Patents by Inventor William John Fitzgerald

William John Fitzgerald 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: 7128167
    Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for automatically detecting the state of a drilling rig during the drilling process of a wellbore. Two or more, but preferably four independent input data channels are received, each input data channel representing a series of measurements made over time during the drilling process. Based on the input channels the most likely state of the drilling rig is detected from at least three possible rig states. The detection method is preferably probabilistic and even more preferably based on particle filtering techniques. The preferred systems and methods disclosed are also capable of detecting events and displaying or notifying drilling personnel of the detected events and suggesting corrective action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2006
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Jonathan Dunlop, William Lesso, Walt Aldred, Richard Meehan, Matthew Richard Orton, William John Fitzgerald
  • Publication number: 20040124012
    Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for automatically detecting the state of a drilling rig during the drilling process of a wellbore. Two or more, but preferably four independent input data channels are received, each input data channel representing a series of measurements made over time during the drilling process. Based on the input channels the most likely state of the drilling rig is detected from at least three possible rig states. The detection method is preferably probabilistic and even more preferably based on particle filtering techniques. The preferred systems and methods disclosed are also capable of detecting events and displaying or notifying drilling personnel of the detected events and suggesting corrective action.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2003
    Publication date: July 1, 2004
    Applicant: SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jonathan Dunlop, William Lesso, Walt Aldred, Richard Meehan, Matthew Richard Orton, William John Fitzgerald