Abstract:
The laterally rotating height of a fill up and circulating tool that is mounted on one of the bails supporting an elevator is made shorter with integration of design components. A power cylinder features a hollow piston which incorporates the positioning system for the fill up and circulation tool. An interior slot with a longitudinal and spiral component receives a pin extending that is supported by the cylinder. The mud line is connected below the positioning system. As the mud line descends the fill up tool moves initially axially and rotationally and then axially to align with a sting for connection thereto. Raising the mud line reverses the movement pattern. The tool is cantilevered from the mud line for sole support. Height savings allows tool use with bails of varying lengths without interference. A selectable clutch and valve allow this tool to provide additional features beneficial to operators.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation in part of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 14/606,749 filed Jan. 27, 2015 entitled Compact Bail Supported Fill Up and Circulation Tool. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The field of this invention relates to fill-up and circulating tools which are mounted to a drilling rig hoisting system and more particularly to one of its bails to allow the fill-up and circulating tool to be moved aside rather than dismantled when operations such as drilling or tripping pipe are taking place. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    During the process of drilling and completing a well it is necessary to run or pull the pipe into or out of the wellbore, in a processes commonly called “tripping”, where it is necessary to connect and disconnect the uppermost adjacent pieces of tubular many times. These adjacent pieces can consist of one or more individual pieces or joints of the complete tubular string. Because of problems associated with the drilling of a well it is often necessary to capture fluid from the upper end of the tubular or circulate fluid through the tubular while tripping. To capture or circulate fluid it is necessary to connect a device commonly known as a fill up and circulating tool to the upper end of the uppermost tubular. When using a top drive rig it is common to connect the top drive directly to the upper tubular by threading the top drive into the tubular. Recently it has become common to use the device illustrated in PCT/US99/22051 when attached to the top drive. 
         [0004]    In some cases and when using a conventional “rotary rig” devices such as those illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,997,042; 5,191,939; 5,735,348 and others are used. These devices have substantial limitations in that they cannot be used with all tubulars commonly used in the drilling and completion of a well and they cannot easily be placed in an “out of the way” position and must be removed when it is necessary to drill. 
         [0005]    In U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,425, particularly FIG. 9A, which patent is fully incorporated herein as though actually set forth, several fill up and circulating devices are illustrated which require a handling device to assist in positioning them in sealing and coupling contact with the tubular connection and to allow sealing and coupling to the upper end of the uppermost tubular. In this application several methods for handling these devices were disclosed. One such technique for accommodating the need to get the equipment out of the way to facilitate drilling was to put the fill-up and circulating tool on swing mounts from both opposed bails and to somehow swing the fill-up and circulating tool out from between the bails to get it out of the way from the tubing in the elevator. This design involved a need for considerable clearance space to make a large arc for the swing motion and a fairly unwieldy method of hoisting and lowering the fill-up and circulating tool throughout its arcuate range of motion. Additionally, the fill-up and circulating tool had to be held in the out of the way position by cable and presented a risk of falling back down toward the tubular if the support cable failed for any reason. 
         [0006]    Current fill-up and circulating devices illustrated in the 042&#39;, 939&#39; and 348&#39; patents are connected to the tubular connection of the top drive or attached to the hook of a conventional hoisting system of a rotary rig. In order to drill these devices must be removed so that the tubular can be connected to the top drive or the tubular is connected to a Kelly which is connected to the hook of a rotary rig. 
         [0007]    Therefore, in addition to handling the fill up and circulating devices to position them at the tubular for coupling and sealing to the tubular, it is also desirable to have the handling device move the fill up and circulating device to an “out of the way” position when not sealed or coupled to the tubular. “Out of the way” meaning that the position of the handling device and any device attached to it or not in the way or inhibit the processes of rig operation and specifically the handling or tripping of the tubulars or the drilling process. 
         [0008]    One such design is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,632 where a bail supported actuation system for a fill up and circulating tool is illustrated that allows the tool to be raised and lowered and rotated toward the end of the lowering movement so that alignment with the string being run in can be obtained.  FIGS. 1-6  of the present application describe the operation of this prior art tool in conjunction with the following detailed description. 
