Patents by Inventor Michael Whatley

Michael Whatley 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: 10233740
    Abstract: A control system that mitigates stick-slip vibrations at higher harmonics than currently available is disclosed. A controller of a top drive is set to a torque control mode instead of a speed control mode. The controller receives torque measurements and compares to a target torque value. The controller accelerates or decelerates the top drive by a generated current adjustment command. A slow integration speed control loop, at least an order of magnitude slower in response than the torque control loop, receives a RPM set point. The slow integration speed control loop compares the RPM set point to an actual RPM measurement and generates a torque command. The torque command is sent to the torque control loop which results in an acceleration or deceleration of the top drive to maintain a desired torque amount. The speed of the top drive is bounded by a speed limit control loop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: Nabors Drilling Technologies USA, Inc.
    Inventors: John Patterson, Michael Whatley, Faisal Yousef, Mahmoud Hadi
  • Publication number: 20180073344
    Abstract: A control system that mitigates stick-slip vibrations at higher harmonics than currently available is disclosed. A controller of a top drive is set to a torque control mode instead of a speed control mode. The controller receives torque measurements and compares to a target torque value. The controller accelerates or decelerates the top drive by a generated current adjustment command. A slow integration speed control loop, at least an order of magnitude slower in response than the torque control loop, receives a RPM set point. The slow integration speed control loop compares the RPM set point to an actual RPM measurement and generates a torque command. The torque command is sent to the torque control loop which results in an acceleration or deceleration of the top drive to maintain a desired torque amount. The speed of the top drive is bounded by a speed limit control loop.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2016
    Publication date: March 15, 2018
    Inventors: John Patterson, Michael Whatley, Faisal Yousef, Mahmoud Hadi