Cammed and shrouded core catcher
First Claim
1. A full closure core catcher disposed within a coring tool, said tool having an inner barrel for cutting a core comprising:
- a plurality of closeable valves smoothly forming a portion of said inner barrel and displaceable within said inner barrel to fully close said inner barrel wherein each of said plurality of valves is rotatively coupled to said inner barrel and disposable through a window defined in said inner barrel, and further comprising means for biasing each valve in a withdrawn and open configuration; and
means for positively displacing each of said plurality of valves into said inner barrel in opposition to said means for biasing each valve in a withdrawn and open configuration,whereby full closure of said inner barrel is provided without dependency upon descent of said core within said inner barrel.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A positively driven full closure core catcher for use with soft or unconsolidated cores is comprised of an inner tube shoe into which a plurality of windows have been cut. In each window is a corresponding one of a plurality of flapper valves. The flapper valves are spring-biased to a withdrawn position outside of the interior of the inner tube shoe. A cam member is in sliding contact with an inclined rear surface of the flapper valve. Longitudinal displacement of the cam member with respect to the inclined surface of the flapper valve causes the cam to ride down the inclined surface of the valve thereby forcing the rotatable flapper valve into the interior of the inner tube shoe and into a fully closed position. The cam member is substantially radially fixed and is selectively disengaged from the inner tube shoe to which it is temporarily coupled by a collet assembly. The collet assembly is coupled to a cylinder on which the cam is fixed. Normally, the collet assembly will keep the cam and cylinder in a fixed longitudinal relationship with respect to the inner tube shoe. However, as the inner barrel is raised the collet latch of the collet assembly contacts a floating outer tube ring which causes the collet latch to bend outwardly and release from the inner tube shoe. The cylinder and cam are then longitudinally fixed within the coring tool and the inner tube and inner tube shoe continue to be longitudinally displaced. This causes the cam to ride down and close the flapper valves.
34 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A full closure core catcher disposed within a coring tool, said tool having an inner barrel for cutting a core comprising:
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a plurality of closeable valves smoothly forming a portion of said inner barrel and displaceable within said inner barrel to fully close said inner barrel wherein each of said plurality of valves is rotatively coupled to said inner barrel and disposable through a window defined in said inner barrel, and further comprising means for biasing each valve in a withdrawn and open configuration; and means for positively displacing each of said plurality of valves into said inner barrel in opposition to said means for biasing each valve in a withdrawn and open configuration, whereby full closure of said inner barrel is provided without dependency upon descent of said core within said inner barrel.
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2. A core catcher for use in a coring tool, including an inner barrel disposed within said coring tool comprising:
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an inner tube shoe coupled to said inner barrel; a plurality of flapper valves rotatably coupled to said inner tube shoe, each valve rotatable into the interior of said inner tube shoe through a corresponding window defined in said inner tube shoe, said flapper valves smoothly forming a portion of said inner tube shoe and forming a substantial closure across said corresponding window; first means for biasing each of said plurality of flapper valves in a retracted position entirely withdrawn from said interior from said inner tube shoe; second means for selectively rotating each of said plurality of flapper valves into said interior of said inner tube shoe in opposition to said first means for biasing each of said plurality of flapper valves; and third means for actuating said second means, said third means being coupled to said second means, whereby said plurality of flapper valves are biased out of said inner tube shoe and are positively displaced therein independently of a core within said inner barrel. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5)
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6. A full closure core catcher for use within a coring tool having an inner tube and longitudinal axis comprising:
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first means for providing full closure of said inner tube, said first means capable of assuming an open and a closed position; second means adjacent to said first means for actuating said first means to move from said open position to said closed position; and third means for selectively actuating said second means as said inner tube is relatively longitudinally displaced within said coring tool, wherein said first means comprises a plurality of flapper valves and said second means comprises a plurality of longitudinally driven cams, each said cam being adjacent one of said flapper valves, said surface of contact of said flapper valve lying along an outwardly inclined surface with respect to said longitudinal axis, said cam being longitudinally displaced in said coring tool, thereby causing said flapper valves to be inwardly radially displaced by said relative movement of said cam; wherein said third means comprises a collet latch and tube ring, said collet latch selectively fixed with respect to said inner tube and coupled to said cam, said tube ring disposed within said coring tool, longitudinal displacement of said tube ring within said coring tool being limited at least in one direction, said tube ring arranged and configured to selectively contact said collet latch to actuate said collet latch thereby releasing said collet latch from said inner tube and allowing said cam and collet latch to be longitudinally displaced with respect to each other, whereby a full closure core catcher is provided which is positively actuated when said inner tube is relatively displaced within said coring tool.
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7. A full closure core catcher disposed within a coring tool, said tool having an inner barrel for cutting a core comprising:
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a plurality of closeable valves disposed outside said inner barrel and displaceable within said inner barrel to fully close said inner barrel; and means for positively displacing each of said plurality of valves into said inner barrel, wherein each of said plurality of valves is rotatively coupled to said inner barrel and disposable through a window defined in said inner barrel, and further comprising means for biasing each valve in a withdrawn and open configuration, wherein said means for positively displacing each said valve comprises a longitudinally displaceable cam assembly, said cam assembly including at least one cam member corresponding to each said valve, each cam member contacting a longitudinally inclined surface of said corresponding valve such that longitudinal relative displacement of said cam member along said surface of said valve causes said valve to be displaced in said inner barrel, wherein said means for positively displacing each of said valves further comprises a collet assembly, said collet assembly coupled to said cam assembly, said collet assembly comprising a collet latch and a floating outer tube ring, said collet latch temporarily securing said cam assembly to said inner barrel so that said cam member and said corresponding valve are relatively fixed with respect to each other, said tube ring for selectively disengaging said collet latch from said inner barrel and for fixing the relative disposition of said collet assembly and cam assembly with respect to said coring tool while said inner barrel is longitudinally displaced with respect to said coring tool, whereby said cam member is longitudinally relatively and selectively displaced with respect to said corresponding valve thereby causing said valve to rotate inwardly from an open position to a fully closed position, and whereby full closure of said inner barrel is provided without dependency upon descent of said core within said inner barrel.
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8. A core catcher for use in a coring tool, including an inner barrel disposed within said coring tool comprising:
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an inner tube shoe coupled to said inner barrel; a plurality of flapper valves rotatably coupled to said inner tube shoe and rotatable into the interior of said inner tube shoe through a window defined in said inner tube shoe; first means for biasing each of said plurality of flapper valves in a retracted position entirely withdrawn from said interior from said inner tube shoe; second means for selectively rotating each of said plurality of flapper valves into said interior of said inner tube shoe; and third means for actuating said second means, said third means being coupled to said second means, whereby said plurality of flapper valves are biased out of said inner tube shoe and are positively displaced therein independently of a core within said inner barrel; wherein said second means for selectively rotating each of said flapper valves comprises a substantially rigid cylinder concentrically disposed about and outside said inner tube shoe, each of said flapper valves being disposed between said cylinder and inner tube shoe, said cylinder provided with at least one cam member corresponding to each of said flapper valves, said cam member arranged and configured to slidingly contact said flapper valve along a longitudinally inclined surface of said flapper valve, wherein said third means for actuating said second means comprises a collet assembly coupled to said cylinder, said collet assembly including means for selectively decoupling said cylinder from said inner tube shoe and for selectively longitudinally fixing said cylinder with respect to said coring tool while permitting said inner tube shoe to be longitudinally displaced with respect to said cylinder and cam member, whereby longitudinal displacement of said cam member with respect to said inclined surface of said flapper valve causes said flapper valve to rotate into said interior of said inner tube shoe. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification