Method and apparatus for inspecting and tallying pipe
AssigneeSuperior Energy Services—North America Services, Inc.
InventorMark J. Flusche
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for inspecting and tallying pipe in a well completion system. In one embodiment, at least one sensor determines the length of a pipe and/or at least one thread protector sensor determines whether the thread protectors are removed from both ends of the pipe. The sensors may be located in a mast assembly, a pipe arm, a walkway adjacent said pipe arm used to urge pipe towards the pipe arm, or various other places as desired. A moveable control van with a control system receives signals from the sensors. The control van comprises a system which also keeps a tally of the total amount of pipe currently in the wellbore. In one embodiment, memory chips may be used on the pipe to store a history of the pipe. The sensors then communicate this information back to the control system.
Claims23
An apparatus for handling pipe for use in a wellbore, comprising:
- a control van comprising a control system;
- a rig carrier;
- a mast assembly carried by said rig carrier, wherein said rig carrier comprises motorized pumps and power sources for raising and lowering said mast assembly on said rig carrier and operating a plurality of rig components on said rig carrier, said mast assembly being movable between a first lowered position with respect to said rig carrier and a second upright position with respect to said rig carrier, wherein said mast assembly is connected to a first support base and a second support base, and wherein said first support base and said second support base extend substantially perpendicular to and on opposite sides of the wellbore and the mast assembly, and wherein said first support base and said second support base extend beyond a width of the rig carrier;
- a pipe tong for said mast assembly remotely operable from said control van;
- rig blocks which move up and down in said mast assembly, wherein said rig blocks are remotely operable from said control van;
- a skid;
- a pipe moving member mounted to said skid, wherein said pipe moving member is operable for moving said pipe to said mast assembly and away from said mast assembly, wherein said pipe moving member is mounted on said skid and is positioned on an opposite side of said wellbore with respect to said rig carrier, and wherein said pipe moving member is remotely operable from said control van;
- a pipe tub for storing pipe;
- a pipe transfer system operable for moving said pipe from said pipe tub to said pipe moving member, and operable for moving said pipe from said pipe moving member to said pipe tub;
- and
- at least one pipe length sensor that measures a length of said pipe and electronically communicates said length to said control van.
An apparatus for handling pipe, comprising:
- a control van comprising a control system;
- a rig transporter;
- a mast assembly carried by said rig transporter, wherein said mast assembly is movable between a first lowered position with respect to said rig transporter and a second upright position with respect to said rig transporter, wherein said mast assembly is connected to a first support base and a second support base, and wherein said first support base and said second support base extend substantially perpendicular to and on opposite sides of the wellbore, the mast assembly, and the rig transporter;
- a transportable pipe handling system operable for moving said pipe into and out of said mast assembly, which is controllable from said control van;
- and
- a sensor configured to detect a total length of the pipe moving into and out of said mast assembly.
A method of making an apparatus for handling pipe, comprising:
- providing a control van comprising a control system;
- providing a mast assembly mounted to a rig carrier, wherein said rig carrier comprises motorized pumps and power sources for raising and lowering said mast assembly on said rig carrier and operating a plurality of rig components, and wherein said mast assembly is remotely operable from said control system;
- lowering a first support base and a second support base to be perpendicular to the rig carrier and connected to the mast assembly, wherein the first support base and the second support base extend substantially perpendicularly to, and are on opposite sides of, a wellbore and the mast assembly, and beyond a width of the rig carrier;
- providing a pipe handling system remotely operable from said control system;
- and
- providing at least one sensor that communicates information about said pipe to said control van.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.