         [0009]    Referring to  FIG. 1  the open side of the elevator  10  is shown supported from bails  12  and  14 . The apparatus A is connected to bail  12  but could as easily be supported from the other bail  14 . As best seen in  FIG. 3  a frame  16  is secured to bail  12  by U-bolts  18  and  20  which extend, respectively, through clasps  22  and  24  and are secured, respectively by nuts  26  and  28 . Clasps  22  and  24  are generally U-shaped and can have internal serrations where they contact the bail  12  for additional resistance to rotation of the frame  16  with respect to bail  12 . Other techniques to rotationally lock the frame  16  to the bail  12  can also be employed, such as a splined connection or additional support for frame  16  from the other bail  14 . On new construction, as opposed to a retrofit, the frame  16  can be made integrally with one of the bails, such as  12 . 
         [0010]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , an inlet pipe  30  is connected to the rig pumping and storage system to allow for flow to and from the apparatus A when sealingly connected to a tubular  32 . 
         [0011]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , inlet pipe  30  has a U-bend  34 , which is in turn connected to the top of the fill-up and circulating tool  36 . Inlet pipe  30  extends through sleeve  38 . Sleeve  38  is clamped for pivotal movement about pin  40  by a clamp  42 . Pin  40  extends into bracket  52 , which is supported by frame  16 . Sleeve  38  has an elongated slot  44 , the upper portion  46  being inclined with respect to longitudinal portion  48 , which is oriented generally parallel to bail  12 . Inlet pipe  30  has a pin  50  which rides in slot  44 . Bracket  54  is supported by frame  16  for up and down slidable movement. Link  56  is pivotally mounted at pin  58  as best seen in  FIG. 4 , to bracket  54 . Link  56  surrounds inlet pipe  30  in a manner that permits relative rotation between them. Link  56  is mounted between flanges  60  and  62  on inlet pipe  30 . Up and down movement of bracket  54  is preferably accomplished by hydraulic cylinder  64  which can selectively be used to extend or retract rod  66 . Rod  66  is secured to bracket  54  by nut  68 . Hydraulic cylinder  64  can be replaced by any other device which will raise and lower bracket  54 . 
         [0012]    Connected to inlet pipe  30  is a yoke  70  to which is connected link  72  at pin  74 . Pin  76  connects the other end of link  72  to bracket  54 . 
         [0013]    The components now having been described, the operation of the device will now be reviewed. The intended movement of the fill-up and circulating tool  36  is intended to be from a retracted position, shown in  FIG. 4  to a connected position shown in  FIG. 5 . Clamp  42  allows rotation of sleeve  38  as installed and link  72  has an adjustable length to define the proper length, as installed, for smooth movement of the assembly and final positioning of the fill-up and circulating tool  36  in alignment with the tubular  32 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , the fill-up and circulating tool is in the out of the way position with rod  66  fully extended and pin  50  in the upper end  46  of slot  44 . When the hydraulic cylinder  64  is actuated to move rod  66  downwardly the inlet pipe  30  moves down. The pin  50  is forced against the inclined surface  76  of the upper end  46  of slot  44 . This contact induces opposed rotational motion between the inlet pipe  30  and the sleeve  38  as long as pin  50  exerts downward pressure on inclined surface  76 . Sleeve  38  rotates about pin  40 , while at the same time link  56  rotates about pin  58 . As a result, the movement of the fill-up and circulating tool is along a near straight line into the position in  FIG. 5 . The inlet pipe rotates counter clockwise looking down, as seen by comparing  FIG. 4  to  FIG. 5 . Links  42  and  56  rotate clock-wise looking down in the same Figures. The rotational movement ceases when the pin  50  enters the lower end  48  of the slot  44 . This position, corresponds to an alignment of the fill-up and circulating tool with the tubular  32 . Link  72  is a torque link that resists the torque created by the pin  50  moving on inclined surface  76  and, in turn creates the rotation of links  42  and  56  respectively about pins  40  and  58 . 
