This invention relates generally to shock absorbers for the housing for a downhole tool chassis (referred to herein as a “chassis”) used to encapsulate a printed circuit board used in oil and gas wells or the like. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to shock absorbers, longitudinally arranged on a chassis assembly for a printed circuit board, which offers enhanced resistance to amplification shock damage, allowing the chassis assembly to maintain a more rigid contact with a housing.
In the oil and gas industry, subsurface formations are typically probed by well logging instruments to determine the formation characteristics. For example sonic tools have been found to provide valuable information regarding subsurface acoustic properties, which may be used to produce images or derive related characteristics for the formations.
Currently many downhole tools used in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons employ sensitive electrical processing devices referred to herein as downhole components. The downhole components include without limitation electrical devices, electrical components, electrical circuits, printed circuit boards, downhole sensors, cooling components, antennas, and/or receivers. Downhole tools also often experience high shock and vibration conditions either during use within a wellbore, or during handling after they have been assembled and prior to use within a wellbore. Often times the shock or vibration can damage the downhole components thereby rendering the component inoperable or ineffective. Further, the shock and vibration during use can cause the downhole component to provide erroneous data, this is especially so when the downhole component is a sensor monitoring data downhole for later analysis. The harsh downhole conditions introduce another environmental factor that must be considered, and that is the high temperature, which can sometimes exceed 200° C. Accordingly, any damping device or element used in a downhole application must be able to function relatively consistently at the expected range of operating temperatures.
Various attempts have been made to lessen the shock and vibration of mechanical dynamics experienced by downhole components during handling and use of downhole tools. These attempts generally involve attempting to dampen the shock and vibration applied to the downhole components with some type of an elastomer. For example, rubber O rings have been employed to isolate downhole components from shock and vibration experienced by a downhole tool. Additionally, downhole components have been seated within the downhole tools on visco-elastomeric materials in an effort to minimize the shock and vibration imparted to the downhole component. One conventional design of a housing for acoustic transducers includes sealing the transducer from the external environment using molded rubber surrounding the transducer. One such example of this housing is found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,364,007, which is incorporated herein by reference and discusses transducers, sealed in a material such as molded rubber encasing the transducer and electronics. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,460,435, which is incorporated herein by reference, discusses acoustic sources for downhole use that are encased in a liquid-free sealing material, such as molded rubber for protection.
There have also been attempts to use paired mating side and connecting side materials surrounding the downhole tool, as in U.S. Pat. App. No. 2005/0263668. Each of these methods can amplify the effects of shock induced vibration instead of minimizing the effects. Encasing electronics such as printed circuit boards in molded rubber, for instance, can also create difficulties repairing the printed circuit boards if a component is damaged. Additionally manufacturing issues can arise due to high temperatures and/or pressures that may be part of the manufacturing process. Paired mating side and connecting side materials may separate from each other due to the shock to which the downhole tool may be exposed.
Therefore, there exists a need for a device and method of isolating downhole components of a downhole tool from the damaging and data altering effects of shock and vibration encountered during the use, handling and assembly of the downhole tool.
In one aspect, the present disclosure describes a chassis assembly for housing at least one circuit board. The chassis assembly is provided with a first chassis part, a second chassis part, and at least three shock absorbers. The first chassis part is provided with a first end and a second end, and a first external surface extending between the first end and the second end. The first chassis part is also provided with a first longitudinal axis extending from the first end to the second end.
The second chassis part is provided with a third end and a fourth end and a second external surface extending between the third end and the fourth end. The second chassis part is also provided with a second longitudinal axis extending from the third end to the fourth end. The first and second chassis parts are adapted to cooperate to secure the at least one circuit board within a boundary defined by the first and second external surfaces.
The at least three shock absorbers are positioned on the external surfaces of the first and second chassis parts. At least one shock absorber is positioned on the first external surface and extends along the first longitudinal axis between the first end and the second end. At least two shock absorbers are positioned on the second external surface and extend along the second longitudinal axis between the third end and the fourth end. The at least three shock absorbers extend beyond the first and second external surfaces.
In another aspect, the present disclosure describes a downhole electronic equipment for use within a well. The downhole electronic equipment is provided with a housing, a chassis assembly, and a circuit board. The housing defines a bore. The chassis assembly is positioned within the bore and is provided with a first chassis part, a second chassis part, and at least three shock absorbers. The first chassis is provided with a first end and a second end, and a first external surface extending between the first end and the second end. The first chassis part is also provided with a first longitudinal axis extending from the first end to the second end.
The second chassis part is provided with a third end and a fourth end and a second external surface extending between the third end and the fourth end. The second chassis part is also provided with a second longitudinal axis extending from the third end to the fourth end. The first and second chassis parts are adapted to cooperate to secure the at least one circuit board within a boundary defined by the first and second external surfaces. The circuit board is positioned within the inner space of the boundary defined by the first and second external surfaces of the first chassis part and the second chassis part.
The at least three shock absorbers are positioned on the external surfaces of the first and second chassis parts. At least one shock absorber is positioned on the first external surface and extends along the first longitudinal axis between the first end and the second end. At least two shock absorbers are positioned on the second external surface and extend along the second longitudinal axis between the third end and the fourth end. The at least three shock absorbers extend beyond the first and second external surfaces.
