Abstract: Machine for moving casing or pipe from a horizontal position adjacent a well to a vertical position over the well bore. The machine includes a boom movable between a lowered position and a raised position by a hydraulic ram. A strongback grips the pipe and holds the same until the pipe is vertically positioned. Thereafter, an hydraulic ram on the strongback is actuated thereby lowering the pipe or casing onto the string suspended in the well bore and the additional pipe or casing joint is threaded thereto.

Abstract: Apparatus for use to facilitate threading and unthreading substantially vertical lengths of pipe on a drilling rig by moving the pipe between the well bore center line and a racking assembly. An arm having a gripping head mounted thereon is extendable and retractable relative to a carriage mounted on the drilling rig working board. When storing pipe, the lower end of each pipe is set on a support assembly which includes a plurality of switches which signal the position of each pipe thereon. The arm and carriage are moved under control of a computer to an appropriate slot for storing the upper end of the pipe stand. When running pipe into the well bore, the arm and carriage move the upper end of the pipe to the center line of the well and when the traveling block of the drilling rig picks up the pipe, a signal generated by the switch beneath the pipe causes the carriage and arm to move to the location for unracking the next stand of pipe.

Abstract: Apparatus for skidding a drilling rig of the type having a roller mechanism which includes at least one roller for non-rotatingly supporting at least some of the rig on a platform and at least one roller for rotatingly supporting at least some of the rig while it is skidded. The drilling rig platform is supported by beams having a vertical web mounted below each non-rotating roller. The web is in vertical alignment with the vertical axis of its associated non-rotating roller. A beam having a vertical web is mounted beneath the rig above each rotating roller. The rig beam web is in vertical alignment with the vertical axis of its associated rotating roller.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for raising and lowering a telescoping mast. A telescoping mast having an upper section slidably received within a lower section is pivotally connected to a base in a horizontal position. A line is connected to the lower end of the upper section and is placed over a pulley mounted on the upper end of the lower section and secured to the base. Upward pivoting of the lower section moves the mast to a vertical position while the upper section is extended by action of the line. Lowering the mast from the vertical position causes contraction of the upper section into the lower section.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for erecting a drilling rig mast. The foot of a drilling rig mast is pinned to the base of a substructure. A traveling block is strung with a crown block at the top of the mast and the traveling block is secured to the substructure. A drawworks mounted on the substructure reels in traveling block line thus pivoting the end of the mast upwardly. The foot of the mast is unpinned and raised to the top of the substructure where it is pinned in a shoe. The drawworks reels in additional cable thus pivoting the mast into an upright position at which point it is secured for drilling or other operations.

Abstract: Mounted in the upper part of an oil well drilling derrick are horizontal crown beams having end portions projecting beyond the opposite sides of the derrick. A fast line sheave and a dead line sheave are mounted on those beams near the opposite sides of the derrick, and a crown block is mounted on the beams between those sheaves. The sheaves and the crown block are adjustable along the beams. The fast line sheave is movable outwardly into an inactive position on the adjacent projecting end portions of the beams when the crown block is in a position suitable for supporting a fast line directly, and the dead line sheave is movable outwardly into an inactive position on the adjacent projecting portions of the beams when the crown block is in a position suitable for supporting a dead line directly. When both sheaves are in operating positions, the crown block can be placed in any desired location between them.

Abstract: An oil well drilling rig mover is formed from a pair of laterally spaced dollies detachably connected by braces between them. Each of the dollies includes a beam for resting on a support, and a pair of laterally spaced wheels at each end of the beam. An arm extends outwardly from the outer end of a tiltable support member that is pivotally connected to the end of the beam beneath it. The arm can be connected to the support member in either of two laterally spaced positions. Extending downwardly from the outer end of each arm is a rotatable shaft, the lower end of which is connected to the central portion of the axle for the wheels. The support members at the opposite ends of a beam can be tilted away from each other to lift the beam. The two beams and the braces between them form a skid base for a drilling rig which can be moved laterally by turning the shafts 90 degrees.

