Patents by Inventor Rudolph E. Krueger
Rudolph E. Krueger has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 7273109Abstract: A method and apparatus for propelling a tool having a body within a passage. The tool includes a gripper including at least a gripper portion which can assume a first position that engages an inner surface of the passage and limits relative movement of the gripper portion relative to the inner surface. The gripper portion can also assume a second position that permits substantially free relative movement between the gripper portion and the inner surface of the passage. The tool includes a propulsion assembly for selectively continuously moving the body of the tool with respect to the gripper portion while the gripper portion is in the first position. This allows the tool to move different types of equipment within the passage. For example, the tool advantageously may be used in drilling processes to provide continuous force to a drill bit. This enables the drilling of extended horizontal boreholes.Type: GrantFiled: May 3, 2006Date of Patent: September 25, 2007Assignee: Western Well ToolInventors: Norman Bruce Moore, Ronald E. Beaufort, Rudolph E. Krueger
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Patent number: 7156181Abstract: A method and apparatus for propelling a tool having a body within a passage. The tool includes a gripper including at least a gripper portion which can assume a first position that engages an inner surface of the passage and limits relative movement of the gripper portion relative to the inner surface. The gripper portion can also assume a second position that permits substantially free relative movement between the gripper portion and the inner surface of the passage. The tool includes a propulsion assembly for selectively continuously moving the body of the tool with respect to the gripper portion while the gripper portion is in the first position. This allows the tool to move different types of equipment within the passage. For example, the tool advantageously may be used in drilling processes to provide continuous force to a drill bit. This enables the drilling of extended horizontal boreholes.Type: GrantFiled: January 10, 2006Date of Patent: January 2, 2007Assignee: Western Well Tool, Inc.Inventors: Norman Bruce Moore, Ronald E. Beaufort, Rudolph E. Krueger
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Patent number: 7059417Abstract: A method and apparatus for propelling a tool having a body within a passage. The tool includes a gripper including at least a gripper portion which can assume a first position that engages an inner surface of the passage and limits relative movement of the gripper portion relative to the inner surface. The gripper portion can also assume a second position that permits substantially free relative movement between the gripper portion and the inner surface of the passage. The tool includes a propulsion assembly for selectively continuously moving the body of the tool with respect to the gripper portion while the gripper portion is in the first position. This allows the tool to move different types of equipment within the passage. Preferred uses for the tool include drilling, well completion, logging, retrieval, pipeline service, and communication line activities.Type: GrantFiled: January 30, 2004Date of Patent: June 13, 2006Assignee: Western Well Tool, Inc.Inventors: Norman Bruce Moore, Ronald E. Beaufort, Rudolph E. Krueger
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Publication number: 20040182580Abstract: A method and apparatus for propelling a tool having a body within a passage. The tool includes a gripper including at least a gripper portion which can assume a first position that engages an inner surface of the passage and limits relative movement of the gripper portion relative to the inner surface. The gripper portion can also assume a second position that permits substantially free relative movement between the gripper portion and the inner surface of the passage. The tool includes a propulsion assembly for selectively continuously moving the body of the tool with respect to the gripper portion while the gripper portion is in the first position. This allows the tool to move different types of equipment within the passage. For example, the tool advantageously may be used in drilling processes to provide continuous force to a drill bit. This enables the drilling of extended horizontal boreholes.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 30, 2004Publication date: September 23, 2004Inventors: Norman Bruce Moore, Ronald E. Beaufort, Rudolph E. Krueger
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Patent number: 6758279Abstract: A method and apparatus for propelling a tool having a body within a passage. The tool includes a gripper including at least a gripper portion which can assume a first position that engages an inner surface of the passage and limits relative movement of the gripper portion relative to the inner surface. The gripper portion can also assume a second position that permits substantially free relative movement between the gripper portion and the inner surface of the passage. The tool includes a propulsion assembly for selectively continuously moving the body of the tool with respect to the gripper portion while the gripper portion is in the first position. This allows the tool to move different types of equipment within the passage. For example, the tool advantageously may be used in drilling processes to provide continuous force to a drill bit. This enables the drilling of extended horizontal boreholes.Type: GrantFiled: July 22, 2003Date of Patent: July 6, 2004Assignee: Western Well Tool, Inc.Inventors: Norman Bruce Moore, Ronald E. Beaufort, Rudolph E. Krueger
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Publication number: 20040045719Abstract: A method and apparatus for propelling a tool having a body within a passage. The tool includes a gripper including at least a gripper portion which can assume a first position that engages an inner surface of the passage and limits relative movement of the gripper portion relative to the inner surface. The gripper portion can also assume a second position that permits substantially free relative movement between the gripper portion and the inner surface of the passage. The tool includes a propulsion assembly for selectively continuously moving the body of the tool with respect to the gripper portion while the gripper portion is in the first position. This allows the tool to move different types of equipment within the passage. For example, the tool advantageously may be used in drilling processes to provide continuous force to a drill bit. This enables the drilling of extended horizontal boreholes.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 22, 2003Publication date: March 11, 2004Inventors: Norman Bruce Moore, Ronald E. Beaufort, Rudolph E. Krueger