In yet another aspect, the present disclosure describes a method for making a chassis assembly for use within a wellbore, comprising the steps of providing a chassis and attaching at least three shock absorbers to the outer surface of the chassis. The chassis is provided with a first end, a second end, an outer surface and a longitudinal axis extending from the first end to the second end. Once attached, the at least three shock absorbers extend along the longitudinal axis between the first end and the second end, and extend beyond the outer surface of the chassis.
In yet another aspect, the present disclosure describes a method for making a downhole electronic equipment for use within a well comprising the steps of providing a housing defining a bore, positioning a chassis assembly within the bore, and mounting a printed circuit board within the inner space of the chassis. The chassis assembly is provided with a first end, a second end, an inner space, an outer surface, and a longitudinal axis extending from the first end to the second end, and at least three shock absorbers attached to the outer surface of the chassis. The at least three shock absorbers extend along the longitudinal axis between the first end and the second end and extend beyond the outer surface of the chassis assembly.
The present invention is particularly applicable to testing installations such as are used in oil and gas wells or the like.
A packer 18 is positioned on the tubing 14 and can be actuated to seal the borehole around the tubing 14 at the region of interest. Various pieces of downhole test equipment (collectively, downhole electronic equipment 20) are connected to the tubing 14 above or below the packer 18. Such downhole electronic equipment 20 may be referred to herein as one or more downhole tool and may include, but is not limited to: additional packers; tester valves; circulation valves; downhole chokes, firing heads; TCP (tubing conveyed perforator) gun drop subs; samplers; pressure gauges; downhole flow meters; downhole fluid analyzers; and the like.
In the embodiment of
An example of the downhole electronic equipment 20 is shown in
Referring now to
Referring now to
In this embodiment, the chassis 33 secures the at least two printed circuit boards 30a and 30b by placing the printed circuit boards 30a and 30b between the first chassis part 40 and the second chassis part 42 and then fastening the first chassis part 40 and the second chassis part 42 together with fasteners (not shown). The first chassis part 40 is provided with a first end 44 and a second end 46. The first chassis part 40 is provided with at least one hole 48 located substantially adjacent to the first end 44. The at least one hole 48 should preferably be capable of receiving and securing a fastener. In one preferred embodiment, the at least one hole 48 is threaded to accept a threaded fastener such as a screw, but it should be understood that any suitable fastener may be used. In the preferred embodiment shown in
The first chassis part 40 is provided with a first side 52 and a second side 54 which extend between the first end 44 and the second end 46, as depicted in
Returning now to
Referring now to
The second chassis part 42 is provided with a third side 72 and a fourth side 74 which extend between the third end 64 and the fourth end 66, as depicted in
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
The shock absorbers 34 are preferably identical in construction and function. The shock absorber 34 may be provided with a friction facing 122 and a deformable elastomeric absorber 124. The friction facing 122 and deformable elastomeric absorber 124 may be connected with an adhesive, cohesive, or any other suitable method. The shock absorbers 34 are placed within the longitudinal slots 90, 92, 94, 96, 98, and 100. Once placed, the shock absorber 34 serves as a spring to aid in centering the chassis assembly 32 within the housing 28 and to dampen shock to the printed circuit boards 30a and 30b. The shock absorber 34 distributes the suspended masses, such as the printed circuit board 30, in order to improve the reliability of components placed within the chassis assembly 32. The friction facing 122 may be composed of Bronze, Beryllium, Bronze and Beryllium alloy, plastic, or any other suitable material. In one preferred embodiment, but not by way of limitation, the friction facing 122 is composed of Bronze or Beryllium due to the common characteristic of suitable adherence to common deformable elastomeric materials such as silicon. The friction facing 122 is optional, but facilitates gliding during insertion of the chassis assembly 32 into the housing 28. The term “gliding” refers to movement in a smooth, preferably effortless manner. The deformable elastomeric absorber 124 may be composed of silicon, rubber, or any other suitable elastomeric material. In one preferred embodiment, but not by way of limitation, the deformable elastomeric absorber is composed of silicon due to positive elastic properties and a resistance to temperatures in excess of 200° C. In addition, silicon presents positive dampening characteristics at temperature ranges between −50° and +200° C., which are suitable to use in the deformable elastomeric absorber 124.
Returning to
To make the chassis assembly 32, the chassis 33 is provided, e.g., made available via manufacturing, purchase or the like to be assembled with the shock absorbers 34, the printed circuit boards 30a and 30b and the housing 28 as discussed herein. At least three shock absorbers 34 are attached to the outer surface 37 of the chassis 33 as shown in
To make the downhole electronic equipment 20 for use within the well 10, the housing 28 is provided. The housing 28 defines the bore 29 as discussed above. The chassis assembly 32 is positioned within the bore 29. The chassis assembly 32, as discussed above, includes the chassis 33 having the first end 35, the second end 36, the inner space 39, the outer surface 37 and the longitudinal axis 38 extending from the first end 35 to the second end 36, and with at least three shock absorbers 34 attached to the outer surface 37 of the chassis 33 and extending along the longitudinal axis 38. The at least three shock absorbers 34 extend beyond the outer surface 37, and at least one of the printed circuit board 30a and/or 30b are mounted within the inner space 39 of the chassis 33.
Although only a few embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the teachings of the present invention. Accordingly, such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as defined in the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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11290540.1 | Nov 2011 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/IB2012/056393 | 11/13/2012 | WO | 00 | 5/22/2014 |