Valve apparatus
AssigneeWelleng Science and Technology Ltd.
InventorsPeter Barnes Moyes, Stefan Neil Lewis Stewart
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A valve apparatus, such as a downhole valve apparatus, includes a housing having a flow path therein and a valve member mounted within the housing and being operable between closed and open configurations to control flow along the flow path. An actuator assembly is moveable from a first position to a second position to sequentially perform first and second actuation functions, the first actuation function being associated with the operation of an auxiliary system, and the second actuation function opening the valve member from its closed configuration.
Claims27
A downhole valve apparatus, comprising:
- a housing having a flow path therein;
- a valve member mounted within the housing and being configured to operate between closed and open configurations to control flow along the flow path;
- a pressure relief arrangement configured to operate between closed and open configurations to selectively permit pressure communication on opposing sides of the valve member when said valve member is in its closed configuration;
- an actuator assembly configured to move from a first position to a second position to sequentially open the pressure relief arrangement and the valve member from their respective closed configurations, such that the pressure relief arrangement is opened before the valve member;
- wherein the pressure relief arrangement comprises a pressure relief port arranged in communication with one side of the valve member, and a pressure relief valve member configured to operate by the actuator assembly to open the pressure relief port, wherein the pressure relief valve member comprises a sealing arrangement configured to seal the pressure relief port, wherein the sealing arrangement comprises a pair of axially spaced sealing members, wherein when the pressure relief arrangement is in its closed configuration the sealing members are positioned on opposing axial sides of the pressure relief port, and wherein the sealing members are sized such that when the pressure relief arrangement is in its closed configuration axially opposing pressure on the sealing members is balanced;
- wherein the actuator assembly extends from the one side of the valve member to engage the pressure relief arrangement on an opposing axial side of the valve member;
- and
- wherein the pressure relief arrangement comprises a bypass flow path at least partially defined between a seat sleeve and the housing such that when the pressure relief arrangement is configured in its open configuration the bypass flow path is configured to provide pressure communication between opposing sides of the valve member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.