The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 31, 2000
Filed:
Feb. 12, 1998
Thomas F Sweeney, Tomball, TX (US);
Thomas A Fraser, Ventura, CA (US);
Glen H Cuiper, Spring, TX (US);
Brian L Kirk, Bellaire, TX (US);
ABB Vetco Gray Inc., Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
A subsea wellhead connector has an upper body that abuts the rim of a wellhead member. A hydraulic wellhead connector is carried by the upper body and extends over the wellhead member. The hydraulic wellhead connector carries dogs for moving into an engaged position with a profile on the exterior of the wellhead member. The mating or complementary stepped profile at the top or rim of the wellhead housing is designed to engage at three surfaces. The first surface is the flat surface at the inner diameter. The second surface is the tapered surface at the step. The third surface is the flat surface on the rim from the tapered surface to the outer diameter of the rim. The profiles are dimensioned with bias toward initial contact at the outer diameter flat on the rim of the well housing, second contact is at the inner diameter flat on the rim of the well housing, and the third contact is at the tapered step. Additionally, after preload, a lower portion of the lower body of the wellhead connector engages a stepped profile at the outer diameter of the wellhead, thereby creating a secondary load path for reacting to the applied bending moment.