US Patent Issued to NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO on Oct. 21 for "Fixed cutter drill bits and cutter element with secondary cutting edges for same" (Texas Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 28 -- United States Patent no. 12,448,852, issued on Oct. 21, was assigned to NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO LP (Houston).

"Fixed cutter drill bits and cutter element with secondary cutting edges for same" was invented by Richard Rivera Jr. (Conroe, Texas), Tom S. Roberts (Montgomery, Texas) and Russell W. Cowart (Conroe, Texas).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A cutter element for a fixed cutter drill bit configured to drill a borehole in a subterranean formation includes a base having a central axis, a first end, a second end, and a radially outer cylindrical surface extending axially from the first end to the second end. In addition, the cutter element includes a cutting layer f...