Anti-torque tool

Details Anti-torque tool Anti-torque tool

1999-07-23

2001-05-08

Neuder, William (Department: 3672)

Boring or penetrating the earth

Tool element or continuously driven flexible or articulated...

C166S212000, C166S237000, C175S325300

Reexamination Certificate

active

06227313

ABSTRACT:

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not Applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of tools used downhole in oil or gas wells to perform functions such as orienting a tool, drilling a borehole, or milling or cutting a casing positioned in a borehole, using a non-rotating work string. Specifically, this invention concerns a tool used to prevent the imposition of reactive torque on a non-rotating work string when a downhole motor is used, or when a downhole tool is turned for some other purpose.
Background Information
This application will refer to operations being conducted in a borehole, with the understanding that there may or may not be a casing in place in the borehole, and references to a borehole or borehole wall are intended, where appropriate, to include reference to a casing or casing wall, within a borehole, as will be apparent from the context. Downhole operations in an oil or gas well are often conducted by tools attached to the lower end of a length of small diameter, or relatively thin, non-rotating tubing which has been positioned in the borehole. Many such downhole operations, for example, will be conducted with “coiled tubing” which has been uncoiled and run into the borehole.
Such operations often require the rotation of a tool at the downhole end of the stationary work string tubing. Rotation of the downhole tool may be a continuous forceful rotation, accomplished by means of a downhole motor, such as a mud motor, as is often done to rotate a drill bit, a milling tool, or a casing cutter. Further, a downhole tool may be rotated incrementally, and less forcefully, to orient a tool face in a desired direction. In the case of continuous forceful rotation, the downhole motor also imparts a forceful reactive torque to the work string to which it is attached, which can even exceed the torque limit of the work string. In the case of less forceful incremental rotation, reactive twisting of the work string, however slight, can cause inaccuracy in the orientation of the downhole tool. In either case, it would be desirable to have a torque barrier which can be installed between the non-rotating work string and the downhole rotating tool, to prevent the imposition of reactive torque on the work string uphole from the torque barrier.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a downhole torque barrier, or anti-torque tool, which engages the wall of the borehole or casing in which it is positioned, with at least one gripping member therein. The gripping member is designed to prevent rotation of the torque barrier relative to the borehole wall or casing wall. The gripping members are preferably hydraulically displaced in a generally outward direction, transverse to the longitudinal axis of the tool, until they engage the wall of the borehole. An outwardly facing surface of at least one of the gripping members has gripping contours designed to engage the borehole or casing wall and prevent rotational movement relative thereto, such as teeth, ridges, or ribs. The tool can be actuated by increasing the pressure of fluid being pumped downhole, to displace the gripping members outwardly until they engage the borehole wall or casing. Thereafter, the downhole motor or other downhole rotating tool can be operated, with all of the reactive torque being absorbed by the anti-torque tool. This isolates the downhole torque from the work string.
The gripping members can be configured to allow movement of the anti-torque tool either uphole or downhole, or both, to allow the advance or retreat of the downhole assembly as desired. This can be done by implementing one or more wheels, or other rolling devices, in the gripping member. The rolling device can be allowed to roll in both longitudinal directions, or a mechanism such as a ratchet can be used to allow longitudinal movement in only the uphole direction or only the downhole direction. Alternatively, the gripping members can be configured to prevent any longitudinal movement of the torque barrier relative to the borehole or casing wall, as well as preventing rotation of the torque barrier relative thereto. A blade would be an example of such a longitudinally stationary gripping member.
The novel features of this invention, as well as the invention itself, will be best understood from the attached drawings, taken along with the following description, in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts, and in which:


REFERENCES:
patent: 1870697 (1932-08-01), Taylor
patent: 2056471 (1936-10-01), Krall
patent: 3225843 (1965-12-01), Ortloff et al.
patent: 4154310 (1979-05-01), Konstantinovsky
patent: 4377207 (1983-03-01), Kofahl
patent: 4612987 (1986-09-01), Cheek
patent: 4811785 (1989-03-01), Weber
patent: 4819760 (1989-04-01), Petermann
patent: 5033558 (1991-07-01), Russo et al.
patent: 2341620 (2000-03-01), None
Hydraulic Expanding Mill; Tri-State drawing showing a milling tool having expanding mechanism similar to the expanding mechanism used in the disclosed embodiment of the Anti-Torque Tool; drawing not published—milling tool designed prior to date of conception of the invention.

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