CA1151143A - Well servicing rig - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A fully mobil and totally contained well servicing and drilling rig is disclosed having equipment on the rig for automatically handling well elements (pipe, tubing and rods) going into and coming out of a well. The rig provides well element storage racks, cranes for moving well elements onto and off the racks, transfer means for moving well elements from horizontal to vertical position, well element conveying means for moving elements to and from the transfer means, an automatic manipulator for moving elements into alignment with the well being serviced, automatic hoisting means, means for connecting and disconnecting elements from the element string within the well, driving means for all of the equipment, and control means for sequencing and operating all of the means so that the entire well servicing or drilling can be accomplished without human handling of well elements in the vicinity of the well head and rig.

Description

~53L~3 002WELI. SERVICING RIG

004BACKGROUND O~ THE INVENTION
005This invention relates to an apparatus useful in 006 handling elongated well elements such as pipe, tubing, and 007 sucker rods and, more particularly, the invention relates to a 008 mobile, totally contained and automatically operated servicing 009 and drilling rig for use in oil well or other similar opera-010 tions.
011 In oil well operations, elongated well elements such 01~ as tubing, pipe and sucker rods are used for such purposes as 013 well production and well drilling. Individual well element sec-014 tions are connected together to form an elongated segmented 015 string for use in the well. The segmented string frequently 016 comprises of the order of a hundred or more well elements.
017 A rig hoist is used to lower each successive section 018 into the well to approximately its full length. After the sec-019 tion has been lowered to such a position, it is gripped near 020 its upper end by suitable means, such as slips, to suspend it 021 in the well. The hoist is then released from this section and 022 a second section is supported from the hoist and then coupled 023 to the first section. The second section is then lowered into 024 the well to its full extent, and it is then held by the slips 025 and the above sequence repeated. As this sequence is repeated, 026 successive sections form a string which progressively goes 027 deeper and deeper into the well.
028 If such a string is being removed from the well the 029 hoist is connected to the uppermost section and the entire 030 string is lifted until such section clears the well. The 031 remaining string is hung by the slips in the wellhead and the 032 uppermost section is then uncoupled and moved to a storage posi-033 tion. In the usual prior art field operations, the storage 034 position is adjacent to the wellhead and sections, are trans-035 ported from the storage position to the wellhead for connection 036 to the hoist or removal thereform by manual means. In other 037 prior art sys.ems separate mechanical conveying elements are ~11 S~ 3 ,.

002 required to operate the hoist and to transport the sections 003 from the storage position to the hoist position.
004 In much of the prior art operations, several opera-005 tors are required to perform all of the functions that are 006 necessary to place a section into the hoist QOSitiOn~ to con-007 nect or disconnect it from the string, and to run the string 008 into the well or to remove it from the well. In some cases, 009 this has required an operator at the wellhead level, an 010 operator at an elevated position above the wellhead to connect 011 or disconnect the sections from the hoist, and an operator to 012 place the sections in the storage or to remove them from the 013 storage position. Each of the operators involved in the opera-014 tion of running well elements into and out of a well is in inti-015 mate contact with the wellhead and with the elements removed 016 from the well.
017 Many of the petroleum wells today operate at elevated 018 temperatures, either because of their ~epth within the earth 019 formation or because of their operation in secondary recovery 020 systems where steam or hot fluids are pumped into the well to 021 cause the heavier crudes to become more mobile so as to 1Ow 022 toward the producing wells. In the treatment and operation of 023 such wells, the removal of well elements becomes more difficult 024 because of their elevated temperature. In some cases wells are 025 cooled for many days through the procedure of pumping cold 026 water into the well to bring the elements to a telnperature 027 where they may ~e safely handled by personnel. Automatic well 028 element handling apparatus have been proposed to handle such 02g elements so-as to avoid the cooling step necessary to bring the 030 element to a temperature where individuals may touch them.

032 The present invention is directed to an apparatus for 033 handling elongated well elements wherein the apparatus is 034 totally contained on a single movable vehicle and the handling 035 of well elements from a storage position to a position for 036 insertion within the well, or the reverse thereof for removal 037 from the well to a position of storage, is accomplished ~o~ally ~5~3 automatically without the need for personnel a~ or close to the wellhead.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a totally contained movable rig for servicing and drilling and for handling elongated well elements between a horizontal storage position and a vertical position in operating relationship with a well, comprising: (a) horizontal storing means for storing said well elements in hori~ontal position; (b) conveying means for conveying individual well elements from said horizontal storing means to a transfer location; (c) transfer means including means for holding said individual well elements and means for positioning said transfer means adjacent to the centerline of said well and parallel thereto; (d) manipulating means including means for grasping said well element from said transfer means to position the longitudinal axis of said well element in alignment with the centerline of said well; (e) means for moving said well element along said longitudinal axis thereof into operative position with respect to said well; () coupling means for coupling said well element to another well element in said well; (g) and control means for sequencing the operation of said conveying means) said transfer means, said manipulating means, said means for moving, and said coupling means to accompllsh said handling of said well elements into and out of said operating relationship with said well totally automatically.
The automatic control mechanism for controlling the sequential operation of each of the portions of the apparatus enables well servicing operations to be conducted from a position remote from the wellhead. Each of the individual portions of the overall apparatus is preferably designed to be stored on the mobile rig so that the rig and all of its operating elements is transportable as a unit from operation to opera~ion.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for servicing or drilling a well with a self-contained automatic sequence controlled rig including a derrick and hoist mechanism positionable in alignment with the centerline of said well, manipul.ating means for handling well elements into and out of said well, transfer means ~ 3 -- .

~5~L43 for handling well elements to and from said manipulating means, well element conveyor means for handling well elements to and from said transfer means, and pipe rack means for supplying or receiving well elements from said conveyor means, the steps comprising: (a) storing well elements in a horizontal position; ~b) indexing single well elements for access to or from said conveyor means; (c) lifting well elements in horizontal position to or from said pipe rack means; (d) conveying said well elements in horizontal position into and from said transfer means; (e) removing well elements from or positioning well elements into said transfer means; (f) rotating said well elements from horizontal to vertical position or from vertical to horizontal position with said transfer means; (g) removing said well elements from or passing said well elements to said manipulating means;
(h) aligning said well elements with the centerline of said well or removing said well elements from alignment with said well into alignment with said transfer means; (i) grasping said well elements with said hoist mechanism or releasing said hoist mechanism from said well element; (j) lowering or raising said well element with respect to said well; (k) and connecting or disconnecting said well elements from other well elements within said well.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided the method of handling well elements between vertical alignment with the centerline of a well and horizontal storage position with a self-contained well servicing rig comprising the steps of: (a) providing a horizontal well element storage area attached to and horizontally at the side of said rig; (b) rotating individual well elements between horizontal and vertical position; (c) placing said vertical well elements in alignment with the axis of said well; (d) moving said well elements into alignment with the centerline of said well; (e) and positioning said well elements into engagement with said other well elements within said well.

- 3a -115~L~43 003 FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the mobile well 004 servicing rig shown in its operational position with respect to 0Q5 a well head.
006 FIG. lA is a schematic representation of a well head 007 and the elements associated with the well head~
008 FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the well 009 servicin~ rig in its transport position with all elements of 010 the rig stored for transport between well heads.
011 FIG. 3 is a top plan view of tha well servicing rig 012 in transport position.
013 FIG. 4 is a rear partial elevational view partially 014 in section showing the well servicing rig in stored position.
015 FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the well 016 servicing rig in operational position with respect to a well 017 head.
018 ~IG. 6 is a top plan view of the well servicing rig 019 having particular reference to the pipe storage portion of the 020 rig.
021 FIG. 7 is a rear elevational view of the well 022 servicing rig illustrating the pipe storage, conveying and 023 transfer means.
024 FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view taken generally 025 along the lines 8-8 of FIGo 6~
026 FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the pipe rack details of 027 FIG. ~
028 FIG~ 10 is a side elevational view of the pipe con-029 veyor portion of the well servicin~ rig.
030 FIG. 10A is a partial elevational view of the 031 conveyor means of FIG~ 10 and illustrating the indexing means 032 and its associated gates.
033 FIG. 10B is a top view of FIG. 10A partially in 034 section.
035 FIG~ 11 is a sectional view taken generally alony the 036 lines ll-ll of FIG. 10.
037 FIG. 12 is a partial sectional view taken generall~
038 along the lines 12-12 of FIG. 10.

~15~ 3 001 ~5~

002 FIG. 13 is a detailed elevational view of the trans-003 fer arm hands.
004 FIG. 14 is a side elevational view o~ FIGo 13.
005 FIG. 15 is a front elevational view of the automatic 006 pipe manipulator of the present invention.
007 FIG. 16 is a side elevational view of FIG. 15 showin~
008 the operational positions of the automatic pipe manipulator 009 ends.
010 FIG. 16A is a sectional view taken along the lines 011 16A-16A of FIG. 5, showing several cooperating positions of the 012 elements of the invention.
013 FIGS. 17, 18 and 19 are, respectively, top plan, 014 front elevational and side elevational views of the details of 015 the top hand of the automatic pipe manipulatorO
016 FIGS. 20, 21 and 22 are, respectively, top plan, side 017 elevational and side elevational views of the bottom hand of 018 the automatic pipe manipulator.
019 FIGS. 23 and 24 are front and side elev~tional views 020 of the elevator apparatus of the present invention.
021 FIG. 25 is a sectional view taken generally along the 022 lines 25-25 of FIG. 23.
023 FIG. 26 is a sectional vlew taken generally along the 024 lines 26-26 of FIG. 23.
025 FIG. 27 is a ~ront elevational view of the well 026 element handliny elements at the front of the rig and adjacent 027 to the well head.
028 FIG. 28 is a side elevational view of PI~. 27 029 FIGS. 2g and 30 are partial sectional views 030 illustrating the joint locating means for tublng and rod 031 elements, respectively.
032 FIG. 31 is a top plan view of the centralizer of the 033 present invention.
034 FIGS. 32 and 33 are top and side views of the jaws oF
035 the centralizer of FIG. 31.

~SiL1~3 .

.

002 FIGS. 34, 35 and 36 are sequential views showing the 003 operation of the gate and indexer of the pipe conveying means 004 shown also in FIGS. 10A and 10B.
005 FIGS. 37A, 37B, 37C and 37D are chart representations 006 of the sequencing of the operations of the various elements of 007 the present invention.
008 FIGSo 38A, 388 and 38C are a chart representation of 009 the sensor controls of the present invention.

