WELL PIPE CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING APPARATUS

Abstract: A tool (20) for making and breaking connections in a well pipe is movable between a first position of alignment with a well axis, a second position above a mousehole, and a third position at a side of the well axis, and preferably rolls along tracks (21) on the rig floor between its different positions, and desirably includes a pipe spinner (28) and a torque wrench (29) mounted for movement upwardly and downwardly and to an inclined position.

Description: WELL PIPE CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING APPARATUS Background of the Invention This invention relates to apparatus for connectin and disconnecting threaded joints ±n a string of well pipe. The prior art includes tools for this purpose which are mounted to a support structure at a side of the well pipe and include a pipe spinner and a torque wrench adapted to project into engagement with the pipe to turn it One disadvantage of such prior tools has resided in their tendency to interfere by their presence with performance of other operations on the rig. Summary of the Invention The present invention provides a tool of this typ which is mounted for withdrawal to a retracted position in which it does not interfere with any other operation on the rig, and is also readily convertible from a condition for making and breaking joints in the main pipe string to a con dition for connecting to or disconnecting from a pipe section in a mousehole. The tool is movable, desirably along tracks on the rig floor, between a central position o alignment with the main axis of the well, and two mousehole and retracted positions offset from that.axis in opposite directions. The pipe contacting parts may be movable up- wardly and downwardly and to an inclined position of alignment with a mousehole. Brief Description of the Drawings A typical emobidment is illustrated in the draw¬ ings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of a tool embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view on line 2-2 of Fig.- 1; Figs. 3 and 4. show the tool in its central and forward positions respectively; Fig. 5 is an enlarged side view of the tool; Fig. 6 is a rear view on line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a top plan view on line 7-7 of Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary horizonatal sec¬ tion primarily on line 8-8 of Fig. 5; OMPI Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectio on line 9-9 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a section on line 10-10 of Fig. 5; and Fig. 11 is a section on line 11-11 of Fig. 10. Description of the Preferred Embodiments Fig. 1 shows a well drilling rig including a rig floor 10 having an opening 11 containing a rotary table 12 for rotating a drill string 13 about a vertical axis 14 -to drill a well bore 15. A section of pipe 16 may be contained within a mousehole recess 17 which extends beneath the rig floor and is offset from axis 14 and may have its axis 18 disposed at a slight angle a with respect to the true verti¬ cal. String 13 may be supported in the rotary table by slips 19. The tool 20 of this invention is supported on floor 10 and adapted to roll thereon along an axis 20 ex¬ tending diametrically of and intersecting axes 14 and 18 and between the central position of Fig. 3, the mousehole posi¬ tion of Fig. 4 and the retracted position of Figs. 1 and 2. The tool is guided for movement between these positions by two parallel tracks 21 which may be strips of metal or other material having a typically rectangular cross section, and which may rest on the rig floor and be secured to it by bolts 22. Tracks 21 extend parallel to axis 20 and are equidistant therefrom and from axes 14 and 18. The right ends 23 of the tracks (Figs. 1 and 2) project somewhat be¬ yond the location of the upper end of mousehole 17, while the left ends 24 project a substantial distance to the left of the rotary table. In its retracted position of Figs. 1 and 2, tool 20 is between drawworks 25 and the rotary table. Tool 20 includes a main carriage 26 carrying a joint making and breaking unit 27 including an upper spinner 28 and a lower torque wrench 29. Carriage 26 is a rigid structure having two hollow horizontally elongated feet 30 above the tracks 21 each formed of two side walls 31 and 32 and an inclined top wall 33 extending therebetween, and each containing and carrying two wheels 34 and 35 rotatable about parallel horizontal axes and adapted to engage a cor¬ responding one wheels engaging opposite sides of the tracks to retain the wheels on the tracks. At least one of these wheels is pow driven rotatively and in either direction by a motor 37 in the corresponding foot 30 driving the wheel through a chai sprocket drive 38 contained in a housing element 39 on the side of the foot 30. Carriage 26 also includes two rigid hollow columns 40 projecting upwardly from feet 30 and pre¬ ferably of rectangular horizontal section (Fig. 7) and connected at their upper ends by a horizontal top crosspiec 41. A back wall 42 may extend between columns 40 and be se cured thereto by screws 43. Spinner 28 and torque wrench 2 are carried by a structure 44 mounted for upward and down¬ ward and pivotal movement relative to carriage 26 and including two spaced parallel vertical side plates 45 rigidly secured together by cross members 46 extending lat¬ erally therebetween and typically welded to plates 45. At its upper end, structure 44 carries a pair of rollers 47 fo rotation relative to structure 44 about a horizontal axis . 