Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.

Andrew D Lake

Kelley Leigh Plunkett

Kevin Clark

William Brian Atkins

Daniel Brendan Voglewede

Van Jordan Brackin

Curtis Clifford Lanning

Trung Quoc Huynh

Darien Louis Gurka, Jr

A drill bit has a plurality of cutters secured to the bit body, including a gauge cutter defining a gauge diameter of the drill bit. A reciprocating gauge assembly on the bit comprises a cavity defined in the bit body, a piston reciprocably disposed in the cavity, a wear element on an outwardly facing end of the piston, a piston retainer for moveably retaining the piston in the cavity, and a spring biasing the piston outwardly to a neutral position of the wear element with respect to the gauge diameter. The wear element and piston may be urged inwardly in response to an applied load at the drill bit gauge pad, increasing the lateral depth of cut and thereby controlling the aggressiveness of the bit in response to the load.

Drill bit with reciprocating gauge assembly

A drill bit and method incorporate backup assemblies that limit depth of engagement of cutters with the formation. The backup assemblies dynamically adjust exposure relative to a cutting profile in response to downhole loading conditions. In an example, cutters are secured to the cone, nose, shoulder, and/or gage regions of the bit body. One or more backup assemblies are provided on the cone, nose, or shoulder region, and optionally, on the gauge region. A backup element on an outwardly facing end of the piston limits a depth of cut of one or more of the cutters. The backup element may be rigidly secured or rotatably secured to the piston. The piston may be biased outwardly to a neutral position aligned with or overexposed relative to the cutting profile.

Piston-based backup assembly for drill bit

Boss on nozzle bores of a drill bit

A magnetic depth of cut controller (DOCC) includes a housing having a body portion with a bore extending into the body portion and a depth of cut (DOC) element positioned at least partially within the bore and having a working face to engage a subterranean formation. The DOC element is moveable within the bore to extend or retract from a first end of the housing. Further, the DOCC includes a magnet secured within the bore of the housing between the DOC element and a second end of the housing. Moreover, the DOCC includes a magnetic fluid disposed within the bore of the housing between the DOC element and the second end of the housing. The magnetic fluid has a viscosity that changes responsive to proximity to the magnet to provide a variable resistance to movement of the DOC element.

Magnetic depth of cut control

Growing community of inventors

Tomball, TX, United States of America

Andrew D Lake