Back to results
US 8,571,709 B2Granted
Remote controlled vehicle
AssigneeSoutheast Directional Drilling, LLC
InventorJohn M. Heieie
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of directional drilling includes forming first and second pits on corresponding first and second sides of a barrier, forming a pilot bore from the first pit to the second pit, enlarging the pilot bore to a final bore, and extending a cable through the final bore between the first and second pits by attaching the cable to a remote controlled vehicle and driving the remote controlled vehicle through the final bore from one of the pits to the other pit. The method also includes pulling a pipeline through the final bore using the cable.
Claims9
A method of directional drilling, the method comprising:
- forming first and second pits spaced from each other;
- forming a pilot bore from the first pit to the second pit;
- enlarging the pilot bore to a final bore;
- extending a cable through the final bore between the first and second pits by attaching the cable to a remote controlled vehicle;
- driving the remote controlled vehicle through the final bore from one of the pits to the other pit by issuing a drive command from a remote controller external to the vehicle and receiving the drive command in a vehicle controller, the vehicle controller controlling a drive system of the vehicle according to the received drive command;
- and
- pulling a pipeline through the final bore using the cable;
- wherein the vehicle controller controls a hydraulic power unit in communication with front and rear hydraulic drives supported on corresponding front and rear portions of a chassis of the vehicle, each hydraulic drive driving a corresponding mobility element.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.