CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] The present document is based on and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/378696, filed October 7, 2022, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

[0002] This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present techniques, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admission of prior art.

[0003] Natural resources, such as oil and gas, are used as fuel to power vehicles, heat homes, and generate electricity, in addition to various other uses. Once a desired resource is discovered below a surface of the earth, drilling systems are often employed to access the desired resource (e.g., drilling operations). The drilling systems may be located onshore or offshore depending on a location of the desired resource. Further, the drilling systems may include a wide variety of components, such as a hoisting system, a crane, fluid conduits, valves, pumps, and the like. In drilling systems, the crane may be utilized to move components (e.g., tubulars) relative to a well. The crane may be supported on a derrick or mast that extends vertically above the well.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

[0004] A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below. [0005] In some embodiments, a bridge racker includes a bridge crane, a vertical lifting assembly connected to the bridge crane and with access to a limited vertical range at the bridge crane, and a winch assembly connected to the bridge crane and with access to an entire vertical range between a drill floor and the bridge crane.

[0006] In some embodiments, a bridge racker includes a bridge crane with a beam slidingly connected to rails and a trolley slidingly connected to the beam. The bridge racker also includes a vertical lifting assembly connected to the trolley, wherein the vertical lifting assembly includes a vertical column and a gripper or elevator. The bridge racker further includes a winch assembly connected to the trolley, wherein the winch assembly includes a winch that supports a tool via a cable.

[0007] In some embodiments, a method of operating a bridge racker includes operating a winch assembly of a bridge racker to move a tool to a retracted position vertically above a gripper or elevator of a vertical column of the bridge racker. The method also includes operating the vertical column of the bridge racker to transfer a tubular between a racking board and a well center while the tool is in the retracted position.

BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

[0009] FIG. l is a perspective view of a bridge racker supported at a drilling derrick that may be utilized as part of a drilling rig, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0010] FIG. 2 is a side view of a bridge crane that may be utilized as part of the bridge racker of FIG. 1, wherein a trolley carries a vertical lifting assembly and a winch assembly, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure; [0011] FIG. 3 is a side view of the bridge crane of FIG. 2, wherein a tool of the winch assembly is below the vertical lifting assembly relative to a vertical axis, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure

[0012] FIG. 4 is a side view of a bridge crane that may be utilized as part of the bridge racker of FIG. 1, wherein a trolley carries a vertical lifting assembly and a winch assembly, and the vertical lifting assembly includes an adjustable gripper or elevator in an extended configuration, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 5 is a side view of the bridge crane of FIG. 4, wherein the adjustable gripper or elevator is in a retracted configuration and a tool of the winch assembly is below the vertical lifting assembly relative to a vertical axis, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 6 is a top view of the bridge racker of FIG. 1, wherein the bridge racker includes a vertical lifting assembly and a winch assembly that are operated in a coordinated manner, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0015] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method of operating a bridge racker, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] In the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of some embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of various embodiments. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the system and/or methodology may be practiced without these details and that numerous variations or modifications from the described embodiments are possible. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but rather made merely for the purpose of describing general principles of the implementations. The scope of the described implementations should be ascertained with reference to the issued claims.

[0017] When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features.

[0018] As used herein, the terms “connect,” “connection,” “connected,” “in connection with,” and “connecting” are used to mean “in direct connection with” or “in connection with via one or more elements.” The term “set” is used to mean “one element” or “more than one element.” Further, the terms “couple,” “coupling,” “coupled,” “coupled together,” and “coupled with” are used to mean “directly coupled together” or “coupled together via one or more elements.” As used herein, the terms "up" and "down," "upper" and "lower," "top" and "bottom," and other like terms indicating relative positions to a given point or element are utilized to more clearly describe some elements. Commonly, these terms relate to a reference point at a surface from which drilling operations are initiated as being a top point and a total depth being a lowest point, wherein a well (e.g., wellbore, borehole) is vertical, horizontal, or slanted relative to the surface.

[0019] Language of degree used herein, such as the terms “approximately,” “about,” “generally,” “substantially,” and “significantly” as used herein represent a value, amount, or characteristic close to the stated value, amount, or characteristic that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “approximately,” “about,” “generally,” “substantially,” and “significantly,” may refer to an amount that is within less than 10 percent of, within less than 5 percent of, within less than 1 percent of, within less than 0.1 percent of, and/or within less than 0.01 percent of the stated amount. As another example, in certain embodiments, the terms “generally parallel” and “substantially parallel” or “generally perpendicular” and “substantially perpendicular” refer to a value, amount, or characteristic that departs from exactly parallel or perpendicular, respectively, by less than or equal to 15 degrees, 10 degrees, 5 degrees, 3 degrees, 1 degree, or 0.1 degree.

[0020] A drilling system may carry out drilling operations at a wellsite to form a well within or into a subterranean formation to recover hydrocarbons trapped within the subterranean formation. The present disclosure generally relates to a bridge racker that may be utilized as part of the drilling system. More specifically, one or more embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a bridge racker that includes a vertical lifting assembly to transfer tubulars (e.g., stands) between a racking board and a well center, as well as a winch assembly to carry out various other operations, such as horizontal to vertical operations and/or offline activities.

