Drilling Motor Bearing Assembly With Internal-External Bend Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drilling motor designs face inefficiencies in directional drilling due to random angular orientations between offset stabilizers and bent subs or motor housings, leading to increased stress and cost in replacing components, and the need for a design that places the bend closer to the drill bit to reduce stress and enhance directional control.
Innovation Solution
Drilling motor assemblies with an offset internal and external housing design, featuring a thrust bearing assembly with skewed internal and external diameters, allowing for a combined bend angle closer to the drill bit, and a universal joint assembly with rubber inserts to reduce backslapping, using high-strength materials and advanced lubrication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a bent sub or bent motor housing is used to change drilling direction, then directional drilling capability is improved, but the angular orientation between offset stabilizer and bent sub becomes random, reducing directional drilling efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the bent sub assembly with the offset stabilizer into a single integrated unit. The bent sub housing is directly coupled to the offset stabilizer, eliminating the threaded connection interface that caused random angular orientations. This merging ensures fixed radial alignment between the stabilizer and bent sub, maintaining both directional capability and efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated bent sub assembly performs multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the directional bend, houses the offset stabilizer in fixed radial alignment, and maintains structural connection to the drill string. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate components that required threaded connections, thereby preventing random angular orientations.
2Device complexity
If the bend is placed farther from the drill bit, then the motor housing structure is simplified, but stress on the motor increases and directional control is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent positions the bend in a specific spatial relationship to the drill bit by integrating the bent sub directly at the stabilizer location, which is near the bit. This dimensional positioning places the bend closer to the bit than traditional designs, reducing motor stress and improving directional control while maintaining manageable structural complexity through the integrated design.
3Ease of manufacture
If threaded connections are used between drill string segments and offset stabilizer, then assembly is simplified, but only random angular orientations are produced, reducing directional drilling efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the threaded connection between the bent sub and offset stabilizer by directly coupling them in a single integrated housing. This merging removes the source of random angular orientations while maintaining assembly simplicity through the unified structure that requires no additional alignment steps.
Data Source
AI summary
Drilling motor power section and thrust bearing assemblies. A thrust bearing housing having threaded ends, an inside surface, an inside diameter, a generally cylindrical outside surface, an outer diameter, a longitudinal axis parallel to the outside surface, the inside surface defining a longitudinal bore having a longitudinal axis skewed at a first angle from the housing longitudinal axis. The power section has a generally cylindrical motor housing having an inside surface, a rotor and a stator, the rotor connected to a flex rod drive shaft in turn connected via a universal joint assembly to a flow diverter. The flow diverter is connected to a pin end of a mandrel. The mandrel has a second end forming a drive shaft and bit box, the inside surface of the motor housing defining a longitudinal bore having a longitudinal axis skewed at a second angle from the thrust bearing tubular housing longitudinal axis.