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US 9,038,750 B2Granted
Rotary joint for subterranean drilling
AssigneeGas Technology Institute
InventorHamid Ali Abbasi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotary joint for use in directional control of a subterranean rotary steerable drilling apparatus. The rotary joint is formed by mated spherical-shaped sockets, each of which is connected with a hollow rod. By virtue of this arrangement, a continuous passageway is provided for fluid to flow through the rotary joint, which fluid may be used for cooling the rotary joint during operation of the rotary steerable drilling system.
Claims19
A rotary joint comprising:
- a first rotary joint component having a first hollow rod, a first spherical-shaped socket fixedly connected with an end of said first hollow rod and adapted to provide fluid communication between said first hollow rod and said first spherical-shaped socket, and a first longitudinal axis, said first spherical-shaped socket having an external surface at least partially spherical;
- a second rotary joint component having a second hollow rod, a second spherical-shaped socket disposed within said first spherical-shaped socket fixedly connected with an end of said second hollow rod and adapted to provide fluid communication between said first hollow rod and said second hollow rod, and a second longitudinal axis;
- locking means for preventing independent rotation of said spherical-shaped sockets around their respective longitudinal axes;
- and
- rotary guide means for enabling relative rotary movement of said second spherical-shaped socket within said first spherical-shaped socket, wherein said guide means comprises at least one bearing disposed between said spherical-shaped sockets in a first indentation formed by an interior surface of said first spherical-shaped socket and a second indentation formed in an exterior surface of said second spherical-shaped socket opposite said first indentation, at least one of said first indentation and said second indentation having an elongated shape extending parallel with one of said first longitudinal axis and said second longitudinal axis, respectively, the bearing, the first indentation and the second indentation limiting a range of angles between said first longitudinal axis and said second longitudinal axis.
2 more elements
A rotary steerable drilling system comprising:
- at least one hollow rotary joint assembly having a first rotary joint component having a first spherical-shaped socket fixedly connected with one end of a first hollow rod and a first longitudinal axis extending through said first spherical-shaped socket and said first hollow rod, said first spherical-shaped socket having an at least partially spherical outer surface, a second rotary joint component having a second spherical-shaped socket disposed within said first spherical-shaped socket fixedly connected with one end of a second hollow rod and having a second longitudinal axis extending through said second spherical-shaped socket and said second hollow rod, locking means for preventing independent rotation of said spherical-shaped sockets around their respective longitudinal axes, and rotary guide means for enabling relative rotary movement of said second spherical-shaped socket within said first spherical-shaped socket, wherein said guide means comprises at least one bearing disposed between said spherical-shaped sockets in a first indentation formed by an interior surface of said first spherical-shaped socket and a second indentation formed in an exterior surface of said second spherical-shaped socket opposite said first indentation, at least one of said first indentation and said second indentation having an elongated shape extending parallel with one of said first longitudinal axis and said second longitudinal axis, respectively, the bearing, the first indentation and the second indentation limiting an angle of bend between said first longitudinal axis and said second longitudinal axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.