011 The preEerred form of apparatus assembled in 012 accordance with the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 013 where the apparatus is shown in its operational position with 014 elements erected for servicing operations with respect to a 015 well penetrating the earth formation. The apparatus of the 016 present invention is useful in handling elongated well elements 017 between a horizontal storage position and a vertical opera-018 tional position. Thus, the apparatus of the present invention 019 is useful to lay down or pick up tubin3, pipe and sucker rods 020 for use within a well. Throughout this specification the terms 021 "well ele~ents~, "tubing", "pipe" and "sucker rods" will be 022 used interchangeably, in some cases the handling of rods and 023 pipes or tubing will be different because of the physical 024 dimensional differences in size between pipe, tubing and sucker 025 rods. The terms "laying down tubing" and "picking up tubing"
026 means, respectively, taking a tubing section which is dis-027 connected from a tubing string and placing it in a hori ontal 028 manner on a pipe rack, or the like, and taking a tubing section 029 from a horiæontal position on a pipe rack, or the like, and 030 positioning it in a vertical manner for connection with a 031 tubing string.
032 As illustrated in FIG. lA, the conventional envir~n-033 ment in which the invention i5 useful, includes, for example, a 034 well 10 containing a well casing 12 having a well head 035 gener~lly indicated by the number 14 located at the earth 036 surface. A tubin~ string 16 extends down the well through the 037 well head and through the tubing hanging slips 18 positioned on llS~g~

001 _7_ 002 the well head 14. The tubing string is held by means o~
003 elevator 20 which is connected to traveling block 22 by ~eans 004 of elevator links 24 and 26. Hoist cables 28 and 30 connect 005 the traveling block to a hoist (not shown). Power tonys 21 and 006 back-up 23 are located above well head 14 to disconnected or to 007 connect the threaded tubing sections into the tubin~ string.
008 The apparatus of the present invention is intended 009 for use in the environment previously described and is designed 010 to provide a totally cQntained well servicing apparatus that 011 may be moved from well head to well head and will contain all 012 of the necessary equipment for handling any of the well 013 elements previously described and for laying down and picking 014 up such well elements in a fully automatic manner. As illustra-015 ted in FI~. 1, the apparatus comprises a wheeled vehicle 016 generally designated 31 having sets of wheels 32 and 33 at the 017 front and rear of the vehicle, respectively. Power systems are 018 provided on the vehicle including an operator's cab at 34 and a 019 power drive system 35 for operating the vehicle and a winching 020 system 36 all of which may be driven from a single power-driven 021 system defined hereinafter.
022 Detailed figures will illustrate each of the elements 023 of the assembled apparatus. However, in generality, ~IG. 1 024 illustrates the pipe rack arms 37, the jib crane 38, the pipe 025 conveyors 39, the transfer arms 41, the hoist cables 42, the 026 derrick 43, the crown block 44, the automatic pipe manipulator 027 45, the traveling block 46, the power tongs 21, back~up tongs 028 23, slips S0, the centralizer 47, and the elevator 48. All of 029 the foregoing equipment i5 supported on and provided with 03~ operating means that is also supported on the vehicle 31. When 031 in operating position, the vehicle is leveled by a set of 032 levelers 49 adapted to engage the earth surface.
033 FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the well servicing rig of 034 the present invention in its storage position for transport 035 from location to location. As illustrated particularly in FIG.
036 2, the derrick 43 is pivoted about pivot ;1 and folded ~ack 037 over the top of the vehicle 31 and supportedJ as shown in FIG.

~s~

001 -8~

002 ~, on inverted A-frame legs 52. The pipe rack arms 37 are 003 folded to be parallel to the axis of the vehicle and jib cranes 004 38 are centralized with the vehicle and folded at their joint 005 to be supported within the vehicle. Conveyors 39 are tilted 006 toward the interior of the vehicle and positioned inside of the 007 derrick masts 43. Transfer arms 41 are positioned in their 008 hori20ntal position and supported on supports 53. The 009 traveling block 46 and elevator 48 are stored adjacent to the 010 operator cab 34 at the forward end of the vehicle. As shown in 011 FIG. 3, the automatic pipe manipulator 45 is stored inside of 012 the derrick le~s 43.
013 8y ref~rring ~o FIGS. 1-5 and comparing the positions 014 of the equipment in the stored and operating positions, it 015 should be apparent that all of the apparatus needed for 016 servicing and operating a well is incIuded in the mobile well 017 servicing rig. As illustrated particularly in FIG. 2, the 018 hydraulic lifting mechanism 54 operating between the frame of 019 the vehicle and the legs of the dexrick 43 ~ay be actuated to 020 expand the piston systems to rotate the legs 43 about the pivot 021 51 to raise the derrick to the position as shown in FIG. 1 022 above the wellhead 14. When in the elevated position, the legs 023 43 are tilted slightly orward of vertical, with respect to the 024 forward end o the vehicle, and ~re maintained in position by 025 the derrick elevatQr pistons and the cables 4Q connected to the 026 vehicle chassis. When in the raised positiGn the automatic 027 pipe manipulating means 45 is in a substantially vertical 028 position, so as to provide true alignment and guidance for well 029 elements into and ou~ of the well head 14.
030 Referring now to FIGS. 1, 5 and 6, wherein the first 031 of several coordinated portions of the apparatus o ~he present 03~ invention is shown, a possible first function that the fully 033 contained drilling rig per~or~s is the provision of storage 034 space for well elements. As i5 seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, each 035 side of the rig 31 is provided with fold-out pipe rack ar,~s 37.
036 A pair of pipe rac~ arms are provided on each side so that well 037 elements may be stored parallel to the axis of the chassis o ~15~43 002 the vehicle on both sides in a position for access from the 003 rig. As shown in FI~. 6, the pipe rack arms on the le~t side of 004 the vehicle (facing forwar~ are shown in their extended posi-005 tion perpendicular to the vehicle, and on the right side of the 006 vehicle, the pipe rack ar~s are sho~n in their stored position 007 withi~ the conFines o the rig. Further details of the 008 mounting of the pipe rack arms are shown in ~IGS. 7, 8 and 9.
009 As illustrated in FIG. 8, the pipe rack arms are 010 journaled on vertical pins 55 supported on a frame member 56 011 journaled at the center oE the rig on frame 57 ~upported on 012 suitable framing legs 58 secured to the chassis of the rig.
013 Inboard of tbe journal 55 and attached to the underside of the 014 framing members 56 is a hydraulic operator 59 suitably pinned 015 at 61 and 62 to the frame Inember 56 and the chassis 31, 016 respectively. The hydraulic operator is operable to raise 017 and/or lower the pipe rack arms about their pivot on frame 57 018 so that the arms slope either toward, away from, or are level 019 with respect to the chassis 31.
020 Referring particularly to FIG. 7 ~here one of the 021 pipe racks 37 is illustrated, it can be seen that the slope of 022 the rack is such that the well elements 17 roll along the upper 023 surface of the pipe rack toward the inboard portion of th~ rig.
024 On the opposite side of the rig a pipe rack arm is shown in 025 phantom with a slope away from the rig so that well elements 17 026 are rolled away from the rig and are stored against a stop pin 027 63 fixed to the outboard side.
028 As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, hydraulic operators 64 are 029 provided for each of the pipe rack arms to provide the opera~
030 ting force to move the arms to the extended position outboard 031 of the rig. The hydraulic operators 64 operate between a 032 bracket 65 on the pipe rack ar~s and a bracket 66 mounted to 033 the frame member 56.
034 As shown in FIG. 7, above the pipe rack and pivoted 035 on a central rotary plate 71 are mounte~ a pair of jib cranes 036 33. The vertical support for the jib crane is a channel shaft 037 72 includin~ a journaling arrangement 73 for rotatably mounting ~5~3 002 the shaEt on the rotary plate 71. The horizontal arm of the 003 jib crane includes a member 74 fixed to the vertical shaft 72 004 and extension 75 hinged at 76 and pinned at 77 onto the member 005 74. ~he outboar~ side of the extension 75 carries a sheave 78 006 pivoted on a bracket 79 and a cable 81 passes over the sheave 007 and is ~uided over a movable sheave 80 moved by operator 82 008 mounted on the upper surface of the horizontal member 74. It 009 should be noted that the jib crane is rotatable about vertical 010 shaft 72 so as to position the cable 81 for use to pick up a 011 supply of well elements 17 on the ground beside the rig or on 012 the bed of a delivery truck, The cable and crane may be used 013 to lift the well elements while the pipe rack 37 is positioned 014 parallel to the rig and, while the cable holds the well 015 elements above the position of the pipe rack, the racks may be 016 extended to be perpendicular to the rig and the well elements 017 may be then placed on the pipe rack. In reverse operations 018 elements may be withdrawn from the pipe rack by being lifted 019 with the cable and placed on a delivery truck or on the ground 020 adjacent to the rig. The jib cranes 38 are mounted above the 021 arms of the Pipe rack and positioned so that they may be 022 rotated to either side of the rig to provide lifting and 023 servicing operations to pipe racks on either side. The 024 construction with the extension 75 and its hinged and pinned 025 relationship permits the jib cranes to be stored in the 026 positions illustrated in FIG. 2 when the rig is collapsed to 027 its transport position.

