Ammunition and explosives – Igniting devices and systems – Laser or light initiated
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-29
2001-05-08
Carone, Michael J. (Department: 3641)
Ammunition and explosives
Igniting devices and systems
Laser or light initiated
C102S201000, C102S200000, C102S213000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06227114
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a trigger, detonation or monitoring system using optical fiber; and more particularly, to a detonation system of explosive charges in an oil well or to triggering a control device that needs to be actuated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Trigger or detonation systems, including systems using optical fiber for detonating explosive charges in an oil well, are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,195 shows and describes a detonation system of explosives charges having a laser source, a distributor, a control unit, optical fibers, branching connections and explosive charges. The distributor operates by mechanical actuation for directing light from the laser source through the optical branches for igniting one or more of the explosive charges. One disadvantage of this detonation system is that the distributor distributes optical signals mechanically.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a select trigger or detonation system featuring an optical source, an optical fiber, one or more optical couplers and one or more light trigger or detonation devices.
The optical source provides an optical signal containing information about triggering or detonating one or more respective devices.
The optical fiber has one or more fiber Bragg Gratings, responsive to the optical signal, for providing one or more fiber Bragg Grating optical trigger or detonation signals, each having a respective optical trigger or detonation wavelength.
The one or more optical couplers each respond to the one or more fiber Bragg Grating optical trigger or detonation signals depending on the respective optical trigger or detonation wavelength, for providing a respective coupled fiber Bragg Grating optical trigger or detonation signal. The one or more optical couplers may include a circulation coupler or a directional coupler.
The one or more light trigger or detonation devices each respond to the respective coupled fiber Bragg Grating optical trigger or detonation signal, for triggering or detonating a respective device. The respective device may include an explosive charge to be detonated or any other control device to be triggered from one state to another such as from “on” to “off”, or vice versa. For example, the light trigger or detonation device may respond to the respective coupled fiber Bragg Grating optical trigger or detonation signals, for exploding dynamite disposed in a borehole of an oil well. The light trigger or detonation device may also include a photodetector with the necessary supporting documentation attached on an end of the optical fiber for directly detonating an explosive, or include a flashing compound, having nitro or nitroso-resorcinol, placed on an end of the optical fiber.
The select trigger or detonation system may also include a fiber Bragg Grating having very low reflectivity placed next to each explosive charge for providing information to monitor whether it has been detonated and blown up.
The select trigger or detonation system may also include a passband filter in front of each light trigger or detonation device to prevent accidental detonation for example of an explosive charge or the triggering of a device. The passband filter may be a coupler-based or Grating-based passband filter or other passband component.
The select trigger or detonation system may also have separate fibers connected directly to a device for delivering optical trigger or detonation signals to the device to be triggered or detonated, including an explosive charge. The select trigger or detonation system may include one or more multimode fibers for providing one or more multimode optical trigger or detonation signals to deliver energy to one or more optically detonated devices, as well as one or more single mode fibers for providing one or more single mode optical monitoring signals to monitor the one or more optically detonated devices.
One advantage of the present invention is that the one or more optical trigger or detonation signals are optically delivered to the device to be detonated or triggered without any moving mechanical parts.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be described below.
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Dunphy James R.
Hay Arthur D.
Kersey Alan D.
Wu Jian-Qun
Carone Michael J.
CiDRA Corporation
Semunegus Lulit
Ware Fressola Van der Sluys & Adolphson LLP
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