Patent ID: 7967541
Filing Date: 2011-06-28
Classification: E21B,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A pipe stand racking system comprising: a racking board having a pair of opposed facing arrays of pipe stand supporting fingers mounted in a first frame, wherein said opposed facing arrays of pipe stand supporting fingers define an open corridor therebetween, and wherein said corridor extends from a derrick-side opening in said first frame to an opposite back-wall of said first frame opposite said derrick-side opening, and wherein said first frame is substantially horizontal when mounted to an open side of a derrick mast so as to register said corridor in cooperative alignment with the open side of the derrick mast, and wherein said first frame includes fasteners to mount a derrick-side of said first frame to the open side of the derrick mast into said cooperative alignment, an overhead second frame mounted to said first frame so as to extend over said first frame when said first frame is mounted to the derrick mast, an arm mounted to said second frame and depending downwardly from said second frame to a lower distal end of said arm positioned over said corridor, a cantilevered member mounted to said back wall of said first frame and extending therefrom cantilevered in a plane containing said corridor to a terminal end of said cantilevered member substantially coinciding with said lower distal end of said arm, a selectively controllable rotation drive mounted to said terminal end of said cantilevered member and said lower distal end of said arm, a parallelogram arm having a base end and an opposite pipe stand gripping end, said parallelogram arm mounted at said base end to said rotation drive for selectively positionable rotation of said parallelogram arm about an axis of rotation of said rotation drive, said parallelogram arm selectively actuable between a retracted position adjacent said axis of rotation and an extended position, a pipe stand gripper mounted at said pipe stand gripping end, wherein said parallelogram arm maintains a pipe stand gripped in said gripper substantially vertical when said first frame is mounted to the derrick and the pipe stand is translated by said parallelogram arm between said extended and retracted positions, and wherein, when said first frame is mounted to the derrick mast, in said extended position said parallelogram arm has a reach sufficient to position said gripper at well center when said rotation drive is in a first rotational position, and wherein when said rotation drive is in a second rotational position said reach of said parallelogram arm is sufficient to place a pipe stand held in said gripper into a rear-most finger space between said back wall of said first frame and an adjacent finger of corresponding said array of pipe stand supporting fingers, and wherein, when said parallelogram arm is in said retracted position, said gripper is rotatable by rotation of said parallelogram arm by said rotation drive along an arc having a retracted radius corresponding to rotation of said gripper and said parallelogram arm, and wherein said retracted radius allows rotation of said gripper about said axis of rotation within said corridor without interference with the ends of said fingers in said opposed facing arrays of pipe supporting fingers closest to said corridor whereby said gripper and said parallelogram arm are extendible between said retracted and extended positions when said rotation drive is in said first rotational position, and whereby said gripper and said parallelogram arm are rotatable by said rotation drive between said first and second rotational positions when said parallelogram arm is in said retracted position, wherein spacing between said cantilevered member and said terminal ends of said fingers define at least one corridor space for passing there-along an end of a pipe stand held in said gripper, whereby the weight of each pipe stand that is moved from well center to said racking board is transferred to front legs of the mast via said overhead second frame mounted above said racking board, and through said racking board to the derrick mast so as to support the weight of the pipe stand from above whereby each full pipe stand is lifted for positioning, wherein said second frame includes an inverted u-shaped frame member and said rod depends vertically downwards from said vertex position centered along said u-shaped frame member to support said rotation drive at least vertically, wherein said rod is parallel to said axis of rotation of said rotation drive.