Patents Examined by Robert E. Fuller
  • Patent number: 11773676
    Abstract: A whipstock assembly (12) for use in deviating a wellbore (10) of a well is disclosed, the whipstock assembly comprising a whipstock (18) having an inclined deflection surface (20); a milling assembly (14) comprising a mill (16) for milling a window (49) in a wall (48) of the wellbore and forming a rathole (50) extending from the wellbore; a releasable joint (22; 122) by which the milling assembly is releasably connected to the whipstock, so that the milling assembly can be separated from the whipstock within the wellbore and subsequently deflected towards the wellbore wall by the deflection surface of the whipstock; at least one sensor (188) provided in the milling assembly, for measuring at least one parameter of the rathole, the at least one parameter relating to a trajectory of the rathole; and a communication device (190) associated with the at least one sensor, for communicating data relating to the at least one parameter to an operator of the milling assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: OILTOOLSTEQ LTD
    Inventors: William Brown-Kerr, Andrew John Watson
  • Patent number: 11761297
    Abstract: A plug assembly includes an expandable assembly, a locking ring and a cup. The expandable assembly is adapted to be deformed radially over the locking ring and the cup. The locking ring has a stopping inner surface. The plug assembly is used with one or more untethered objects, the untethered objects having an outer surface adapted to couple with the cup, and the cup having an outer surface adapted to couple with the stopping inner surface of the locking ring. The combination of cup and untethered objects is also adapted to contact an inner surface of the plug assembly and, using well fluid pressure, to apply forces to the plug assembly. The forces cause the longitudinal movement of the cup and untethered objects while contacting the inner surface of the plug assembly until the cup contacts the stopping inner surface of the locking ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: SOLGIX, INC
    Inventor: Gregoire Max Jacob
  • Patent number: 11753894
    Abstract: A downhole tool includes a main body configured to be disposed by a conveyance member within a tubing string disposed in a wellbore drilled into a subterranean zone, and a plurality of hammers disposed about a central axis of the main body, each of the plurality of hammers configured to reciprocate radially with respect to the central axis. The tool also includes a plurality of electric motors, each of the plurality of electric motors configured to drive the reciprocation of a respective one of the plurality of hammers, such that each of the electric motors can cause a respective hammer to repetitively strike an interior surface of the tubing string and thereby impart vibration in the tubing string.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Waleed Mohamed Baghdady, Victor Jose Bustamante Rodriguez
  • Patent number: 11753905
    Abstract: A flow tube is axially moveable within an actuator body between a first axial position and a second axial position for actuating a downhole tool, such as for closing a subsurface safety valve. The flow tube includes an interior flow bore for conveying fluids from the tubing string through the actuator body. An external flow tube profile defined on the flow tube includes an upper shoulder for engagement with a wiper in the first axial position, a lower shoulder for engagement with the wiper in the second axial position, and a clearance path between the upper and lower shoulders for allowing viscous flow past the wiper when the flow tube is moved between the first and second axial positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Ross Glen Dusterhoft, Brad Richard Pickle, Leo Guadalupe Collins, Adam Evan Beck, Matthew Lawrence Apiecionek, Michael Wade Meaders
  • Patent number: 11739505
    Abstract: A water well rehabilitation system is provided for a water well having an open borehole through an aquifer substrate which extends to the bottom of the water well. The system includes an acid injection assembly having a concentrated acid supply, a water supply, and an eductor to mix the concentrated acid with water to form an acid solution to inject into one or more predetermined elevations in the open borehole. An acid injection control assembly includes a concentrated acid control valve and a water supply control valve cooperatively operative to maintain a predetermined acid concentration in the acid solution formed in and discharged from the eductor. A flush water assembly is disposed to inject an amount of flush water into the water well, and a well monitoring assembly monitors at least one operating parameter while a rehabilitation process is being performed in the water well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Inventor: Justin Merritt
  • Patent number: 11732575
    Abstract: An oil well orphan well casing locator primarily used for locating abandoned well heads below ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Inventors: Ronald Horning, Jr., Brian Wright
  • Patent number: 11725484
    Abstract: Drill hole sequence planning equipment 14 includes a position determining module 18 for determining an initial location of a mobile drill rig 12. A selection module 24 selects a destination location for the drill rig 12. A corridor establishment module 26 establishes a corridor between the initial location of the drill rig 12 and its destination location, the corridor having a selected width. A processing unit 28 is responsive to the modules 18, 24 and 26 for selecting a hole location of each hole within the corridor to be drilled by the drill rig 12 sequentially as it moves from its initial location to its destination location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Technological Resources Pty Limited
    Inventor: Florian Oppolzer
  • Patent number: 11725503
    Abstract: A wireless data telemetry system for use in a drilling system can include a drill head wireless transmitter and at least one data link transceiver. The drill head wireless transmitter can be in a drill head of the drilling system, the drill head wireless transmitter configured to generate and transmit one or more data signals associated with a drilling process. The at least one data link transceiver can be wirelessly coupled to at least one of the drill head wireless transmitter or another data link transceiver, with the drill head wireless transmitter and the at least one data link transceiver configured to be physically coupled within a drill string and spaced apart from one another. The drill head wireless transmitter and the at least one data link transceiver together configured to wirelessly communicate the one or more data signals beyond a transmission range of the drill head wireless transmitter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Underground Magnetics, Inc.
