Claims
- 1. A connection between wellbore tubulars comprising:
a first tubular having a first groove formed on an exterior surface of one end of the first tubular; and a second tubular having a second groove formed on an interior surface of one end of the second tubular; wherein the first groove and the second groove forms a pathway when the first tubular is connected to the second tubular and the threaded connection is made up.
- 2. The connection of claim 1, wherein the first tubular has threads disposed adjacent to the first groove.
- 3. The connection of claim 1, wherein the second tubular has threads disposed adjacent to the end.
- 4. The connection of claim 1, wherein a pathway is formed between the alignment of the groove of the first tubular and the groove of the second tubular, whereby the groove on the second tubular is designed to mate with the groove on the first tubular.
- 5. The connection of claim 4, further comprising a locking member designed to be inserted within the pathway.
- 6. The connection of claim 5, wherein the locking member is a wire.
- 7. The connection of claim 6, wherein the locking member comprises a plurality of wires insertable into the pathway.
- 8. The connection of claim 4, wherein the insertion of the locking member into the pathway formed by the alignment of the groove on the first tubular and the groove on the second tubular serves to prevent relative rotation between the tubulars.
- 9. The connection of claim 1, wherein the first tubular is a male threaded connection.
- 10. The connection of claim 1, wherein the second tubular is a female threaded connection.
- 11. The connection of claim 4, wherein the pathway is formed through the surface of the tubular members, the pathway is accessible from the outside of the tubular members through a port disposed on the tubular members.
- 12. The connection of claim 1, wherein the first groove and the second groove have continuous helical profiles.
- 13. The connection of claim 12, wherein there is a difference in lead between the first groove disposed on the first tubular and threads disposed on the first tubular.
- 14. The connection of claim 12, wherein there is a difference in direction between the first groove disposed in the first tubular and threads disposed on the first tubular.
- 15. The connection of claim 12, wherein there is a difference in lead between the second groove disposed on the second tubular and threads disposed on the second tubular.
- 16. The connection of claim 12, wherein there is a difference in the direction between the second groove disposed on the second tubular and threads disposed on the second tubular.
- 17. The connection of claim 12, wherein the continuous helical grooves are formed at a reverse angle from the threads disposed on the tubulars.
- 18. The connection of claim 1, wherein the first groove is formed at an upper end of the first tubular member and terminates at a location proximate the threads formed on first tubular member.
- 19. The connection of claim 1, wherein the second groove of the second tubular is formed at an upper end of the second tubular member and terminates at a location proximate the threads disposed on the second tubular member.
- 20. The connection of claim 1, wherein:
the first tubular having a third groove disposed on the exterior of the first tubular; and the second tubular having a fourth groove formed on the interior of the second tubular.
- 21. The connection of claim 20, wherein the alignment of the third groove and the fourth groove forms a second pathway.
- 22. The connection of claim 18, whereby the third and fourth grooves are designed to provide an additional locking means between the first and second tubulars.
- 23. The connection of claim 20, further comprising a second locking member designed to be inserted with the pathway formed by the third and fourth grooves.
- 24. The connection of claim 23, wherein the second locking members is a wire insert.
- 25. The connection of claim 23, wherein the second locking member comprises a plurality of wire inserts.
- 26. The connection of claim 20, wherein the third and fourth grooves have helical profiles.
- 27. The connection of claim 23, wherein the insertion of the second locking member into the pathway formed by the alignment of the third and fourth grooves serves to prevent relative rotation between the tubulars.
- 28. The connection of claim 21, wherein the second pathway is accessible from the outside of the tubular members through ports disposed on the tubular members.
- 29. A connection between male and female members, the connection comprising: at least two helical profiles formed on a surface of each member where at least one of these profiles is a helical groove, and where the two helical profiles are of different direction and/or lead, the grooves alignable to permit the introduction of at least one locking member into the connection, the locking member preventing rotation of the members with respect to each other.
