Tubular handling system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12460486-B2
Application number	US-202418591936-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 29, 2024
Priority date	Mar 2, 2023
Publication date	Nov 4, 2025
Grant date	Nov 4, 2025

Abstract

A system that can include a vertical support rotationally coupled to a rig floor, a hoisting arm movably coupled to the vertical support, and a catwalk, wherein the hoisting arm is configured to transport the tubular between the catwalk and well center or mousehole while the vertical support maintains a substantially constant azimuthal orientation. A method can include movably coupling a vertical support to an upper track, extending an upper tailing arm a first horizontal distance from the vertical support to engage an upper portion of a tubular, retracting the upper tailing arm to move the upper portion of the tubular proximate the vertical support, and extending a hoisting arm a second horizontal distance to engage a middle portion of the tubular, wherein the second horizontal distance is less than the first horizontal distance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system for handling tubulars in a subterranean operation, the system comprising:
a vertical support coupled to a rig floor and configured to rotate around a center axis of the vertical support relative to the rig floor; a hoisting arm movably coupled to the vertical support; a catwalk configured to transport a tubular between a horizontal storage area and the rig floor, wherein the hoisting arm is configured to transport the tubular between the catwalk and a well center or between the catwalk and a mousehole, wherein the vertical support is at a first azimuthal orientation relative to the center axis when the hoisting arm receives the tubular from the catwalk, wherein the vertical support is at a second azimuthal orientation relative to the center axis when the hoisting arm delivers the tubular to the well center or the mousehole, and wherein the first azimuthal orientation is substantially equal to the second azimuthal orientation; a lower track that is disposed on the rig floor and substantially parallel to a center line of the catwalk, wherein the lower track is horizontally offset from the center line; and an upper track that is disposed below a fingerboard and is substantially parallel with the lower track, wherein the upper track is horizontally offset from the center line.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vertical support is coupled to the upper track at an upper end and the lower track at a lower end, wherein the vertical support translates horizontally relative to the upper track and the lower track, and wherein the vertical support is configured to rotate relative to the lower track and the upper track.

3 . A system for handling tubulars in a subterranean operation, the system comprising:
a vertical support coupled to a rig floor and configured to rotate around a center axis of the vertical support relative to the rig floor; a hoisting arm movably coupled to the vertical support; a catwalk configured to transport a tubular between a horizontal storage area and the rig floor, wherein the hoisting arm is configured to transport the tubular between the catwalk and a well center or between the catwalk and a mousehole, wherein the vertical support is at a first azimuthal orientation relative to the center axis when the hoisting arm receives the tubular from the catwalk, wherein the vertical support is at a second azimuthal orientation relative to the center axis when the hoisting arm delivers the tubular to the well center of the mousehole, and wherein the first azimuthal orientation is substantially equal to the second azimuthal orientation; a lower tailing arm, wherein one end of the lower tailing arm is fixedly coupled to a lower end of the vertical support, wherein the lower tailing arm is coupled at an opposite end to a first gripper, wherein the first gripper is configured to engage a lower portion of the tubular and control horizontal movement of the lower portion of the tubular, and wherein the hoisting arm and the lower tailing arm cooperate with each other to manipulate the tubular about the rig floor; and an upper tailing arm, wherein one end of the upper tailing arm is fixedly coupled to an upper end of the vertical support, wherein the upper tailing arm is coupled at an opposite end to a first gripper, wherein the first gripper is configured to engage a top portion of a tubular and control horizontal movement of the top portion of the tubular.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the lower tailing arm is configured to allow vertical movement of the tubular while the hoisting arm raises or lowers the tubular.

5 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the hoisting arm, the lower tailing arm, and the upper tailing arm cooperate with each other to manipulate the tubular about the rig floor, and wherein the upper tailing arm is configured to allow vertical movement of the tubular while the hoisting arm raises or lowers the tubular.

6 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a doping device positioned on the rig floor, and wherein the hoisting arm is configured to lower an end of the tubular into the doping device and raise the end of the tubular from the doping device after dope is applied to threads of the end of the tubular.

7 . A method for handling tubulars in a subterranean operation, the method comprising:
movably coupling a vertical support of a pipe handler to a rig floor, such that the vertical support is configured to horizontally translate along the rig floor and to rotate around a center axis relative to the rig floor; movably coupling a hoisting arm to the vertical support; extending a portion of a tubular from a catwalk along a center line of the catwalk to be positioned vertically below the hoisting arm; engaging the portion of the tubular via the hoisting arm; via the hoisting arm, receiving the tubular from the catwalk at a first azimuthal orientation; via the hoisting arm, delivering the tubular to a delivery location on the rig floor at a second azimuthal orientation, wherein the first azimuthal orientation is substantially equal to the second azimuthal orientation; aligning a lower track in parallel with the center line of the catwalk; offsetting the lower track from the center line; and translating the vertical support along the lower track.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising translating the tubular from the catwalk to a delivery location while maintaining a constant azimuthal orientation of the vertical support.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the delivery location comprises one of a well center, a mousehole, a doping device, a location in a vertical storage area, an iron roughneck, or a top drive.

10 . A system for handling tubulars in a subterranean operation, the system comprising:
a vertical storage area configured to store tubulars on a rig floor that are substantially vertically oriented; a vertical support of a pipe handler movably coupled to the rig floor and a fingerboard; an upper tailing arm rotationally coupled to an upper portion of the vertical support, wherein the upper tailing arm is configured to extend a maximum first horizontal distance from the vertical support; and a hoisting arm moveably coupled to the vertical support below the upper tailing arm, wherein the hoisting arm is configured to lift an entire weight of a tubular and extend a maximum second horizontal distance from the vertical support, and wherein the first maximum horizontal distance is greater than the second maximum horizontal distance; a first gripper that is coupled to an end of the upper tailing arm, wherein the upper tailing arm is configured to extend a first horizon distance from the vertical support, engage an upper portion of the tubular in the vertical storage area with the first gripper, and control horizontal movement of the upper portion of the tubular, a second gripper that is coupled to an end of the hoisting arm, wherein the hoisting arm is configured to extend a second horizontal distance from the vertical support, engage the tubular with the second gripper, lift the tubular upward, and raise a lower end of the tubular from the rig floor, and wherein the second horizontal distance is less than the first horizontal distance; and a lower tailing arm with a third gripper coupled to one end of the lower tailing arm, wherein the lower tailing arm is configured to engage a lower portion of the tubular with the third gripper and control horizontal movement of the lower portion of the tubular.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the hoisting arm is rotationally coupled to the vertical support and vertically movable relative to the vertical support.

12 . The s

Assignees

• Nabors Drilling Tech Usa Inc

Inventors

• Kunec Alex
• Gupta Ashish
• Hager Keith

Classifications

• E21B19/14 Primary

  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) · CPC title

• E21B19/155 Primary

  Handling between horizontal and vertical position · CPC title