Apparatus and method for transmitting information to and communicating with a downhole device
First Claim
1. An apparatus for the use of drilling or producing from a well bore, the apparatus comprising:
- a downhole member having a non-rotating part and having a rotating part freely rotating within said non-rotating part and capable of being attached to a tubular,means for rotating the tubular,control means for controlling the rotation of said tubular in order to transmit information along said tubular,means for monitoring the rotation of said tubular with respect to said non-rotating part, andmeans for decoding said information transmitted along said tubular said means configured to determine a magnitude of a parameter from the rotation of said tubular, such that each complete revolution of the tubular is equal to an analogue or binary data point.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for use in drilling or producing from a well bore, the apparatus comprising a downhole member such as a drilling device or a production device which is capable of being attached to a tubular such as a drill string, production string or the like, means for rotating a tubular, control means for controlling the rotation of said tubular in order to transmit information along said tubular and means for monitoring the rotation of said tubular and for decoding said information transmitted along said tubular such that a magnitude of a parameter can be determined by the drilling member from the rotation or said tubular. The invention also relates to a method for communicating with a downhole tool using the apparatus.
8 Citations
44 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for the use of drilling or producing from a well bore, the apparatus comprising:
-
a downhole member having a non-rotating part and having a rotating part freely rotating within said non-rotating part and capable of being attached to a tubular, means for rotating the tubular, control means for controlling the rotation of said tubular in order to transmit information along said tubular, means for monitoring the rotation of said tubular with respect to said non-rotating part, and means for decoding said information transmitted along said tubular said means configured to determine a magnitude of a parameter from the rotation of said tubular, such that each complete revolution of the tubular is equal to an analogue or binary data point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. An apparatus for transmitting information in a timely manner from the face of the Earth to a downhole assembly, whereby the rotation of the drill string is used as an output device, conveying information to components which are located in the wellbore, the apparatus comprising:
-
a downhole member having a non-rotating sub-assembly and having a rotating sub-assembly freely rotating within said non-rotating sub-assembly and capable of being attached to the drill string, a device which is closely coupled to either said rotating sub-assembly, or a said non-rotating sub assembly, which emits a signal or influences its environment such that the rotation of the drill string is used to activate a sensor means which may be integrated into either the drill string, or a non-rotating sub-assembly with a timing device such that the sensor outputs derived from the rotation of the drill string system may be measured against a time-based system such that meaningful encoding may be accomplished, which may be coupled to an actuation or switching mechanism or mechanisms. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A method of transmitting information along a tubular to a downhole member located within a well bore, the method comprising the steps of:
-
rotatably driving said tubular attached to a downhole member having a rotating sub-assembly rotating within a non-rotating sub-assembly, wherein the rotation of said tubular is controlled accordance with information which is to be transmitted along said tubular; monitoring the rotation of said tubular; detecting complete revolutions of said tubular; and analysing the monitored rotation of said tubular such that a magnitude of a parameter can be determined from the rotation of said tubular. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. An apparatus comprising:
a downhole tool that includes, a non-rotating part; a rotating part coupled to a tubular, wherein a control means at a surface of the Earth is coupled to the tubular to transmit information from the surface to downhole based on variation of a speed of rotation of the tubular from a first speed to a second speed, wherein the first speed and the second speed are non-zero; and a sensor positioned on at least one of the non-rotating part and the rotating part, the sensor to monitor the speed of rotation. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
32. An apparatus comprising:
a directional steering tool to control drilling direction downhole, the directional steering tool comprising, a non-rotating part; a rotating part coupled, by a tubular, to a control means at a surface of the Earth and to a drill bit downhole, wherein the control means communicates information downhole based on rotation of the rotating part at a first speed and at a second speed, wherein the first speed and the second speed are non-zero; a sensor located on at least one of the non-rotating part and the rotating part to monitor rotation of the rotating part relative to the non-rotating part; and an analysis means to decode the information based on the first speed and the second speed of rotation of the rotating part relative to the non-rotating part to control a steering parameter of the drill bit. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36)
-
37. A method comprising:
-
communicating information, from a surface of the Earth to downhole, along a tubular that is coupled to a rotating part that is part of a downhole tool, based on rotation of the tubular at a first speed and a second speed, wherein the first speed and the second speed are non-zero; sensing the first speed and the second speed of rotation downhole through reference to a generally non-rotating part of the downhole tool; and decoding the sensed first speed and the second speed into the information. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 43)
-
-
41. A method comprising:
-
receiving control information for transmitting information downhole based on rotation of a first portion of a downhole tool relative to a generally non-rotating portion of the downhole tool; and transmitting the information downhole based on the control information by rotating the tubular at a first speed for a first time period and a second speed for a second time period, wherein the first speed and the second speed are non-zero. - View Dependent Claims (42, 44)
-
Specification