Roller device
AssigneeNational Oilwell Varco UK Limited
InventorsCarl Wood, Harry Richard Stanley O'Brien
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A roller device for incorporation into a wireline tool string for use in an oil or gas well has a body with rollers comprising captive bearings arranged on the outer surface of the body to rotate around more than one axis relative to the body, and wherein the rollers are arranged in at least one or more helix around the body. Each helix completes at least one full circumferential turn around the body. The rollers circumferentially overlap one another on the body, so that when the body engages the inner wall of the wellbore, the entire circumference of the body is supported by at least one roller.
Claims34
A wireline roller device for incorporation into a wireline tool string for use in an oil or gas well, the roller device having a body with an axis, and at least one connector suitable for connection of the roller device body into the string, and having a plurality of rollers on the outer surface of the body and spaced apart along the axis of the body, wherein the axially spaced rollers comprise captive bearings arranged to rotate around more than one axis relative to the body, and wherein the plurality of axially spaced rollers are arranged in at least one helix extending around the body completing at least one full circumferential turn;
- and wherein two or more axially spaced rollers on the body circumferentially overlap one another along a line parallel to the axis of the body.
A method of deploying a wireline tool string in a wellbore of an oil or gas well, the method comprising including in the wireline tool string a wireline roller device, the wireline roller device having a body with an axis, and having a plurality of rollers on the outer surface of the body and spaced apart along the axis of the body, wherein the axially spaced rollers comprise captive bearings arranged to rotate around more than one axis relative to the body, and wherein the rollers are helically arranged such that the helix completes at least one full circumferential turn on the body, and supporting the body in the wellbore by at least two axially spaced rollers on the body which circumferentially overlap one another along a line parallel to the axis of the body.
A roller device for incorporation into a wireline tool string for use in an oil or gas well, the roller device having a body with at least one connector suitable for connection of the roller device body into the string, and having a plurality of rollers on the outer surface of the body, wherein the rollers comprise captive bearings arranged to rotate around more than one axis relative to the body, and wherein the plurality of rollers are arranged in at least one helix extending around the body;
- wherein each roller comprises a roller assembly in the form of a ball held captive in a socket but free to rotate within the socket;
- wherein the socket has an annular formation on the socket's inner face, which aligns with a matching annular formation in the roller assembly when the roller assembly is received in the socket, and wherein the aligned annular formations on the socket and roller assembly retain a retaining member extending across a break line of the aligned formations thereby resisting movement of the roller assembly out of the socket when the retaining member is in place in the aligned formations;
- wherein each socket has at least one access port connecting an outer face of the recess with at least one of the aligned formations, to enable intervention to free the retaining member from the formation;
- wherein the access port comprises an access channel formed in the outer face of the ridge;
- and
- wherein the channel connects adjacent sockets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.