatively coupled to said improved drilling apparatus;
• at least one operating condition sensor located in and carried by said drilling apparatus in said bit body for monitoring at least one of:
• (1) temperature, (2) pressure, (3) strain, and (4) acceleration, and providing at least one output signal indicative thereof;
• a comparator for (1) receiving said at least one output signal (2) comparing said at least one output signal to at least one predefined diagnostic threshold and reaching a diagnostic conclusion (3) communicating a signal representative of said diagnostic conclusion concerning an operating condition of said drilling apparatus utilizing said communication system.

An improved drilling apparatus for use in drilling operations in wellbores, comprising:

• a bit body;
• a cutting structure carried by said bit body;
• a communication system located in said wellbore and communicatively coupled to said improved drilling apparatus;
• at least one operating condition sensor located in and carried by said drilling apparatus in said bit body for monitoring at least one of:
• (1) temperature, (2) pressure, (3) strain, and (4) acceleration, and providing at least one output signal indicative, thereof;
• a data processing system including a controller and data processing instructions for (1) receiving said at least one output signal (2) executing program instructions for comparing said at least one output signal to at least one predefined diagnostic threshold and reaching a diagnostic conclusion (3) executing program instructions for communicating a signal representative of said diagnostic conclusion concerning an operating condition of said drilling apparatus utilizing said communication system.

An improved drilling apparatus for use in drilling operations in a wellbore, comprising:

• an integrally-formed bit body;
• a coupling member formed at an upper portion of said integrally-formed bit body to allow connection to a drillstring;
• a communication system located in said wellbore and communicatively coupled to said improved drilling apparatus;
• at least one operating condition sensor carried within said integrally-formed bit body for monitoring at least one operating condition during drilling operations;
• at least one electronic memory member, located in and carried by said integrally-formed bit body, for recording in memory data pertaining to said at least one operating condition for a time interval which is substantially co-extensive with said drilling operations, without any required interaction with any other component of said drillstring;
• a data processing system including a controller and data processing instructions for:
• (a) receiving data from said at least one operating condition sensor during drilling operations;
• (b) comparing said data to at least one predefined diagnostic threshold;
• (c) reaching a diagnostic conclusion concerning an operating condition of said drilling apparatus;
• (d) interacting with said communication system to communicate a signal representative of said diagnostic conclusion;
• an electrical power supply carried by said integrally formed bit body for supplying electrical power to at least said data processing system and said at least one memory member during drilling operations.