    Inventors: Jian Jin, Yuriy Khapochkin, Yuyang Jin, Ge Chang Ping
  • Patent number: 11719074
    Abstract: A nozzle for use with a limited entry liner. A limited entry liner can house multiple nozzles and each nozzle can include a barrel and a central, dissolvable region. The dissolvable region is made of a material that has specific properties that allow the central region to withstand pressure and environment in a well up to a certain, known point at which time the central portion will dissolve and allow fluid to pass into the limited entry liner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: Damorphe, Inc.
    Inventors: Ting Chen, Indranil Roy
  • Patent number: 11719051
    Abstract: An improved cable guard and methods of use are provided for securing an MLE cable to an ESP system in a wellbore casing, the system having flange bolts and an annular channel. The cable guard may be unitary (i.e., one piece), comprising a body having a bridge portion and two side portions forming a cavity for securing the cable to the system, two connectors extending from the side portions, each connector forming at least one aperture for receiving a flange bolt, and skids extending from the side portions for guiding movement of the system within the casing. In some embodiments, methods of using the improved cable guard may comprise providing the cable guard, positioning the cable guard to receive the cable within the cavity and to receive at least one flange bolt within an aperture, and securing the cable guard to the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Inventor: Branden Pronk
  • Patent number: 11713670
    Abstract: A system for locating a casing collar includes a drill pipe sub-assembly with a drill pipe segment and detection apparatus. The detection apparatus includes a bypass port disposed in a wall of the drill pipe segment; an annular sleeve which directs fluid through the bypass port and into a drill pipe segment interior portion; an actuator which opens and closes the bypass port; and two magnetized coils which generate an electromagnetic field. The actuator closes the bypass port in response to a predetermined voltage generated by the magnetized coils when they displace past a casing collar. Also included are a weight loss detection device which detects a loss of weight in the drill pipe segment, and a depth determination device which determines a depth of the casing collar, based on detected loss of weight. Also disclosed and described are a related method and drill pipe sub-assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
    Inventor: Abdul Halim Ab. Hamid
  • Patent number: 11713635
    Abstract: A modular mobility platform has extendable and retractable tractor treads for engaging the walls of a downhole environment. The extendable and retractable tractor treads allow the platform to successfully navigate longitudinally through the downhole environment. The platform is composed of a plurality of different modules removably interconnected together longitudinally. Each module has at least one specific function, such as sensing, navigation, mobility, control, communication, power, or a combination thereof. The platform has longitudinally-directed detectors for detecting the forward or reverse direction through which the platform is to travel. A system and method use the modular mobility platform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
    Inventors: Abubaker Saeed, Shazad Sadick, Jeffrey Shasho, Jonathan Bohren, Narmeen Khan, Elijah Pivo, Anthony Musco, Lonnell Ahiyya
  • Patent number: 11713626
    Abstract: A splice connector for a spoolable tube includes a center portion having an outer diameter equal to an outer diameter of the tube. A longitudinal extension extends in each longitudinal direction outwardly from the center portion. The longitudinal extensions have a plurality of spaced apart segments having an outer diameter equal to an inner diameter of the tube and a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart crimp grooves disposed between the spaced apart segments. An inner diameter of the splice connector is selected such that when the splice connector is assembled to the tube on each longitudinal extension, the splice connector is bendable to a radius of curvature of a winch reel used to deploy the tube into a wellbore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Jamie Cochran, Richard McCann
  • Patent number: 11713638
    Abstract: A retrieving tool for retrieving an annular hollow baffle member in a wellbore. The baffle member has an interior bore and radially outwardly-biased collet finger protuberances on an exterior thereof matingly engaging a correspondingly-dimensioned annular recess within a landing sub of a well casing of the wellbore. The retrieving tool has a tubular body and a plurality of radially-outwardly-extendable dogs thereon. The tubular body and the dogs are sized that, when the dogs are retracted, the retrieving tool is movable through the interior bore of the baffle member to a position below a lowermost thereof, and when the dogs are extended after the retrieving tool moves to said position, the dogs radially engageable with the landing sub and axially engageable with the lowermost of baffle member for pulling the baffle member uphole and disengaging it from the landing sub for retrieving the entirety of the baffle member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: SC ASSET CORPORATION
    Inventors: David Nordheimer, Daniel Rojas
  • Patent number: 11711675
    Abstract: Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide for wireless sensor packages to monitor various oilfield equipment health status, such as bearing wear and detect out-of-balance condition on reciprocating rod lifts (RRLs). Equipment health data can be collected, analyzed and stored by an IoT gateway, which is a small form-factor, ruggedized, low-power Intel processor computer running a novel message-oriented middleware software stack that leverages the MQTT protocol. Data may subsequently be transmitted to a cloud service via the internet via to a datacenter through SCADA, for analysis and action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: WEATHERFORD TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS, LLC
    Inventors: Jimmy Dale Stout, Jason Scott Penner, Colin Albert Tait, Mehrzad Mahdavi
  • Patent number: 11702905
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method and system for fluid flow optimization within a wellbore for gas-lift operations and control of slug flows within the wellbore by utilizing a plurality of electronically controlled valves coupled to a tubing string. Selective actuation of the valves includes incremental opening or closing of an individual valve between a fully open, fully closed, or partial opening of a particular valve. Pressure measurements inside and outside of the tubing string are measured in real-time near the valve to help maintain the desired pressure distribution within the wellbore and to measure and control a pressure differential at a selected valve. Actuation of the valves may be electronically controlled at a remote location by electronic command signals or may be performed automatically by the downhole valves with or without input by a remote system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: Oracle Downhole Services Ltd.
    Inventors: Mahlon Lisk, Levi Honeker
  • Patent number: 11697977
    Abstract: A portion of a wellbore is put into communication or is isolated by selectively applying an axial or rotational force downhole. The axial force moves a shifting sleeve and deployment sleeve from an initial position to an opening position causing a valve element to move into an open configuration and allowing communication to the portion of the wellbore. The shifting sleeve is returned to the initial position and separated from the deployment sleeve, which is anchored to a retraction sleeve adjacent the valve element. Threads on the shifting and retraction sleeves become engaged when the deployment sleeve is moved to the opening position. The retraction sleeve is rotated by rotating the shifting sleeve, threaded engagement with the rotating retraction sleeve draws the deployment sleeve away from the valve element, and allows the valve element to move to a closed configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
    Inventor: Ahmed Mohammed Al Haji
  • Patent number: 11692431
    Abstract: Methods, systems, devices, and products for downhole operations. Embodiments include downhole tools comprising an outer member configured for conveyance in the borehole; a pressure barrel positioned inside the outer member; a substantially cylindrical pod positioned inside the pressure barrel; and at least one downhole electronic component mounted between the exterior surface and the frame. The pod comprises at least one rigid outer surface forming an exterior surface of the pod and supported by a central frame extending across a diameter of the pod, such as a plurality of outer rigid surfaces. The pod may include a plurality of coupled rigid elongated semicircular metallic shells, wherein each shell of the plurality comprises a rigid outer surface of the plurality of outer rigid surfaces. Each of the at least one downhole electronic component may be sealingly enclosed within a corresponding shell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2023
    Assignee: Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations LLC
    Inventors: Joachim Treviranus, Stephan Wink, Olaf Gaertner, Daniel Porzig, Tim Mueller, Andreas Peter
  • Patent number: 11692430
    Abstract: This invention relates to the method of assessing the integrity of primary and secondary barriers in the interval where a cement plug is to be installed in the well proposed for abandonment. The technical result of the invention is to enhance the accuracy of wellbore barrier integrity assessment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2023
    Assignee: TGT OILFIELD SERVICES LIMITED
    Inventors: Maksim Vyacheslavovich Volkov, Mohammad Abshenas
  • Patent number: 11686178
    Abstract: Cleanout tools and related methods of operation. At least some of the example embodiments are cleanout tools including a tool body that defines an internal annular channel, a joiner coupled to the tool body, a sleeve telescoped within the joiner and tool body, and a ball disposed within the annular channel. The ball held within the annular channel by the sleeve, and the ball configured to move along the annular channel under force of fluid pumped into the cleanout tool. The ball creates a pulsing of fluid streams exiting the tool body. Moreover, in some example systems the fluid streams created by the tool body intersect the inside diameter of a casing at non-perpendicular angles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: MICHAEL W. DENNIS
    Inventor: Michael W. Dennis