4 which is fixed relative to structure 44. A second pair of rollers 49, mounted to the lower end of structure 44 for rotation about a horizontal axis 50 parallel to axis 48, are shiftable generally horizontally relative to structure 44 between the positions of Figs. 3 and 4/ Rollers 49 are mounted rotatably to a pair of iden- tical generally vertically elongated links 51, connected together by a bar 51a, and whose upper ends are pivoted at 5 for swinging movement about a horizontal axis 53 between the Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 positions. The lower ends of the links are actuated leftwardly and rightwardly by a fluid pressure actuated piston an 'cylinder mechanism 54, whose cylinder is pivoted at 55 to a portion 56 of structure 44, and whose ' - piston is pivotally connected at 57 to bar 51a connected to the lower ends of the links 51, with rollers 49 being loca¬ ted vertically between the upper and lower ends of the links. Rollers 47 and 49 engage two guide members 58 which are rigidly carried at the inner sides of columns 40 and may be of externally rectangular horizontal section (Fig.- 7) along the entire vertical extent of guides 58, with OMPI longitudinal axes of those guides extending parallel to one another and directly vertically. Rollers 47 and 49 roll upwardly and downwardly along the rear vertical planar surfaces 59 and forward planar parallel.surf ces 60 respec- tively of guides 58. Surfaces 59 of the two guides lie within a common vertical plane 61, while surfaces 60 lie in a common vertical plane 62 parallel to plane 61. When links 51 are in their position of Fig. 5, rollers 47 and 49 guide structure 44 for directly vertical movement with an axis 63 of the spinner and torque directly vertically. When mechanism 54 actuates links 51 to their Fig. 4 posi¬ tion, the rollers mount structure 44 for directly vertical movement but with axis 63 of the spinner and torque wrench inclined (Fig. -4) . Structure 44 is moved upwardly and downwardly by two piston aΛ-^ cylinder units 64 (Fig. 6) , which are power actuable in either direction and whose cylinders are pivote at 65 to structure 44 with their pistons connected at 66 to the upper portion 41 of carriage 26. The piston rods may rigidly carry enlargements or heads 67, engageable down¬ wardly against rubber cushioning rings 68 bearing against a horizontal plate 69 of carriage 26 to form a cushioned connection between the piston rods and carriage 26. Spinne unit 28 includes a hollow housing 70 forming a recess 71 within which a pipe section may be received for powered ro¬ tation. The spinner mechanism 72 within housing 70 includes a body 170 carrying two rollers 73 power driven about ver¬ tical axes 75 by a motor 74 through gear trains 174 about parallel vertical axes 75, and two outer rollers 76 mounted by swinging arms 77 • to rotate about parallel vertical axes 78 relative to the swinging arms. Arms 77 are mounted tc* swing toward and away from one another about parallel verti¬ cal axes 79 between open positions in which a well pipe section can move laterally into engagement with rollers 73 (broken lines in Fig. 8) and closed positions in which all four of the rollers contact the pipe to hold it tightly in engagement with the power driven rollers 73 and spin the . pipe about its axis. Arms 77 and rollers 76 are power O PI actuable between their open and closed positions by two piston and cylinder mechanisms 80 having their cylinders connected pivotally to frame 170 at 180 and their pistons connected pivotally to arms 77 at 280. Motor 74 can be en ergized to drive rollers 73 in either direction, to either connect the contacted pipe section to or disconnect it fro the string. Housing 70 is mounted for upward and downward movement relative to structure 44 by two downwardly pro--- jecting guide tubes 82 rigidly secured to housing 70 and received telescopically within two vertical parallel tubes 8.3 carried rigidly by structure 44. Tubes 82 and 83 may b close fits to guide spinner 28 for movement along only an axis 84 (parallel to axis 63) relative to structure 44, wi downward movement of housing 70 being resisted by coil springs 85 contained within tubes 83 and bearing upwardly against closed lower ends of tubes 82 and of a strength to essentially counterbalance or support the weight of the spinner. Tubes 82 and 83 may be of square cross-section (Fig. 7) . Torque wrench 29 includes upper and lower grippin assemblies 86 and 87 adapted to grip and apply torque in either direction to interconnected upper and lower pipe sec tions respectively. Assembly 86 includes a body (Fig. 10) extending partially about the well pipe and a gate element 89 pivoted to body 88 for movement between an open position passing