ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 10 -- United States Patent no. 12,291,967, issued on May 6.
"Method for forming underground flowlines with electronic tracking" was invented by Ted R. Dimitroff (Columbia, Mo.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method of drilling a flowline below ground surface includes the step of supporting a pilot rod of a directional boring machine with hooks extending downwardly through substantially vertical relief holes while the rod bores an underground pilot hole. The hooks are removed as the rod pulls a reamer head backwards through the pilot hole to form a large diameter pipe hole so that the reamer head does not hit the hooks. The location of the reamer head is tracked or monit...