[0021] A bridge racker is a crane installed in a derrick or mast above a setback. The bridge racker is capable of lifting stands in and out of the setback, as well as handing over the stands to a well center (e.g., without manual assistance from an operator). In particular, the bridge racker includes a bridge crane with a beam supported by rails at both ends of the beam, as well as a trolley configured to move along the beam. A vertical lifting assembly is supported by (e.g., suspended from) the trolley, and the vertical lifting assembly includes a vertical column and a gripper or elevator (e.g., a pipe-holding tool).

[0022] In operation, the beam may move along the rails and the trolley may move along the beam to move the vertical lifting assembly. Further, the vertical column with the gripper or elevator may rotate (e.g., swivel) relative to the trolley, and the gripper or elevator may also move along the vertical column. Accordingly, the gripper or elevator may be positioned to grip a particular stand, move the particular stand to a target location (e.g., into or out of the setback; to or from the well center), and then release the particular stand. For example, the gripper or elevator may retrieve the particular stand from the setback and then hand over the particular stand to a top drive at the well center. Thus, the bridge racker provides efficient and automatic vertical pipe handling to facilitate tripping in and out operations.

[0023] However, the vertical lifting assembly has a vertical range that is limited, such as limited to a space above a diving board of the bridge racker (e.g., a lower-most board or frame portion of the bridge racker). Accordingly, it is presently recognized that it would be desirable to incorporate a winch assembly into the bridge racker. In particular, it is presently recognized that it would be desirable to incorporate the winch assembly into the bridge racker with particular structural features and/or control features to facilitate coordinated operation of the vertical lifting assembly and the winch assembly.

[0024] For example, the bridge racker may carry out the vertical pipe handling within the vertical range of the vertical lifting assembly and hand over the stands to the well center with the vertical lifting assembly, as well as carry out other operations with the winch assembly. The other operations performed with the winch assembly may include horizontal to vertical operations, offline activities, building stands independently of the top drive, and/or handling stands and/or other components outside of the vertical range of the vertical lifting assembly, such as from a drill floor to the bridge crane of the bridge racker. In this way, the bridge racker with the winch assembly may have broad functionality and may perform multiple functions without use of separate machines or systems (e.g., without a physically separate winch assembly and/or offline activity crane). Notably, the bridge racker with the winch assembly may perform the multiple functions efficiently and automatically without manual assistance (e.g., from a human operator). Further, the bridge racker with the winch assembly may have access to an entire vertical range between the drill floor and the bridge crane.

[0025] With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a bridge racker 10 (e.g., racking assembly) supported at a drilling derrick 12, which may be utilized at part of a drilling rig. As shown, the bridge racker 10 includes or is provided within a frame 14 that supports a racking board 16 and a bridge crane 18 (e.g., bridge offline activity racking crane). The frame 14 is integrated into and/or mounted on the drilling derrick 12. The racking board 16 may define or correspond to a setback area and have multiple slots or rows to receive tubulars (e.g., drill pipe stands), such that the tubulars are stored in a vertical orientation at the drilling rig.

[0026] The bridge crane 18 includes a beam 20 supported by rails 22 (e.g., the rails 22 may form part of the frame 14). A vertical lifting assembly 24 is slidingly supported on the beam 20 (e.g., via a trolley), and the vertical lifting assembly 24 includes a vertical column 26 and a gripper or elevator 28 (e.g., pipe-holding tool). The bridge crane 18 may operate to move tubulars to and from the racking board 16, such as to move tubulars from the racking board 16 to a well center 30 (e.g., aligned with an axis at the well center 30) to hand off the tubulars to a top drive 32, which is represented by a block positioned at the well center 30 in FIG. 1.

[0027] As an example, in order to move the tubulars from the racking board 16 to the well center 30, the bridge crane 18 may align the vertical lifting assembly 24 with a particular slot or row of the racking board 16, such as by driving the beam 20 along the rails 22. Then, the bridge crane 18 may position the gripper or elevator 28 to receive a particular tubular within the particular slot or row of the racking board 16, such as by driving the vertical lifting assembly 24 along the beam 20 and/or by rotating the gripper or elevator 28 (e.g., via a swivel, which may be located between the vertical column 26 and the beam 20) to face toward the particular tubular within the particular slot or row of the racking board 16. Then, the bridge crane 18 may control (e.g., actuate) the gripper or elevator 28 to grip the particular tubular.

[0028] Then, the bridge crane 18 may deliver or hand off the particular tubular to the top drive 32. To accomplish this, the bridge crane 18 may drive the vertical lifting assembly 24 along the beam 20 to position the gripper 28 with the particular tubular in a gap 34 defined between portions of the racking board 16 and then drive the beam 20 along the rails 22 to move the gripper or elevator 28 with the particular tubular through the gap 34. The bridge crane 18 may also rotate the gripper or elevator 28 with the particular tubular to face toward the top drive 32 and then operate the gripper or elevator 28 to release the particular stand to hand off the particular stand to the top drive 32.