- 30. A method of connecting two wellbore tubulars comprising:
threading a first tubular to a second tubular, the first tubular having a first groove disposed on an exterior of the first tubular and male threads disposed distal to the first groove, the second tubular having a second groove disposed on an interior of the second tubular and female threads disposed distal to an end, the threads of the first tubular being threadedly connected to the threads of the second tubular so that rotation of a tubular member serves to draw the first tubular and the second tubular towards each other; aligning the first groove with the second groove to form a pathway.
- 31. The method of claim 30, further comprising inserting a locking member into the pathway formed to prevent relative rotation between the first and second tubulars.
- 32. A connector for connecting two tubulars end-to-end, the connector comprising:
a first tubular having threads disposed at an end, and at least one castellation distal to the threads; a second tubular having threads disposed at an end, and at least one castellation distal to the threads, the castellations of the second tubular being configured to interlock with the castellations of the first tubular; and a coupling member having formed at opposite ends of the coupling member for mating with the threads of the first and second tubular, wherein rotation of the coupling member serves to draw the first tubular and the second tubular towards each other and to cause the castellations of the first tubular and the castellations of the second tubular to become interlocked.
- 33. The connector of claim 32, wherein the threads of the first tubular and the threads of the second tubular are externally threaded.
- 34. The connector of claim 33, wherein the threads of the first tubular are right hand threads, and the threads of the second tubular are left hand threads.
- 35. The connector of claim 34, wherein the threads of the coupling are internally threaded.
- 36. The connector of claim 32, wherein the threads of the first tubular and the threads of the second tubular are right hand threads.
- 37. The connector of claim 32, wherein the threads of the first tubular and the threads of the second tubular are left hand threads.
- 38. The connector of claim 32, wherein:
the threads of the first tubular and the threads of the second tubular are internally threaded; and the threads of the coupling are externally threaded.
- 39. The connector of claim 38, wherein the threads of the first tubular are right hand threads, and the threads of the second tubular are left hand threads.
- 40. The connector of claim 32, further comprising a locking mechanism disposed through the coupling and through the first tubular to prevent the coupling member from further rotation in either direction.
- 41. The connector of claim 32, wherein at least one receiving member is disposed on the first tubular.
- 42. The connector of claim 32, wherein at least one receiving member is disposed on the coupling member.
- 43. The connector of claim 32, further comprising at least one locking member designed to be inserted within the receiving member of the tubular.
- 44. The connector of claim 32, wherein the threaded connection between the first tubular and the second tubular and the coupling member causes the receiving member of the first tubular to align with the receiving member of the coupling creating a pathway.
- 45. The connector of claim 32, wherein the insertion of the locking member into the pathway by the alignment of the receiving member on the first tubular and the receiving member on the coupling serves to prevent the relative rotation between the tubular and the coupling.
- 46. A method of connecting two wellbore tubulars comprising:
connecting tubulars to opposite ends of a coupling member; rotating the coupling member to bring the tubular at each end of the coupling member closer to each other; and interlocking the castellations disposed at an end of each tubular.
- 47. The method of claim 46, wherein a first receiving member is disposed on a first tubular and a second receiving member is disposed on the coupling member, wherein the coupling member further causes the receiving member of the first tubular to align with the receiving member of the coupling member to form a pathway.
- 48. The method of claim 46, inserting a locking member into the pathway formed by the alignment of the first receiving member and the second receiving member to prevent relative rotation between the first tubular and the coupling member and further lock the connection.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to two pending U.S. provisional patent applications, the first of which is entitled “Locking Arrangement for a Threaded Connector,” filed on Oct. 22, 2001, and having Prov. Serial No. 60/350,406, and the second of which is entitled “Interlocking Threaded Connector,” filed on Jan. 30, 2002, and having Prov. Serial No. 60/353,096.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60350406 |
Oct 2001 |
US |
|
60353096 |
Jan 2002 |
US |