Drilling Unit Drill Pipe Handling via Boom Inversion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drill pipe handling devices strain the drilling machine boom with eccentric loads, cause torsional stress, and require complex transfer mechanisms, increasing manufacturing costs and operational challenges, particularly in terms of space and safety during exploration drilling.
Innovation Solution
A drill pipe handling device with an elongate support arm that pivots about an imaginary axis in one plane, allowing drill pipes to move along a trajectory between the boom and rotating unit, reducing the need for complex transfer mechanisms and eccentric loads, and incorporating a rotating mechanism for efficient connection and disconnection of drill pipes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If drill pipe handling devices are suspended from the drilling machine boom, then drill pipe handling is enabled, but the boom is strained with eccentric loads causing torsional stress
Solution Approach 1:
The drill pipe handling device is extracted from the boom structure and mounted separately on the frame. This separation removes the handling device's weight and operational loads from the boom, eliminating the eccentric loading and torsional stress problems while preserving full drill pipe handling capability.
2Ease of operation
If a complex transfer mechanism is used to move drill pipes over the boom top surface, then drill pipe transfer is achieved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of moving drill pipes over the top surface of the boom through a complex transfer mechanism, the handling device is positioned on the opposite side of the boom. Drill pipes are moved directly from the storage rack to the rotating unit in a straight line, inverting the traditional approach and eliminating the need for complex overhead transfer mechanisms.
3Ease of operation
If drill pipe handling equipment is placed on the side of the boom, then drill pipe handling is facilitated, but the overall width of the drilling unit increases creating space and safety issues
Solution Approach 1:
The drill pipe handling device utilizes the vertical dimension and the space underneath the boom by mounting on the frame rather than extending laterally from the boom side. This dimensional repositioning allows efficient drill pipe handling while maintaining a compact overall width of the drilling unit, eliminating space and safety concerns.
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b~2b
Figure 3a
AI summary
A drilling unit comprises a drilling machine having a frame, a boom (14) attached to the frame pivotally about an axle (12), and a rotating unit (16) for rotating a drill pipe (18). The rotating unit is attached to the boom so that it is movable in the longitudinal direction of the boom. The rotating unit is below the boom or on the side of the boom when the boom is in an oblique drilling position. The drilling unit may further comprise a drill pipe handling device with an elongate support arm (24) for supporting a drill pipe, the support arm being arranged to pivot about an imaginary axis of rotation along a trajectory in one plane. The drill pipe handling device is used to move drill pipes to the rotating unit and to remove drill pipes from the rotating unit.