CA1187180A

CA1187180A - Method and apparatus for tallying pipe

Info

Publication number: CA1187180A
Application number: CA000427708A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Royce G. Roberts
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-05-10
Filing date: 1983-05-09
Publication date: 1985-05-14
Also published as: US4468959A; NO831609L; GB8312724D0; GB2119833A; GB2119833B

Abstract

ROYCE G. ROBERTS
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TALLYING PIPE
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Tubular goods, such as drill pipe and production tubing, is measured while going into and coming out of a borehole. An electronic beam is directed from a transmitter and is detected by a distance measuring receiver. The beam commences at a known station relative to one end of a pipe suspended in the derrick; and is received at a second station which is indexed respective to the traveling block of the drilling rig. Another beam measures the 1 position of the other end of the pipe respective to the traveling block. These measurements enables the length of each stand of pipe to be accurately ascertained while the pipe is held suspended with-in the derrick at a location above the derrick floor. Electronic circuitry, including a digital instrument, automatically computes the length, displays the length in feet and tenths on a digital readout, records the length on a print-out tape, and incorporates an accumulative memory register. This enables joints or lengths of pipe to be tallied, one after another, and the lengths are auto-matically calculated while accumulative totals are displayed and recordrd.

Description

~ 7~8~

R. G~ ROBERTS

BAC~GROUND OF T~E INVENTION
The drilling and produc~ion of oil well~ r0quire ~he u~e of variou differe~t t~bular goods, such aq dril~ pipe, casing, a~d tubing. The joints are provided with both a box end and a pin end, th~ is, a f male and a male threaded surface located at the opposed marginal ends ~f the ioi~t. The two threaded members constitute a threaded fastener a~d are de~igned to engage one a~o~her with ~ric-tion, thereby precluding one member inadvertently being unscrewed from he other. A series of connected thrèaded joints are made up to form a ~tring.
From time to timQ these threaded suxfaces become unduly worn and must occasionally be renewed by reforming ~he threads at the box and pin ends. Thi~ always shortens ~he joint a triflP., each time the thread~ are renewed. Therefore, since speciic langths of 15 a driil string are often reguired for specific oil well applica~ion~, i~ is necessary that accuratè joint length calculations and record-ings be made and re~ained.
At various ~tage~ of the drilling operations, ~ubular goods mu~t be brought up from the well and elevated vertically above the drllling rig flo~r. This normally is accomplished with ~he u~e of a traveling block wnich is raised or lowered above th~ xig floor by meall~ of crown block assembly lo~ated at the top af the der-rick, which is pc,wered by a draw works or 8arie5 0~ winches locat~d on the rig floox, ax~d a hea~ duty wire cable systela. An ~31evats~r ~5 or set o elevator3 i9 su~pended by a drilling h~ok benea h the trav~ling block by means of a drilling hook or se~ of bal~s. Th~:
travelii~g blook assemJ~ly is lowered into proximi ty ~f the xig f:Loor where ~he elevators are manually ttac~d axound ~he box end of the ~t~ing to be rai~ed or elevated ~rom the holP. Normally the string 30 i~; elevated in sections o three thread~dly co~nected join~s at s~IIe I ~ ~
~K

f'~
R. G. ROBERTS

time called a ~tand of pipe. When thr~e joints ox a stand has be~n elevated abovè the rig .floor, slips are inserted between the pipa and the inner sur~ace o~ the rotary table up-hol~ing the xemaining portion of the string below the rig floor while the di3con~ection or connection is made. ~aeh three-joint section must be measuxed for length as an accurate accounting of the len~th~ of these tubular goods i~ required as they are. elevated rom and returned to the drilling ~perations below the drilling rig floor.
The present art of ascertaining tha length o each thr~s-joint section con~i~ts o~ a steel measuring tape held rom the box and to the pin end of the joint section to be measur~d, with the measurements being manually taken an~ recorded and totaled on a tally she t. The accuracy and efficiency of this time consumi~g method is entirely dependent on the accuracy and efficiency af the individual~ tallying and recording, which periodlcally allow~ room for inaccuracy, error, and inefficlencyu Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a mea~s by which each join~ length can be mea~
~ured, automatically computed, displayed, recorded, and totals di~r pla~ed and recorde~ at will without ~he element o~ human error a~d inacsuracy. Such a desirable instxument is the subject o his in-vention.
The prior art teaches all sorts o~ mean~ by whic~ distance between two stations can be accurat~ly meà~ured~el~ctronically~ a~
evidenced by ~he pakents 4,136,394; 4,16~,473; 4,2~1,439; and 4,281,~04; ~respectively, issued to Jones; Uta~i; Kayem, ~ al; aad Morrow, e~ al; respectively, ~o which reference i~ mad8 for th0 electro~ic de~ails set for~h therei~. Reference is also m~de to ~he art cited in these four paten~, and to other similar paten~ ~o be ~ound in Cla~ 73, 340 9 364 9 367~ and other appropriate art area~
of the U. Sr Paten~ O~fice~

R. G. ROBERTS

Jones teaches measuring between two poi~ts by the employ-ment of a remote unit which transmits a radio pulse to a base u~
The base unit returns an` acoustic or sonic sig~a~ in response to the received radio pulse. Internal logic at the remote unit determinas the distance involved by using the time intervals o~ ~he signals.
Utasi teaches a transducer which generate~ s~und waves which are airec~ed towards a surface, and reflected to a detector, where th2 signal is treated to provide a measur~ment of the dis-tances involvedO There are numerous patents in ~lass 73 which iliu~trate various sonic and ultrasonic ~enerators and detectors fox achieving this same pu~pose.
Kayem, et al determines the length of a tubular member from on~ end thereo by the employment of a device which produces sound pulses, and a detector which receives the pulse signal~ Cir-cuitry computes the distances involved.
MorrQw, et al discloses a sonic transducer which transmitsand receives sonic impulses which ar~ treated by circuitry in order to measure dis~tances through water.
While others have devised various different means by which xelatively short distances may be accurately m~asured, no one has heretofore suggested means for electronically measuri~g pipe joint lengths of pipe supported within a dexrick of a drilling rig.

~` ~
R. G. iR0~ RTS

SU~:E~Y OF TIIE INVENTION
A method which uses a digital instr~ment for automatically measuring9 displaying,and`recording the lengths o~ ubular goods~
such as drill pipe, casing ~ and tubing~ vertically suspended above 5 the drilling rig flosr of a drilling rig. The measurement required is fr~m the box end to the pin end of one or a plurality of con-nected threaded joints.
The instrument includes a transmitter positioned at or near one end o the joints to be measured or talli~d, and when activated, automatically transmits a distance measuring beam, com~
putes the length of the pipe stand/ displays the length in -feet or meters on a digital read~out, records the length on a print-ou~
tape, and incorporates a cumula~ive memory register~ ~nother com~
ponQnt of the apparatus is positioned at or near the opposite end.
of the joi~ts to be measured or tallied and de~lects the tx~nsmi;tt~d distance measuring beam back to a receiver to enable a length com-putation to be efected electronically~
The transmitter, in one form of the inven~ion, incorporates standard electronic digital printiny calculator techniques including addition, subt~action, division, and multiplication functions a5 well as a memory register.
In one embodimen~ of the inventiony the ir~t compone~t or transmitting portion of the appa~atus utili~es a standard desk cal~
culator configuration and is either wall or desk mounted at or near th~ drilling rig floor and the rotary table where the pi.n end of the jOlnts to be tallied are ~omentarily positioned. This component i~
powered by any suitable means, such a~ atandaxd 110 Voltage AC or battery powered for isloated use~ for example. The dis~ance mea-suring beam is transmitted from the trans~tter and rece~vPd by an other componen~ located a~ a precise location respe~ive ~o the pin R. G. ROBERTS

end of the joints to be tall.ied. This last component i~ moun~ed on an adjustable ~winying arm having means by ~hich it can be removed from the working area of the drilling rig floor ~hen measurement computations of each succe~sive elevated section of joints are com-pleted. The two components may be interconnected el~ctrically ~y mean of radio signals or by wires.
In another ~mbodiment of the invention, the transmitting and receiYing components are mounted together on the pivotal end of a swinging arm at the precise location adjacent the pin end of the joints to be measured.
In another embodiment of the invention, the transmitting components are integrated into a single uni~ and mounted on a swing-ing arm at a precise point respectîve to the pin en~ of the joints to be measured.
In still another ~mbodiment of the invention, the t.rans-mitting compone,nt~ are integrated into a single un.it and are housed within a lightweight, rugged, hand-held, gun~typa con~iguration and operatively positioned at the precise location on the pin end of the stand or joints to be measured.
In still anothe~ embodime~t of the invention, ~he tran~-mitting ante~na portion o.the ~ransmitting component utilizes a lightweight, hand held, gun-type apparatus which i~ operatiYely applied at the precise position on the pin end o the joints to be measured, and the computatïon and recording apparatus is housed in a separate component utilizing a standard digital prin~ing calcula tor configuration, and may be wall, desk J or otherwise mounted at a remote lo¢ationO
Th~ apparatu~ includes a de~lectox or refle¢tor which, being positioned at or near th~ opposite, or box endl o th~ jaint~
to be measured, deflects or reflects the transmi~ted dis~ance m~a~
suring beam back to the firs component for :length computation.
~ 6 ~

R. G. ROBERTS

In another em~odiment of the invention, the second com-ponent or deflecting portion is firmly attached to a lowPr portion of one of the bales asso'ciated with the traveling block and near the marginal end of the box end of the joints to bb.measured.
In ano~her embodimen~ of the inventlon, the second com- .
ponent incorporates a prism-like de~ice which deflects the trans-mitted distance measuring beam horizontally across the marginal end of the box end of the joints to be measured. In this embodiment, a deflector or series of deflectors is firmly affixed at pre-detexmine~
settin~s to the lower portion of the opposing bale.
In another embodiment of the învention, the a0cond com-ponent include means by which it is firmly attached to the travel-ing block; and, also includ~s means for deducting from the total distance measurement beam the distance ~rom the box end of the joints to be measuxed.
In an~ot}ler embodiment of the invention, the second com--ponent includes means for being firmly attached to the elevators, and also in~ludes means for adding to the distance measuremen~ be~n the distance to the box end of the joints o be measured~
In yet anothex embodiment of ~he inv~ntion, the second component includes means for being attached to ~he derrick structur~
and further includes means for r~ceiving and defl~cti~g the hori~
zontal distance measurement beam at a wide range of elevations~
In this em~odimen~ the ver~i~al distance mea~urement beam is re~
fracted hoxizontally to and from the second component by means of a prism-like device firmly a~tached to the lower portion of one of the bales at one of the various predetenmined settings according to the location of the margi~al end o the box end of the joint~ to be measured.
.

R. G. RO~ERTS

Accordinyly, a primary object of thelpresent inventio~ is the provi~ion of an instrument for measuring and reoording joint section lengths of ~ubular goods vertically suspended above the drilling floor of an oil well drilling rig.
Another object of the present inVentiGn is the provision of a method by`which stands of pipe held suspended within a derrick can be tallied, one after another, and lengths thereo calculated so that accumulative totals are available.
Still another object of thi~ invention is to provide method and appara~us by which succe~sive stands of pipe used down-hole i~ a borehole are tallied as the pipe goes into and comes out of the borehole~
A still furthar object of this inven~ion is the p~ViSion of method and apparatus b~ which the len~th of a stand o~ pip~ is electxonically mea~ured while the pipa is held suspended within an oil well drilling derrick.
These an~ vaxious other objects an~ advantages of thQ
invention will b~come xeadlly apparen~ ~o those skilled in`the art upon reading the following detailed descxiption a~d claims and by referring to the accompanying drawings.
The .above objects axe attained i~ accordance wlth khe present invention by the provision of a method for use with appara~
tus fabricated i~ a manner substantially ~g desçribed in the above abstract and summary.

