Movable Rig Mat Structure for Precise Wellhead Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle support structures, such as rig mats, lack the ability to efficiently adjust and stabilize heavy equipment on unstable or environmentally sensitive ground surfaces, particularly in wellsite operations, where precise positioning and movement are required without causing significant ground damage.
Innovation Solution
A ground stabilizing mat with moveable front and rear pads and drive mechanisms that allow the mat to lift, lower, and reposition itself relative to the ground, enabling the mat to support and move heavy equipment while maintaining stability and alignment with wellheads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid planar rig mat is used to support heavy equipment, then the equipment can be supported on unstable ground, but the structure lacks the ability to adjust and reposition itself
Solution Approach 1:
The rig mat is divided into a main body and multiple movable pads (front pads and rear pads) that can independently move relative to the main body. This segmentation allows different parts of the structure to perform different functions: the main body provides stable support while the pads enable positioning adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The pads are designed to be movable relative to the main body through drive mechanisms, transforming the rigid static structure into a dynamic system. The pads can move forward and backward and side to side, allowing the rig mat to reposition itself while maintaining stability during operations.
2Ease of manufacture
If the rig mat is designed as a fixed planar structure, then manufacturing is simplified, but positioning precision and movement control are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The rig mat incorporates self-propulsion capabilities through drive mechanisms on the pads, allowing it to move and reposition itself without external assistance. This self-service capability enables precise positioning while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure that can be manufactured using conventional methods.
3Productivity
If heavy equipment is moved on unstable ground directly, then operational speed is maintained, but ground damage and environmental harm occur
Solution Approach 1:
The rig mat acts as an intermediary platform between the heavy equipment and the unstable ground. It distributes the equipment's weight over a larger area through its pads, reducing ground pressure and preventing damage while providing a stable moving surface that maintains operational speed.
4Device complexity
If the rig mat cannot reposition itself, then structural complexity is reduced, but the ability to center equipment on wellheads is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The pads serve multiple functions: they provide ground contact for stability, enable forward and backward movement for repositioning, and allow side-to-side adjustment for centering equipment on wellheads. This multi-functionality achieves precise positioning capability without requiring separate systems for each function.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle support structure, which in petroleum wellsite operations is commonly called a rig mat or a ground stabilizing mat, includes: a main body including an upper surface, an underside, a front end and a rear end, the main body defining a planar structuring with a thickness; a front pad coupled to the main body and positioned adjacent the front end; a rear pad coupled to the main body and positioned adjacent the rear end, the front pad and the rear pad each configured to be moveable between a supporting position protruding from the underside of the main body and a retracted position in plane or retracted from the underside; a front pad drive mechanism for the front pad, the front pad drive mechanism configured to drive the front pad to move between the supporting position and the retracted position and to move the front pad forward and backwards and side to side relative to the main body; and a rear pad drive mechanism for the rear pad, the rear pad drive mechanism configured to drive the rear pad to move between the supporting position and the retracted position and to move the rear pad forward and backwards and side to side relative to the main body, the front pad and the rear pad being configured to operate to support the main body in an elevated position relative to a ground surface and configured to move the main body forward and backwards and side to side relative to the front pad and the rear pad and over the ground surface. In use as a rig mat, a method for well site operations includes: placing the rig mat at a position on a first well site; positioning a rig on the rig mat; and adjusting the position of the rig mat while the rig remains supported on the rig mat such that the rig is centered on a wellhead of the well site.