FR2496829A1 - PIPE JUNCTION, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REALIZING THE SAME - Google Patents

Abstract

JUNCTION OF PIPES, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING IT HAPPEN. JUNCTION OF PIPES MADE BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE TUBULAR ORGANS 11, 13, ESPECIALLY FOR PIPES FROM OIL DEPOSITS, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT THE JOINT IS MADE BY METAL-TO-METAL INTERACTION AND INCLUDES INTERCONNECTION SURFACES WITH HOLLOW HELICINES 17, 18 .

Description

The present invention relates to a pipe joint and a

  method and apparatus for its realization,

  this junction serving as a means of connection between

  of pipes, and more particularly of pipes

  in oilfields.

  Many pipe joining methods are known.

  Some pipe joints include a female section

  mule or tulip, a male section or tip, and an external clamping ring arranged around the tulip. The end

  mile can be sealed with an appropriate adhesive

prayed.

  A method of the prior art used for constituting

  killing a pipe joint is described in US Pat. No. 4,095,825. The process described in this patent includes

  telescopic penetration of a tapered mile-end

  interior of a tulip having a conical inner section.

  The cone angle of the conical section of the mile tip

  is more important than the angle of the c8ne of the co-

  tulip. An adhesive is disposed in the cavity

  between the internal conical surface of the tulip and the

  outer tapered surface of the mile tip.

  US Pat. No. 3,466,738 describes a method of

  Pipe formation consisting essentially of simply pressing axially and forcefully two ends of pipes of the same diameter, the only preparatory step of expanding slightly one end for the initial entry of the other. Americans

  Other patents / prior art which are

  in this area are: 3 124 874,

  2,874,981, 4,120,083, 4,064,619, 2,498,831 and 3,494,642.

  The object of the present invention is to propose a junction of pipes, as well as a method and an apparatus for carrying it out, in which the shaped ends

  tulip and mouthpiece are interconnected through

diary of hollow leagues.

  Another object of the invention is to propose a

  junction of pipes and a method for making this junction

  in which the junction is obtained by rotating an organ of the connection at an angle between a few degrees and several turns while the

  two organs are introduced by force and in the direction of

xiale one in the other.

  Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive method for connecting tubular bodies of oil deposits in which the connection is made, at least in part, by means of recessed lines which lead the organs to to behave

  as if they were connected by a screw connection.

  Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent on reading

  description and claims, with reference to

attached drawings.

  To briefly describe the invention, the junction between tubular mile and female bodies of oil deposits is perfected by the fact that it comprises

  a metal-to-metal interaction seal with interposi-

  a hollow thread in an interconnecting helix.

  With regard to the method for forming

  between tubular members comprising one end

  male and one female end, the improvement

  to form a female end on a first organ

  tubular so that its internal diameter is slightly

  less than the outer diameter of the mile end of a second tubular member, inserting the mile end

  of the second organ in the female end of the first organ

  tubular shaft by rotating them relative to each other on a substantially common longitudinal axis so as to achieve a metal-to-metal interaction seal causing the interconnection of the hollow lines into

propeller provided between them.

On the drawings:

  Fig.1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the end of

mile or tip of a pipe;

  Fig.2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the end.

  female mite or tulip of a pipe;

  Fig.3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a rod

  complete composition comprising the resulting dep4ts of the sealant; Fig.4 is an elevational view with tearing of a junction of separate pipes, showing the lines

  hollow or marks resembling threads and constituting

  killed according to the present invention;

  Fig.5 is a sectional view showing a device

  to telescopically press and rotate the

  butt inside the tulip; Fig.6A is a sectional view of a second embodiment of

  implementation of the device allowing both to introduce

  telescopically and rotate the endcap

  laughter of the tulip; and Fig.6B is a top view of the guide walls

  to cam of the device shown in Fig.6A.

  Reference being made to fig.1 to 5, the field of application

  of the present invention relates, in outline, to a pipe junction and a method for

connect tubular organs.

  The pipes to be connected may be of the type equipped with

  tremities in tulip and mouthpiece. For example, the pipe 10

  comprises a tip end 11 and the pipe 12 an

  tulip end 13. The tulip end may be

in any classical way.

  The female or tulip end 13 is made of

  increasing its internal diameter until it is

  significantly lower than the outer diameter of the

  the tip 11. The length of this terminal region

  magnified may vary depending on specific requirements.

  The pipe 12 which comprises the portions of the tulip-shaped section may contain a coating or a

internal or external veneer 14.

  The outer surface of the tip-shaped end

  11 and / or the inner surface of the section in the form of tu-

  lipe are preferably coated with a compound

  by the combination of a lubricant and an agent of

such as an epoxy resin.