[0029] As shown, the bridge racker 10 also includes a winch assembly 35 with a winch 36 that supports a cable 38 and a tool 40 (e.g., hook or elevator). The winch 36 is configured to extend and retract the cable 38 to move the tool 40 relative to the frame 14 of the bridge racker 10, and the cable 38 with the tool 40 may be sized (e.g., have sufficient length) to reach a drill floor 42 (e.g., extend over an entire vertical range between the drill floor 42 and the bridge crane 18). Thus, the winch assembly 35 may operate to pick up tubulars from a chute or a catwalk 44, pick up tubulars or other components from the drill floor 42, build or break up tubulars away from the well center 30, move tubulars between horizontal and vertical orientations, and/or carry out various offline activities. Advantageously, the winch assembly 35 is incorporated into the bridge racker 10, such that a separate machine (e.g., separate offline activity crane) is not utilized at the drilling rig and/or such that respective operations carried out with the vertical lifting assembly 24 may be effectively coordinated with respective operations carried out by the winch assembly 35. To facilitate discussion, the bridge racker 10 and its components may be described with reference to a vertical axis or direction 50, a first lateral axis or direction 52, a second lateral axis or direction 54, and a circumferential axis or direction 58.

[0030] FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment of the bridge crane 18 that may be utilized as part of the bridge racker 10 of FIG. 1, wherein a trolley 60 carries the vertical lifting assembly 24 and the winch assembly 35. As shown, the bridge crane 18 may include the beam 20 slidingly supported on the rails 22, as well as the trolley 60 slidingly supported on the beam 20. Thus, the beam 20 may slide along the second lateral axis 54 along the rails 22, and the trolley 60 with the vertical lifting assembly 24 and the winch assembly 35 may slide along the first lateral axis 52 along the beam 20.

[0031] The vertical lifting assembly 24 includes the vertical column 26 that extends from the trolley 60 along the vertical axis 50. The vertical lifting assembly 24 also includes a carrier 62 (e.g., dolly) that couples to the vertical column 26 and that carries the gripper or elevator 28 along the vertical column 26 (e.g., to move along the vertical column 26 along the vertical axis 50; to move the gripper or elevator 28 between a lowest position and a highest position in a vertical range). For example, an actuator (e.g., hydraulic cylinder) may drive the carrier 62, as well as the gripper or elevator 28 coupled thereto, to slide along the vertical column 26.

[0032] In FIG. 2, the gripper or elevator 28 has a fixed horizontal offset 70 relative to the vertical column 26. The fixed horizontal offset 70 enables the gripper or elevator 28 to reach under the top drive located at the well center to hand off a tubular 74 to the top drive located at the well center. For example, the gripper or elevator 28 may be oriented (e.g., along the first lateral axis 52) to face the racking board to retrieve the tubular 74 from the racking board. Then, upon rotation via a swivel connection 72, the gripper or elevator 28 may be oriented (e.g., along the second lateral axis 54; 90 degree rotation) to face the top drive located at the well center. Then, the beam 20 may park at a hand off distance to enable the gripper or elevator 28 to reach under the top drive located at the well center to hand off the tubular 74 to the top drive located at the well center. [0033] The winch assembly 35 may be in a retracted configuration (e.g., with the tool 40 in a respective upper-most position along the vertical axis 50; with the tool 40 above the gripper or elevator 28 along the vertical axis 50, such as with the tool 40 above a respective upper-most position of the gripper or elevator 28 along the vertical axis 50) while the bridge crane 18 operates and moves the gripper or elevator 28 to transfer the tubular 74. In this way, the winch assembly 35 may avoid or block contact between the tool 40 and the gripper or elevator 28 and/or may not interfere with respective operations carried out by the vertical lifting assembly 24.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 2, the winch assembly 35 may be coupled to or mounted on the trolley 60, such that the winch assembly 35 moves with the trolley 60. For example, the winch assembly 35 may be supported on or mounted to an upper surface of the trolley 60, as this provides sufficient volume to accommodate a housing of the winch 36 and also sufficient space to hold the tool 40 above the gripper or elevator 28 along the vertical axis 50. However, it should be appreciated that the winch assembly 35 may be coupled to the trolley 60 at any suitable location and in any suitable manner. In any case, the winch assembly 35 may move as the beam 20 travels along the rails 22 and as the trolley 60 travels along the beam 20 to enable placement of the winch assembly 35 at any suitable location along the first and second lateral axes 52, 54. Further, this configuration causes both the winch assembly 35 and the vertical lifting assembly 24 to move together with the trolley 60, which may facilitate coordinated operations and/or interactions between the winch assembly 35 and the vertical lifting assembly 24 (e.g., to hand off the tubular 74 between the tool 40 and the gripper or elevator 28).

[0035] FIG. 3 is a side view of an embodiment of the bridge crane 18 that may be utilized as part of the bridge racker 10 of FIG. 1, wherein the tool 40 of the winch assembly 35 is below the vertical lifting assembly 24 relative to the vertical axis 50. The winch assembly 35 may adjust from the retracted configuration to an extended configuration (e.g., with the tool 40 in a respective lower-most position along the vertical axis 50; with the tool 40 below the vertical lifting assembly 24 along the vertical axis 50) to carry out various operations. The various operations performed with the winch assembly 35 may include horizontal to vertical operations, offline activities, building stands independently of the top drive, and/or handling stands and/or other components outside of the vertical range of the vertical lifting assembly 24, such as over the entire vertical range from the drill floor to the bridge crane 18 (e.g., to move to the bridge crane 18 and/or to hand off to the gripper or elevator 28).

