The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 26, 2003
Filed:
Nov. 24, 1999
Method and apparatus for a horizontal pipe handling system on a self-elevating jack-up drilling unit
Howard W F Day, Madisonville, LA (US);
Friede & Goldman, Ltd., Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
A pipe handling system is designed for use on an offshore structure, particularly an offshore structure provided with a cantilevered drill floor. The pipe handling system allows to handle significantly longer sections of tubulars, up to 100 feet, if necessary. The pipe handling system transports the pipes from a horizontal pipe rack adjacent to a drill floor to a vertical orientation in a set-back area of the drill floor where the drill string or casing is made up for lowering down hole. The cantilevered drill floor allows to save valuable platform space, while not significantly increasing the cost of the drilling rig. The pipe handling system, while increasing the length of handled tubulars, reduces the number of joints for making of a drill string, thereby significantly reducing the cost of pipe handling operations.