Abstract: The invention relates to a method of packaging a detonating cord comprising explosive material contained in a sheath, intended to meet safety regulations of air transportation. The detonating cord is wound on a support in such a manner that every portion of the detonating cord in the winding is spaced apart from the nearest portions which are substantially parallel thereto by a distance (a) lying in a range between the distance below which detonation is transmissible from one portion to the nearest portion, and the distance beyond which said containing sheath is no longer destroyed by the detonation of (a) nearest portion.

Abstract: A well logging system includes a digital threshold crossing data generation system (TCDG System) disposed in a well tool, adapted to be disposed in a borehole, and a digital first motion detection (DFMD) software disposed in a memory of a well truck computer. The TCDG system generates a series of threshold crossings for each analog signal received from a receiver of the well tool, the threshold crossings including a plurality of threshold crossing events for each analog signal and representing compressed versions of digitized analog waveforms. The well logging truck computer receives the threshold crossing data from the TCDG system and executes the DFMD software. When the software is executed, a first set of compressional wave first arrival times are determined from a startup routine in the software using the threshold crossing data.

Abstract: In the preferred embodiment of the new and improved perforating apparantus that is described herein, a set of end closure members are cooperatively arranged to be inserted into the open ends of a length of typical piping and expanded radially outwardly into contact with the rough and irregular internal wall surface in each end of the pipe. Anchor members and sealing members are arranged on each and closure member for releasably securing and sealingly engaging these end closure members in the ends of the pipe when the end closure members are respectively expanded outwardly so that no machining operations are required to prepare the internal wall surfaces of the pipe before it can be employed as an expendable perforating carrier.

Abstract: A shock mounted recorder carrier for a drill stem testing string, adapted for placement in a borehole, includes offset inner and outer bodies for placement of recorders within the carrier and further includes an overpressure gauge protector for protecting a set of recording gauges disposed in the carrier from a well fluid pressure which is greater than a predetermined amount above annulus fluid pressure and a balance joint for providing an oppositely directed force on the recording gauges relative to a direction of flow of the well fluid within the carrier thereby preventing the well fluid pressure from "bottoming out" the shock mount on which the recording gauges are mounted.

Abstract: A valve in a tool may be opened and closed by sequential application of a first predetermined annulus pressure and a second predetermined annulus pressure. A first rupture disc ruptures when the first predetermined annulus pressure is applied to the well annulus thereby allowing such pressure to be applied against a surface of an operator and moving the mandrel. This moves a yoke connected to the valve, opening the valve. A second rupture disc ruptures when the second predetermined annulus pressure is applied to the well annulus thereby allowing such pressure to be applied against a surface of a collet mandrel, moving the collet mandrel in a direction opposite to the direction in which the operator mandrel originally moved. Since the collet mandrel is connected to the operator mandrel and to the yoke, movement of the collet mandrel in the opposite direction moves the operator mandrel and the yoke in the opposite direction, thereby closing the valve.

Abstract: An input stimulus provides a necessary input to a microprocessor implemented control system. An output signal from the control system may fire one or more perforating guns of a perforating apparatus or it may change the state of a valve in a well testing apparatus. The input stimuli may comprise a pressure pulse transmitted down a well annulus disposed between a tubing string and borehole casing, a pressure pulse transmitted internally down the tubing string, an output of a strain gauge for sensing the set down weight of a well tool disposed in the borehole, or an output of an inductive coupler connected to the well surface.

Abstract: A method of perforating includes lowering a perforator and attached pressure measurement gauge assembly into a wellbore on wireline until the gauge assembly touches a bottom of the wellbore. Continued lowering of the wireline into the wellbore produces a slack on the wireline, the slack allowing the perforator to disconnect from the gauge assembly. The perforator is pulled uphole until the perforator is within a predetermined distance from the gauge assembly. Further pulling of perforator uphole ceases. The perforator is ready to be detonated. When well fluid is produced from the formation, the gauge assembly, resting on the wellbore bottom, records the pressure of the well fluid flowing from the formation. The perforator is retrieved from the wellbore. When it is desired to retrieve the gauge assembly from the bottom of the wellbore, a retrieving assembly is lowered into the wellbore by either wireline or sandline, the retrieving assembly connecting to the gauge assembly.

Abstract: A pipelined parallel vector processor is disclosed. In order to increase the performance of the parallel vector processor, the present invention decreases the time required to process a pair of vectors stored in a pair of vector registers. The vector registers are subdivided into a plurality of smaller registers. A vector, stored in a vector register, comprises N elements; however, each of the smaller registers store M elements of the vector, where M is less than N. An element processor, functioning in a pipeline mode, is associated with each smaller register for processing the M elements of the vectors stored in the smaller register and generating results of the processing, the results being stored in one of the vector registers. The smaller registers of the vector registers, and their corresponding element processors, are structurally configured in a parallel fashion. The element processors and their associated smaller registers operate simultaneously.

Abstract: A transmitter for an induction well logging tool, adapted to be disposed in the borehole of an oil well, develops an output signal for energizing the borehole formation which inherently consists of six separate signal components, the six components including four primary signal components which simultaneously energize the borehole formation inducing in the formation four primary eddy currents. These four primary eddy currents are detected by the array induction tool receiver, the received signals being used to determine the resistivity and conductivity of the borehole formation.

Abstract: A perforating gun contains charges which are rotatable between a stored position and a deployed position, the charges being connected to an enclosed carrier tube via a mechanical link retaining apparatus which is capable of bending but is incapable of stretching by any substantial distance. A primacord is held by said retaining apparatus firmly onto a top of each charge thereby preventing relative movement between the primacord and the charge when the charge is deploying between its stored position and its deployed position. A set of pullrods connect to each pivot of each charge. Thus, when an upward force is placed on the pullrods, an accompanying force is placed on the pivots of each charge. Since the retaining apparatus connects to the top of each charge and to the carrier, and since the retaining apparatus is incapable of stretching by any substantial distance, the accompanying force on the charge pivots creates a torque which rotates the charges between the stored position and the deployed position.

Abstract: Various charge phasing arrangements in a perforating gun include those uniquely associated with phasing solely along a 180 degree circumference of the perforating gun, for use in but not limited to deviated boreholes. One phasing arrangement comprises four rows of charges, four corresponding rows of recesses in the perforating gun carrier and four corresponding rows of holes in the loading tube, the recesses, holes and charges being constrained within a 180 degree circumference of the perforating gun. The two outermost rows have more recesses, more holes and more charges than do the two innermost rows, since more well fluid is interposed between the two outermost rows and the casing than is interposed between the two innermost rows and the casing of the borehole.

Abstract: A perforating gun includes a base strip having an angular cross section, the base strip being a single unitary structure and essentially comprising at least two longitudinally disposed surfaces, a first surface and a second surface, a first plurality of capsule charges being connected to the first surface and a second plurality of capsule charges being connected to the second surface and interleaved with the first plurality of capsule charges, thereby phasing the capsule charges in the perforating gun. Since the gun utilizes capsule charges, good penetration into the formation is achieved. Due to the cross sectional configuration of the base strip, the phased capsule charges, when mounted on the strip, will easily fit within a tubing string previously used by non-phased capsule charge perforating guns.

Abstract: The invention relates to a tool having a valve (3c, 4c) for closing the tubing (100) of a well into which the tool has been placed. The valve member (4c) is controlled by means of a traction cable (17) via a hydraulic mechanism having two piston-and-cylinder assemblies (4b, 5e, 45; 1g, 4a, 41) which reduce the force applied on the valve member (4c) by the pressure of the fluid in the well and which amplify the force (f) applied thereto by the cable (17) in order to open said valve member.