[0036] The gripper or elevator 28 may be oriented to face away from the tool 40 (e.g., along the first lateral axis 52; away from the tool 40 along the second lateral axis 54; via the swivel connection 72) while the winch 36 raises and lowers the tool 40 to carry out the various operations with the tool 40. Accordingly, the gripper or elevator 28 (and the tubular 74, if or when held by the gripper or elevator 28) may be offset from the tool 40 relative to the circumferential axis 56. In this way, the gripper or elevator 28 may avoid or block contact between the tool 40 and the gripper or elevator 28 (and the tubular 74, if or when held by the gripper or elevator 28), and/or the gripper or elevator 28 (and the tubular 74, if or when held by the gripper or elevator 28) may not interfere with respective operations carried out by the winch assembly 35.

[0037] As described herein, the trolley 60 may move along the beam 20 to travel between positions shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Further, the trolley 60 may carry the vertical lifting assembly 24 and the winch assembly 35 along the beam 20. This configuration causes both the winch assembly 35 and the vertical lifting assembly 24 to move together with the trolley 60, which may facilitate coordinated operations and/or interactions between the winch assembly 35 and the vertical lifting assembly 24 (e.g., to hand off the tubular 74 between the tool 40 and the gripper or elevator 28).

[0038] With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, a controller 90 may be provided to operate the bridge crane 18. For example, to facilitate vertical pipe handling operations, the controller 90 may provide control signals to adjust the winch assembly 35 to the retracted configuration of FIG. 2. Then, the controller 90 may provide control signals to drive the trolley 60 and to operate the vertical lifting assembly 24 to transfer the tubular 74 between the racking board and the top drive at the well center. Indeed, the controller 90 may provide the control signals to carry out these steps repeatedly to facilitate tripping in or out operations.

[0039] At certain times, the controller 90 may receive an indication (e.g., input from one or more sensors and/or an operator) that it would be desirable to utilize the winch assembly 35 to carry out other operations, such as to move tubulars from horizontal to vertical, to retrieve a dropped object from the drill floor, and so forth. In response, the controller 90 may adjust the vertical lifting assembly 24 to position the gripper or elevator 28 away from a vertical pathway of the tool 40 (e.g., to offset the gripper or elevator 28 along the circumferential axis 56). Then, the controller 90 may provide control signals to drive the trolley 60 and to operate the winch 36 to extend and retract the cable 38 to move the tool 40 (e.g., including to position the tool 40 below the vertical lifting assembly 24 relative to the vertical axis 50, such as at the drill floor). Indeed, the controller 90 may provide the control signals to carry out these steps repeatedly to facilitate moving multiple tubulars from horizontal to vertical, assembling stands independently of the top drive, handing off stands from the tool 40 to the gripper or elevator 28, and so forth.

[0040] As described herein, at certain times, the controller 90 may control the vertical lifting assembly 24 and the winch assembly 35 to pass objects, such as tubulars (e.g., from the gripper or elevator 28 to the tool 40, or from the tool 40 to the gripper or elevator 28). For example, the controller 90 may operate the winch assembly 35 to retrieve a particular tubular from the drill floor or from another location (e.g., the chute). Then the controller 90 may operate the winch 36 to retract the tool 40, which may cause the particular tubular to hang vertically from the tool 40. Then the controller 90 may operate the winch 36 to further retract the tool 40 to position the particular tubular adjacent to the vertical lifting assembly 24 (e.g., aligned with the vertical column 26). Then the controller 90 may rotate the gripper or elevator 28 via the swivel connection 72 to face toward the particular tubular to enable the gripper or elevator 28 to grip the particular tubular. In this way, the tool 40 may hand off the particular tubular to the gripper or elevator 28.

[0041] In certain embodiments, the winch assembly 35 may be movably coupled to the trolley 60, such as to enable the winch assembly 35 to slide along the first lateral axis 52 and/or the second lateral axis 54 relative to the trolley 60 and the vertical lifting assembly 24. This movement of the winch assembly 35 may enable appropriate alignment and placement of the particular tubular held by the tool 40 to facilitate the hand off to the gripper or elevator 28 (e.g., the tool 40 with the particular tubular is offset from the gripper or elevator 28 along the second lateral axis 54, and then the tool 40 with the particular tubular moves along the second lateral axis 54 to insert the particular tubular into the gripper or elevator 28).

[0042] The controller 90 may include a processor 92 and a memory device 94. Further, the controller 90 may provide the control signals to operate a hydraulic system 96, such as to operate valves to provide hydraulic fluid through fluid conduits to actuators (e.g., hydraulic cylinders, hydraulic motors) to move the trolley 60, to move the carrier 62, to operate the gripper or elevator 28, to operate the winch 36, and/or operate the tool 40, for example. In this way, the controller 90 may facilitate automated operations, such as to trip in and/or trip out the tubulars at the well center, move the tubulars from horizontal to vertical, and so forth.

[0043] The processor 92 may be processing circuitry that includes one or more processors configured to execute software, such as software for processing signals (e.g., indicative of a position of the gripper or elevator 28 along one or more of the axes 50, 52, 54, 56; indicative of a position of the winch 36 and the tool 40 coupled thereto along one or more of the axes 50, 52, 54, 56) and/or controlling components of the bridge crane 18 (e.g., via controlling the hydraulic system 96). The memory device 94 may include one or more memory devices (e.g., a volatile memory, such as random access memory [RAM], and/or a nonvolatile memory, such as read-only memory [ROM]) that may store a variety of information and may be used for various purposes. For example, the memory device 94 may store processor-executable instructions (e.g., firmware or software) for the processor 92 to execute, such as instructions for processing signals and/or controlling components of the bridge crane 18.