029 Por the purpose of delivering well elements to the 030 transfer arms 41 and eventually to the automatic pipe manip-031 ~lator 45 for run~ing into the well, it is essen~ial that 032 individual well elements 17 be indexed into a fixed position 033 where other portions of the well servicing rig ~ay cooperate 034 with the well elements. The pipe rack ar~s 37 are provided 035 with an ~pper me~ber 67 preferably wood and slightly shorter 036 than the movable portion of the pipe rack ar~s. ~s shown in 037 FIG. 7 an indexer 91 is locatable in a position with respect to l~S~3 002 the pipe rack arms and slightly above or below, depending 003 respectively, upon whether well elements are running out of or 004 into the well. Details oE the indexer are shown in FIGS. lOA
005 and lOB and the operation of the indexer is shown in FIGS. 34, 006 35 and 36 where the indexer is shown to constitute a body 007 portion 92 having an indexing groove 93 cut into its upper 008 surface to provide an ali~nment location for well elements 17 009 shown as phantom indications of tubing or rods. The indexer 010 has a pair o~ threaded travelers 94 fixed to its outer surface 011 in a position to cooperate with a worm shaEt 96 so that 012 rotation of the wor~ sha~t moves the indexer up and down alony 013 the wor~ to accomplish positioning of the indexer with respect 014 to the pipe rack arms 37. As shown in FIG~ 6 the indexer 91 is 015 adjacent to the pipe rack arms 37 with a portion thereof 016 extending outwardly from the drill rig to a position for 017 cooperation with the well elements.
018 The indexer 91 is further provided with gatin~ means 019 97 including a retractable barrier 98 for controlling movement 020 of well elements into the index groove of the indexer.
021 second gating means 99 including a retractable barrier 100 con-022 trols the passage of a well element into the indexing groove.
023 The two gating means 97 and 99 are needed for running well ele-024 ments into the well whQn the control and sequencing of well ele-025 ment movements will be seen as an integral part of the present 026 invention. As shown in FIGS. 34, 35 and 36, well elements 027 which were supported on the pipe rack arms 37 drop onto the 028 ~ody portion 92 of indexer 91 and stop against indexer gate 029 100. When the equipment is ready to advan~e a well element 17, 030 gate 98 is extended to hold the elements and separate on ele-031 ment from the row as shown in FIG. 35. Gate 100 is then with-032 drawn and element 17 rolls into the indexing groove ~3 as shown 033 in FIG. 36. Gate 100 is then extended and gate 98 withdrawn to 034 index the next element for use as shown in FIG. 34. The in-035 dexer i~ further provided with a blocking bar 101 pinned a~ 102 036 to the body portion 92 and rotatable to a position to cooperate 037 with an ear 103 on the inboard side of the body portion. When , 002 rotated to the positlon for cooperation with the ear 103, as G03 shown phantom in FIG. 10A, the blocking bar 101 excludes well 004 elements ~rom the indexer so that elements will ride on the 005 upper surface of the blocking bar and be transported down the 006 slope to the pipe rack arms 37.
007 It should be apparent that in the two operating 008 positions of the indexer, i.e. the position for indexing well 009 elements for running into the well and in the position for 010 guiding well elements when running out of the well, the indexer 011 may be at any position along the worm 96 depending on the 012 height of the elements stored on the pipe rac~ arms 37. The 013 gates 97 and 99 will control entry of elements to the indexer 014 and blocking bar 101 will roll elements onto the stored 015 elements or the pipe rack arms.
016 There are four indexers associated with the mobile 017 well servicing rig of the present invention, one for each o 018 the pipe rack arms. The two indexers on the same side of the 019 rig are positivned in the same elevation regardless of whether 020 they are receiving or passing elements. The worm gear 021 providing the movement and support for the indexers is 022 supported on the conveying means 39. Referring now to FIGS~
023 10, 11 and 12, the worm gear 96 is shown supported on a 024 mounting plate 104 providing both support and a bearing journal 025 for the worm gear. The mounting plate 1~4 is affixed to the 026 frame of the conveying means 39. At one side of the conveying 027 means a hydraulic motor 105 is supported on the mounting plate 028 104 to provide the necessary rotary motion of the worm gear 96.
02~ An upper shaft guide 106 is provided at each side of the 030 conveying means and a ~h~ft 107 is supported in the guide in a 031 relationship to carry drive motion fro~ the worm 96. A pair of 032 90~ angle gear boxes 108 change the direction of the drive from 033 the worm g6 to sha~t 109 passing horizontally across the upper 034 surface of the conveying means with support provided at a 035 bearing journal 111. With the mechanism just described 036 rotation of the motor 105 drives worJm 96 at the left hand side 037 of FIG. 10 to cause movement of indexer 91 up or down the ~5~3 002 conveying means. Rotation of shaft 36 is transferred to shaft 003 106 through gear box 108 and shaft 109 to gear box 108 at the 004 right hand side of FIG. 10 and throu~h shaft 107 to wor~ 96 at 005 the right hand side. The drive and gear boxes are designed to 006 cause in~exers 91 on both sides of the conveyor to move simul^
007 taneously and in the same dir~ction.
008 With the mechanisms just described the well elements 009 which have previously been placed on the pipe rack arms ar~ now 010 positioned in an indexing location when running into the well 011 so that additional mechanism of tlle well servicing rig may 012 always find the well elements in exactly the same location.
013 Likewise,'when well elements are being run out of the well the 014 indexing mechanism is in a place to unload those well elements 015 onto the pipe rack for further disposition. As may be seen in 016 FIG. 11, the indexer 91 on the left hand side of the figu,re is 017 located in a position for running well elements into the well.
018 The indexer 9l shown on the right hand side of the figur~ is in 019 its position for running well elements out of the well.
020 As previously described the mounting plate 104 is 021 supported on a portion of the vertical support members 112 and 022 113 of the pipe conveyin3 means 39. The pipe conveying means 023 39 is duplicated at each side of the well servicing rig; for 024 the purposes of description here, only one side of the con-025 veying means will be described. The purpose of the pipe con-026 veying means 39, when running well elements into the well, is 027 to pick the well elements from the indexer 91 and transport 028 them to a position where they ~ay be placed into the transfer 029 arms 41; or in the case of running well elements out of the 030 well t3 transfer well elements from the transfer arms 41 into 031 cooperation with the indexing means 91 and onto the pipe rack 032 arms 37. As illustrated in ~IGS. 7, ll and 12, when the rig is 033 in the operational position, the pipe conveying means is 034 aligned perpendicular to the leveled chassis of the well 035 servicing rig. The pipe conveying ~eans are supported on a bar 036 114 fixed to the underside of the chassis of the vehicle 31.
037 Each of the vertical support members is pivoted on a axle 115~L43 002 suitably connected to the bar 114 to permit the pipe conveyers 903 to be rotated rom the operational position as shown in FIGS. 7 004 and 11 to the storage position as shown in FIG. 4. Hydraulic 005 actuators 115 operating between the chassis oE the vehicle 31 006 and the vertical support members are adapted for moving the 007 conveyor means about their pivot on bar 114.
008 Each of the vertical support members constitutes a 009 pair of guide plates 116 and 117 that are elongated, ha~e a 010 rotary surface at each end as at 118 and 119, and an internal 011 slot 121. The guide plates 116 and 117 and their rotary 012 surfaces 118 and 119 and the slot 121 are designed to provide 013 operating guides for elements that are adapted to provide for a 014 continuous orientation for a lifter jaw 122 associated with OlS each of the vertical support members of the conveying means.
016 As shown in FIG. 12 the lifter jaw 122 is provided 017 with an indexing lot at 123. The li-ter jaw is designed and 018 located to be in alignment with the indexing groove 93 of the 019 indexer 91. As the lifter jaw moves in a upward direction 020 passing the indexer 91 it is adapted to pick a well element out 021 of the indexer and carry it along the conveying means. The 022 .lifter jaw is maintained in a vertical orientation by having a 023 pair of arms 124 and 125 affixed at pivoted pins 126 and 127 on 024 the lifter jaw and positioned between the elongated guide 025 plates 116 and 117 with a pair of pins 128 and 129. A link 131 026 spaces th~ arms 124 and 125 within slot 121 and suitable spacer 027 means 132 are provided for each arm to malntain proper 028 al.ignment between the guide plates 116 and 117. The guide 029 plates 116 and 117 are supported in fixed position.by a series 030 of U-shaped brace members 133 spaced vertically along the 031 conveyor means. The interior of the U-shape of the brace is 032 adapted to accommodate the lifter jaws and the bight portion of 033 the U-shape is only on the interior portion of the conveyiny 034 means where it will not interfere with well elements.
035 The driving force to the li~ter jaws is provided by a 036 hydraulic motor 134 mounted, as shown in FI~. 10, adj~cent to 037 the vertical support member 112 and connected by an elongated ~ 4 3 002 shaft 135 to a duplicate set of drive mechanisms at vertical 003 support ~ember 113. Motor 134 is also connected to a drive 004 shaft 136 and, through bearings 137 mounted on and passing 005 through brace 133 connect to the hub 138 of a sprocket 139.
00Z Sprocket 139 cooperates with a chain link belt 141. Secured to 007 the chain linX belt by suitable means is a draw pin 142 which 008 is attached to arm 124 carrying the lifter jaw 122 and a roller 009 143 in a position to cooperate with the rotary surfaces 118 or 010 119 of the guide plates 116 or 117, respectively.
011 Rotation of shaft 136 and 135 by ~otor 134 causes 012 rotation oE sprocket 139 on the inside portions of each of the 013 vertical support members 112 and 113 of the pipe conveyor means 014 39. That rotation causes the sprocket and its connection to 015 draw pin 142 to carry the lifter jaw in a rotary but always 016 vertically oriented path around the vertical support members.
017 As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the path oE the lifter jaws 018 carries them into alignment with the indexing slot of ~he 019 indexer 91 and, the design of the drive mechanism always keeps 020 the lifter jaw oriented in an upwar~ direction. The arrows 021 shown in FIG. 11, left side, illustrate the direction of the 022 rotation o~ the li~ter jaws for transporting well elements into 023 the well, and the arrows, right side, illustrate the rotation 024 in the opposite dir~ction for r~moval of well elements from the 025 well.
Q26 In FI~ 7, at the left hand side of the conveyor 39 027 and at the left side of the rig, a lifter jaw 122 is shown, in 028 phantom, carrying a well element 117 in its path up the 029 conveyor 39. On the right hand side of that same conveyor, the 030 lifter jaw 122 is shown in its position after it has deposited 031 the well element 117 into the jaws o a hand of the transfer 032 arm 41~ FIG. 13 illustrates the jaw 144 mounted to an arm 145.
033 The arm 145, as snown in FIG. 1, is an elongated member which Q34 carries two jaws 144 and moves between a position cooperating 035 with the conveyor 39 to a position cooperatin~ with the 036 automatic pipe manipulator 45. FIG. 1 also shows the transfer 037 arm, in phantom, in its position halfway between the conveyor 002 ~eans and the automatic pipe manipulator. The transLer arm is 003 supported on a port ion of the frame of the rig by a pair of 004 ar~s 146 and 147 both of which are pivoted at 148 on frame 149 005 of the rig. A lifting mechanism, comprising a hydraulic 006 cylinder 151, expands and contracts to lift the transfer arm 007 from its cooperating position with the conveyor to its position 008 for cooperation with the automatic pipe manipulator. As shown 009 in FIG. 7, the arm 145 rests on a support 151 attached to a 010 portion of the frame of the rig. When resting on the support 011 151 the transfer arm 41 is in position to receive pipe or to 012 transfer pipe to the conveyor means 39. As shown in FIG. 13, 013 the jaw 144 is fabricated to provide an indexing configura~ion 014 at 152. The orientation of the transfer arm and particularly 015 the indexing conEiguration of the jaw 144 is such that it is in 016 alignment with the indexing slot of the li~ter jaws as they are 017 rotated around the conveying means. A gripper pin 153 is 018 pivoted at 154 and an extension beyond the pivot cooperates 019 with the hydraulic operator 155 to close the pin about a well 020 element, as for instance the tubing piece shown in FIG. 13.
021 There are t~o transfer arms 41, one at each side of 022 the rig and each transfer arm is equipped with a pair of jaws 023 144. ach transfer arm is equipped with its separate arms 1~6 024 and 147 and its hydraulic operator 151. The purpose of the 025 transfer arms 41 is to transfer the well elements from a hori-026 zontal position above the well servicing rig to a vertical posi-027 tion in cooperation with the automatic pipe manipulator (AP~
028 45 ~djacent to the center line o~ the wellbore.
029 As shown in FIGS. 1 5, 15 and 16, the arm 145 and 030 the jaws 144 of the transfer arm operate in planes that are ~31 aligned between the legs of the derrick 43. When the transer 032 arm is in the upright, vertical position, the well element in 033 its jaws is positloned for transfer to the automatic pipe 034 manipulator jaws. FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate the automatic 035 pipe manipulator in front a~d side elevation. With reference 036 to FIG~ 16A, representing a ~op plan view of the movements of 037 the automatic pipe manipulator, planes represented by dotted ~L~5~1~3 001 ~17-002 lines 156 and 157 between the legs of derrick 43 represent the 003 operating planes of the transEer arms in tiltin~ horizontal to 004 vertical. The automatic pipe manipulator operates between the 005 operating planes of the transfer arms and within the derrick 006 legs. The automatic pipe manipulator constitutes a pair of 00~ guides 158 fixed at the upper end by offset braces lS9 and at 0~8 the bottom end to the legs of derrick 43 adjacent to the pivot 009 161 for the derrick. Mounting of the AP~ guides to the derric~
010 is such that when the derri~k is in its upright position, the 011 derrick will be leaning forward in respect to the well 012 serviciny rig while the guides 158 will be vertical and offset 013 rom the center line of the well being serviced. Operating 014 between the guide~ is a support 162 pivoted in horizontal 015 braces 163 and 164 with the braces supported by rollers 165 016 pressed against the inside and outside surfaces of the guides 017 158 and 150. The support 162 is offset at 162a to provide a 018 lower portion 162b offset from the upper portion of 162. The 019 purpose of the offset will become more apparent with further 0~0 description of the elements and operation of the rig~
0~1 ~ixed at the upper end o~ the support 162 is an upper 022 APM arm 166 supporting an upper APM hand 167. Fixed to the 023 lower end 162b of this support, is a lower APM arm 168 024 supporting a lower APM hand 169. Arms 166 and 168 are 025 hydraulically operated pistons tha~ support the hands 167 and 026 169 respectively and function to move the hands from solid 027 alignment against the body of the arm to an extended pQsition, 028 a fixed distance away from their support on the arms 166 and 029 168~ The extendea positions are shown in phantom FIG. 16 and, 030 in rotated position, in FIG. 15.
031 The pivot of support 162 on the horizontal braces 163 032 and 164 is slightly forward of a plane passing through the 033 guides 158 so that when the support is rotat~d from a position 034 perpendicular to the plane between the guides to a position 035 parallel of the plane of the guides, the APM arms 166 and 168 036 will be forward of the guides and in a position of operation in 037 a plane which will pass through the center line of the well ~l~lS~L~4;~

002 element held by the transfer arm when it is in its vertical 003 upright position. A hydraulic motor 171 supported on the lower 004 horizontal brace 164 is connected to the pivot of the support 005 162 to cause tAe desired rotation between positions parallel to 006 the guides 158 and perpendicular to the guides 158. A
007 hydraulic piston 170 connected between the horizontal brace 164 008 and a fixed portion of the rig provides for vertical movement 009 of the APM along the guides 158.
010 The upper hand 167 is shown in FIGS. 17~ 18, and 19.
011 The hand constitutes a body port~on 172 having a pair of legs 012 173 and 174 providing pivots respectively at 175 and 176 for an 013 upper jaw and lower jaw 177 and 178. A pair of hydraulic 014 operators 179 and 1~0 are fixed to the b¢dy portion 172 at one 015 end and are attached to a mova~le portion of one of the upper 016 or lower jaws in a position adjacent to the pivots to cause the 017 jaws to be enclosed about a well element.
018 On the lower end of the auto.~atic pipe manipulator at 019 the offset lower portion 1~2b, the lower ~PM hand is mounted on 020 lower APM arm 168. As shown in FIGS. ~0, 21, and 22, the lower 021 APM hand comprises a pair of jaws 181 and 182 adapted to be 022 moved horizontally toward and away from each other so as to 023 firmly grasp well elements both in transporting them in and out 024 of the alignment with the wellbore and into and out o 025 engagement with the transfer arms 410 The jaws 181 and 182, 026 which are substantially duplicate of each other, have a 027 generally U-shape wherein the bight of the U forms the graspin~
028 portion of the jaws as at 183 in FIG~ 21 and a pair of legs 184 029 and 185. The legs surround a generally U shaped track member 030 186 which its bight portion welded to a threaded means 187 031 adapted for mounting the lower APM hand 169 to lower APM ar,n 032 168. The legs 188 and 189 p~ovide track surfaces at their 033 outer edges, as for example at 191 and 192, on leg 138.
034 Cooperati~g with the trac~ surfaces are cams 193 rot~tably 03~ mounted on ~ournal bolts 194 passing through the jaws 181 and 036 182. The cooperati¢n between the cams 193 and track surfaces 037 191 and 192 provide for lateral horizontal movement of the jaws ~S~4~

002 with respect to the vertical center line of the lower APM
003 hand 169.
004 Uniform and equal movement of the two jaws, 181 and 005 182 is accomplished by actuation of a hydraulic op~rator 195 006 mounted to ears 196 on the inside surface of the legs 188 and OQ7 189 of track 186. The rod 197 of the hydraulic operator l9S is 008 threaded into and ear 198 on jaw 181, as shown in Fl~. 20, so 009 that actuation of the operator 195 causing the rod to contract 010 into the cylinder causes jaw 181 to move toward the center line 011 of the lower APM hand.
012 Welded to the upper and lower surfaces of jaw 181 are 013 a pair of ears 199 to which are mounted an upper and lower rack 014 201 and 202. 3aw 182 has similar ears 203, positioned inwardly 015 of the jaws with respect to mounting the 187, and upper and 016 lower racks 204 and 205 are suitably mounted to ears 203.
017 Centrally mounted at the top and bottom of the track 186 on 018 legs 188 and 189 are a pair of pinions 206 and 207 on suitable 019 pinion shaft bolts Z08. The pinions are provided with a hub at 020 209 to ~rovide a standoff from the legs 188 and 189 and to 021 place the geared portion of the pinion in cooperation with the 022 racks 201 and 204, respectively, and 202 and 205, respectively.
023 With the mechanism just described, as the hydraulic 024 operator l9S is actuated and rod 197 is contracted into the 025 operator, the connection to the ear 198 of jaw 181 causes th~
026 jaw to move with cam~ 192 and 193 rolling on track surfaces 191 027 and 192. That movement causes track 201 to move toward the 028 center of the hand 169 and causes rotation of pinion 206 which 029 transfers its rotar~ motion to linear mbtion of the track 203.
030 Movement of rack 203 causes movement of jaw 182 ~oward the 031 center of the APM hand 169 in the same distance, but reversed 032 direction with respect to jaw 181. The movement of the two 033 jaws toward each other causes any well element between them to 034 be grasped firmly for manipulation in accordance with further 035 operation of well servicing rig.
036 A pair o~ support members 211 are mounted to the 037 ~pper and lower surfaces of the legs 188 and 189 and these mem-038 bers are pro~ided with a shoulder at 21~ for interior support 001 ~ -002 of the racks and the outer ends of the support members 211 are 003 provided with a tapped hole into which a machine bolt 213 may 004 be threaded to support a protecting plate 214 at the top of the 005 lower APM hand and a bottom plate 215 at the bottom thereof.
006 With the mechanisms so far described, the well 007 elements have been, in the case of running pipe into the well, 008 loaded onto the pipe loading rack, transferred by conveyor 009 means to the transfer arm-~, tilted by the transfer arms to 010 position to cooperate with the automatic pipe manipulator and 011 are now in position to be grasped by the pipe manipulator and 012 put into position in ali~nment with the well head. FIG. 16A
013 has a composite showing of the several positions of the 014 automatic pipe manipulator 45 and the transfer arms 41 with 015 respect to both the derrick and the center line of the wellbore 016 to which the well elements are to be transferred. As shown in 017 FIG. 16~, the transfer arm 145 with its jaws 144 grasping the 018 well element 17 is between the legs inside of and at the right 019 center of the legs of the derrick 43. The upper APM arm 166 020 and its hand 167 is shown in solid lines slightly withdrawn 021 from its extended position with respect to the AP~ guides 158 022 and, in the phantom position, its fully extended position in 023 alignment with the center line of the well board 14. Also 024 shown in the phan~om lines is the posi~ion of the upper APM ar.
025 166 and its hand 167 in their contracted po~ition at A and an 026 extended position at a with respect to the jaws 144 of transfer 027 arm 145. There are three positions for the extension of the APi~
028 arm 166. The position at A for rotation between the alignment 029 with the transfer arm jaws and the line goiny through the 030 center line of the wellbore, position B for ~ontact position 031 with well elements held within the transfer ar~s, and position 032 C for vertical alignment with the center line of the wellbore.
033 The APM i~ rotated in 90 degree intervals between positions of 034 cooperation with one of the transfer arms 145, 90 degree 035 rotation to position of alignment with the wellbore 14~ and a 036 continued rotation of 90 degrees for alignment with the other 037 transfer arm 145. ~ydraulic motor 71, as shown in FIG. 16, is 038 energized to pro~uce rotation of the APM support 162 through 039 each of the three positions. Both of the AP~ ar.~s 166 and 168 l~S~43 002 are equipped with hydraulic actuators which move the APM hands 003 into the desired positions of A, B, or C. In later description 004 of the positions for the APM arms, position A is referred to as 005 the 30-inch position, position B is the 35-inch position and OQ6 position C is the 55-inch position.
007 Beginning with the position of solid lines in FIG.
008 16A, the upper AP~ arm 166 is retracted and in alignment with 009 the wellbore, with a well element 17 in the transfer arm 145 as 010 shown, the AP~ arm 166 may be rotated 90 degrees counter 011 clockwise to a position in alignment with the well element held 012 in jaws 144. The arm 166 is now extended to a position to 013 place the well element within the center of the jaws of the 014 hand 167, and, through mechanisms which will be hereinafter 015 described, the jaws 177 and 178, as seen in FIG. 17, are moved 016 toward each other to grasp the well element. It should be 017 understood that the lower AP~ arm 168 and his hand 169 are 018 likewise manipulated and upper and lower jaws 181 and 182 are 019 likewise ope~ated to firmly grasp the well elements 17. In the 020 case of the upper APM hand, the jaws 177 and 178 function 021 merely as guides and do not fir,~ly grasp the element. At this 022 time, the automatic control mechanism release the grasp of jaw 023 144 of the tran~fer arms and permits the APM arms to assume sup-024 port of the well element. The APM arms are rotated 90 degrees 025 to the solid position shown in FIG. 15A and, when the control 026 mechanisms advise that the automatic rig is ready to accept an 0~7 additional well element, the APM arms 168 and 166 are extended 028 to position C in alignment with the center line of the 029 wellbore.
030 The maneuvering just previously described i3 031 duplicated in the event that well elements at the left side of 032 FIG. 16A are to be transferred from the transfer arms to the 033 automatic pipe manipulator and to alignment with the wellbore.
034 Having transf rred well element to the position j~st 035 described, the well element is now in location for further 036 manipulation with respect to the center line of the wellbore.
037 FIGS. 23, 24, 25, and 26 illustrate the elevator mechanism 48 Q38 which is connected by a suitable means to the traveling block ~ lLS~3 002 46. The elevator 48 performs the main purpose of grasping the 003 enlarged coller of a well element, as shown in FIG. 23 at 17A, 004 taking support of the well element through cooperation with 005 that coller and permitting the APM hands to release their 006 support ~f the well element 17. The APM hands are then with-007 drawn to the position A of FIG. 16A and the well element is 008 lowered into the well through operation of the traveling block 009 46. The foregoing description is the maneuvering of a well 010 element when it is the first element entering the well. All 011 other subsequent well elements will be transferred by lowering 012 the APM arms until an element comes into contact with the 013 coller of an element already in the well; that lowering is 014 accomplished by moving the AP~ vertically along the APM guide 015 158 until the threaded end 17B of a well element has been 016 stabbed into the coller 17A of the well element then being held 017 by the elevator 48. The elevator 48 therefore has two 018 ~unctions: firstly, for raising and lowering well elements and 019 secondly, for providing guidance for connection of well 020 elements when running in.
021 The elevator 48 is constructed with a solid base 022 portion 215 having a central circular hole 216 therethrough.
023 The base portion is fixed as by welding to a pa~r of side 024 braces 217. The elevator provides a co~struction at the upper 025 end for connection to the support ears 218 of the travelling 026 block 46. Braces 219 are adap~ed to be bolted into place to 027 hold the elevator to the ears 218 of the travelling block. A
028 rectangular funnel 221 is ~ixed, as by weldins, to the inside 029 surfaces of the side braces 217 and a coupling guide 222 is sup-030 ported below the funnel 221 by the connection of ears 223 on 031 the guide to internal braces 224 on the inside of the side 032 braces 217.
033 A pair of jaws 227 and 228 are mounted below the 034 coupling guide 222, above the solid base 215 of the elevator, 035 within the interior of the side braces 217, on pins 224 and 225 036 extending through an upward extension 226 of the base 215. The 037 jaws have semi-circular cut out portions therein at 22g and are 038 complimentary so that the cut-out portions form a circular hole 039 vertically through the jaws.