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Patent number: 6601652Abstract: A method and apparatus for propelling a tool having a body within a passage. The tool includes a gripper including at least a gripper portion which can assume a first position that engages an inner surface of the passage and limits relative movement of the gripper portion relative to the inner surface. The gripper portion can also assume a second position that permits substantially free relative movement between the gripper portion and the inner surface of the passage. The tool includes a propulsion assembly for selectively continuously moving the body of the tool with respect to the gripper portion while the gripper portion is in the first position. This allows the tool to move different types of equipment within the passage. For example, the tool advantageously may be used in drilling processes to provide continuous force to a drill bit. This enables the drilling of extended horizontal boreholes.Type: GrantFiled: July 31, 2001Date of Patent: August 5, 2003Assignee: Western Well Tool, Inc.Inventors: Norman Bruce Moore, Ronald E. Beaufort, Rudolph E. Krueger
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Patent number: 6286592Abstract: A method and apparatus for propelling a tool having a body within a passage. The tool includes a gripper including at least a gripper portion which can assume a first position that engages an inner surface of the passage and limits relative movement of the gripper portion relative to the inner surface. The gripper portion can also assume a second position that permits substantially free relative movement between the gripper portion and the inner surface of the passage. The tool includes a propulsion assembly for selectively continuously moving the body of the tool with respect to the gripper portion while the gripper portion is in the first position. This allows the tool to move different types of equipment within the passage. For example, the tool advantageously may be used in drilling processes to provide continuous force to a drill bit. This enables the drilling of extended horizontal boreholes.Type: GrantFiled: December 17, 1998Date of Patent: September 11, 2001Assignee: Western Well Tool, Inc.Inventors: Norman Bruce Moore, Ronald E. Beaufort, Rudolph E. Krueger
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Patent number: 6230813Abstract: A method and apparatus for propelling a tool having a body within a passage. The tool includes a gripper including at least a gripper portion which can assume a first position that engages an inner surface of the passage and limits relative movement of the gripper portion relative to the inner surface. The gripper portion can also assume a second position that permits substantially free relative movement between the gripper portion and the inner surface of the passage. The tool includes a propulsion assembly for selectively continuously moving the body of the tool with respect to the gripper portion while the gripper portion is in the first position. This allows the tool to move different types of equipment within the passage. For example, the tool advantageously may be used in drilling processes to provide continuous force to a drill bit. This enables the drilling of extended horizontal boreholes.Type: GrantFiled: December 17, 1998Date of Patent: May 15, 2001Assignee: Western Well Tool, Inc.Inventors: Norman Bruce Moore, Ronald E. Beaufort, Rudolph E. Krueger
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Patent number: 6003606Abstract: A method and apparatus for propelling a tool having a body within a passage. The tool includes a gripper including at least a gripper portion which can assume a first position that engages an inner surface of the passage and limits relative movement of the gripper portion relative to the inner surface. The gripper portion can also assume a second position that permits substantially free relative movement between the gripper portion and the inner surface of the passage. The tool includes a propulsion assembly for selectively continuously moving the body of the tool with respect to the gripper portion while the gripper portion is in the first position. This allows the tool to move different types of equipment within the passage. For example, the tool advantageously may be used in drilling processes to provide continuous force to a drill bit. This enables the drilling of extended horizontal boreholes.Type: GrantFiled: August 9, 1996Date of Patent: December 21, 1999Assignee: Western Well Tool, Inc.Inventors: Norman Bruce Moore, Ronald E. Beaufort, Rudolph E. Krueger
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Patent number: 4474063Abstract: A load cell in the bottom of a storage tank measures the weight of bulk material contained in the tank. The load cell has a flexible diaphragm to which the weight of the bulk material is applied. The flexible diaphragm moves down away from a neutral no-load position under the weight of the bulk material applied to it. A source of fluid under pressure is connected to a cavity in the load cell housing on a side of the diaphragm opposite the side that senses the weight of the bulk material. Fluid pressure is supplied to the cavity in an amount that causes the diaphragm to move to its neutral position, balancing the load applied to the diaphragm from the bulk material. A control valve senses when the diaphragm returns to its neutral position to interrupt fluid pressure supplied to the cavity. A pressure gauge coupled to the cavity senses the amount of fluid pressure required to balance the load. A reading is taken from the pressure gauge when the load applied to the diaphragm is balanced.Type: GrantFiled: May 26, 1982Date of Patent: October 2, 1984Inventor: Rudolph E. Krueger
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Patent number: 4177673Abstract: An anemometer includes a rotor assembly having front and rear bearings rotatably secured to axially spaced apart front and rear portions of a fixed rotor support shaft. Radially projecting rotor blades rotate with the bearings about the axis of the shaft in response to fluid flow directed against the blades substantially parallel to the axis of the shaft. The front bearing includes a first tapered bearing surface which tapers wider toward the rear of the shaft and bears directly against a corresponding second tapered bearing surface on the shaft. The second tapered bearing surface provides thrust and radial support upstream of the center of gravity (c.g.) and aerodynamic center of the rotor assembly for loads imposed on the rotor assembly by fluid flowing axially from front to rear along the axis of the shaft. This tends to minimize transverse motion of the rotor from bearing wear during use, resulting in accurate readings over an extended period of use of the instrument.Type: GrantFiled: June 8, 1978Date of Patent: December 11, 1979Inventor: Rudolph E. Krueger