[0044] In certain embodiments, the controller 90 and/or the hydraulic system 96 may be coupled to or mounted on the bridge racker, such as on one of the rails 22. It should be appreciated that the controller 90 may be a dedicated and/or contained controller with processing circuitry that carries out the various techniques disclosed herein. However, the controller 90 may be part of and/or include a distributed controller with processing circuitry that carries out the various techniques disclosed herein. Thus, while certain operations are described as being performed by the controller 90 to facilitate discussion, it should be appreciated that the various techniques disclosed herein may be performed by any suitable device and/or distributed between any suitable combination of devices. [0045] FIG. 4 is a side view of an embodiment of the bridge crane 18 that may be utilized as part of the bridge racker of FIG. 1, wherein the trolley 60 carries the vertical lifting assembly 24 and the winch assembly 35, and the gripper or elevator 28 is an adjustable gripper or elevator in an extended configuration 100. FIG. 5 is a side view of an embodiment of the bridge crane 18, wherein the gripper or elevator 28 is the adjustable gripper or elevator in a retracted configuration 102 and the tool 40 of the winch assembly 35 is below the vertical lifting assembly 24 relative to the vertical axis 50.

[0046] As shown, the bridge crane 18 may include the beam 20 slidingly supported on the rails 22, as well as the trolley 60 slidingly supported on the beam 20. Thus, the beam 20 may slide along the second lateral axis 54 along the rails 22, and the trolley 60 with the vertical lifting assembly 24 and the winch assembly 35 may slide along the first lateral axis 52 along the beam 20. The vertical lifting assembly 24 includes the vertical column 26 that extends from the trolley 60 along the vertical axis 50. The vertical lifting assembly 24 also includes the carrier 62 that couples to the vertical column 26 and that carries the gripper or elevator 28 along the vertical column 26 (e.g., to move along the vertical column 26 along the vertical axis 50; to move the gripper or elevator 28 between a lowest position and a highest position in a vertical range). For example, the actuator (e.g., hydraulic cylinder) may drive the carrier 62, as well as the gripper or elevator 28 coupled thereto, to slide along the vertical column 26.

[0047] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the winch assembly 35 may be coupled to or mounted on the trolley 60, such that the winch assembly 35 moves with the trolley 60. For example, the winch assembly 35 may be supported on or mounted to the upper surface of the trolley 60, as this provides sufficient volume to accommodate a housing of the winch 36 and also sufficient space to hold the tool 40 above the gripper or elevator 28 along the vertical axis 50. However, it should be appreciated that the winch assembly 35 may be coupled to the trolley 60 at any suitable location and in any suitable manner. In any case, the winch assembly 35 may move as the beam 20 travels along the rails 22 and as the trolley 60 travels along the beam 20 to enable placement of the winch assembly 35 at any suitable location along the first and second lateral axes 52, 54. Further, this configuration causes both the winch assembly 35 and the vertical lifting assembly 24 to move together with the trolley 60, which may facilitate coordinated operations and/or interactions between the winch assembly 35 and the vertical lifting assembly 24 (e.g., to hand off the tubular 74 between the tool 40 and the gripper or elevator 28).

[0048] In FIGS. 4 and 5, the gripper or elevator 28 has an adjustable horizontal offset relative to the vertical column 26. In particular, in FIG. 4, the gripper or elevator 28 is in the extended configuration 100 that provides a first horizontal offset 104 relative to the vertical column 26. Further, in FIG. 5, the gripper or elevator 28 is in the retracted configuration 102 that provides a second horizontal offset 106 relative to the vertical column 26, wherein the first horizontal offset 104 is greater than the second horizontal offset 106.

[0049] The adjustable horizontal offset provides various advantages and desirable features. For example, the adjustable horizontal offset enables the gripper or elevator 28 to reach under the top drive located at the well center to hand off a tubular to the top drive located at the well center. To accomplish this, the gripper or elevator 28 may be oriented (e.g., along the first lateral axis 52) to face the racking board to retrieve the tubular from the racking board. Then, upon rotation via the swivel connection 72, the gripper or elevator 28 may be oriented (e.g., along the second lateral axis 54; 90 degree rotation) to face the top drive located at the well center. Then, the beam 20 may park at the hand off distance and move the gripper or elevator 28 to the extended configuration 100 to enable the gripper or elevator 28 to reach under the top drive located at the well center to hand off the tubular to the top drive located at the well center.

[0050] As another example, the adjustable horizontal offset enables the gripper or elevator 28 to have a relatively small turning in the retracted configuration 102 (e.g., compared to the extended configuration 100 and/or compared to the fixed horizontal offset 70 of FIGS. 2 and 3), which in turn enables a relatively large setback area and/or a relatively large setback capacity (e.g., compared to bridge rackers without the adjustable horizontal offset). For example, due to the relatively small turning circle in the retracted configuration 102, the gap between the portions of the racking board may be relatively small (e.g., narrow width across the first lateral axis 52), which enables the racking boards to extend over a larger area and support a greater number of tubulars. However, the gripper or elevator 28 in the retracted configuration 102 may not be capable of reaching under the top drive to deliver the tubulars to the well center, and thus, the adjustable horizontal offset provides both the relatively small turning circle and extension of the gripper or elevator 28 to the well center.

