Patents by Inventor Vaughn Griffin

Vaughn Griffin 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).

  • Patent number: 10156125
    Abstract: A bottom hole assembly (BHA) has a plug below a debris catcher and an optional telescoping joint. A cleaning tool is above the debris catcher with another cleaning tool further up the BHA that is designed to clean the riser that extends up from the BOP. The plug is spotted and released to commence the BOP cleaning and the riser cleaning. The cleaning tools can be reconfigured to allow through flow after the cleaning is done so that the rams can be closed around a drill collar and a pressure test take place. With the BHA above the BOP the rams can be closed against each other for another pressure test from above. In a variety of options for the method, the plug can be retrieved after released or left in the hole in the set position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2018
    Assignee: ARCHER OILTOOLS AS
    Inventors: Paul Lowell Connell, Lars Harald Norheim, Clarence Vaughn Griffin
  • Publication number: 20170241239
    Abstract: A bottom hole assembly (BHA) has a plug below a debris catcher and an optional telescoping joint. A cleaning tool is above the debris catcher with another cleaning tool further up the BHA that is designed to clean the riser that extends up from the BOP. The plug is spotted and released to commence the BOP cleaning and the riser cleaning. The cleaning tools can be reconfigured to allow through flow after the cleaning is done so that the rams can be closed around a drill collar and a pressure test take place. With the BHA above the BOP the rams can be closed against each other for another pressure test from above. In a variety of options for the method, the plug can be retrieved after released or left in the hole in the set position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2014
    Publication date: August 24, 2017
    Applicant: ARCHER OILTOOLS AS
    Inventors: Paul Lowell CONNELL, Lars Harald NORHEIM, Clarence Vaughn GRIFFIN
  • Patent number: 5984029
    Abstract: The present invention provides a disconnect which has the internal integrity to make it as strong as the rest of the drill string. The present invention can disconnect when desired, despite the fact that the apparatus is at that time subjected to significant tensile or compressive loads. The invention allows for disconnection by alternative methods. Accordingly, in one version of the tool, a ball can be dropped or pumped to a seat to facilitate disconnection. In another version of the tool, that may employ an internal wireline precluding the use of a ball, disconnection can be accomplished by compression of a stack of Bellville washers, in response to a tensile force, to release a collet-locking mechanism. Either design features a rotational locking component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 16, 1999
    Assignee: Baker Hughes Incorporated
    Inventors: Vaughn Griffin, Allan Wink
  • Patent number: 5947201
    Abstract: A one-trip whipstock milling system is disclosed which allows for setting of a packer or plug which is run in as part of the bottomhole assembly, in conjunction with orientation instrumentation, a whipstock, and a one-trip milling system connected to the whipstock. The assembly is run-in the hole together and inserted to the desired depth. With the orientation of the whipstock known from the down-hole instrumentation, the preferred embodiment involves pressurization of the wellbore to actuate the packer assembly. Having set the packer at the proper orientation and depth, the milling immediately begins and continues in a continuous effort until the window is fully milled, at which point the milling equipment and orientation equipment are withdrawn from the wellbore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1999
    Assignee: Baker Hughes Incorporated
    Inventors: Robert C. Ross, Brian C. Wood, Clarence Vaughn Griffin, III