~37~
R. G. ROBERT5 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a fragmentary, b~roken view of an oil well drilling rig having various di.fferent embodiments of apparatus made in accordance with the present invention associate~ ~herewith;
Figur~ 2 is an enlarged, perspective view of part of the appara~us disclosed in Figure l;
Figure 3 is an e~larged, fragmentary, perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the apparatus disclosed in Figure 2;
~iyure 4 is a fragmentary, broken, perspective view o~ an oil well drilling rig with the present invention being i~cluded ther~with; and, Figure 5, on the same sheet as Figure 1, is a part schematical, part diagrammatical representation of circuitry associated with the present invention.

~3~87~
R~ G. ROBERTS

DETAILE3 I)ESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In Figure 1, together with other igures of th~ drawings~
there is disclosed a stand of pipe 10 having a t~tal length 12 ~quivalent to the sum of the effective length of the illustra~ed pipe joints 14, 15, and 16. The pipe joints which make up the stan~
of pip~ are threadedly faste~ed together in a manner known to those skilled in ~he art. The pipe continues downhole from the shoulder 17 near the end o~ the standO The end of joint 16 terminates in a male threaded fast~ner which extends into the upwardly opening box or female connector of the remainder of the drill strin~. The upper end 18 o~ the stand is in the form of a box, or threaded female cavity, and terminates in a shoulder or circumferentially extendiny edge.
Elevators 20 are suspended from drilling hooks or bales 21 which in turn are suspended from a traveliny block 22. The travel-ng block ~omprises part of the draw works (not shown~ of the drill-ing rig which lif~s the entire weight ~f the dri}l stri.n~. The traveling block, bale~, and elevators are referred to in the append-ed claims as the "traveling hlock assembly".
~0 The arrow at numeral 24 broadly indicates paxt ~f the apparatus, made in aecordance with the present inventio~; for as-certaining the length 12 o pipe stand 10~ ~ha apparatus include~
a calculator and printer apparatus 25. The marginal terminal end 26 of cantilever arm 27 is indexed with shoulders 17 formed at the interace at the lower end of the stand. The free marginal end of the arm supports a transmitting and receiving a~tenna apparatus ~8 which is aligned with deflectox apparatus 29 locate~ on the ~leva-tors.20. The deflector receive~ a beam 30 and reflects the be~m back along the same path where the beam i~ xeceived by th~ ante~na 28. Alternatively, the beam can be projected ~long a second pa~h ~o be received slightly spaced from an~enna 28.

R. G. ROBERTS

The ante~na 28 is indexed respective to shouldex 17 and to the derrick floor. The apparatus 25, 28, and 29 joilltly cooperate.
together to mea~ure the distance b~tween the antçnna and the deflec-tor. Therefore, the le~gth of the s-~and is known except for the variable distance Ll measured between the face of the deflector 29 and the terminal end of box 18, which will be subs~quently deter-mined in accordance with ~he present invention~ in a manner which will be explained later on in ~his disclosure.
~pparatus ~5 together with apparatus 31 provides a suit-able electronic beam which is tr~nsmitted from antenna 31, with thebe~m bein~ directed along path 32 where it impinges on deflector device 33 and is directed more or less horizontally at 34 onto de-flector ~5. The beam is returned from 35 along path 34 to d~flec-tor 33, back along path 32 where the beam is received by the ante~na 31, thereby ~nabling the di~tance ~1 to he computed by ~he circuitry~
As an alternate embodim~nt of this invention, the re-flector 33 and tran~mi~ter antenna and receiver 31 are utili~ed ~or ascertainin~ ~he fi~st measurement of the length of the stand of pipe in lieu of the device 28 and 29. This nec~ssitate~ th~ employ-men~ of a transmitter and receiver 36 having an elongate~ antenna 37 ox direc~ing wide angle beam 38 acro~s the upper terminal end 40 of the box end 18 of the ~tand of pipe~ The portion o~ the beam not shielded hy the pipe is reflected back along path 3~ and is .received by antenna 37, where the signal is ~onducted to ~he calcu~
la~.or 25, so ~hat the leng~h L2 can be added to ~le previou~ mea-surement found in conjunction with beam 32.
As another alternate embodiment of the present inventionO
the antenna 31 directs a beam at 132 up to a deflector 133 located in fixed relation~hip respective to the crown block ~2, thereby R. G. ROBERTS

providing accurate measurement of the d~stance between the deflector face at 133 and the shsulder 17. The measurement at 38 must now be sub~racted from the measurement at 132 in order to ascertai~ the length 12 of the sta~d.
S As seen in Figure 2, the ealculator 25 can be mounted on any suitable support surface 39. The calculator is p Y aced within a rugged console 40 which protects the electrical components from damage. Numexal 42 indicates print out data in the form o~ printed numerals permanently placed on a piece of paper which provides data related to the foregoing m~asuremenks. Calculator 44 can al~o be used for programming the apparatus 25 as may he desired. Numerals 46, 48, a~d 50 indicate various switches which may advantageously be employed in order to retrieve different available data at window 52.
In Figure 3, there is disclosed a modification 124 of the apparatu& disclosed in the foregoing fi~ures. In this portable e~odiment of the invention, there i5 included a calculator 125, similar in many respects to khe calculator 25. Antenna 28 i~ mount-ed betw~en the stand of pipe ~O and the calculator by means of the illu~trated cantilever support arm 54. The arm terminate~ orwardly at ed~e portion 56, forms an alignment member, and which'is curved and brought into alig~ment with shoulder 17 of the illustrated co~
acting joint~ of the pipe stand and pipe strlng. The arm contin~;es dow~wardly at 58 and the outer face thereo~ is curved complimentary respectiv~ to the tool joints or subs which form ~he interface 17 at the connected together box and pin ends of the coacting p3pe lengths~
In Figure 4, the apparatus 124 is shown in operakive r~la=
tionship respe¢tive to the drilling rig an~ to ~he remainder o~ ~ha present novel apparatus. As seen in Figure 4~ the beam 30 from ~ 12 -~7~
R~ G. ROB~RTS

is deflected by reflector device 33, or alternativ~ly, deflector device 1~3. The beam is returned along essentially the same path 32 back to the antenna 28.
Transmitter 36 is connected to a vertical antenna 37 which is alig~ed with the vertical defl~ctor 35 so that a wide beam 34 travels from antenna 37 to antenna 35 and is deflected back to an ante~na at 37, thereby providing data respective to the location of the top or box end of the stand of pipe.
In Figure 4, the top edge 56 of the self contai~ed calcu-lator 125 i~ arranged such ~hat the antenna 28 i5 indexed with shoulder 17, thereby defining the location of the shoulder at the lower ~nd of the ~tand of pipe~ The distance measuring apparatu~
of the caiculator 125 establishes the distance between deflector 33 and the shouldex 17.
The antenna 37 and deflector 35 es~ablishes ~he length me~sured between the upper shoulder 4~ of the box end o ~he pipe stand and th~ deflector at 33O From thase measurements, precise calculations to deter~ine the length oE the ~tand o~ pipe can be . made by the apparatus 1~4.
In Figure 5J the apparatus 28 comprises a transmitter Tl which sends a signal 30 ~o the de1ector 2g. The deflector re~ur~s the slgnal to the distance measuring receiver Rl. Distance measur-ing apparatus for achieving this function of the di~closure i5 k~ow~
to those skilled in the art, for example surveying instrumer.ts usi~g the laser principle and the like. Data related to the di~tance measured i3 stored by the calculator at 59.
At the same time, transmi~ter T2 pxovlde~ v~xiou3 differ-en~ sig~als t~ ~he ant~nna array 37~ which in one ~oxm of the inven~ion is comprised of a plurality of individual ant~nna~ Ç~
aligned with a plurality of reflectoEs35 which return~ ~he signal ~ 13 -7~
R. G. RO~ERTS

to receiv~r R2, thereby providing a siynal indicative of the height of shoulder 40 of the upper box end 18 respective to the face of the antenna which deflected the si~nal 30.
The return ~ignal is received at R2 and is co~nected to the calculator at 59. The two signals 30 and 34 are in~egr~ted tG
provide the length 12 between shoulders 17 and 40.
I~ operation, while going into the bore~ole with a stand of dxilling pipe, the slips are arranged to hold the upper marginal end of the drill string, while the stand of pipe iq hoisted by ele-vator 20 in~o the derrick so that the tongs can make up the st~ld of pipe into the drill string. As this is being accomplished, the antenna 28 is indexed with the shoulder 17 by one of the above ma~i-pulations .
The driller or operator energize~ the ~alculator apparatu5 thereby a3certaining the distance between shoulder 17 and d*1ector 29. At th~ same tima, the l~ngth Ll i5 deter~*ned in the above des¢ribed manne:~. The calculator integrates the two signals and the resultant measurement is printed at 42, thereby pxoviding the length of each individual stand of pipe, as well as th~ cumulative total of the successively connected togethex s~ands of pipe. Thi~
data also appears at window 22 depending on which o~ the~ switches 4fi-50 are actuated.
A~ter all of the t~bing has been run into th~ hole, ~le cumulative total is available at 42 and 52. The present apparatus provid0s a rapid, efficient, and reliable mea~s ~or a~certaining the length of tubular goods which have:been sent dow~hole or which have ~een returned from the hole. The presen~ disclosur~ lude~
measuring the stands of pipe as well a~ measuring the individual joint~ of pipe as ~hey are added to th~ d.rillirlg operationO
3 0 '!

R. G~ RO8ERTS

In this disclosure, the term "beam" i9 inter.de~ to in-clude a signal which propagates the atmosphere, and includes lazers, radio beams, and ultrasonics.
The term "transmitter" includes an electri~al means or electro-mechanical means ~ox producing the b~n.
- ~he ~erm "receiver" is an ele~trical means or electro-mechanical means for deta~ting or receiving the beam.
The term "antenna" is intended to include apparatus for sending an~ receiving the ~eam.
The term "transducer" includes a transmitter which tran~-mi~s a beam and a recei~er whlch receives the returned beam.
The length o the box end, or la~t measurement, usually varies from 7-12 inches; and, the box end is always pointed up.
The distance measured between the intexface where the two joints are connected together and the lower end of ~he pin is o~ no con~
sequence because the telescoping or ~hreaded end is received w.ith-in a box and therefore are not part of the calculation. It i~
therefore necessary to measure from shouldex to ~ho~lder of a pipe joint or ~ stand o~ pipe joints in oxder for the length to b~ c31-culated. Since the distance from the elevator to the upper termln-al end ~r shoulder o~ the upper most joint varies from pipe joint to pipe joint, the first maasureme~t by the firs~ transmit~ed sig~
nal pxovides an approximation which may b~ as much as 5 inches i~
error, as no~ed abov~ Therefore, the seeond signal must accu-rately provide this second measureme~t which is added to the firstmeasurement, thereby accurately determining the len~h of the pipe member.
The pxesent technique generally is far more accurate th~

manually measuri~g the pipe, especially when the measurement i~ made ~r ahverse oonditicns ~h as during sand s~,rms, spraying m~d, rai~, and the lik~.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

Claim 1. In a drilling rig having a traveling block assembly, including pipe elevators, by which a pipe string is elevated above the derrick floor thereof, the combination with said drilling rig of apparatus for tallying stands of pipe while the pipe is suspended above the floor;
said apparatus includes a transmitter and receiver means having an antenna positioned in indexed relationship re-spective to the shoulder located at the lower end of the pipe stand;
a deflector means mounted of said traveling block assembly for deflecting a beam from said transmitter back to said antenna to thereby provide a first signal related to the distance from the antenna to the deflector;
another transmitter and receiver means connected to an-other antenna; said another antenna being positioned in indexed relationship respective to said deflector; a second deflector, said another antenna and said second deflector are positioned to direct another beam substantially horizontally across the up-per marginal terminal end of the stand of pipe to provide a second signal related to the distance measured from the upper end of the stand of pipe to the first recited deflector;
means adding the first and second signals together to provide the measured length of the stand of pipe.
Claim 2. The combination of Claim 1 wherein said means adding is electronic circuitry which includes a digital instrument which automatically computes the length of the pipe, displays the length on a digital read-out, and records the length on a printout tape.
Claim 3. The combination of Claim 2 wherein said instrument includes an accumulative memory register which se-quentially adds each stand of pipe together to provide a pipe tally.
Claim 4. The combination of Claim 3 wherein said transmitter, receiver, and antenna is a hand held probe having an arm, the end of the arm being contoured complementary respec-tive to the lower marginal end of the stand of pipe, and further includes an alignment member which is aligned with the shoulder at the lower end of the stand of pipe, said antenna being in-dexed with said alignment member.
Claim 5. The combination of Claim 3 wherein said transmitter, receiver, and antenna are mounted on an arm, one end of said arm is pivotally attached to a support structure, a free end of the arm supports said antenna, index means which can be brought into alignment with the lower end of the stand of pipe to thereby index the antenna with the lower end of the stand of pipe.
Claim 6. Method of measuring a stand of pipe while a traveling block assembly supports the stand above a rig floor while going into and coming out of a borehole, comprising the steps of:
placing an antenna in close proximity of the lower end of the stand of pipe; indexing the antenna with the shoulder located at the lower end of the pipe;
connecting a transmitter to the antenna and directing a first beam substantially parallel to the pipe and towards the traveling block assembly;
mounting a deflector to the traveling block assembly and deflecting the bean back to a receiver connected to the antenna to thereby provide a first measurement;
connecting another transmitter to another antenna and directing a second beam normal to said first beam and extending said second beam across the upper marginal end of the stand of pipe;
receiving the beam at a location which provides a second measurement indicative of the distance from the upper end of the stand to the deflector;
and adding said first and second measurements to ob-tain the length of the stand of pipe.
Claim 7. The method of Claim 6 and further including the steps of connecting said another transmitter to a plurality of vertically spaced antennas;
placing another deflector on said traveling block assembly in spaced relationship to said plurality of antennas with the upper marginal end of the stand of pipe being located between said plurality of antennas and said another deflector;
determining the uppermost of said plurality of anten-nas which is nearest adjacent to the upper terminal end of the stand of pipe; and, measuring the distance from the last said antenna to the first deflector;
thereby measuring the length of the stand of pipe.
Claim 8. The method of Claim 7 and further including the steps of: automatically computing the cumulative total length of the stands of pipe and displaying the data on a di-gital readout, and recording the data on a print-out tape.
Claim 9. The method of Claim 6 and further including the steps of:

mounting said antenna on the free end of a pivoted arm; indexing one edge of the arm with the antenna; and, align-ing the edge with the lower shoulder of the stand of pipe
Claim 10. The method of Claim 6 and further including the step of incorporating the transmitter, receiver, and antenna into a hand held probe, providing an edge on the probe which is aligned with the lower shoulder of the stand of pipes to thereby index the antenna with the lower shoulder.
Claim 11. The method of Claim 6 and further including the steps of commencing the horizontal beam at the first anten-nal and deflecting the beam normally across the upper end of the stand of pipe, and then back to the first antenna, thereby providing the recited second measurement.
Claim 12. The method of Claim 11, and further includ-ing the steps of mounting said antenna to the free end of a pivoted arm; indexing one edge of the arm with the antenna; and, aligning the edge with the lower shoulder of the stand of pipe;
automatically computing the cumulative total length of the stands of pipe and displaying the data on a digital read-out, and recording the data on a print-out tape.

