Patent ID: 8678447
Filing Date: 2014-03-25
Classification: E21B,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A tubular threaded connection for coupling adjacent drill pipe segments together to form a drill string, each of the drill pipe segments having a tubular pipe body having a first end and a second end and a passage therethrough, the tubular pipe body having a wall thickness of at least 0.5 inches (12.7 cm), the drill string supported by a drilling rig for advancing a downhole tool into the earth to form a wellbore, the tubular threaded connection comprising: a pin end of a first of the adjacent drill pipe segments, the pin end having an external thread on an outer surface thereof, the outer surface of the pin end extending from the first end of the first of the adjacent drill pipe segments and terminating at a pin shoulder a distance from the first end; and a box end of a second of the adjacent drill pipe segments, the box end having an internal thread on an inner surface thereof for threadable engagement with the external thread of the pin end, the inner surface of the box end extending from the second end of the second of the adjacent drill pipe segments and terminating at a box shoulder a distance from the second end; wherein the pin shoulder extends between a pin base diameter and an outer pin bevel diameter of the first of the adjacent drill pipe segments and the box shoulder extends between a box counterbore diameter and an outer box bevel diameter of the second end of the adjacent drill pipe segments, the outer pin bevel and the outer box bevel diameters being smaller than an outer diameter of the pin end, the outer pin bevel diameter and the outer box bevel diameter being between 7.75 and 8.688 inches (19.05-21.59 cm), the pin base diameter being smaller than the outer pin bevel diameter and the box counterbore diameter being smaller than the outer box bevel diameter, the pin and box shoulders defining a contact area therebetween such that, when the pin end and the box end are matingly threaded together with a make-up torque of at least 75,000 ft-lbs (1,079.36 kg-m), the drill string is formed having a plurality of tubular pipe bodies having a wall thickness of at least 0.5 inches (12.7 cm) and a tensile load capacity of over 2.0 million lbs (908,000 kg).