PIVOTED WELL DRILLING MAST AND SEPARATE TOWER

• US 3,851,770 A
• Filed: 04/30/1973
• Issued: 12/03/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/1973
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cecil Jenkins, Joseph R. Woolslayer
• Original Assignee: Cecil Jenkins, Joseph R. Woolslayer
• Inventors: Jenkins, Cecil, Woolslayer, Joseph R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Werner, Frank E.
• Application Number:
  US05/355,723
• Time in Patent Office: 582 Days
• Field of Search: 214/2.5,13R,1BD,147G 175/85
• US Class Current: 414/22.56
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 15/00 Supports for the drilling machine, e.g. derricks or masts
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 19/14 Racks, ramps, troughs or bins, for holding the lengths of rod singly or connected; Handling between storage place and borehole E21B19/20, E21B19/22 take precedence

Abstract

A foot of a reclining oil well drilling mast is hinged to a substructure. Below the mast the foot of a reclining pipe racking tower is also hinged to the substructure. Means are provided for first swinging the mast up to upright position and for then swinging the tower up to upright position in front of the mast so that vertical pipe can be moved back and forth between them during drilling operations.

Claims

1. Well drilling apparatus comprising a substructure having a front and a back, a mast with an open front side, means hinging the foot of the mast to the substructure on a horizontal axis, means for swinging the mast from a prone position in front of the substructure up to an upright position above the substructure, a pipe racking tower with an open back side, means hinging the foot of the tower to the substructure on a horizontal axis in front of and below said mast hinging means, a line attached to the upper side of the prone tower, sheave means up in the upright mast, said line passing over said sheave means and downwardly therefrom, means on said substructure for pulling on said line to swing the tower from a prone position in front of the substructure below the level of the prone position of the mast up to an upright position in front of the upright mast, and means for holding the mast and tower in said upright positions.

2. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 1, in which said pulling means include drawworks mounted on said substructure, said apparatus including a travelling block movable up and down in the mast by means of the drawworks, and second sheave means anchored at the bottom of the mast, said line extending from said first-mentioned sheave means down around said second sheave means and up to said travelling block, whereby when the travelling block is raised in the mast it will pull on said line and swing the tower upwardly.

3. Well drilling apparatus comprising a substructure having a front and a back, a mast with an open front side, means hinging the foot of the mast to the substructure on a horizontal axis, means for swinging the mast from a prone position in front of the substructure up to an upright position above the substructure, a pipe racking tower with an open back side for receiving and storing pipe in substantially upright position, means hinging the foot of the tower to the substructure on a horizontal axis in front of said mast hinging means, means for swinging the tower from a prone position in front of the substructure up to an upright position in front of the upright mast, means for holding the mast and tower in said upright position during pipe racking, and a pipe rack mounted inside said tower and accessible from said open front side of the mast for receiving pipe from the mast while the mast and tower are upright, whereby to rack the pipe substantially upright inside the upright tower.

4. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 3, in which the mast and tower in said prone positions are disposed with the tower beneath the mast.

5. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 3, including means supported by said tower for moving stands of pipe from the upright mast into the pipe rack in the upright tower and vice versa.

6. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 5, in which said pipe-moving means are carried upwardly by said tower from its prone position to its upright position.

7. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 3, in which said mast is tapered away from said substructure, and said tower has substantially parallel sides.