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:
Jul. 22, 2003
Filed:
Sep. 13, 2001
Tep Ungchusri, The Woodlands, TX (US);
Steven L. Schwegman, Spring, TX (US);
FMC Technologies, Inc., Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
The invention is directed to a coiled tubing swivel for rotatably connecting a first conduit to a second conduit. The swivel comprises a swivel body having a cylindrical receptacle and a flowpath that communicates between the receptacle and the first conduit, a tubular mandrel having a first end that is received within the receptacle and a second end which communicates with the second conduit, and a bearing assembly positioned between the receptacle and the mandrel. The bearing assembly includes a central axis, a cylindrical outer sleeve having an inner surface and a number of annular inner grooves which are formed on the inner surface coaxially with the central axis, and a cylindrical inner sleeve having an outer surface and a number of annular outer grooves which are formed on the outer surface coaxially with the central axis. The outer grooves align with respective inner grooves to define a number of bearing races, and a plurality of balls are disposed in the bearing races to rotatably secure the inner sleeve to the outer sleeve. Moreover, each bearing race comprises a diameter which is smaller than the diameter of the adjacent bearing race that is closer to the first end of the mandrel. In addition, the swivel comprises a packing for sealing the bearing assembly from the flowpath in the swivel body.