         [0014]    One issue with this design is that the length of the bails on different rigs is variable and some rigs the bails were sufficiently short that raising the tool to the out of alignment position with the string  32  caused the u-bend in the piping system to hit the top drive TD making the tool unusable on some rigs with shorter bails. One fix to this problem is to change the bails out to a longer length. This allows the tool enough room to swing out of the way but can also create additional problems. All drilling rigs have a defined height. When the bails are changed out for a longer version, the elevators are now lower than normal. The rig now needs to raise the top drive higher to accomplish the same height level of the elevators. In some rigs they are already using all the available travel of the top drive so changing to a longer bail length is not possible. Another issue with using longer bails when drilling is that upon approaching the rig floor, the elevators are now lower than originally intended. The drilling process has to be stopped sooner so that the lower extending elevators do not hit the rig floor. The connection for the last stand of pipe is now higher than usual and the tool joint connection maybe higher than desired. The third issue with changing out to a longer bail is time. Many top drives now have many clamps and arms that are attached to the bails. The time it takes to change bails on some offshore rigs cancels out the time savings provided with the tool. One of the objects of the present invention is to be able to provide a compact design that avoids such obstructions in situations with shorter bails. One way this is accomplished is to integrate a power piston with the flow line such that space is saved by running the mud line through a hollow piston. Another space saving feature integrates the rotational mechanism for the fill up and circulation tool about the piston and mud line going through the piston as they move in tandem. Lateral connection of the mud line eliminates a large u-bend previously employed to reduce the needed operating height for the tool between its end positions. The overall height of the articulating arm that swings into alignment with the fill up tool has been reduced to less than 50% of the overall tool length. These and other aspects of the present invention will be more readily appreciated by those skilled in the art from a review of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the associated drawings while recognizing that the full scope of the invention is to be determined from the appended claims. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    The laterally rotating height of a fill up and circulating tool that is mounted on one of the bails supporting an elevator is made shorter with integration of design components. A power cylinder features a hollow piston which incorporates the positioning system for the fill up and circulation tool. An interior slot with a longitudinal and spiral component receives a pin extending that is supported by the cylinder. The mud line is connected below the positioning system. As the mud line descends the fill up tool moves initially axially and rotationally and then axially to align with a sting for connection thereto. Raising the mud line reverses the movement pattern. The tool is cantilevered from the mud line for sole support. Height savings allows tool use with bails of varying lengths without interference. A selectable clutch and valve allow this tool to provide additional features beneficial to operators. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a front view of a prior art tool showing both bails with the fill-up and circulating tool in the out of the way position; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is the back view of the view of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the view of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a top view of the view of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a top view of  FIG. 1  showing the fill-up and circulating tool in the centered position over the elevator for connection to a tubular; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  is a front view of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  is an elevation view of the fill up tool and actuation system in the up or retracted position; 
           [0023]      FIG. 8  is a plan view of  FIG. 7  showing the offset from the tubular string supported in the elevator; 
           [0024]      FIG. 9  is the view of  FIG. 7  with the fill up tool actuated to align with the tubular string; 
           [0025]      FIG. 10  is a plan view of  FIG. 9  showing the alignment with the tubular string; 
           [0026]      FIG. 11  is a section view of  FIG. 7  showing the integration of the mud line with the piston; 
           [0027]      FIG. 12  is a side view of the view in  FIG. 11 ; 
           [0028]      FIG. 13  is a detailed view of the piston and mud line interface shown in  FIG. 7 ; 
           [0029]      FIG. 14  is a detailed view of the spiral slot; 
           [0030]      FIG. 15  is a section view of the pin in the spiral slot; 
           [0031]      FIG. 16  is a front view of the bail mounted fill and circulation tool engaged with the tubular; 
