On-demand vibration tool for drilling applications

Abstract

There is a downhole tool for use in a drill string including a friction-reducing vibration tool and a bypass control. The vibration tool includes a rotary driving device responsive to fluid flow in the drill string, a valve including a rotary component and a stationary component configured to rotate relative to each other to vary flow through the valve, the rotary component of the valve driven by the rotary driving device, and a bypass passage around or through one or more of the rotary driving device and the valve. The bypass control has a sensor for detecting a stimulus, a bypass actuator for controlling an amount of fluid flow through the bypass passage to activate or deactivate the vibration tool, and a processor in communication with the sensor to control the bypass actuator in response to signals from the sensor. There is a method of activating or deactivating the friction-reducing vibration tool in a drill string by detecting a stimulus using the sensor and electrically activating or deactivating the tool in response to signals from the sensor.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.