~lS~43 002 A pneumatic operator 231 has its fixed end attached 003 to an ear 232 on the interior surface of one af the side 004 braces 217 and its movable end fixed by a pin 233 to jaw 228.
OOS By suitable linkage mechanisms such as links 234 and 235, 006 movement of pneumatic operator 231 causing movement o~ jaw 228 007 causing similar movement of jaw 227. It should be understood 008 that link 235 is fixed to ~aw 227 at pin 224.
009 When the jaws 227 and 228 are in position shown in 010 phantom in FIG. 23 in contact with the base member 215 they are 011 in position to permit the body of a well element 17 to pass 012 through the elevator but a coller 17A will not pass through the 013 jaws. As further shown in phantom in upper portion of Figure 014 23, a threaded end 17B of a well element 17 may be stabbed into OlS the funnel 221, pass through the coupling guide 222 to contact 016 the coupling 17A to then be in position to be threaded into a 017 string extending into the wellbore.
018 The foregoing has described the idealized situation 019 with a well element transferred to the elevator 48 and lowered 020 by traveling block 46 to well head 14. After running a well 021 element into and connecting it with an existing ro~ or pipe 022 string within the well head~ the elevator 4~ will ha~e been 023 lowered into a position below the APM and the APM will have 024 returned to cooperating position with a transfer arm to grasp a 025 second well element for connection to the well element string.
026 With the APM returned to alignment with the wellbore and then 027 extended to a~ial alignment with the well head, the new well 028 element will be lowered into the funnel 221 and into contact 029 with coupling 17A of the top most well element extending above 030 the wellbore.
031 When the new well element is connected to the s~ring, 032 in the manner to be hereinafter described, the elevator is 033 lowered sliqhtly to release the connection between the jaws and 034 the well element thus releasing the elevator. The elevator 035 would then be in condition to permit the string of elements to 036 be lowered further into the wellbore. The elevator jaws 126 037 and 127 may then be reset t~ catch the coupling as the well ~I~IS~ 3 002 element is lowered and the elevator will be prepared to receive 003 the next element to be coupled to the string.
004 In the reverse, when elements are being withdrawn 005 from the well, the elevator will have its jaws in contact with 006 the coupling 17A oE the upper ~ost element on the string and, 007 by raising the elevator with the travelling bloc~ 4~, the well 008 element may be raised to a position where it may be grasped by 009 the automatic pipe manipulator arms. The well element is then 010 unscrewed from the string and then further raised to permit the 011 automatic pipe manipulator to grasp the element. By lowering 012 the elevator to permit the jaws 226 and 227 to be opened, the 013 elevator may then be drawn over the top o~ the coupling and the 014 automatic pipe manipulator may withdraw the pipe from alignment 015 with the elevator and prepare to pass it to a transfer arm. At 016 the same time the elevator 48 is being lowered into position to 017 grasp the next well element of the string. The solid base 215 018 will pass over the coupling and align the coupling within the 019 coupling guide 222. The jaws 226 and ~27 are then placed into 020 position to make contact with the bottom of the coupling and 021 the elevator may then be raised to pull a well element section 022 out of the well head.
023 The traveling block 46 is of the style known as a 024 split block and may be the block available from Dresser Idico 025 as a Dual Speed Traveling Block as shown and described in the 026 1978-1979 Compo~ite Catalogue of Oilfield Equipment and 027 Services~ 33rd Revision - 1978-1979, published by World Oil 02~ (Gulf Publishing Co.), P. O. Box 2608, ~ouston, Texas, 77001.
029 The split block permits well elements to pass vertically 030 through the center of the block and permits the elements to be 031 inserted horizontally into the block from the front thereof.
032 Power tongs 21 and backup tongs 23 are provided to 033 produce the necessary rotation of the well element string to 034 accomplish the coupling or uncoupling of well elements. Below 035 the power tongs and backup tongs is a centralizer 47 to provide 036 guidance Lor elements into and out of the well head, and, at 037 the well head; a set of slips 50 are provided for holding the l~S~43 002 string of well elements against downward vertical movement when OC3 the string is released from the elevator 48.
004 Power tongs and their associated back-up tongs are 005 ~available, as shown at page 68 in the 1978-1979 Composite 006 Catalogu~ noted a~ove from Joy Petroleum Equipment Co. as 007 Hillman-Relley Model 3700-H-Power Tong. The equipment is 008 modified to provide the automatic control herein require~.
009 The Slips are adapted from the equip~ent available 010 from Cavins of Long Beach, California, and shown in the 011 1978-1979 Composite Catalogue, Pages 1621 and 1623 as Cavins 012 "Advance" Automatic Spiders. These spiders are modified to 013 provide the automatic control herein required.
014 FIGS. 27 and 28 illustrate the mounting and arrange-015 ment of the tongs, centralizer and slips with respect to the 016 front end of the well servicing rig and the well head. The 017 power tongs are supported by cross-~ember 261 positioned 018 between mounting post 240 and 242 fixed to the orward end of 019 the rig 31. The cross-member is slidable vertically along the 020 posts through its support on guides 262 and 263 having suitable 021 rolling contact with the posts. Vertical move~ent is provided 022 by expansion of a hydraulic cylinder 264 having its expandable 023 piston end 265 fixed to a lower portion 266 of cross member 261 024 and its fixed end mounted to ears 267 fixed to the chassis of 025 the rig 310 026 Cro~s-member 261 is supported horizontally in guides 027 262 a~d 263 ~y extensions 268 and 269 at the left and right, 028 respectively, of FIG. 27. An hydraulic cylinder 271 is 029 supported at its fixed e~d to the forward end of the rig 31, ~y 030 ~eans not shown, and has its movable piston end fixed to a post 031 273 on support member 274 which supports the power tongs 21 and 032 back-up 23 of a style previously described. Also supported on 033 the suppcrt member 274 is a joint finder 275 having a roller 034 276 supported on a guide 277. Hori~ontal move~ent of ~he power 035 tongs and b~c~-up is accomplished by expansion and contraction 036 of piston 271 cau~ing move~ent of the extensions 268 and 269 in 037 their support on guides 262 and 263~ The ioint finder 275, oa2 whose purpose will be more fully describ~d hereinaEter, is 003 moved hori20ntally by operation of a piston member 278 to place 004 roller 276 in contact with the well element 17 within the tongs 005 and to identify the location of a joint between well elements.
006 Below the power tongs 21 and back-up 23 a centralizer 007 47 is supported on the front end of the rig 31. FIGS. 31, 32 008 and 33 illustrate a foldable centralizer 47 mounted on the 009 forward end of the well servicing rig in a position for 010 alignment with the centerline of the wellbore~ The centrali~er 011 47 is pivoted on mounting bracXets 241 fixed, as by welding, to 012 the righthand (~acing forward) mounting post 242 of the rig 31.
013 A pivot pin 243 and locking pin 24~ permit the centralizer to 014 be extended beyond the rig 31 or folded back onto the rig. A
015 foldable joint 245 provides a means for folding the ce~tralizer 016 into extend or contracted position and establishes two portions 017 a pivoted end 246 and jaw 247 for the centralizer. A jaw means 01-8 248 is mounted to the end of the jaw portion.
019 The jaw means includes a pair of jaw members 249 and 020 251 as shown in FIG. 32 with jaw 251 having an openable ~inger 0~1 252. Jaws 249 and 251 are movable toward and away from each 022 other by operation of an hydraulic motor 253 which causes 023 rotation of a pinion gear 254 and resultant lateral movement of 024 racks 255 and 256 mounted, respectively, on jaws 249 and 251.
0~5 The jaws are adapted to close on a well element 17 as shown in 026 phantom and to keep the well element aligned with the 027 centerline of the wellbore. It should be noted from FIG. 1 028 that the centralizer is positioned between the well head 14 and 029 the power tongs 21 and that both the centralizer 47 and the 030 tongs 21 are a significant distance above ground level. Finger 031 252 is provided to permit the initial alignm~n~ of a well 032 element within the centralizer, thereafter the elements remain 033 within the jaws regardless of whether pipe, tubing or rods are 034 being run.
035 At the top of the well head 14 a set of power-opera-036 ted slips 18 are mounted. Tbe re~ommended slips have the form 037 previously described with suitable modification to permit them ~01 -27-002 to be operated a~tomatically and in accordance with the 003 required sequencing as will be further described hereinafter.
004 The slips as here schematically shown constitute at least a 005 pair of toothed jaws 281 and 282 having linkage connections 006 such as 283 and 284 pivoted on extensions ~85 and 286 of the 00? slip housing. A pair of pistons 237 and 288 are operable to OOR move the jaws by moving the pivoted linkage to cause the sl ips 009 to be opened and closed. The pistons will be controlled in the 010 automatic sequencing as will be hereinafter des~ribed.
011 FIGS. 29 and 30 illustrate enlarged representations 012 of the joint finding apparatus of the present invention.
~13 Roller 276 on guide 277, having at least two possible sizes Eor 014 use with tubing and rods, moves with the support 274 for the 015 power tongs 21. In maXing and un-making a joint between well 016 elements it becomes necess~ry to grasp the upper element with 017 the power tongs, hold the lower element and rotate the upper 01~ elementc Power tongs 21 provide the graspiny and rotation for 019 the upper element and the back-up tongs 23 hold the lower 020 element against rotation. However, because all well elements 021 are not exactly the same length (particularly with rods~, it 022 becomes necessary to sense, the location o~ a joint and to 023 position the joint and the tongs to accomplish the desired 024 making and un-making. Joint ~inder 275 serves that purpose by 025 positioning roller 276 in contact with the well element as the 026 tongs are moved vertically along the element.
027 In the ca~e of tubing, the tongs are raised to their 028 upper limit by the piston 264 and then lowered with wheel ~75 029 in contact with the element. When wheel 2~6 passes the ~oint 030 17A, the vertical movement of the tongs is stopped and, because 031 of prior ad~ustment, the tongs are in pvsition to grasp the 032 upper ele~ent and the lower element to provide for the 033 necessa~y rotary mo~ement.
034 In the case of rod ~oods, the tongs are lowered to 035 their bottom and raised by the piston 264. When the upset 291 036 along the rod is sensed, the tongs are stopped. In that posi-037 tion the t~ngs will be in position to grasp the upper element ~L~5~ 3 002 and back-up tongs in the form of a fork ~ill contact the flat 003 2g2 between the upset and the joint 17A.
~04 Spring 293 on roller guide 277 biases the roller 276 OQ5 ~oward the w~ll elements 17 and movement of an extension of the 006 guide 277 operates a sensor at 294 to stop the further movement 007 of the tongs.
008 Automatic sensing and control means are associated 009 with each oE the elements perfor~ing a function on the 0~0 rl~neuvering of the well elements so that the entire operation 011 of the well servicing rig is accomplished without the need of 012 direct human contact. FIGS. 37~, 37B, 37C and 37D present a 013 graphic representation of the operations being sensed and 014 controlled. Adjacent the first lefthand numerical column is a 015 column with words describing the function that the particuiar 016 element accomplishes, and in the next series oE columns 017 ~xtending to the right are timing periods during which the 018 action is accomplished. The horizontal bars indicate the time 019 period in a cycle during which the function is performed.
020 Numbers associated with the bar refer to numbered sensors which 021 are listed in FIGS. 38A, 38a and 38C.
022 Referring now to FIG. 37A, the upper and lower 023 portions of the figure are intended to illustrate, in the upper 024 portion, the operations of each oE the elements when pulling 025 well elements out of the wellbore and, in the lower portion, 02~ when running ~ell elements into the wellbore. Between the two 027 sections of the ~hart there are schematic illustrations o~ the 028 functions designate~ in accord with the numerical column.
029 FIGS. 38A, 38B and 38C are a chart iorm representa-030 tion of the sensor op~rations for the automatic well servicing 031 rig of the present invention. It should be understood that 032 sensiny means (or sensors) will be associated with each of the 033 elements of this invention to provide an indication to a master 034 control as to the condition or sequence of conditions performed 035 by the elements of the rig. As the elements of the rig have 036 been described, their operation in the overall operation of the 037 rig have also been described. It should be evident that ~ 5~ 3 002 sequencing of operations is an essential feature of this 003 invention and the automatic operations it controls. FIGS. 37A, 004 378, 37C and 37D have illustrated the sequence of events for 005 running elements into or out of a well; FIGS. 38A, 38B and 38C
006 illustrate tbe conditions that must occur ~efore a series o~
007 events can happen.
008 Acros~ the top of each of FIGS. 38A, 338 and 38C a 009 series of sensors are identified in numerical or~er. Below 010 each sensor its function is described. For e~ample, sensor 1 011 senses the existence of a pipe (or other well element) within 012 the indexer 91. The letters A and a below the sensor designa-013 tions distinguish between the operation when running elements 014 into the well (A) and when pulling elements out of the well 015 tB)-016 Along the lefthand side of FIG. 38A in a vertical 017 column is a listing of actuators with numerical ordered and 018 named identi~ication. The names are the same as those shown in 019 FIGS. 37A, 37B, 37C and 37D. The actuators and the sensors are 020 related as to their functions during the automatic operation of 021 the rig. To the right of the actuator description are word 022 descriptions of the operation performed by the actuator. Por 023 example Actuator 1 - &ate 97 can be either "extended" or 024 n retracted".
025 Within the body of the charts FIG. 38A, 38B, and 38C
026 there are designations of 1, 0~ + and OR. These designations 027 have the following descriptions:
028 1 - initiates an actuator 029 0 = stops an actuator 030 + = desi~nates an "and" circuit, which establishes 031 that two or more conditions must exist before 032 an action occurs 033 - = designates an ~OR" circuit, which establishes 034 that two or more conditions may exist to e~fect 035 an action.
036 For example, in FIG. 38A, with the rig operating to 037 run elements into the well, sensor 1 will sense an element in 1~5~L43 001 ~3~~

002 the indexer 91 and gate 97 will be extended to prevent another 003 element from entering the indexer. A stop operation example is 004 established wher~ the rig is operating to run elements into the 005 well and sensor 2 establishes that the lifter jaw 122 of the 006 conveyor 39 is at the bottom of the conveyQr. The conveyor 39 007 will stop in that location until pipe indexer sensor 91 senses 008 that a pipe is in the indexer. Further, r~ading to the right 009 along actuator 3 (~ipe conveyor line), the lifter jaw 122 will 010 be stopped at the top of the conveyor 39 until sensor 5 011 establishes that the transfer ar~ 41 ~on the sa~e side o the 012 rig~ has been positioned in a horizontal position.
013 An example o~ an ~and" operation in shown in 014 referring to actuator 5 - Tranc~er Arm 41 (left or right side~
015 and sensor 14 on APM upper arm 166 and sensor 17 on AP~ lower 016 arm 168 and when well element~ are being pulled out of the 017 well. It should be recalled that where elements are being 018 pulled from the well, the elements are pulled vertically and 019 grasped by the APM hands, the APM retracts to its 35-inch posi-020 tion and is prepared to rotate right or left to place the 02~ element into the hands 144 of the transfer arm 41. After the 022 transfer has been made to the hands of the transfer arm, sensor 023 7 recognizes that an element is in the hands and sensor 9 recog-024 nizes that the transfer arm hands 144 are closed, then the APM
025 upper and lower arms can retract to 30" position and the trans-026 fer arm can be lowered to hori20ntal position~ The signals 027 from sensors 14 and 17 must indicate that both arms are 028 retracted before the transfer arm lowers to hori~ontal.
029 An example of an ~OR" operation can be seen by 030 referring to FIG. 38A at Actuator 9 - APM lower arm and to 031 sensors 12 and 13. As shown on the chart, when elements are 032 being run into the well, APM lower arm 168 will be extended if 033 the APM is rotated, either right or l~ft, to alignment with a 034 transfer arm 41 or if the APM is rotated to alignment with the 035 centerline of the wellbore. In either of those positions the 036 APH may be extend*d. In any other rotational position the APM
037 should be prevented from extending. When running into the 038 -well, ~he AP~ will retract to the 30-inch position before 033 rotating toward the AP~.

002 The following is a description of the operation of 003 the elements of the present invention when running elemen~s 004 into and pulling elements out of a well. Reference to elements 005 are by reference number; reference to sensors is by numbers 006 which are found i.q the upper horizontal sequence across FIGS.
007 38A, 388, 38C and 38D.

009 1. Gate t97) 010 Pipe conveyor 122 reaches top, sensor 3 is actuated and 011 retracts gate 97. As soon as pipe rolls into indexer, sensor l 012 is actuated and gate 97 extends. If a pipe is in indexer 99 013 and sensor 3 is actuated, gate 97 will not retract.
014 2. Indexer ~91) 015 When pipe is in indexer 99, sensor 1 is actuated and 016 retracts indexer. When pipe conveyor 122 reaches bottom, 017 sensor 2 is actuated and indexer 99 extends.
018 3. Pipe Conveyor ~39) 019 When pipe is in indexer 99, sensor 1 is actuated, and 020 transfer arm 145 is horizontal, sensor 5 is actuated and the 021 conveyor rotates to carry pipe from the pipe rack to the 022 transfer arm hands.
023 Sensor 2 holds the conveyor at the bottom for signal from 024 sensor 1 and senRor 3 holds the conveyor at the top for signal 025 from sensor 5.
026 4. Tran~fer Arm ~ands (1443 027 When the pipe is placed in both transfer arm hands 144, a 028 sensor 7 in each hand, connected in series, actuates main 029 valve to close both hands. When the pressure builds in the 030 line to close the transfer ar~ hands, pressure sensor 9 031 actuates valve to shut of~ pressure from sensor 7 permitting it 032 to go to neutral. When APM hands 167 and 169 close around 033 pipe, pressure sensors 21 and 23 cause the transfer arm hands 034 to open. Pressure buil~-up in line to open transfer arm hands 035 actuates senso~ 8 and valve gGeS to neutral.
036 5. Trans~er Arrn (145) 037 When the pipe is in the transEer arm hands l44, they close ~5~3 002 and the pressure rises as pipe is gripped, sensor 9 is actuated 003 to cause transfer arm to rise to vertical. In the vertical 004 position, sensor 6 is actuated to cut o~f pressure to main 005 valve and permit it to go to neutral. When the pipe is 006 transferred to the APM 45, the transfer arm hands 144 open and 007 the pressure build-up actuates sensor 8 to shift main valve to 008 cause transfer arm to go horizontal. When it is horizontal, 009 sensor 5 cuts off and vents pilot pressure and permits main 010 valve to go to neutral.
011 6. APM Top Hand (167) 012 When ~PM top hand 167 ~oves to the 35-inch radius (R) and 013 the hands contact the pipe, sensors 15 and 51 are actuated and 014 shift main valve to close APM top hand 166. As the pressure 015 builds, pressure sensor 21 is actuated and cuts off and vents 016 pressure to pilot permitting main val~e to go to neutral. When 017 elevator 20 is on the way up and passes the 27-foot level, 018 sensor 28 is actuated and shifts main valve to open hand 167.
019 7. APM Lower Hand (169) 020 ~hen APM lower hand 169 moves to the 35-R and the hand 021 contacts the pipe, sensors 18 and 52 are actuated and shift 022 main valve to close ARM lower hand. As the pressure builds, 023 pressure sensor 23 is actuated and vents pres~ure permitting 024 main valve to go to neutral when the tongs 21 move to center-025 line of the well, sensor 43 is actuated and shifts main valve 026 to open APM lower hand. As the pressure builds, pressure 027 sensor 23 is actuated and cuts off and vents pressure to pilot 028 permitting main valve to go to neutral.
029 8~ APM Top Arm (166) 030 1. APM top arm 166 is at the 30-R posltion. It 031 rotates to the side and as soon as the transfer arm 145 gets to 032 the ~ertica~ position, sensors 6 and 12 are actuated which 033 shifts ~ain valve to extend APM top arm 166. When it ~ets to 034 the 35-inch R, sensor 15 ~uts off and vents pilot pressure and 03S main valve goes to neutral, stopping arl~ 166. ~hen the pipe is 036 secured in the APM lower hand 169 and the AP~ 45 has rotated 037 back to center, sensors 13 and 23 are actuated which shifts ~ 1 5~ ~ ~ 3 001 ~33~

002 main valve and arm 166 extends to 55-inch R. Sensor 16 is 003 actuated to cut off and vent pilot pressure and main valve goes 004 to neutral.
005 2. When the pipe is in place and the APM upper hand 006 167 opens, sensors 16 and 20 actuate a pilot valve to give a 007 signal to shiEt main valve and retract ar~ 166. ~t 30-inch R
008 position sensor 14 is actuated to cut off and vent pilot 00~ presure to main valve to permit it to go to neutral and shlft 010 pilot valve to closed position.
011 9. APM Lower Arm 168 012 Same as APM top arm except for the different sensors for 013 the lower arm.
014 10. APM Rotating Actuator 015 1. When the APM 45 is in the up position and upper 016 hand 167 is open, sensors 10 and 20 aee actuated and shift ~ain 017 valve and cause rotary actuator 171 to rotate to side selected.
018 At full rotated position sensor 12 is actuated and permits main 019 valve to go to neutral. As soon as upper hand 167 closes 020 around tube, the rotation signal is gone.
021 2. When tube is transferred frosn transfer arm 145 to 022 APM 45 and transfer arm hands 144 open, sensor 8 is actuated to 023 shift main valve to cause rotary actuator 171 to rotate and 024 return to center position where sensor 13 is actuated and 025 permits main valve to go to neutral~
026 11~ APM Vertical Actuator 027 1. When APM 45 has tube in both hands 167, 169 and 028 extends both arms 166, 168 to 55-inch R, sensors 16 and 19 are 029 actuated which shifts main valve and actuator 170 retracts and 030 APM goes down. When APM gets to bottom, sensor 11 is actuated Q31 and cuts off ~ilot pressure and permits main valve to go to 032 neutral.
033 2. After the tube is attached to elements within the 034 tongs, the AP~ arms 166, 168 retract to 30-inch R and actuates 035 sensor 14 which shiEts main valie to extend actuator 170 and 036 APM goes up. In the up position, sensor 10 is actu~ted and 037 cuts off pilot pressure peri~itting main valve to go to neutral.