           [0032]      FIG. 17  is the top view of the bail mounted fill and circulation tool engaged with the tubular; 
           [0033]      FIG. 18  is a front view of the bail mounted fill and circulation tool disengaged with the tubular; 
           [0034]      FIG. 19  is a top view of the bail mounted fill and circulation tool disengaged with the tubular; 
           [0035]      FIG. 20  is a section view of the positioning system when the fill and circulation tool is engaged with the tubular; 
           [0036]      FIG. 21  is a section view of the positioning system when the fill and circulation tool is disengaged with the tubular; 
           [0037]      FIG. 22  is as a section view of the fill and circulation tool that include the actuating ball valve and clutch; 
           [0038]      FIG. 23  is a section view of the clutch splines. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0039]    Referring to  FIG. 7  bails  100  and  102  support elevator  104 . The fill up and circulation tool  106  of a type known in the art is supported by support arm  112  has a general S-shape with four bends to extend from the bottom of cylinder  116  to the top of the fill up and circulating tool  106 . Arm  112  is the sole support for the fill up and circulating tool  106 . Gear box  108  is part of fill up and circulation tool  106 . Air motor  110  operates fill up and circulation tool  106 . Gearbox  108  is also supported by support arm  112 . A hydraulic or air cylinder  116  is supported by spaced clamps  118  and  120  from bail  100 . Cylinder  116  is thus fixed to bail  100  but can be alternatively attached to bail  102 . Looking at  FIG. 11 , the cylinder  116  has a hollow piston  122  that forms a portion of the mud line  112 . The upper mud line segment  112 ′ is connected to the piston  122  for tandem movement. An annular variable volume chamber  124  is defined by piston  122  and the surrounding cylinder  116 . The chamber  124  is enlarged when pressure is built up pushing up against seal assembly  126 . When that happens the support arm  112  and its upper extension  112 ′ move up in tandem with the piston  122 . In  FIG. 14  the extension  112 ′ has a slot  130  which mates with a pin  128  that is fixedly supported to cylinder  116 . Slot  130  has a lower end spiral component  134  leading to an axial orientation for the remainder of the length of slot  130 . This can also be seen in detail in  FIG. 15 . As a result the tool  106  descends initially with rotation as pin  128  follows the spiral portion of slot  134 . Descent occurs by removal of pressure from chamber  124  and using the weight of the tool  106 . On further descending toward the tubular string  136 , the pin  128  enters the straight portion  130  of slot  130 . This happens because the mud line extension  112 ′ has to turn to initially allow pin  128  to follow in slot  134  that has spiral shape and then extension  112 ′ travels straight down to make a connection with the tubular.  FIGS. 9 and 10  show the lowered and rotated position that has the tool  106  aligned with string  136  for connection thereto in a variety of known ways shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,425 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,632.  FIGS. 7 and 8  show the elevated position where the tool  106  is tucked away and out of alignment with the string  136  so that another joint can be added. It should be noted that string  136  can be drill string or casing or production or injection tubing. 
         [0040]    Those skilled in the art will now appreciate that the shortest length of the tool which occurs in the raised up position of  FIGS. 7 and 8  is considerably smaller than the prior design described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,632. For example the prior design had an overall length of 68 inches from reference points  40  and  76  in  FIG. 3 . The whole assembly needed to be articulated over the center of the well bore to connect to the drill pipe. The present invention has an overall length of 58 inches as measured from  134  to  114  in  FIG. 11  and only 29 inches need to be articulated to the center of the well bore for connection to the drill pipe as measured from  113  to  114  in  FIG. 11  In the prior tool the total length of the tool needed to be articulated in over the well center. In the present invention, only 50% of the overall tool length needs to be articulated over the center of the well bore. The reasons this height reduction is possible include the fact that the mud line  112  is integrated with the hollow piston  122 . Aligning the mud line extension  112 ′ that has an external slot  130  with the hollow piston  122  and flowing the mud through the support arm further adds to the compactness of the design. The tool  106  is supported at a single location from the support arm  112 . The mud connection  135  enters radially into mud line extension  112 ′ which eliminates u-bends of the mud piping as used in the configuration of U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,632. It should be noted that typically a mud hose that is not shown is connected at  13  with a swivel connection to the mud line extension  112 ′ so that the connection does not rotate with the extension  112 ′. Housing  132  is the same as extension  112 ′. 
