Telemetry operated ball release system
AssigneeWeatherford Technology Holdings, LLC
InventorsRocky A. Turley, Robin L. Campbell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one embodiment, a ball release system for use in a wellbore includes a tubular housing, a seat disposed in the housing and comprising arcuate segments arranged to form a ring, each segment radially movable between a catch position for receiving a ball and a release position, a cam disposed in the housing, longitudinally movable relative thereto, and operable to move the seat segments between the positions, an actuator operable to move the cam, and an electronics package disposed in the housing and in communication with the actuator for operating the actuator in response to receiving a command signal.
Claims20
A catch and release system for catching and releasing an object in a wellbore, comprising:
- a tubular housing;
- a seat disposed in the tubular housing and movable between a catch position for receiving an object and a release position;
- a cam disposed in the tubular housing, longitudinally movable relative thereto, and operable to move the seat from the catch position to the release position;
- and
- an electronics package disposed in the tubular housing, comprising:
- a pressure sensor configured to monitor a pressure in a bore of the tubular housing, wherein the seat is movable to the release position at a predetermined pressure.
A method of hanging an inner tubular string on an outer tubular string, comprising:
- running the inner tubular string and a deployment assembly into a wellbore using a deployment string, wherein the deployment assembly comprises a catch and release system for catching and releasing an object in a wellbore;
- pumping an object down the deployment string to a seat of the catch and release system;
- increasing pressure in a bore of the deployment assembly to hang the inner tubular string on the outer tubular string;
- and
- moving the seat of the catch and release system with a cam to release the object in response to reaching a predetermined pressure.
A method of operating a catch and release system in a wellbore, comprising:
- landing an object in a seat of the catch and release system;
- increasing pressure in a bore of the catch and release system to hang an inner tubular string on an outer tubular string;
- monitoring the pressure in the bore of the catch and release system with a pressure sensor;
- and
- moving the seat of the catch and release system with an actuator having a cam from a catch position to a release position to release the object in response to detecting a predetermined pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.