~5~43 001 ~34~

002 12. Tongs Horizontal ~ctuator (271) 003 1. When the APM 45 is in the bottom position, sensor 004 1 is actuated which shifts main valve to extend the tongs 005 horizontal actuator 271. When the tongs 21 reach the center-006 line of the well, sensor 43 is actuated which cuts pilot 007 pressure off main valc~e and it goes to neutral.
008 2. After tongs 21 make up joint and reverse rotation OOg and lock open pressure, sensor 41 shifts main valve to retract 010 tongs. When tongs are fully retracted, sensor 44 is actuated 011 to permit ~ain valve to go to neutral.
012 13. Tongs - Vertical Actuator (264~
013 1. When tongs horizontal actuator 271 extends to 014 center of well, sensor 43 is actuated and shifts main valve to 015 retract actuator and tongs 21 move down ~when running pipe) or 016 up (when running rod). When Roller 276 contacts coupling 17A, 017 sensor 35 is actuated and cuts off pilot pressure and main 018 valve goes to neutral and holds tongs 21 at that leYel.
019 2. After the joint is made up, the tongs horizontal 020 actuator 271 is retracted. As soon as the tongs back away, 021 neither sensor 43 or 35 are actuated and when the tongs 022 horizontal actuator 271 is fully retracted, sensor 44 is 023 actuated and shifts main valve to extend tongs vertical 024 actuator 264 and cause tongs 21 to move up When tongs reach 025 top, sensor 33 is actuated to cut pilot pressure to main valve 026 which goes ~o neutral.
027 14. Tong Rotation 028 When Roller 27& locates pipe coupling, sensor 35 is 029 actuated and shifts main valve to rotate tongs 21 clockwise and 030 make up coupling. When high torque is achieved, pressure 031 sensor 40 is actuated to cut off sensor 35 and reverse main 032 valve to reverse rotation of tongs 21. The signal from sensor 033 40 goes through a ~Time Oelay on Release~ (TDR) tO ~aintain the 034 signal until tongs can reverse rotation, lock open and back off 035 of coupling.
036 15. Centra1izer (47) 031 1. Going in when elevator 48 is at 27-foot, sensor ~15~43 001 ~35_ 002 28 is actuated to shift main val~e to open the centralizer jaws ,~
003 249, 251. When slips 50 are set, the signal that was started 004 by sensor 28 is cut off.
005 2. When the slips are set and the elevator is at 006 8'-0" level, the centralizer jaws 249, 251 close. When 007 elevator is at 27'-0~, sensor 28 actuates ~alve to cut off 008 signal started by 25.
009 16. S~ips (50) 010 1. When elevator 4~ is at 35'-0" going up, sensor 29 011 is actuated to shift main valve to release the slips as soon as .:
012 the load is taken off. When the elevator 48 lowers to the 013 8'-0" level, the brake on the drive to the traveling block 46 014 is set, actuating sensors 49 and 28 to shift main valve to set 015 the slip jaws 231, 282.
016 17. ~levator Jaws 1227, 228) 017 When APM is at bottom, sensor 11 actuates j~ws 227, 228 to 018 open. When elevator 48 is at 11, sensor 27 actuates jaws 227, 019 228 to close.
020 18. Drawworks Clutch 021 Lowering joint (clutch released) brake stops elevators ~t 022 8'-0~ APM stabs next joint and elevators drop to ~'-0" (sensor 023 24) and engages clutch. Elevators raise to 27'-0" and if APM
024 top arm 166 not at 30-inch R, clutch releases until ar,n at 025 30-inch R. Elevator 48 continues up to 40'-0" (sensor 32~ and 026 clutch releases. Elevator 48 falls with ~tring~
027 19. Drawworks Brake 028 1. Elevator 43 sliding up tubing and tonging up 029 joint. Elevator stop at ~7' (sensor ~8~ until tongs make up 030 ~sensor 40) then brakes release, clutch engages and elevator 031 continues up.
032 2. Elevator 48 lowering,string into holes and stop~
033 at 9'-0~ e~evation (sensor 26) until APM vertical actuator hits 034 DOttOm (sensor 11) when slips are set ~sensor 36) and brakes 035 release.

~L~Sl~'~3 002 20. Back up Arm Tongs 009 21. Engine Throttle 010 1. Throttle advances, clutch engages, when elevator 011 48 hit 6'-0~ elevation (sensor 24~.
012 2. With elevators at 16 feet ~sensor 53) clutch 013 releases and throttle goes to idle.
014 3. When lower arm APM 168 is at 30-inch R (sensor 015 17), clutch engages and throttle advances.
016 4. When elevator at 271 (sensor 28) clutch releases 017 and throttle goes to idle.
018 5. When upper AP.~ arm 166 is at 30-inch R (sensor 019 14), clutch engages and throttle advances.
020 6. When elevator is at 40 feet (sensor 3~), clutch 021 releases and throttle goes to idle.

023 1. Gate (97) 024 1. Coming out the ~ate ~7 is held in the retracted 025 position at all times.
026 2. Indexer (91) 027 1. The indexçr is held in the retracted position.
028 3. Pipe Conveyor (39) 029 When transfer arm hand 144 is open, sensor 8, pipe 030 conveyor rotates clockwise, If lifter jaw 122 is at back of 031 conveyor, sensor 4, and transfer arm hand 144 is not open, 032 sensor 8, pipe conveyor stops.
033 4. Transfer Arm Hands (144~
034 1. ~hen APM 45 puts tube into the hands 144 of the 035 transfer arm 145, sensors 7 are actuated to shiLt main valve to 036 close hands. When the pressure builds, pressure sensor 9 is 037 actuated to cut off pilot pressure and permit main valve to go 038 to neutral.

002 2. When the transfer arm 145 is horizontal sensor 5 00~ is actuated to shift main valve to open hands. Pressure 004 build-up actuates pressure sensor 8 to cut off pilot pressure 005 and main valve to neutral.
006 5. Transfer Arm ~145) 007 1. Transfer arm 145 is vertical and the AP~I 45 trans-008 fers tube to transfer arm 145 and both APM ar.~s 166, 168 009 retract to 30-inch R, sensors 14 and 17 actuate main valve to 010 rotate transfer arm 145 to horizontal. when horizontal, sensor 011 5 is actuated to cut off pilot pressure to permit main valve to 012 go neutral.
013 2. When tube reaches top of conveyor 39, sensor 3 is 014 actuated momentarily to shift valve to give a sustained signal OlS to shift main valve to rotate transfer arm 145 to vertical.
016 Sensor 6 is actuated to shift valve back and permit main valve 017 to go neutral.
018 6. APM top hand (167) 019 1. When AP.~ upper arm 167 is at 55-inch R and tube 020 is in APM upper hand, sensors 16 and 51 are actuated to shiEt 021 main valve to close hand. pressure sensor 21 is actuated to 022 cut off pilot pressure and main valve goes to neutral.
023 2. When APM upper hand transfers tube to transfer 024 arm hand 145, sensor 9 is actuated to shiEt main valve to open 025 AP~1 upper hand 167 which actuates pressure sensor 20 to cut off 026 pilot pressure to permit main valve to go to neutral.
027 7. APM lower hand tl69) 028 1. The AP~ arms 1~6, 158 are extended to 55-inch R, 029 when sensor 39 is actuated (counting tong revolutions on break) 030 actuates main valve to close hand 169. Pressure sensor 23 cuts 031 off pilot pressure and main valve goes to neutral~ Sensor 9 032 sences transfer arm hands closed. Lower APM hand opens with 033 signal from sensor 22.
034 8. APM Top Ar~ (166) 035 1. When APM 45 reaches the top position sensor 10 is 036 actuated to shift main valve to retract arm 166. When arm gets 037 to 35-inch R, sensor 15 is actuated to shift valve and cut of - 1~S~43 001 ~3~~

002 signal from sensor 10 and main valve goes to neutral to hold 003 ar~ at 35-inch R. After tube is transferred to transfer arm 004 145 and APM hands 167 and 169 open, pressure sensor 20 again 005 shifts main val~e to retract arim to 30-inch R, where sensor 14 006 is actuated to cut off pilot pressure and main valve goe~ to 007 neutral.
008 9. APM Lower Arm (168) 009 1. Works same as upper arm 166 except for the 010 different sensors and retract simultaneously with the upper 011 arm.
012 10~ APM Rotating Actuator (171) 013 1. When both upper and lower APM arms 166, 168 are 014 retracted to 35-inch R, sensors 15 and 18 are actuated to shift 015 main valve to rotate APM to the side where sensor 12 is 016 aotuated to cut off pilot pressure and permit main valve to go 017 to neutral.
018 2. When the tube is transferred to the transfer arm 019 145 and both upper and lower AP~ arms 166, 168 are retracted to 020 30-inch R, sensors 14 and 17 are actuated which shiLts main 021 valve to cause APM to rotate back to center position where 022 sensor 13 i5 actuated to cut off pilot pressure and permit main 023 valve to go to neutral and hold APM in middle position.
024 11. APM Vertical Actuator (170~
025 1. ~hen both upper and lower APM arms 166, 168 are 026 retracted to 30-inch R, sensors 14 and 17 are actuated and 027 shift main valve to cause APM to move down at the same time the 028 AP~ is rotating back to center. In full down position, sensor 029 11 is actuated to cut off pilot pressure and per~it main valve 030 to go to neutral.
031 2. After the tube is secured in both APM hands 167, 032 169 and the elevator 48 drops to the 6'-0" level sensor 24 is 033 actuated to shift main valve to cause APM to rise. At the top 034 position sensor 10 is actuated to cut off pilot pressure and 035 permit main valvé to go to neutral.
036 12. Tongs ~orizontal Actuator (271) 037 1. When the elevator 48 is at the 35'-0" level 001 _39_ 002 sensor 29 is actuated to shift main valve to extend the 003 horizontal actuato. to the centerline of well, sensor 43 is 004 actuated which cU~ ff pilot pressure and main valve goes to 005 neutral.
006 2. After tongs 21 uncouple ~he tube and lock in open 007 position, pressure sensor 40 is actuated to shift ~ain valve to 008 retract the horizontal actuator. Then sensor 4~ cuts off pilot 009 pressure and permits main valve to go to neutral.
010 13. Tongs Vertical Actuator 021 14. Tong Rotation 022 1. When the roller 276 contacts the coupling, sensor 023 35 is actuated to shift main valve to rotate tongs 21 counter 024 clockwise. After specified number of revolutions, counter 025 actuates sensor 39 which cuts off sensor 35 and shifts main 026 valve and reverses tongs to clockwise rotation and lock tongs 027 in open position.
028 15. Centralizer (47) 029 1. When the elevator jaws 227, 22~ close to pull the 030 string, sensor 48 is actuated and shifts main valve and opens 031 centralizer jaws 249, 251. Pressure sensor cuts off pilot 032 pressure and permits main valve to go to neutral.
033 2. When the elevator 48 is at 38'-0" and the slips 034 5d are set, sensors 31 and 50 are actuated which shifts main 035 valve to close centralizer jaws 249, 2510 Pressure sensor cuts 036 off pilot pressure and main valve goes to neutral.
037 1~. Slips (50) 038 1. When elevator jaws 227, 228 close sensor 48 is 039 actuated and main valve shifts to release slip jaws 2~1, 282 llS~

002 2. Brake set and elevator 48 at 38'-0" level sensors Q03 31 and 49 actuate main valve and closes slip jaws 281, 282.
004 17. Elevator Jaws 005 When elevator 48 is at 6 feet, sensor 24 actuates jaws 006 227, 228 to close. When elevator 48 is at 11 feet, sensor 27 007 actuates jaws to open.
008 18. Drawworks Clutch 009 Elevator 48 drops over coupling and closes (sensor 48) and 010 clutch engages~and raises string to 37'-6" ~sensor 30) and 011 clutch releases.
012 19. Drawworks Brake 013 1. Elevator 48 hoisting string out of hole.
014 Releases brake when slips are set (sensor 36).
015 2. Elevator sliding down joint and stops at 11'-0"
016 elevation (sensor 27) until tongs index (sensor 40) and then 017 continues down.
018 20. Back-up Arm Tongs 019 Same as operation of tongs horizontal actuator (271).

