SYSTEM FOR ATTACHING A GULLWING TO A CATWALK
A system for connecting a gullwing to a catwalk comprising a gullwing pin movable in an indexer groove that enables a foot pad of the gullwing to remain stationary relative to the catwalk when the gullwing is raised or lowered.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/207,092, filed Mar. 12, 2014, which claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/780,588, filed Mar. 13, 2013, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to catwalks for conveying pipe to a drill floor from a lower section of a drilling rig or drill site. Specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to an apparatus for attaching a “gullwing” to the catwalk so that the gullwing pad will not move toward and away from the catwalk as the gullwing is raised and lowered during the conveying of pipe to the catwalk trough.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a drilling operation or rig work-over operation, whether on a water-based or land-based drilling rig, pipe for the drilling operation, casing, or other tubulars are often stored at or supplied from a level that is lower than the drill floor. Operators typically use a “catwalk” to convey the pipe from the lower level to the drill floor. The pipe is typically mechanically transported (e.g. pushed and/or pulled) in a v-shaped trough, from a level below the rig floor to the rig floor.
Before they are positioned in the catwalk trough and transported to the drill floor, multiple sections of pipe or other tubulars can be positioned on multiple “gullwings” positioned adjacent to the catwalk. The ends of the gullwings positioned away from the catwalk are hydraulically raised to create a slope in the direction of the catwalk and trough. Prior art components known as indexers cause a single section of pipe to roll to the trough.
One problem with existing gullwings is that the pads for the gullwing feet will shift away from the catwalk when the gullwing is raised, and will shift toward the catwalk when the gullwing is lowered. This creates a potentially dangerous situation in that the sliding pads could potentially injure workers working nearby, wear down the ground below the gullwing (thus causing the pipe to be stored in an uneven position), or wear out the feet pads. Accordingly, it would be useful to have a system for connecting the gullwing to the catwalk which would minimize the movement of the gullwing pads when the gullwing is raised and lowered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONEmbodiments of the invention provide a system for connecting a gullwing to a catwalk in which a gullwing pin is allowed to move in relation to the connection point in the catwalk instead of causing a gullwing foot pad to move relative to the ground. The system also allows for the quick removal of the gullwing from the catwalk by lifting the gullwing vertical relative to the catwalk.
So that the manner in which the above recited aspects of the invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of embodiments of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
Claims
1. A system for attaching a gullwing to a catwalk, comprising:
- an indexer unit coupled to a catwalk;
- a gullwing coupled to the catwalk via the indexer unit; and
- a pin coupled to a knuckle of the gullwing and positioned within a slot formed in the indexer unit, wherein the pin is movable from a first position within the slot to a second position within the slot in a direction toward the catwalk when the gullwing is raised relative to the catwalk.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the pin moves in a substantially horizontal direction within the slot toward the catwalk when the gullwing is raised relative to the catwalk.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the knuckle is movable relative to the indexer unit when the pin moves within the slot.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein the pin is disposed through the knuckle such that portions of the pin extend from opposite sides of the knuckle.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the portions of the pin are positioned within the slot.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein a foot pad coupled to the gullwing remains substantially stationary relative to the catwalk when the gullwing is raised or lowered.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein a hydraulic cylinder raises the gullwing by extending a rod against the foot pad.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the indexer unit includes an indexer pin configured to support a section of pipe that is transferred by the gullwing when the gullwing is raised relative to the catwalk.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the pin is rotatable relative to the knuckle of the gullwing and the indexer unit.
10. A system for attaching a gullwing to a catwalk, comprising:
- an indexer unit coupled to the catwalk; and
- a gullwing pin coupled to the gullwing and disposed within a groove formed in the indexer unit, wherein the gullwing pin is movable from one end of the groove to an opposite end of the groove in a direction toward the catwalk when the gullwing is raised relative to the catwalk.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein a foot pad coupled to the gullwing remains substantially stationary relative to the catwalk when the gullwing is raised or lowered.
12. The system of claim 10, wherein the gullwing pin moves in a substantially horizontal direction within the groove toward the catwalk when the gullwing is raised relative to the catwalk.
13. The system of claim 10, wherein the gullwing pin is rotatable relative to the gullwing and the indexer unit.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 5, 2016
Publication Date: Oct 27, 2016
Inventors: Gregory David SWANSON (Magnolia, TX), Alexandro Roman RAMIREZ (Houston, TX)
Application Number: 15/201,764