[0051] As another example, the adjustable horizontal offset assists to avoid or block contact between the tool 40 and the gripper or elevator 28 (and the tubular, if or when held by the gripper or elevator 28). For example, during respective operations carried out by the winch assembly 35, the gripper or elevator 28 may be maintained in the retracted configuration 102 to avoid or block contact between the tool 40 and the gripper or elevator 28 (and the tubular, if or when held by the gripper or elevator 28) and/or so as not to interfere with the respective operations carried out by the winch assembly 35. In certain embodiments, with the gripper or elevator 28 in the retracted configuration 102, the gripper or elevator 28 may be outside of the vertical pathway of the tool 40 (e.g., even if the gripper or elevator 28 is oriented to face the tool 40 along the second lateral axis 54; even if the gripper or elevator 28 is aligned with the tool 40 along the circumferential axis 56).

[0052] With reference to FIG. 4, the winch assembly 35 may be in the retracted configuration (e.g., with the tool 40 in a respective upper-most position along the vertical axis 50; with the tool 40 above the gripper or elevator 28 along the vertical axis 50, such as with the tool above a respective upper-most position of the gripper or elevator 28 along the vertical axis 50) while the bridge crane 18 operates and moves the gripper or elevator 28 to transfer the tubular. In this way, the winch assembly 35 may avoid or block contact between the tool 40 and the gripper or elevator 28 and/or may not interfere with respective operations carried out by the vertical lifting assembly 24.

[0053] With reference to FIG. 5, the tool 40 of the winch assembly 35 is below the vertical lifting assembly 24 relative to the vertical axis 50. The winch assembly 35 may adjust between the retracted configuration and the extended configuration (e.g., with the tool 40 in the respective lower-most position along the vertical axis 50; with the tool 40 below the vertical lifting assembly 24 along the vertical axis 50) to carry out various operations. The various operations performed with the winch assembly 35 may include horizontal to vertical operations, offline activities, building stands independently of the top drive, and/or handling stands and/or other components outside of the vertical range of the vertical lifting assembly 24, such as over the entire vertical range from the drill floor to the bridge crane 18 (e.g., to move to the bridge crane 18 and/or to hand off to the gripper or elevator 28).

[0054] As described herein, the gripper or elevator 28 may be in the retracted configuration 102 and/or may be rotated to face away from the tool 40 (e.g., along the first lateral axis 52; away from the tool 40 along the second lateral axis 54; via the swivel connection 72) while the winch 36 raises and lowers the tool 40 to carry out the various operations with the tool 40. Accordingly, the gripper or elevator 28 (and the tubular, if or when held by the gripper or elevator 28) may have the second horizontal offset 106 and/or may be offset from the tool 40 relative to the circumferential axis 56. In this way, the gripper or elevator 28 may avoid or block contact between the tool 40 and the gripper or elevator 28 (and the tubular, if or when held by the gripper or elevator 28) and/or the gripper or elevator 28 (and the tubular, if or when held by the gripper or elevator 28) may not interfere with respective operations carried out by the winch assembly 35.

[0055] The controller 90 may be provided to operate the bridge crane 18. For example, to facilitate vertical pipe handling operations, the controller 90 may provide control signals to adjust the winch assembly 35 to the retracted configuration of FIG. 4. Then, the controller 90 may provide control signals to drive the trolley 60 and to operate the vertical lifting assembly 24 to transfer the tubular between the racking board and the top drive at the well center.

[0056] At certain times, the controller 90 may determine that it would be desirable to utilize the winch assembly 35 to carry out other operations, such as to move tubulars from horizontal to vertical, to retrieve a dropped object from the drill floor, and so forth. In response, the controller 90 may adjust the vertical lifting assembly 24 to position the gripper or elevator 28 away from the vertical pathway of the tool 40 (e.g., to adjust the gripper or elevator 28 to the retracted configuration 016 and/or to offset the gripper or elevator 28 along the circumferential axis 56). Then, the controller 90 may provide control signals to drive the trolley 60 and to operate the winch 36 to extend and retract the cable 38 to move the tool 40 (e.g., including to position the tool 40 below the vertical lifting assembly 24 relative to the vertical axis 50). [0057] As described herein, at certain times, the controller 90 may control the vertical lifting assembly 24 and the winch assembly 35 to pass objects, such as tubulars, (e.g., from the gripper or elevator 28 to the tool 40, or from the tool 40 to the gripper or elevator 28) For example, the controller 90 may operate the winch assembly 35 to retrieve a particular tubular from the drill floor or from another location (e.g., the chute). Then the controller 90 may operate the winch 36 to retract the tool 40, which may cause the particular tubular to hang vertically from the tool 40. Then the controller 90 may operate the winch 36 to further retract the tool 40 to position the particular tubular adjacent to the vertical lifting assembly 24 (e.g., aligned with the vertical column 26). Then the controller 90 may rotate the gripper or elevator 28 via the swivel connection 72 to face toward the particular tubular, move the carrier 62 along the vertical column 26, and/or move the gripper or elevator 28 to the extended configuration 100 to enable the gripper or elevator 28 to grip the particular tubular. In this way, the tool 40 may hand off the particular tubular to the gripper or elevator 28. Additionally or alternatively, the winch assembly 35 may be movably coupled to the trolley 60, such as to enable the winch assembly 35 to slide along the first lateral axis 52 and/or the second lateral axis 54 relative to the trolley 60 and the vertical lifting assembly 24. This movement of the winch assembly 35 may enable appropriate alignment and placement of the particular tubular held by the tool 40 to facilitate the hand off to the gripper or elevator 28 (e.g., the tool 40 with the particular tubular is offset from the gripper or elevator 28 along the second lateral axis 54, and then the tool 40 with the particular tubular moves along the second lateral axis 54 to insert the particular tubular into the gripper or elevator 54).