R. G. ROBERTS
Claim 13. Method of tallying the length of tubular mem-bers held suspended above the derrick floor of a drilling rig by the traveling block assembly comprising the steps of:
indexing a transmitting antenna respective to the lower end of the tubular members to be measured;
transmitting a signal from said antenna along a line which is substantially parallel to the axial centerline of the tubular mem-bers to be measured;
intercepting said signal at a location which is indexed respective to said traveling block assembly to which the upper end of the tubular members is supportedly connected;
receiving the intercepted signal with a distance measur-ing apparatus to provide a first measurement related to the total length of the tubular members to be measured;
transmitting a second signal substantially perpendicular to the upper end of the tubular members to be measured;
intercepting the second signal at a location which is in-dexed respective to the location where said first signal was inter-cepted;
combining the two signals thereby ascertaining the length of the tubular goods.
Claim 14. The method of Claim 13 wherein said traveling block assembly includes an elevator and further including the step of directing the signal from the first transmitter to a reflector located on the elevators, and returning the signal from the deflec-tor to the receiver antenna.

R. G. ROBERTS
Claim 15. The method of Claim 13 wherein the first sig-nal is intercepted by the provision of a reflector located on a drilling hook associated with the traveling block assembly, and deflecting the signal back to the location of the transmiting an-tenna which is also the distance measuring antenna.
Claim 16. The method of Claim 13 and further including the step of intercepting the signal by the provision of a deflec-tor mounted to the traveling block, deflecting the signal back to the antenna of its origin where the distance measuring receiver computes the distance measured between the shoulder of the tubular goods and the deflector.
Claim 17. In a drilling rig having a derrick which ex-tends above a rig floor, with there being an elevator connected to a traveling block by a drilling hook t the combination with said drilling rig of an apparatus for tallying the length of tubular mem-bers which may be suspended above the derrick floor by the elevators;
said tallying apparatus includes a first transmitter lo-cated at a position which is indexed respective to the shoulder lo-cated at the lower end of the tubular members to be measured;
means mounted in indexed relationship respective to said elevators for intercepting said first signal and for computing the distance from the point of interception to the point of transmission;
a second antenna means for transmitting a signal perpen-dicular to the tubular members to be measured, means adjacent to upper end of the tubular members to he measured for intercepting the second generated signal, and for determining the distance from the first to the second point of interception;

R. G. ROBERTS

calculator means connected to receive said first and second signals and for integrating the signals to thereby provide the measured distance of said tubular members.
Claim 18. The combination of Claim 17 wherein the upper marginal length of the tubular members is measured by providing a plurality of vertically spaced signal transmitting means which are oriented to be transmitted horizontally across the derrick at an elevation which causes at least one of the signals to be intercepted by the upper end of said tubular members;
a plurality of interceptor means arranged vertically re-spective to one another and with the upper end of said tubular mem-bers being interposed between the interceptor means and the trans-mission means;
means detecting those signals not intercepted by the tu-bular members so that the elevation of the terminal end of the tubular members respective to the first interceptor means can be calculated by calculator means.
Claim 19. The combination of Claim 17 wherein said first interceptor means is mounted in fixed relationship respective to said traveling block;
and said second transmitter and deflector are mounted to said drilling hooks.
Claim 20. The combination of Claim 17 wherein said se-cond signal is generated by a transmitter which is located in fixed relationship respective to said derrick structure, and said deflec-tor is mounted in fixed relationship respective to said drilling hook;

R. G. ROBERTS
so that the upper terminal end of the tubular members is placed within the field of transmission thereby enabling the elevation of the upper terminal end of the tubular goods respec-tive to the drilling floor to be electronically ascertained.
Claim 21. The combination of Claim 17 therein said first and second signals are generated by means mounted to the free marginal end of a pivoted arm;
said pivoted arm including means by which it is adjust-ably mounted respective to the drilling floor so that the arm can by pivoted horizontally to move the apparatus away from the drilling rig turntable, and means by which the arm can be moved horizon-tally and brought into alignment with the lower shoulder of the tubular members to be measured.
Claim 22. The combination of Claim 17 wherein said first signal in generated by a hand held transmitter having means thereon by which the antenna thereof is indexed respective to the lower end of the tubular members;
said deflector means is mounted in indexed relationship respective to said elevators, and said distance measuring receiver is mounted within said portable apparatus so that the distance be-tween the lower end of the tubular members and the means for inter-cepting the first signal can be calculated.