Oil Well Drilling Apparatus

Abstract

Parallel reclining front and back links have their front ends pivotally connected to a base and their rear ends pivotally connected to an elevatable floor support member on which a gin pole is mounted. Pivotally connected to the base in front of the links is a reclining setback support member extending forward therefrom. The foot end of a reclining mast member is pivotally connected to the front end of one of these support members. Means are provided for swinging one of the pivotally connected members upwardly and rearwardly to upright position and for then swinging another of said members up to raised position so that the mast member will be upright on the raised floor support member behind the upright setback support member.

Description

It is among the objects of this invention to provide oil well drilling apparatus in which the component parts can be assembled at a low level and then raised to a high elevation where they are operational, in which all of the raising operations can be accomplished with power supplied by the drawworks, and in which a drawworks and gin pole unit and a setback support and a mast are all swung up to an elevated position by a sling connected with the traveling block in the mast.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a side view of all the components in their lowered position;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the setback support raised;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the drawworks and gin pole raised and the upright mast in dotted lines;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are enlarged end views taken on the lines IV--IV and V--V, respectively; and

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are views corresponding, respectively, to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, of a modification.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 of the drawings, a long skid base 1 has a raised central portion that provides an open area 2 or porthole beneath it in order to permit the base to be skidded sideways away from a well head after a well has been completed. Seated on the back portion of the base is a support member 3 for a floor 4 and drawworks 5 and a gin pole 6. This floor support member, as it shall be referred to herein, is connected with the base by means of parallel front and rear pairs of reclining links 7 and 8 extending lengthwise of the base. The front ends of the links are connected to the base at longitudinally spaced points 9, while the rear ends of the links are pivotally connected to the floor support member at longitudinally spaced points 10. Being at a low elevation, the floor support 3 is easily deposited on the base and readily connected to it by means of the reclining links.

Pivotally connected to the base in front of its raised central portion is the foot end of a reclining setback support member 11 which extends forward along the ground in front of the base. The top of the front end of this reclining setback support is provided with brackets 12 that pivotally support the foot end of a reclining mast member 13 likewise extending forward away from the base. The mast is moved into position by a suitable truck 14 and trailer (not shown), so the connection to the setback support is easy to make. The mast contains the usual traveling block 15, which can be supported from a dolly running on a track along the upper side of the reclining mast in a well-known manner. The traveling block is connected by lines 16 with a crown block 17 at the head of the mast, from which the fast line extends in the usual manner back over the mast and down around a sheave, supported by the top of the gin pole, to the drawworks drum. A sling line 18 is looped over the hook 19 of the traveling block and the opposite ends of the line are connected to anchor brackets 20 at the top of the gin pole.

In order to raise these various low-level members 3, 11 and 13 to their elevated or operating position, the drawworks is operated to pull the traveling block toward the crown block on the mast. As shown in FIG. 2, this pulls the mast backward toward the gin pole and causes it to swing the setback support 11 upwardly and back to an upright position, in which brackets 22 on its back side can be pinned to brackets 23 on the raised portion of the base to hold the setback support firmly in place. Of course, this action also lifts the foot of the mast to a much higher elevation than it was in the beginning.

The sling line then is disconnected from the gin pole and passed over a roller 24 at the back of the top of the setback support and down to anchor points 25 on the floor support 3. Operation of the drawworks causes the traveling block to be moved closer to the crown block and to pull the sling along with it. The sling therefore swings the floor support upwardly and forwardly on its pivoted links until the front end of the floor support is close to the back of the top of the setback support, as shown in FIG. 3. The two supports then can be connected together in any suitable manner, such as by pinning brackets 26 and 27 together. Forward movement of the floor support can also be limited by telescoping braces 28 pivotally connected at their ends to the base near the front links 7 and to the floor support near the back links 8.

The sling then is disconnected from the floor support and passed up around a pair of sheaves 31 supported by the top of the gin pole and then forward to anchor brackets 32 on the upper side of the reclining mast. In order to do this the traveling block first has to be returned to a position near the setback support. Now, when the drawworks is operated to pull the traveling block towards the crown block again, the sling swings the mast upwardly and rearwardly in a well-known manner until it comes to rest against the gin pole, to which it then is pinned, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3.

It will be seen that with apparatus constructed as shown and described herein the drawworks and the rotary table 33 can be set on the floor support 3 while it is resting on the base 1, and the foot of the mast can be pivoted to the reclining setback support 11 in a position not far from the ground. Thereafter, simply by connecting the sling line to different locations and then operating the drawworks each time, the different members are raised in succession to their elevated or upright operating positions. Of course, to lower these members again the procedure described is simply reversed. Although reference has been made to sling 18 as performing three successive operations, it will be understood that if desired or necessary for any reason a similar sling or slings can be substituted for sling 18 in FIGS. 2 and 3 and the claims are to be read accordingly.

