SPLIT HOUSING FOR ROTARY STEERABLE TOOL

摘要

According to one embodiment of the invention, a rotary steerable tool (36) includes a drive shaft (300) having an upper portion configured to be coupled to a drill string and a lower portion configured to be coupled to a drilling tool. The drive shaft has a middle portion disposed between the upper and lower portions (321, 322), the middle portion having a smaller diameter than each of the upper and lower portions. The tool further includes a housing (302) rotatably coupled externally to the drive shaft at an axial location corresponding to the middle portion of the drive shaft, the housing formed from at least two housing segments (310) configured to be coupled to each other substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the housing.