[0058] In FIGS. 4 and 5 the gripper or elevator 28 is coupled to the vertical column 26 via an extender 108 (e.g., extend/retract device; linkage assembly). The extender 108 includes a bracket 110 that is pivotally coupled to the carrier 62 and the gripper or elevator 28. The extender 108 also includes an actuator 112 (e.g., hydraulic cylinder) configured to drive the bracket 110 and the gripper or elevator 28 coupled thereto to pivot relative to the carrier 62. For example, the actuator 112 may be a hydraulic cylinder that extends to drive (e.g., push) the bracket 110 and the gripper or elevator 28 away from the carrier 62 to transition the gripper or elevator 28 to the retracted configuration 102 and that retracts to drive (e.g., pull) the bracket 110 and the gripper or elevator 28 toward the carrier 62 to transition the gripper or elevator 28 to the extended configuration 100.

[0059] However, it should be appreciated that the bridge crane 18 may have any suitable configuration that provides the adjustable horizontal offset, as described herein. For example, the vertical lifting assembly 24 may have different components and/or configurations compared to FIGS. 4 and 5, but may still provide the adjustable horizontal offset to position the gripper or elevator 28 with the first horizontal offset 104 (e.g., set away from the vertical column 26) to extend to the well center and also to position the gripper or elevator 28 with the second horizontal offset 106 (e.g., proximate to the vertical column 26) out of the vertical pathway of the tool 40.

[0060] FIG. 6 is a top view of an embodiment of the bridge racker 10, wherein the bridge racker 10 includes the winch assembly 35 and the vertical lifting assembly 24 that are operated in a coordinated manner. As shown, the beam 20 is slidingly supported on the rails 22. Further, as described herein, the trolley that is slidingly supported on the beam 20 couples to the vertical lifting assembly 24 with the gripper or elevator 28. The trolley also couples to the winch assembly 35 with the winch 36 that retracts and extends the cable 38 that supports the tool 40. Accordingly, the vertical lifting assembly 24 and the winch assembly 35 may move together along the first horizontal axis 52 and the second horizontal axis 54 (e.g., in two dimensions).

[0061] During the respective operations of the winch assembly 35, the gripper or elevator 28 may be positioned to avoid interference with components of the winch assembly 35 and/or any objects (e.g., tubulars) held by the tool 40. For example, as shown, the gripper or elevator 28 may rotate in the circumferential direction 56 via the swivel connection. In certain cases, the gripper or elevator 28 may rotate in the circumferential direction 56 to face along the first horizontal axis 52 and/or to face an opposite direction along the second horizontal axis 54 (e.g., toward a forward side of the bridge racker 10; opposite or away from the cable 38 and the tool 40 that hang from the winch 36 on a v-door side of the bridge racker 10). Thus, with the gripper or elevator 28 out of the vertical pathway of the tool 40, the winch 36 may raise and lower the tool 40 without contact with the gripper or elevator 28. Additionally or alternatively, the gripper or elevator 28 may be the adjustable gripper or elevator that may be retracted from the vertical pathway of the tool 40. Further, during the respective operations of the gripper or elevator 28, the winch 36 may retract the cable 38 and the tool 40 to avoid interference with the gripper or elevator 28. In certain embodiments, the vertical lifting assembly 24 and the winch assembly 35 may pass objects, such as tubulars.

[0062] In certain embodiments, the bridge crane 18 may include mechanical stops and/or control features that block and/or limit extension of the winch assembly 35 while the gripper or elevator 28 is positioned in the vertical pathway of the tool 40 (e.g., while the gripper or elevator 28 is aligned with the tool 40 along the circumferential axis 56 and/or with the gripper or elevator 28 in the extended configuration). Thus, the controller may instruct or permit the extension of the winch assembly 35 only while the gripper or elevator 28 is offset from the tool 40 along the circumferential axis 56 and/or with the gripper or elevator 28 in the retracted configuration. Similarly, the bridge crane 18 may include mechanical stops and/or control features that block and/or limit operation of the gripper or elevator 28 (e.g., rotation; to transfer tubulars) while the winch assembly 35 is in the extended position (e.g., with the tool 40 aligned with or below the gripper or elevator 28 along the vertical axis 50). Thus, the controller may instruct or permit the operation of the gripper or elevator 28 only while the winch assembly 35 is retracted to position the tool 40 above the gripper or elevator 28 along the vertical axis 50 (e.g., above an upper-most position of the gripper or elevator 28 along the vertical axis 50).