In the modification shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 the principle and the advantages are the same as just described but the erection sequence is different. In this further embodiment of the invention the mast is raised first, followed by the setback support. Also, the base is not provided with a raised central portion like the one first described, although it could be. Referring to FIG. 6, the floor support member 36, with the rotary table 37 and drawworks 38 and gin pole 39 mounted on it, rests on the rear end portion of a base 40. As in the first embodiment of the invention, the foot end of a setback support member 42 is pivotally connected to the front end portion of the base and extends forward along the ground in front of it. On the other hand, the foot end of the reclining mast 43 is not connected to the setback support, but is pivotally connected to brackets 44 rigidly mounted on the front end of the floor support. The mast contains a traveling block 45 connected by lines 46 to a crown block 47, with the fast line extending rearwardly over a sheave at the top of the gin pole and down to the draw-works. A sling line 48 is looped over the hook of the traveling block and extends back beneath sheaves 49 in the mast and then up and around a pair of sheaves 50 supported by the top of the gin pole and then forward to anchor brackets 51 on the upper side of the reclining mast.

When the drawworks is operated to pull the traveling block toward the crown block, the sling swings the mast upwardly in the usual way and back against the gin pole, to which it is then fastened. The traveling block then is lowered and the sling line is disconnected from the gin pole and passed down and under sheaves 53 mounted on the floor support. From these sheaves the sling extends forward to brackets 54 on the upper surface of the reclining setback support near its front end. When the drawworks is again operated to raise the traveling block, the sling swings the setback support upwardly and back to upright position, where brackets 55 attached to it can be pinned to brackets 56 on the base as shown in FIG. 7. Further upward movement of the traveling block in the mast causes the sling to lift the floor support 36 by means of sheaves 53 and swing it forward on its supporting pivoted parallel links 57 until the floor is about on a level with the top of the erect setback support as shown in FIG. 8. The floor support and setback support can then be connected together by fasteners extending through brackets 44. It will be seen that in this case the mast is upright while the floor support is being raised.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

Claims

We claim:

1. Oil well drilling apparatus comprising a base having front and rear ends, parallel reclining front and back links extending lengthwise of the base, means pivotally connecting the front ends of the links to longitudinally spaced points on the base, an elevatable floor support member, means pivotally connecting the rear ends of the links to longitudinally spaced points on said member, a gin pole mounted on said member, a reclining setback support member having a foot end pivotally connected to said base in front of said links, said setback support member extending forward away from said floor support member, a reclining forwardly extending mast member having a foot end pivotally connected to the front end of one of said support members, means for swinging one of said pivotally connected members upwardly and rearwardly on its foot end to upright position, means for swinging another of said members up to raised position, and means for then swinging the remaining member up to raised position, whereby the mast member will be upright on the raised floor support member behind the upright setback support member.

2. Oil well drilling apparatus according to claim 1, in which it is the front end of the setback support member to which the foot end of the mast member is pivotally connected, and in which said means for swinging include drawworks mounted on said floor support member, a traveling block in the mast member, a line supported by the mast member and connected to the drawworks for pulling the block toward the head of the mast member, a sling connected at one end with the traveling block, and means for first connecting the opposite end of the sling with the gin pole to raise the reclining setback support member and the foot of the reclining mast member together and for then connecting the sling with the floor support member to swing it upwardly and forward toward the raised setback support member and for then connecting the sling with the gin pole again to swing the reclining mast member upwardly and back against the gin pole to upright position.

3. Oil well drilling apparatus according to claim 2, in which said last-mentioned means include means for first anchoring said opposite end of the sling to the top of the gin pole, means for later anchoring said opposite end of the sling to the floor support member, sheave means mounted on the top of the gin pole, and means for anchoring said opposite end of the sling to the upper side of the reclining mast member with the sling extending therefrom down around the back of said sheave means and forward to the traveling block.

4. Oil well drilling apparatus according to claim 1, in which it is the front end of the floor support member to which the foot end of the mast member is pivotally connected, and in which said means for swinging include drawworks mounted on said floor support member, a traveling block in the mast member, a line supported by the mast member and connected to the drawworks for pulling the block toward the head of the mast member, a sling connected at one end with the traveling block, and means for first connecting the opposite end of the sling with the gin pole to swing the mast member up to upright position and for then connecting the sling with both the floor support member and setback support member to first raise the setback support member and then swing the floor support member and upright mast member upwardly and forward toward the raised setback support member.

5. Oil well drilling apparatus according to claim 4, in which said last-mentioned means include sheave means mounted on the top of the gin pole, means for first anchoring said opposite end of the sling to the upper side of the reclining mast member with the sling extending therefrom down around the back of said sheave means and forward to the traveling block, sheave means mounted on said floor support member, and means for later anchoring said opposite end of the sling to the upper part of the raised setback support member with the sling extending therefrom down under said last-mentioned sheave means and up to the traveling block.