         [0041]    In an alternative embodiment, an even more compact design is shown in  FIGS. 16-23 . Referring to  FIG. 16  bails  101  and  102  support elevator  104 . The fill up and circulation tool  106  of a type known in the art is supported by support arm  112  that has a general S-shape with four bends to extend from the bottom of cylinder  116  to the top of the fill up and circulating tool  106 . Arm  112  is the sole support for the fill up and circulating tool  106 . Gear box  108  is part of fill up and circulation tool  106 . Air motor  110  operates fill up and circulation tool  106 . Gearbox  108  is also supported by support arm  112 . A hydraulic or air cylinder  116  is supported by spaced clamps  118  and  120  from bail  101 . Cylinder  116  is thus fixed to bail  101  but can be alternatively attached to bail  102 . Looking at  FIG. 17 , the fill up and circulation tool  106  is positioned over center and connected to the tubular  136  which cannot be seen.  FIGS. 18 and 19  show the fill up and circulation tool out of the way. In  FIG. 18  the tool is in the retracted position which moves fill up and circulating tool  106  up and out of the way to allow the top drive TD to connect to tubular  136  if needed.  FIG. 19  is a top view of the disengaged position and shows the misalignment of fill up and circulation tool  106  and tubular  136 . The rotational mechanism shown in detail in  FIGS. 20 and 21  features a stationary cylinder acting as a housing  116 . Inside is a movable piston  122  driven with compressed gas admitted into chamber  124  with reverse motion occurring when gas pressure is bled out of chamber  124 . Pin  151  is attached to mandrel  152  and j-slot pattern  130 ,  134  is supported by extension  119  that moves axially and then rotates when slot  134  is engaged by pin  151 . Application of gas pressure to chamber  124  from the  FIG. 20  position has the effect of rotation as pin  151  uses a curved portion of the j-slot  130  to rotate extension  119  and then pure axial movement of tubular extension  119  to raise arm  112  while not rotating arm  112  as pin  151  guides in the straight portion of slot pattern  130 . As pressure is relieved out of chamber  124  arm  112  descends with tubular housing  119  as housing  119  is guided by pin  151  to ride a straight part of the j-slot  130 . Further removal of pressure in chamber  124  allows the weight of the assembly to rotate housing  119  and with it arm  112  to place the fill up and circulating tool  106  in line with the tubular string  136  as shown in  FIGS. 16 and 17 . As opposed to  FIG. 11  where flow runs through piston  122 . In  FIGS. 16 and 18  the fluid inlet  135  is below housing  116  and is between rotating tubular extension  119  and arm  112  and enters in a perpendicular direction to j-slot  130 . The overall assembly height is reduced as the turning mechanism of the j-slot  138  is located nested within piston  122  as opposed to extending above the piston  122  and extending out the top of housing  116 . The same amount of rotation and vertical movement of arm  112  is obtained but with a far shorter overall height than in the  FIG. 11  layout. This makes the tool more versatile in low clearance installations where there is no room for the extension tube  112 ′ shown in  FIG. 11  because the bails on a particular job are too short to allow room for tube  112 ′ to swing around. In essence the turning function on arm  112  is nested in housing  116  instead of extending above it as in  FIG. 11  to allow a dramatic decrease in overall height of the assembly in the order of 50%. 
         [0042]      FIGS. 22 and 23  show in detail other features not present in the embodiment of  FIGS. 7-15 . Arm  112  has a remotely actuated and preferably compressed air operated valve  121  to assure flow cutoff more certainly than check valves used in the past. Furthermore there is a clutch  123  allows selective disconnection to the tubular string  136  by disconnecting a splines  150  recess  152 . Drive  140  has spaced sprockets  160  and  162  connected by a chain that is not shown. When the clutch  123  is engaged sprocket  160  rotation turns mandrel  143  and adapters (not shown) connected to mandrel  143 . Spring  164  provides bias on clutch  123  toward the disengaged position shown in  FIG. 22 . Pressure in chamber  166  that communicates with the interior of gearbox  108  raises sleeve  154  against the bias of spring  164  so that rotation of sprocket  160  will not turn the mandrel  143 . Removal of compressed air pressure allows spring  164  to push splines  150  into respective slots  152  so that rotation of the sprocket  160  again turns mandrel  143 . The configuration can be reversed so that application of compressed air can engage the clutch as opposed to disengaging the clutch as shown in  FIG. 22 . The clutch feature takes away the need to disconnect from the string  136  with the tool  106  if there was a need to rotate the string  136  with rig equipment that is not shown. The  FIG. 7  design required physical disconnection but the addition of the clutch  123  removes that need and speeds up operations. 
         [0043]    From a longitudinal height perspective the vertical height at the fill up and circulation tool  106  is less than half the height overall adjacent a supporting bail such as  101 . 
         [0044]    The above description is illustrative of the preferred embodiment and many modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention whose scope is to be determined from the literal and equivalent scope of the claims below: