Method and apparatus for borehole sensing
First Claim
1. A borehole seismic sensing apparatus comprising:
- a conveyance system tool having a sensor section and having a weak point in the conveyance below said sensor section, the tool being configured to break away below said sensor section at the weak point in the conveyance during retraction if said tool is stuck below the weak point;
a shuttle attached to said conveyance along said sensor section for placing in a borehole to sense seismic signals said shuffle having a seismic sensor package therein, said sensor package having a magnet clamp operable to selectively magnetically clamp the shuttle to an adjacent structure for acoustically coupling the shuffle and the adjacent structure together; and
said sensor package in said shuttle being suspended by an acoustic isolator system disposed between said shuttle and said sensor package and operable to isolate said sensor package from propagations through the shuffle and conveyance,wherein said acoustic isolator comprises a fine wire suspension and a suspension spring.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for sensing subsurface data. One embodiment of the invention comprises a shuttle attached to a conveyance where the conveyance and shuttle are adapted to be spooled downhole into a borehole for sensing seismic data. The shuttle contains a sensor package that is preferably acoustically isolated in the shuttle. The sensor package includes a sensor array and a magnet clamp. A sensor section can contain several shuttles, each shuttle containing at least one sensor. In one embodiment, the sensor can be a fiber optic sensor. The magnet clamp is operable to controllably clamp and acoustically couple together the sensor package, the shuttle, and the adjacent structure which is typically the borehole casing. The magnet clamp is likewise operable to unclamp and uncouple the shuttle from the adjacent structure so as to be retracted uphole for subsequent use.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A borehole seismic sensing apparatus comprising:
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a conveyance system tool having a sensor section and having a weak point in the conveyance below said sensor section, the tool being configured to break away below said sensor section at the weak point in the conveyance during retraction if said tool is stuck below the weak point; a shuttle attached to said conveyance along said sensor section for placing in a borehole to sense seismic signals said shuffle having a seismic sensor package therein, said sensor package having a magnet clamp operable to selectively magnetically clamp the shuttle to an adjacent structure for acoustically coupling the shuffle and the adjacent structure together; and said sensor package in said shuttle being suspended by an acoustic isolator system disposed between said shuttle and said sensor package and operable to isolate said sensor package from propagations through the shuffle and conveyance, wherein said acoustic isolator comprises a fine wire suspension and a suspension spring. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A borehole seismic sensing apparatus comprising:
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a conveyance system tool having a sensor section and having a weak point in the conveyance below said sensor section, the tool being configured to break away below said sensor section at the weak point in the conveyance during retraction if said tool is stuck below the weak point; a shuffle attached to said conveyance along said sensor section for placing in a borehole to sense seismic signals, said shuffle having a seismic sensor package therein, said sensor package having a magnet clamp operable to selectively magnetically clamp the shuffle to an adjacent structure for acoustically coupling the shuffle and the adjacent structure together, said magnet clamp comprising a permanent magnet reciprocably mounted in said sensor package; and an actuator operable to reciprocably reorient said permanent magnet where said reciprocable reorientation reciprocably clamps and unclamps the shuffle, wherein said actuator is a hydraulic actuator and said magnet is a cylindrical shaped magnet polarized in a radial direction and rotatably mounted between pole pieces, said hydraulic actuator being operable to reciprocably rotate the cylindrical magnet about its cylindrical axis for selectively magnetically clamping said shuffle against the adjacent structure and for selectively unclamping. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification