Hydrocarbon Well Pipe Connection With Sleeve-Guided Ring Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pipe connections for hydrocarbon well exploration and production have a high risk of incorrect engagement of the locking ring with the secondary pipe member, leading to unreliable connections and potential failure during operation.
Innovation Solution
The proposed pipe connection design includes a primary and secondary pipe member with alignment sleeves and a resilient locking ring that is initially attached to the primary pipe member, allowing for axial movement to align with the secondary pipe member before engagement, ensuring correct positioning and reducing the risk of incorrect locking through an adjustment mechanism that facilitates reliable engagement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a locking ring is used to connect pipe members, then the pipe connection is achieved, but the risk of incorrect engagement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking ring incorporates asymmetric features including a protrusion on one side and a slot on the other side, which must engage with corresponding asymmetric features on the pipe members. This asymmetric design ensures that the locking ring can only be correctly positioned in one orientation, preventing incorrect engagement while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment sleeves are designed to extend beyond the pipe ends before the locking ring engagement occurs. These sleeves perform the preliminary action of aligning the pipe members coaxially, ensuring that when the locking ring is installed, the protrusion and slot are already positioned to engage correctly with the corresponding features on the pipe members, thereby preventing incorrect engagement.
2Manufacturing precision
If alignment sleeves are added to ensure correct engagement, then engagement accuracy improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment sleeves serve multiple functions: they align the pipe members coaxially during assembly, provide a guiding surface for the locking ring installation, and extend beyond the pipe ends to ensure proper positioning before engagement. By making the alignment sleeves multi-functional, the design achieves high engagement precision without significantly increasing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment sleeves perform the preliminary action of establishing coaxial alignment between pipe members before the locking ring engagement takes place. This preliminary alignment ensures that the protrusion and slot features are correctly positioned relative to each other, guaranteeing precise engagement while using a simple cylindrical sleeve structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design significantly reduces the risk of incorrect engagement, resulting in a more reliable pipe connection that minimizes the likelihood of failure during hydrocarbon well exploration and production by ensuring proper alignment and engagement of the locking ring with the secondary pipe member.
Implementation Method 1
the locking ring being resilient in radial direction and comprising a primary ring part having the other of the first protrusion and the first slot, a secondary ring part having the other of the second protrusion and the second slot
Data Source
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AI summary
Pipe connection (1) for exploration and production of a hydrocarbon well, said pipe connection comprising a primary pipe member (10) having an axially extending primary alignment sleeve (11) and one of a second protrusion and a second slot, a secondary pipe member (20) comprising an axially extending secondary alignment sleeve (21) and one of a second protrusion and a second slot (23), and a locking ring (30) configured to engage the primary pipe member (10) and the secondary pipe member (20).