Abstract: A system for designing an intercommunication network among a plurality of devices. The system includes a device for storing rules to meet design requirements and a mechanism connected to the device for storing rules in order to revise the rules dynamically. Also provided is a device for storing data and a mechanism connected to the device for storing data in order to revise the data. A requestor has the ability to access all rules and to revise a portion of the data. Moreover, a designer has the ability to access all rules and to revise another portion of the data, which portion has at least one subportion that cannot be revised by the requestor.

Abstract: A piston of a well tool is disposed external to a tool housing, and within a space defined by an external sleeve and the housing, and pushes mud solids out of an open end of said space when the piston moves within the space of the tool. Due to the orientation of the tool within the borehole of an oil well, the open end of the space is subject to the force of gravity. Thus, when the piston moves downwardly within the space, mud solids disposed between the piston and the open end of said space are pushed out of the open end in response to the movement of the piston and the force of gravity.

Abstract: A dynamic multiple instruction stream, multiple data, multiple pipeline (MIMD) apparatus simultaneously executes more than one instruction associated with a multiple number of instruction streams utilizing multiple data associated with the multiple number of instruction streams in a multiple number of pipeline processors. Since instructions associated with a multiple number of instruction streams are being executed simultaneously by a multiple number of pipeline processors, a tracking mechanism is needed for keeping track of the pipe in which each instruction is executing. As a result, a dynamic history table maintains a record of the pipeline processor number in which each incoming instruction is executing, and other characteristics of the instruction. When a particular instruction is received, it is decoded and its type is determined. Each pipeline processor handles a certain category of instructions; the particular instruction is transmitted to the pipeline processor having its corresponding category.

Abstract: A well testing tool includes a plurality of valves, a plurality of well tool control systems connected, respectively, to the plurality of valves, and an electronics section connected to the plurality of well tool control systems for energizing one of the control systems thereby opening or closing a valve associated with the one control system when the electronics section of the tool detects the existance of an input stimulus transmitted downhole by an operator at the well surface. The operator need only know the particular input stimulus to transmit for a particular valve and need not know how many well tools are disposed downhole or in which tool a particular valve is disposed. The opening or closing of a particular valve is accomplished independantly of any other valves disposed in the tool.

Abstract: The method comprises inserting each of the sections of a tool in turn into a well under pressure via a pressure lock and using a first cable of small diameter in order to overcome the pressure in the well head, and then replacing the first cable by a second cable of larger diameter once the weight of the sections which have been inserted into the well exceeds a predetermined value which is a function of the diameter of said second cable.

Abstract: A parallel binary byte adder performs addition and subtraction on the individual bytes of an A-operand and a B-operand as well as on the entire A and B operand. An A-operand is input to a special adder circuit. A B-operand is modified in a set up logic circuit, in accordance with the specific operation to be performed, before being input to the special adder circuit. A set/mask logic generates set, mask and carry signals which are further input to the special adder circuit. The special adder circuit includes an auxiliary functions circuit and a pseudo carry circuit for generating a set of variables which are processed by a sum circuit to produce three partial results. The first partial result relates to bits 0-5 of the particular byte being processed, the second relates to bit 6, and the third relates to bit 7. A concatenation of the three partial results produces a final sum or difference of the particular byte or bytes involved.

Abstract: In the representative embodiment of the new and improved well bore apparatus disclosed herein, a test valve is arranged to be coupled in a pipe string for positioning in a well bore. When the test valve is arranged to be selectively operated by changes in the well annulus pressure, the apparatus of the present invention includes a first normally-open pressure reference valve that may be operated to trap well annulus pressure in a chamber on the tool body to provide a reference pressure that permits the operation of the pressure-controlled test valve. The apparatus of the invention may include a second normally-open valve which is coupled to the first valve and is operated for controlling communication through a bypass passage between the interior and exterior of the tool body. An annulus pressure responsive actuator piston coupled to the first and second valves is operated by opening a rupture disc to communicate the well annulus pressure to the actuator piston.