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US 8,804,462 B2Granted
Marine vibrator with improved seal
AssigneeWesternGeco L.L.C.
InventorsKamal Babour, Emmanuel Coste, Martin Howlid
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A marine vibrator with improved seal is described. The marine vibrator includes a housing and piston within the housing for generating vibratory signals. The improved seal is comprised of a two-stage seal having a first seal disposed adjacent the water interface and a second seal disposed away from the water interface, thus improving the reliability of the marine vibrator.
Claims25
A marine vibrator, comprising:
- a housing having a first portion and a second portion, the second portion of the housing disposed coaxially with the first portion and radially inward of the first portion;
- a piston movably disposed within the housing, the piston disposed within the first portion of the housing, and the second portion of the housing disposed within the piston;
- a first seal disposed between the piston and the first portion of the housing;
- a second seal disposed between the piston and the second portion of the housing, the second seal being located radially inward of the first seal;
- a first internal cavity within the housing defined by the first seal, the second seal, the piston, the first portion of the housing and the second portion of the housing;
- and
- a second internal cavity within the housing defined by the second seal, the second portion of the housing and the piston, the second internal cavity separated from an external environment by the first cavity.
4 more elements
A marine vibrator, comprising:
- a housing having a first portion and a second portion;
- a piston movably disposed within the housing;
- a first seal disposed between the piston and the first portion of the housing;
- and
- a second seal disposed between the piston and the second portion of the housing, the second seal being located radially inward of the first seal, wherein
- a reservoir is defined in the piston,
- the reservoir is downstream of the first seal, and
- a projection extends inwardly from the first portion of the housing, the projection extending at least partially into the reservoir.
5 more elements
A seismic spread, comprising:
- a survey vessel;
- one or more streamers extending from the survey vessel, the streamers being operable to gather seismic data in a survey area;
- and
- one or more marine vibrators disposed in the survey area, the one or more marine vibrators comprising:
- a housing having a first portion and a second portion, the second portion of the housing disposed coaxially with the first portion and radially inward of the first portion;
- a piston movably disposed within the housing, the piston disposed within the first portion of the housing, and the second portion of the housing disposed within the piston;
- a first seal disposed between the piston and the first portion of the housing;
- a second seal disposed between the piston and the second portion of the housing, the second seal being located radially inward of the first seal;
- a first internal cavity within the housing defined by the first seal, the second seal, the piston, the first portion of the housing and the second portion of the housing;
- and
- a second internal cavity within the housing defined by the second seal, the second portion of the housing and the piston, the second internal cavity separated from an external environment by the first cavity.
8 more elements
A method for improving the reliability of a marine vibrator, comprising:
- providing a marine vibrator having a piston movably disposed within a housing, the piston disposed within a first portion of the housing, and a second portion of the housing disposed within the piston;
- forming a first seal between the piston and the first portion of the housing;
- and
- forming a second seal between the piston and the second portion of the housing, the second seal being formed radially inward relative to the first seal, wherein
- the forming the second seal includes defining a first internal cavity within the housing by the first seal, the second seal, the piston, the first portion of the housing and the second portion of the housing, and
- the forming the second seal includes defining a second internal cavity within the housing by the second seal, the second portion of the housing and the piston, the second internal cavity separated from an external environment by the first cavity.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.