023 21. Engine Throttle 024 1. Elevator 48 at 6' (sensor 24~ and elevator jaws 025 closed (sensor 48), clutch engages and throttle adYances.
026 2. ~lutch releases at 11 feet (sensor 27) if top and 027 bottom arms 166, 168 are not back to 30-inch R (sensors 15 and 028 18).
029 3. Clutch release at 39'-6" (sensor 30) and throttle 030 goes to idle until sensor 48 again indicates that elevator ja~s ~31 are closed.
032 In the preferred form of the apparatus of the present 033 invention a single engine-driven pump system will be provided 034 to supply all operating systems. The pump system will include 035 both pneumatic and hydraulic pu~ps with reservoir systems to 036 provide basic power for driving the wheel~ and other ~ehicle 037 csntrol systems as well as the necessary sensor and actuator ~L5~3 002 controls. Safety requirements limit the use of electrical 003 systems around a petroleum well head and hydraulic and 004 pneumatic systems provide the needed power and dependability.
005 In the preferred form of the apparatus, a central power system 006 is provided on the rig at 35 and hydraulic drive systems are 007 supplied by that equipment to the hoist mechanism at 36.
008 While a certain preferred embodiment of the invention 009 has been specifically disclosed, it is understood that the 010 invention is not limited therato as many variations will be 011 readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the invention 012 is to be given its broadest possible interpretation within the 013 terms of the folLowing claims.

Claims (32)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A totally contained movable rig for servicing and drilling and for handling elongated well elements between a horizontal storage position and a vertical position in operating relationship with a well, comprising:
(a) horizontal storing means for storing said well elements in horizontal position;
(b) conveying means for conveying individual well elements from said horizontal storing means to a transfer location;
(c) transfer means including means for holding said individual well elements and means for positioning said transfer means adjacent to the center-line of said well and parallel thereto;
(d) manipulating means including means for grasping said well element from said transfer means to position the longitudinal axis of said well element in alignment with the centerline of said well;
(e) means for moving said well element along said longitudinal axis thereof into operative position with respect to said well;
(f) coupling means for coupling said well element to another well element in said well;
(g) and control means for sequencing the operation of said convey-ing means, said transfer means, said manipulating means, said means for moving, and said coupling means to accomplish said handling of said well elements into and out of said operating relationship with said well totally automatically.

2. The rig of claim 1 wherein said horizontal storing means, said conveying means, said transfer means, said manipulating means, said means for moving and said coupling means are mounted on a frame of said rig and are adapted to be placed in operative position when said rig is positioned for operation with respect to a well, and adapted to be stored on said rig when said rig is being moved from place to place.

3. The rig of claim 1 with the addition of a derrick having a pair of legs, an upper cross-member fixed to said legs for supporting a crown block and hoist means above said well bore, and guy means for said derrick to provide stabilization therefor; said legs and guy means being spaced with respect to each other to permit said transfer means and said manipulating means to operate between said legs and without interference with said guy means.

4. The rig of claim 2 wherein said horizontal storing means for said well elements includes (1) a pair of pipe rack arms pivotally mounted on each side of said frame of said movable rig so as to be pivoted about a vertical axis between stored position in alignment with said frame and operating position generally horizontal and perpendicular to said frame;
(2) a pair of crane means rotatably mounted on said frame of said movable well drilling rig so as to be in operational relationship with said pipe rack arms to load and unload said elongated well elements from said pipe rack arms.

5. The rig of claim 4 wherein said pipe rack arms are adjustably pivoted about all axis parallel to said frame so as to be adjustable between sloping toward said frame and sloping away from said frame.

6. The rig of claim 4 wherein said crane means includes an articulated arm to provide an operational range for the crane means beyond said pipe rack arms.

7. The rig of claim 4 with a well element indexing means between said pipe rack arms and said conveying means, said indexing means including a means for locating said well elements with respect to said conveying means and means for gating said well elements into said locating means.

8. The rig of claim 7 wherein said conveying means comprises vertical guide members adjacent respective ones of said pipe rack arms with said pipe rack arms between said guide members, and means movable along said guide members to convey said individual well elements between said pipe rack arms and said transfer means.

9. The rig of claim 8 wherein said means movable along said guide members includes a conveyor element and means for moving said conveyor element in a manner to maintain said conveyor element in a continuous axial orientation with respect to said guide members.

10. The rig of claim 9 wherein said means for moving said conveyor element places said conveyor element in alignment with said indexing means, and said conveyor element having an indexing construction whereby well elements are indexed into said conveyor element in alignment for indexing into said transfer means.

11. The rig of claim 9 wherein said means for moving said conveyor element includes:
(a) a pair of side plates on said conveyor means, said plates having an outside guide surface and an inside slot guide, said slot guides on said side plates being aligned with respect to each other to maintain said continuous axial orientation of said conveyor element, (b) arms pivotally connected to said conveyor element at one end and having pins at the opposite ends positioned in said slot guide, (c) a roller on one of said arms cooperating with said outside guide surface of one of said side plates, and (d) an endless belt drive means for moving said roller on said one of said arms with respect to said side plate to move said conveyor element.

12. The rig of claim 3 wherein said transfer means comprises two rigid members and a pivot mounting said rigid members on a portion of said rig for rotation about said pivot between horizontal position cooperating with said conveying means and vertical position cooperating with said manipulating means, said rigid members operating one on each side of said rig and said manipulating means.

13. The rig of claim 12 wherein a pair of gripper hands are attached to said rigid members in cooperating alignment with elements of said convey-ing means.

14. The rig of claim 13 wherein said gripper hands have indexing means for positioning said well elements and means operable to lock said well elements within said gripper hands in said indexing means.

15. The rig of claim 14 wherein said rigid members in said horizontal position locate said gripper hands both to receive said well elements from said conveying means and to release said well elements to said conveying means, and said rigid members in said vertical position locate said gripper hands both to receive said well elements from said manipulating means and to release said well elements to said manipulating means.

16. The rig of claim 12 including controllable mechanical means for each of said rigid members to move said rigid members independently between horizontal and vertical position.

17. The rig of claim 13 wherein said rigid members move about their pivot in parallel planes between horizontal and vertical position, said planes being between the central axis of said manipulating means and between said legs of said derrick.

18. The rig of claim 17 wherein said manipulating means is supported on said legs of said derrick and includes a rotatable member for positioning said manipulating means in alignment with said transfer means and for alignment with said well.

19. The rig of claim 18 wherein said manipulating means is vertically aligned parallel to said centerline of said well and includes a pair of vertically-spaced clamping means, said clamping means being (a) rotated with said rotatable member between cooperating alignment with said gripper hands of said transfer means and alignment with said well;

(b) movable horizontally into vertical alignment with said center-line of said well;
(c) anf movable vertically with respect to said rig in vertical alignment with said well.

20. The rig of claim 19 wherein said rotatable member moves said clamping means within said legs of said derrick into alignment with said gripper hands of said transfer means.

21. The rig of claim 19 including centralizing means for positioning said well elements held in said clamping means in alignment with the center-line of said well.

22. The rig of claim 1 wherein said coupling means includes automatically operated means for coupling and uncoupling well elements in said manipulating means of said rig with well elements within said well comprising:
(a) automatically operated slips for preventing vertical movement of said well element with respect to said well, (b) means for locating a joint between well elements where said coupling and uncoupling is to be effected, (c) automatically operated rotatable tongs for rotating said well element with respect to said well so as to couple and uncouple said well element from said well elements within said well, (d) and sequence control means in said control means for operating said slips, said means for locating, and said tongs.

23. The rig of claim 22 with the addition of:
(a) a set of elevator jaws, (b) power operated drawworks including cable means connecting said elevator jaws to said drawworks for moving said jaws with respect to said well, and clutch and brake means, (c) said elevator jaws and drawworks, being controlled by said control means to effect sequential control thereof.

24. The rig of claim 7 wherein the control means includes automatic sequencing means responsive to operation of said indexing means for controlling operation of said conveying means.

25. The rig of claim 12 wherein the control means includes automatic sequencing means responsive to operation of said rigid members for controlling operation of said conveying means.

26. The rig of claim 18 wherein the control means includes automatic sequencing means responsive to vertical positioning of said rigid members for controlling operation of said rotatable member of said manipulating means.

27. The rig of claim 19 wherein the control means includes automatic sequencing means responsive to the position of the clamping means for controlling operation of the hoist means.

28. The rig of claim 24, 25 or 26 wherein said automatic sequencing means are separately contained and positionable away from said well, in view of said well and connected to the remainder of the rig by operative connections whereby operation of said conveying means, said transfer means, said manipulating means, said means for moving, and said coupling means may be controlled without operator contact with said rig or said well elements.

29. A method for servicing or drilling a well with a self-contained automatic sequence controlled rig including a derrick and hoist mechanism positionable in alignment with the centerline of said well, manipulating means for handling well elements into and out of said well, transfer means for handling well elements to and from said manipulating means, well element conveyor means for handling well elements to and from said transfer means, and pipe rack means for supplying or receiving well elements from said conveyor means, the steps comprising:
(a) storing well elements in a horizontal position;
(b) indexing single well elements for access to or from said conveyor means;
(c) lifting well elements in horizontal position to or from said pipe rack means;
(d) conveying said well elements in horizontal position into and from said transfer means;
(e) removing well elements from or positioning well elements into said transfer means;
(f) rotating said well elements -from horizontal to vertical position or from vertical to horizontal position with said transfer means;
(g) removing said well elements from or passing said well elements to said manipulating means;
(h) aligning said well elements with the centerline of said well or removing said well elements from alignment with said well into alignment with said transfer means;
(i) grasping said well elements with said hoist mechanism or releasing said hoist mechanism from said well element;
(j) lowering or raising said well element with respect to said well;
(k) and connecting or disconnecting said well elements from other well elements within said well.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein said steps are performed in sequence under control of an automatic control system requiring each step to be performed without manual intervention.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein said well elements include tubular well elements and rod well elements and said automatic control system controls said steps for tubular well elements by sensing couplings between said tubular well elements and said control system controls said steps for rod well elements having upset portions and flat portions at each end thereof by sensing the location of the upset portions adjacent to the flat portions on said rod well elements.

32. The rig of claim 1 including an engine driven hydraulic and pneumatic pump means mounted on said rig for supplying hydraulic and pneumatic pressure to said conveying means, said transfer means, said manipulating means, said means for moving, said coupling means and said control means, and means for regulating said hydraulic and pneumatic pressure to operate said rig and to drive said rig from place to place.