Gandy Technologies Corporation

Torquelock Corporation

American Augers, Inc.

John Gandy Corporation

Hemiwedge Valve Corporation

U. S. Steel Tubular Products, Inc.

Kris L Church

William G Riel

Bill Riel

A tubular connector system for joining two pipe ends without the necessity of rotating the pipe ends. A coupling has opposing tapered ends. Each of the tapered ends slopes inwardly from an inner extent to an outer extent to form a respective mouth opening of the body. Each tapered end of the coupling has a contoured surface which is made up of a series of alternating helical spline wedges. The wedges are oppositely tapered from an inner extent to an outer extent, whereby the helical spline wedges form an alternating series of lands and grooves on the body as viewed from the respective mouth openings. The two opposing pipe ends have mating engagement surfaces which engage and mate with the contoured surfaces of the coupling as one pipe end is pushed toward the other during assembly.

Connection system for tubular members

A thread form is shown which is used to make a threaded pipe connection capable of being screwed together and subsequently unscrewed. A pin member has external threads with stab flanks and load flanks and flat crests and roots for mating with the mating internal threads of a box member to make up a pipe connection. The stab flanks and load flanks form a distinct geometric profile which is arrow-shaped when viewed in profile. The arrow profile can be cut in either of two opposite directions. Each profile includes only two facets with the facets on the stab flank and the facets on the load flank both leaning in the same direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the pipe, when viewed in profile.

Arrow-shaped thread form for tubular connections

A thread form is shown which is used to make a threaded connection between two tubular members and which is capable of being screwed together and subsequently unscrewed. A pin member is provided having external threads with stab flanks and load flanks and flat crests and roots for mating with the mating internal threads of a box member to make up a pipe connection. The thread crests on the pin member are cylindrical with respect to a central longitudinal axis of the tubular member while the thread roots are cut on a taper so that the height of the threads vary over the length of the thread form. The threads on the pin and box members can also be cut oppositely so that respective members of the thread forms are mirror images of each other.

Cylindrical tapered thread form for tubular connections

A rotatable wedge valve mechanism has a valve body or valve cartridge defining a valve chamber and flow ports in fluid communication with the valve chamber. A valve seat is located within the valve chamber in registry with one of the flow ports. A non-rotatable core member having a convex external surface portion is supported within said valve chamber. A wedge member is mounted for rotation within the valve chamber and has a range of rotary motion between open and closed positions of said valve and a non-uniform wall thickness throughout said range of rotary motion. An actuator upon rotary movement achieves opening and closing rotation of said wedge member. A method is provided for machining concave and convex wedge member surfaces from selected center-points to achieve relative thicknesses of wall sections of the wedge member.

Rotatable wedge valve mechanism and method for manufacture

A thread form is shown which is used to make a threaded pipe connection capable of being screwed together and subsequently unscrewed. A pin member is provided having external threads with stab flanks and load flanks and flat crests and roots for mating with the mating internal threads of a box member to make up a pipe connection. One of the stab or load flanks is made up of two facets and three radii. The other selected flank is made up of three facets and four radii, giving it irregular features forming a complex geometric profiles. The thread form can be used to form a premium threaded connection which is used with such tubulars as casing and tubing for oil, gas, water and waste disposal wells.

Thread form for tubular connections

A thread form is shown which is used to make a threaded pipe connection capable of being screwed together and subsequently unscrewed. A pin is provided having external threads with stab flanks and load flanks and flat crests and roots for mating with the mating internal threads of a box to make up a pipe connection. The stab flanks and load flanks form complex geometric profiles which in one version form an inclined Z-shape in profile and in another version form a reverse inclined Z-shape profile. Each profile includes at least three separate facets with the facets on the stab flank and the facets on the load flank both leaning in the same direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the pipe, when viewed in profile.

Z-shaped thread form for tubular connections

A rotatable wedge cartridge valve has a cartridge body defining a cartridge chamber of a defined internal width having flow ports in communication with the cartridge chamber. A rotatable wedge valve cartridge assembly is removeably positioned within the cartridge chamber and has a controllable width. A core member defines a flow passage and has a spherical outer surface portion. A valve seat is located within the cartridge chamber. A rotatable wedge valve member is mounted for rotation relative to the core and has a concave surface portion in rotary guided relation with the spherical outer surface. The rotatable wedge valve member also has an external convex surface that is positioned for sealing engagement with the valve seat and has a geometry developing a non-uniform wall thickness along the rotatable wedge valve member.

Rotatable wedge cartridge valve mechanism and method for assembly and disassembly

A coil tubing or jointed dual wall drill string assembly for subsurface drilling. The drill string assembly includes a metallic outer tube having an outer tube first end and an outer tube second end opposite the outer tube first end. The assembly also includes a flexible, substantially non-metallic inner tube that is substantially enclosed within and generally coaxially aligned with the outer tube. The flexible, substantially non-metallic inner tube has an inner tube first end, an inner tube second end opposite the inner tube first end, and an inner tube inner diameter. The inner tube and the outer tube define an annular channel therebetween. The drill string assembly also includes a means for conveying fluid through the annular channel toward the inner tube first end. The annular channel is adapted to convey drilling fluid under pressure toward the inner tube first end and the inner tube is adapted to convey cuttings toward the inner tube second end.

Dual wall drill string assembly

A dual wall drill string assembly for subsurface drilling. The drill string assembly includes a metallic outer tube having an outer tube first end and an outer tube second end opposite the outer tube first end. The assembly also includes a flexible, substantially non-metallic inner tube that is substantially enclosed within and generally coaxially aligned with the outer tube. The flexible, substantially non-metallic inner tube has an inner tube first end, an inner tube second end opposite the inner tube first end, and an inner tube inner diameter. The inner tube and the outer tube define an annular channel therebetween. The drill string assembly also includes a means for conveying fluid through the annular channel toward the inner tube first end. The annular channel is adapted to convey drilling fluid under pressure toward the inner tube first end, and the inner tube is adapted to convey cuttings toward the inner tube second end.

A threaded pin and box connection having thread geometries and/or dissimilar thread fits that prevent the pin thread of a connection from hanging up in the box thread as the pin is being stabbed into or destabbed from the box. Dissimilar geometries and/or threads include dissimilar thread types, dissimilar leads, overlapping leads, thread tooth widths of one component greater than thread grooves of the other component, multiple start threads, and combinations thereof.

Hang-free thread design

A threaded pipe connection is shown which features a cylindrical metal-to-metal containment seal. In addition to the cylindrical sealing surfaces, the connection utilizes a separate ramp or ramp regions that simulate a pin swaging or a box expansion which results in the ability of the cylindrical components of the seal to assemble without interference or with only slight interference.

Threaded pipe connection with cylindrical metal-to-metal, high pressure containment seal

A thread form for a tubular connection of the type having a pin member adapted to be made-up with a box member to form a pipe joint as shown. The pin member has pin threads with thread crests and thread roots which are adapted to be made-up with a mating box member having a complimentary thread structure. The pin thread crests are formed between a stab flank and a load flank of the pin thread. The pin thread has a multi-facited complex profile stab flank for engaging a mating stab flank on the complimentary box member to provide a wedging interfit between the surfaces of the pin and box threads. The pin and box threads are also helically structured as a wedge.

Growing community of inventors

Montgomery, TX, United States of America

Kris L Church