Flexible Service Loop Restraint in Oil Derricks

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing cable restraint systems in oil derricks face issues such as entanglement, premature failure, and safety hazards due to variations in hose diameters and materials, as well as limitations in on-site replacement and ampacity reduction, and previous solutions have introduced new problems like electrical shorts and hardware falling.

Innovation Solution

The use of spaced apart polyurethane rungs cast to steel cables and hoses to provide flexible restraint, minimize bend radius, and prevent entanglement, while allowing lateral offset and acting as electrical insulators, with steel cables affixed to mounting plates to manage tensile loads, and the option to remove and replace individual cables on-site.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If service loops are allowed to move freely during top drive operation, then the system has high flexibility and ease of operation, but the loops become entangled and suffer premature failure

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveflexibility of service loopsVSAvoidservice loop durability

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses flexible guide rails that can bend and conform to the movement of service loops while maintaining continuous contact. These guide rails are made of flexible materials that allow the loops to move up and down without entanglement, resolving the contradiction between operational flexibility and loop durability by providing a flexible guiding structure rather than rigid constraints

Inventive Principle:

Principle #30Flexible shells and thin films

Solution Approach 2:

The guide rails act as an intermediary element between the service loops and the derrick structure. They mediate the movement of the loops, preventing direct contact and potential entanglement between multiple loops while allowing free vertical movement. This intermediary structure maintains both flexibility and reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If service loops are restrained to prevent entanglement, then reliability improves, but the system loses operational flexibility and requires complex restraint mechanisms

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice loop durabilityVSAvoidrestraint system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The flexible guide rails provide restraint through their physical presence and flexibility rather than through complex mechanical restraint mechanisms. The rails naturally guide the loops without requiring additional complex components, reducing device complexity while maintaining reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #30Flexible shells and thin films

Solution Approach 2:

The guide rails are designed to self-align and self-adjust to the movement of service loops. The flexible nature of the rails allows them to automatically conform to the position of the loops without requiring external control systems or complex adjustment mechanisms, thereby reducing overall system complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If cables are encased in outer hose for protection, then reliability improves, but ampacity is reduced due to heat trapping

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecable protectionVSAvoidcable ampacity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The guide rails serve as an intermediary protective structure that shields cables from mechanical damage and entanglement without requiring enclosing hoses. This external protection mechanism allows cables to remain exposed for heat dissipation while still providing the protection that encasement would offer, thus maintaining both reliability and ampacity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Reliability

If uniform path and bend radius are enforced for all service loops, then entanglement is prevented, but loops with different diameters and rigidities cannot accommodate their natural bend variations

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveentanglement preventionVSAvoidaccommodation of loop variations

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The flexible guide rails can adapt to different loop diameters and bend radii by conforming to each loop's natural geometry. Each rail flexes independently to accommodate the specific characteristics of each service loop while still maintaining uniform positioning, thus preserving both entanglement prevention and adaptability to loop variations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #30Flexible shells and thin films

Data Source

PatentEP2400107B1Flexibly restraining service loops in an oil derrick

Publication Date: 2016.11.23 DELAFIELD CORP

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4

AI summary

In an oil derrick separate service loops which are power cables (100,102,104,120,122,124) and/or hydraulic hoses (150,152) are affixed at one end to a top drive and affixed at an opposite end to an oil derrick end, adding a series of polyurethane supports or rungs (10,12,14,16,18) along the length of the separate service loops to provide a little lateral motion but to limit the overall amount of lateral motion. The rungs will also help insure that the cables and hoses do not wrap themselves around everything when the wind blows. In order to carry the weight of the cables, two parallel steel cables are affixed on either side of the copper cables, and two steel cables are affixed on either side of the hydraulic hoses. These steel cables will be terminated at the derrick and the top drive by being affixed to steel brackets received in steel mounting plates all designed to withstand the loads.