the pipe into engagement with the torque wrench and a closed position to grip the pipe and held in closed posi¬ tion by a latch element 90. Gripping elements 91 carried b the gate and by a diametrically opposed piston 92 of a pis¬ ton and cylinder mechanism 192 act to tightly grip the pipe when pressure fluid is forced into cylinder chamber 292 to actuate the piston rightwardly as viewed in Fig. 11. As¬ sembly 86 can apply torque to the pipe, so gripped, in either a right hand or left hand direction. Lower pipe gripping assembly 87 may be essentially the same as the de¬ scribed upper assembly 86. After these two assemblies have been actuated to tightly grip their corresponding pipe sections at a threaded connection, the assemblies are rota¬ ted relative to one another in opposite directions about axis 63 to either break the connection or make it up to a tightened condition. This relative rotation is produced by two piston and cylinder mechanisms 93, each of which has it cylinder connected to one of the assemblies and its piston connected to the other assembly. Rails 94 may be attached to the structure 44 and project laterally beyond the torque wrench assembly to provide a handle structure and shield-th parts. A typical torque wrench and spinner which may be employed in the present apparatus are shown in ϋ. S. Patent No. 4,023,449 issued May 17, 1977. During drilling of a well by rotation of pipe string 13 driven by rotary table 12, which is in turn drive by the motor of drawworks 25, tool 20 is located in its re¬ tracted position of Fig. 1, away from the rotating pipe and rotary table and near the drawworks. Retracting movement o the tool 20 may be limited by a pair of hooks 95 projecting upwardly from the rig floor 10 adjacent tracks 21 and en- gageable with laterally projecting pins 96 on carriage 26. When it becomes necessary to add another section of pipe to string 13, the pipe string is suspended in the rotary table by slips 19 (Fig. 1) , with the threaded connection 113 be- tween the kelly or kelly saver sub 213 and the remainder of the string located just above the rotary table. Tool 20 is then moved along tracks 21, by energization of motor 37, to the Fig. 3 position in which axis 63 of the spinner and torque wrench is aligned with vertical axis 14 of the drill string. During this movement, rollers 96 of the spinner an the gates of the torque wrench are open for reception of " th well pipe within the spinner and wrench. Prior to or after movement of the carriage to its Fig. 3 position, piston and cylinder mechanisms 64 are energized to move structure 44 and the carried spinner and torque wrench vertically to a position in which spinner 27 and the upper gripping assembl 86 of torque wrench 29 can engage the upper of the two threaded sections at connection 113 (the kelly or kelly OMPI IPO saver sub) , while the lower gripping assembly 87 engages t lower of these two joint ends. The gates of the torque wrench are then closed, the piston and cylinder mechanisms 192 of the two gripping assemblies 86 and 87 are actuated grip the two connected pipe sections, and piston and cylin der mechanisms 93 are actuated to rotate assemblies 86 and 87 relative to one another to break the threaded connectio 113. The upper gripping assembly 86 is then released by relieving the pressure from its piston and cylinder mechan ism 192, and with the lower assembly 87 still in gripping condition spinner 27 is closed on the upper pipe (by cylin ders 80) following which rollers 73 are driven by motor 74 to spin the upper pipe in an unscrewing direction and com¬ pletely out of the lower pipe. After the kelly has been completely detached fro the section of pipe in the rotary table, structure 44 and the spinner and torque wrench are moved upwardly to the bro ken line position of Fig. 3, in which the torque wrench can clear the upper end of the pipe section 19 in the rotary table, and motor 37 is then energized to advance the car¬ riage from the position of Fig. 3 to the position of Fig. 4 with the spinner acting to push the kelly rightwardly towar the Fig. 4 position of alignment with pipe section 16 in th mousehole. The pi-ston and cylinder mechanism 54 is ener- gized to tilt the spinner and torque wrench to the Fig. 4 condition, so that axis 63 of the spinner and torque wrench are aligned with the axis of the mou"sehole, and so that as the spinner and torque wrench are then lowered by piston an cylinder mechanisms 64 the kelly sub will move into engag.e- ment with pipe section 16 for connection thereto. After th pipe sections have contacted one another, the sp.inner is -en ergized to rotate the kelly and its sub into connected engagement with section 16, with lower assembly 87 of the torque wrench preventing rotation of section 16. The spinner is then released, and the upper torque wrench as¬ sembly 86 is actuated to grip the kelly sub. Relative rotation of the two torque wrench sections then rotates the upper section further to make up the threaded joint to a OMPI given torque. The spinner and torque wrench are next opene to allow the kelly and connected pipe section 16 to be lift ed upwardly out of the mousehole and to