[0063] Generally, at certain times, the controller operate the vertical lifting assembly 24 and the winch assembly 35 independently of one another (e.g., carry out independent operations) and with components positioned to avoid interference. However, at other times, the controller may operate the vertical lifting assembly 24 and the winch assembly 35 to hand over components, which may involve coordinated rotation and/or extension of the gripper or elevator 28 while the tool 40 is aligned with the vertical column 26 along the vertical axis 50 to facilitate the hand over of the components.

[0064] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a method 120 of operating a bridge racker, such as the bridge racker 10 of FIG. 1. It should be appreciated that steps of the method 120 may be performed by a controller, such as the controller 90 of FIGS. 2-5. It should be appreciated that steps may be omitted, steps may be added, and/or steps may be carried out in any suitable order. [0065] In block 122, the method 120 may begin by operating a winch assembly to move a tool to a retracted position that is vertically above a gripper or elevator of a vertical lifting assembly of a bridge racker. For example, a winch may retract a cable to raise the tool vertically above the gripper or elevator of the vertical lifting assembly of the bridge racker.

[0066] In block 124, the method 120 may continue with operating the vertical lifting assembly of the bridge racker to transfer racked tubulars (e.g., stored in a racking board of the bridge racker) between a racking board and a well center. For example, the vertical lifting assembly of the bridge racker may transfer the racked tubulars from the racking board to the well center to facilitate tripping in operations.

[0067] In block 126, the method 120 may continue with rotating the gripper or elevator and/or retracting the gripper or elevator to move the gripper or elevator away from (e.g., out of; offset from) a vertical pathway of the tool. For example, the gripper or elevator may rotate to face away from the tool (e.g., along a first lateral axis toward the racking board; to face a forward side of the bridge racker away from the tool) and/or to retract toward a vertical column of the vertical lifting assembly.

[0068] In block 128, the method 120 may continue with operating the winch assembly to move the tool to an extended position that is vertically below the gripper or elevator of the vertical lifting assembly of the bridge racker. In certain cases, the cable that supports the tool may have a length that enables the tool to reach a drill floor and/or other locations vertically below the bridge racker.

[0069] In block 130, the method 120 may continue with operating the winch assembly to move unracked tubulars (e.g., not stored in the racking board of the bridge racker) from the drill floor and/or the other locations toward the bridge racker. For example, the tool may be an elevator that engages a particular unracked tubular, and then the winch may retract the cable to lift the tool as the tool holds the particular unracked tubular.

[0070] In block 132, the method 120 may continue with handing off the unracked tubulars from the tool to the gripper or elevator of the vertical lifting assembly of the bridge racker. For example, the gripper or elevator may receive the particular unracked tubular from the tool, and then the gripper or elevator may transfer the particular unracked tubular to the top drive at the well center to facilitate tripping in operations. As another example, the gripper or elevator may receive the particular unracked tubular from the tool, and then the gripper or elevator may transfer the particular unracked tubular to the racking board for storage (e.g., vertical storage; to fill the racking board for later tripping in operations). In certain embodiments, the tool may be utilized for other operations, such as to build stands independently of the top drive, and so forth. Then, the method 120 may return to block 122 or to any suitable block.

[0071] As described herein, the bridge racker allows for fast and efficient automatic vertical pipe handling and tripping in and out of a well. Additionally, the bridge racker allows for fast and efficient automatic horizontal to vertical pipe handling, retrieval of tubulars and/or other objects from a drill floor, building stands independent of the top drive, and other operations that may be carried out with a tool supported via a cable and a winch.

[0072] The bridge racker may include structural features and/or control features to facilitate efficient automatic operation of the vertical lifting assembly and the winch assembly together. For example, the bridge racker may include the retractable gripper or elevator that enables the gripper or elevator to be retracted away from a vertical pathway of the tool. As another example, the bridge racker may include a controller that is programmed to position the gripper or elevator of the vertical lifting assembly and the tool of the winch assembly at certain relative positions to avoid interference.

[0073] One or more embodiments of the present disclosure includes a multifunctional bridge offline activity racking crane that provides high performance bridge racker solutions with offline stand building capabilities, which may be used to improve derrick layouts. The multi-functional bridge offline activity racking crane may be used for picking up pipe from a chute, horizontal to vertical operations, offline stand building in mousehole, racking of stands, and/or tripping in and out of the well in coordinated and efficient automated operations.

[0074] Although a few embodiments of the disclosure have been described in detail above, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the teachings of this disclosure. Accordingly, such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the claims. It is also contemplated that various combinations or sub-combinations of the specific features and aspects of the embodiments described may be made and still fall within the scope of the disclosure. It should be understood that various features and aspects of the disclosed embodiments can be combined with, or substituted for, one another in order to form varying modes of the embodiments of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the scope of the disclosure herein should not be limited by the particular embodiments described above. For example, features described with respect to FIGS. 1-7 may be combined in any suitable manner.

[0075] The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and applied to material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature that demonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are not abstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claims appended to the end of this specification contain one or more elements designated as “means for (perform)ing (a function)...” or “step for (perform)ing (a function)...”, it is intended that such elements are to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claims containing elements designated in any other manner, it is intended that such elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f).