Borehole survey apparatus utilizing accelerometers and probe joint measurements
First Claim
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1. A borehole survey apparatus comprising:
- a probe including a first probe section and a second probe section adapted for insertion and movement through a borehole and a joint assembly flexibly connecting said first probe section to said second probe section;
angle measurement means, operatively connected to said probe, for generating signals representing the angle between said second and said first probe sections at said joint assembly;
signal processing means, responsive to said angle signals, for generating signals representing the direction of the borehole;
means for generating an inclination signal representing the inclination of said first probe section from the verticle direction;
means for combining said angle signals and said inclination signal to generate signals representing the direction of the borehole inclination and azimuth; and
means for generating a signal representing the movement of said probe in the borehole and means responsive to said angle signals, said inclination signals and said movement signals for generating a signal representing the depth of the borehole.
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Abstract
To provide for accurate determination of azimuth in a borehole survey apparatus, a downhole probe is provided with two or more sections connected by torsionally rigid, flexible joint assemblies with provisions for generating signals that represent the relative inclination and azimuth of one probe section from another. These signals are combined with inclination signals obtained from a set of accelerometers in one of the probe sections in a signal processing unit to generate signals that represent the direction and depth of the borehole.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A borehole survey apparatus comprising:
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a probe including a first probe section and a second probe section adapted for insertion and movement through a borehole and a joint assembly flexibly connecting said first probe section to said second probe section; angle measurement means, operatively connected to said probe, for generating signals representing the angle between said second and said first probe sections at said joint assembly; signal processing means, responsive to said angle signals, for generating signals representing the direction of the borehole; means for generating an inclination signal representing the inclination of said first probe section from the verticle direction; means for combining said angle signals and said inclination signal to generate signals representing the direction of the borehole inclination and azimuth; and means for generating a signal representing the movement of said probe in the borehole and means responsive to said angle signals, said inclination signals and said movement signals for generating a signal representing the depth of the borehole.
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2. A borehole survey apparatus comprising:
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a probe including a first probe section and a second probe section adapted for insertion and movement through a borehole and a joint assembly flexibly connecting said first probe section to said second probe section; angle measurement means, operatively connected to said probe, for generating signals representing the angle between said second and said first probe sections at said joint assembly; signal processing means, responsive to said angle signals, for generating signals representing the direction of the borehole; means for generating an inclination signal representing the inclination of said first probe section from the vertical direction; and means for generating a first one of said angle signals that represents the relative inclination of said second probe section with respect to said first probe section and second one of said angle signals that represents the relative azimuth of said second probe section with respect to said first probe section; means for generating from said inclination signal a horizontal component signal representing the sine of the combination of said inclination signal and said relative inclination signal. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A borehole survey apparatus comprising:
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a probe including a first probe section having a longitudinal axis and a second probe section having a longitudinal axis and a joint assembly flexibly connecting said first probe section to said second probe section adapted for insertion and movement through a borehole; an accelerometer assembly including a plurality of accelerometers disposed within said first probe section wherein said accelerometers generate a plurality of signals representing the relative spatial orientation with respect to gravity of said first probe section in the borehole; angle measurement means, operatively connected to said probe, for generating signals representing the angles between the longitudinal axis of said second probe section and the longitudinal axis of said first probe section; means operatively connected to said accelerometer assembly, for generating from said accelerometer signals a signal representing the inclination of said first probe section with respect to the direction of gravity; means, operatively connected to said angle measurement means, for generating from said angle signals a first angle signal that represents the relative inclination of said second probe section longitudinal axis with respect to said first probe section longitudinal axis and a second angle signal that represents the relative azimuth of said second probe section longitudinal axis with respect to said first probe section longitudinal axis; means, responsive to said inclination signal and said first angle signal, for generating a horizontal component signal representing the sine of the combination of said inclination signal and said first angle signal; means, operatively connected to said angle measurement means, for generating a signal representing the sine of a signal including said second angle signal and signal representing the cosine of a signal including said second angle signal; means, responsive to said horizontal component signal and said cosine of the second angle signal, for generating a horizontal projection signal representing an incremental horizontal projection of the borehole along a first predetermined direction; and means, responsive to said horizontal component signal and said sine of the second angle signal, for generating a signal representing an incremental horizontal projection of the borehole along a second predetermined direction. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A borehole survey apparatus comprising:
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a probe including a first probe section and a second probe section adapted for insertion and movement through a borehole along with a joint assembly flexibly connecting said first probe section to said second probe section; a plurality of accelerometers disposed within said first probe section; an angle measurement means operatively connected to said probe for generating signals representing the angles between said first and said second probe sections at said joint assembly; a plurality of signal conditioning circuits disposed within said probe wherein one of each is operatively connected to each of said accelerometers; a multiplexer circuit disposed within said probe and operatively connected to said angle measurement means and said signal conditioning circuits; an analog to digital converter circuit disposed within said probe operatively connected to said multiplexer circuit; a serial converter circuit disposed within said probe and operatively connected to said analog to digital converter circuit; a data transmission cable operatively connected to the output of said serial converter circuit; a logic circuit disposed within said probe and operatively connected to said multiplexer circuit, said analog to digital converter circuit and said serial converter circuit effective to cause said multiplexer circuit to multiplex the output of said signal conditioning circuits with said angle signals, and effective to cause said analog to digital converter circuit to convert the multiplexed signals into a digital signal, and effective to cause said serial converter circuit to apply said digital signal to said data transmission cable; and a data receiver located outside the borehole and operatively connected to said data transmission cable for receiving said digital signal from said probe.
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Specification