a position above an in alignment with the drill string." Tool 10 is retracted t its Fig. 3 position for use in connecting the added pipe section 16 to the drill string, by first actuating lower gripping assembly 87 to grip the lower pipe section and causing the spinner to engage the added section 16 and spin it into connection with the string, and then actuating uppe gripping assembly 86 to grip the upper pipe section and ro¬ tate it relative to lower assembly 87 to screw the two sections tightly together. The spinner and torque wrench can then be retracted to the Fig. 1 position. In removing an upper section of pipe from the drill string, a process essentially the reverse of that pre viously described can be followed, including disconnection of an upper joint of the string by first utilizing the torque wrench to break a threaded connection and then util¬ izing the spinner and the lower portion of the torque wrenc to spin the upper section out. The tool when used to dis¬ connect pipe during a trip out of the hole is moved only between the Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 positions, and similarly when putting the entire string of pipe back into the hole, the same positions are used. The tool 20 can thus be utilized to either connect or disconnect two pipe sections at either the well axis location of Fig. 3 or the mousehole location of Fig. 4. The freedom for vertical movement of spinner 28 relative to the torque wrench which is provided by tele¬ scoping connection 82-83 between the spinner and torque- wrench enables the spinner to move downwardly or upwardly a short distance relative to the lower section 87 of the torque wrench during a spinning operation to compensate for the vertical movement of the upper pipe section as it is screwed into or unscrewed from a lower pipe section. OMH

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Apparatus for use in a well drilling rig wit in which a string of pipe is rotatable about an axis to drill a well and which has a mousehole offset from said ■ axis, said apparatus comprising a power driven unit operab to relatively rotate upper and lower threaded elements to connect or disconnect them, * -characterized by means mountin said unit for movement in opposite directions from a centra first position of alignment with said axis to a second pos tion of alignment with the mousehole and to a retracted position at a side of the axis essentially opposite that at which the mousehole is located. 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which sai mounting means include a carriage by which said unit is car ried and adapted to be supported by the floor of said rig and to roll therealong between said three positions. 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which sai mounting means include means mounting said unit to said car riage for upward and downward movement relative thereto and for swinging movement relative to the carriage between a condition in which an axis of the unit extends directly ver tically and a condition in which said axis of the unit is disposed at a slight angularity with respect to the true vertical. 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which sai mounting means include a pair of tracks extending along the upper surface of a floor of said rig at opposite sides of said axis, and a carriage mounting said unit and having wheels supported by said tracks and movable therealong be¬ tween said three positions. 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in whicu said OMPI mounting means hold said unit with an axis thereof disposed directly vertically at said central position and disposed at an angle to the true vertical in said second position. 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said mounting means include vertical guides, a structure having rollers engaging said guides and rolling therealong and car¬ rying said unit, and means for moving one of said rollers relative to said structure to pivot the structure and unit about the axis of another of the rollers between positions in which an axis of said unit is vertical and slightly off vertical. - 7. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, including power driven means for moving said unit between said three positions thereof. 8. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which said unit includes a power driven spinner and a power actuated torque wrench. 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, including means mounting said spinner for upward and downward movement relative to said torque wrench. 10. Apparatus comprising a carriage having wheels by which the carriage is adapted to be supported from the floor of a well drilling rig to mount the carriage for moye- ment between different positions on the floor; and a power driven unit carried by said carriage for movement therewith between said different positions and operable to relatively rotate upper and lower tubular threaded elements to connect or disconnect them in each of said positions. OM IP

Inventors: BOYADJIEFF G
Applicants: VARCO INT, VARCO INT INC
Application year: 1981
Main classification: B25B17
IPC codes: B25B13, B25B27, E21B19