Abstract: A line of detachably connected skid frames is laid down at a first drilling position for supporting an oil well drilling rig having a base seated on the frames with some of them extending away from opposite ends of the base. After the well has been completed, the rig is skidded along the line of frames to one or more nearby drilling locations, but for movement to a more distant drilling location, some of the skid frames then are temporarily attached to the bottom of the base and disconnected from the rest of the frames. Then wheels are attached to the opposite ends of the base, which is raised along with the attached skid frames relative to the wheels to lift the rig. After towing the wheel-supported rig over the ground to a new drilling location, it is lowered until the skid frames attached to it rest on the ground again.

Abstract: Mounted on the floor of an oil well derrick substructure is a support that is rockable on an axis perpendicular to the centerline of a well being drilled beneath the substructure. One end of an arm is pivotally mounted on the support on an axis transverse to the first mentioned axis, while the opposite end of the arm carries a pair of shoes having laterally opening pipe-receiving seats facing away from the arm. The free end of the arm can be swung toward and away from the well centerline and the arm support can be rocked to swing the arm laterally.

Abstract: A vertical sleeve secured to a side of a structure on which a man is working receives and supports the lower end portion of a pole that has a much longer inclined upper portion so that its upper end will be directly above a point spaced laterally from the sleeve. A safety line suspended from the upper end of the pole is connected to a safety belt worn by the workman and is long enough to permit him to work close to the sleeve. The pole is rotatable in the sleeve to allow its upper end to be moved in an arc around the sleeve to increase the size of the area in which the man can work.

Abstract: Suspension members flexibly connected to a carriage and to an overhead support above the racking platform of an oil well mast or derrick support the carriage, which is provided with a floor to support a derrick man therein. The lower end of the suspension means can be swung back and forth parallel to the side of the mast or derrick and also at right angles to it to thereby move the carriage in the same directions, the carriage being provided with a lateral seat for receiving the upper end portion of a pipe and moving it with the carriage into another position.

Abstract: A series of adjoining concentric rings are cut from a metal plate. The same number of hubs, all the same shape, are also cut from plate material as are annular web plates to fit around hubs, but the outer diameters of the web plates are different from one another in order to fit in the different rings. Each web plate is welded to a hub and encircling ring to form a sheave that is then provided with a circumferential groove to provide a grooved rim for receiving a wire line. The sheaves can be mounted side by side on a common shaft, with the largest sheave at one end and the smallest at the opposite end. This arrangement is suitable for a crown block.

Abstract: The inner end of a boom is pivotally supported on a horizontal axis in front of a well, over which there is an oil well drilling derrick. Pivotally connected to the outer end of the boom on an axis parallel to the axis just mentioned, is clamping means for gripping drill pipe connected at one end to elevators in the derrick. The clamping means allows the free end of the drill pipe to swing across the boom as the outer end of the boom is raised or lowered. Line means connected at one end with the traveling block that raises and lowers the elevators and at the other end to the boom pass around sheaves mounted in the derrick. Also connected with the boom is a counterweight for swinging it in one direction in a vertical plane when the traveling block moves in the same direction as the boom. The sheaves are so positioned that when the traveling block moves in the opposite direction the line means will pull the boom in that direction. Means are provided for keeping tension on the line means at all times.

Abstract: A plurality of vertically spaced rows of longitudinally inclined fingers spaced laterally in each row are pivotally supported on transverse horizontal axes near one end. The fingers slope upwardly from the supporting means and also project in the opposite direction from said axes. Vertically movable cam members at the lower ends of the fingers are provided with vertical surfaces that overlie the lower ends of the fingers when the cam members are in their uppermost position. The cam members are movable downwardly step by step by reversible means to cause them to depress the lower ends of the fingers and thereby raise their upper ends. The upper ends of the fingers in the row immediately below the lowest row of raised fingers are positioned to receive a horizontal pipestand lowered onto them. Inclined conveyor screws spaced laterally from the fingers and sloping to the same extent are movable vertically with the cam members.

Abstract: A plurality of vertically spaced rows of substantially horizontal laterally spaced fingers are pivotally supported at one common end on transverse horizontal axes by means mounted on a carriage beneath the fingers. The carriage is movable from a starting location step by step in a direction lengthwise of the horizontal fingers to first locate at a pipe pickup station a pipe supported by the fingers in the upper row nearest their free ends, and then each successive pipe in that row until all of the pipes have been removed from that row. Thereafter, the upper row of fingers is swung up out of the way and the carriage is returned to its starting location so that its step by step movement can be repeated for each successive upper row of fingers after the row above it has been swung up out of the way.