  The tip end 11 is slightly tapered or reduced around its outer diameter to facilitate entry into the tulip 13. The tube 10 may contain a coating or an internal plating 16. Thus, the method of

  junction of pipes according to the invention can be implemented.

  with pipes with or without a coating.

  As noted above, the bore formed by the wall

  internal cylindrical of the tulip 13 has a light diameter-

  smaller than the diameter of the outer cylindrical wall of the nozzle 11, so as to form a seal with

  tight metal-to-metal mechanical interaction between

said wall sections.

  According to the invention, the connection is made by rotating a member of the connection such as the pipe 12 relative to the other pipe 10 at an angle ranging from a few degrees to several turns while the two members are also introduced to force one into the other. Inserting the male member 11 into the under-sized female member 13 while rotating one member relative to the other

  implement the joining mechanism which constitutes a

important aspect of the invention.

  Due to the interaction and torsion joint, it is possible to

  the junction of two bodies by means of hollow lines provided on the outer surface of the mile member and on the

  internal surface of the female organ.

  The inter-junction of these hollow lines 17 and 18 is

  in substantially the same way, or in such a way

  that threads of shallow screws, and causes the organs to behave almost as if they were

connected by a screw connection.

  The separation of the traction connection causes either the elongation of the external member or the crushing of the internal member, or a combination of these two modes,

  over a distance equal to the depth of the hollow lines.

  When they are forced to rotate when separated, the junctions are unscrewed by opposing a great resistance

  due to the increase in length of the hollow lines.

  An apparatus for making the junction of the present invention is shown schematically in FIG. The arrangement shown in Fig.5 is illustrated

  in connection with the formation of a pipe junction

  pipes 10 and 12 already provided respectively with a

  tip portion 11 and a tulip-shaped portion 13.

  The apparatus comprises two locking members 19 and 20 facing each other. Each of the locking members is traversed by a central bore coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the pipes

  and 12, and teeth or jaws for clamping the pipes.

  The locking members 19 and 20 may comprise

  conical bore bores for tools (not shown) or clamping means (not shown) for pressing the teeth against the respective sections of the pipes 12 and 10. The locking member 19 may contain a pinion 21

  integral and traversed by a central bore

  tral coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the pipes 10 and 12. The pinion and the locking member 19 are rotatably tightened around the pipe section 12 and fixed axially in position using conventional and suitable mounting means. The locking member 19 and the pinion 21 are rotated at a speed chosen by means of a pinion 23 driven by a motor 22 and which meshes with the teeth of the pinion 21,

  The locking member 20 can move closer or

  axially locking the locking member 19, for example by means of a pair of hydraulically actuated cylinders 24 and 25.

  Figure 5 shows schematically the way in which the

  end 11 is inserted by force in the cylindrical section in

  tulip form 13 by means of the hydraulically actuated cylinders

  24 and 25 that is actuated to move the pipe

  in the direction of the arrows 27. During the transla-

  axial direction of the pipe 10, the locking member 19 and thereby the pipe 12 are rotated relative to each other.

  to the pipe 10, for example as indicated by the arrow 28.

  Thus, a helical interaction junction is obtained from the hollow lines 17 and 18 provided on the respective metal contact (friction) surfaces.

against metal.

  U The amount by which the walls of the tulip and the nozzle stall does not exceed the elastic limit of the

  pipe material so as to maintain a repeating force

  correct holding coupled to the linkage mechanism of the pre-

  invention, the interconnected lines

  featuring a bit like shallow screw threads.

  Reference being now made to FIGS. 6A and 6B, a different embodiment of the device will be described.

  of fig.5. The pipe connection apparatus is similar

  to that shown in fig.5 except that the model

  22, the pinions 21 and 23 and the locking member 19 are replaced by a block 30 or clamping member 30, that is to say, not rotating, and a blocking member guided by cam 31. The blocking member 31 comprises

  cam follower arms 32 and 33 diametrically opposed

  shown in dashed lines) extending into cam blanks or channels 36 respectively in the mounting and guiding plates 34 and 35.

  actuates, the hydraulically actuated cylinders 24 and 25

  the blocking member 31 towards the locking member 30 so as to force the pipe 10 into the tulip-shaped section 13 of the pipe 12. The follower arms

  cam 32 and 33 are guided by the cutouts of the channels

  in the guide walls 34 and 35 so as to cause the rotation of the pipe 10 at the same time as the inward movement of the locking member 31. FIG. 6B represents, for example, the guide plate 34 in which was made a diagonal cut or channel-shaped helix 36. Thus, the pipe 10 is made to fit into the tulip-shaped end

  13 of the pipe 12 by a rotational movement or torsion.

  It goes without saying that although there are

  of the invention have been described, it will be understood that modifications and other

  be brought within the scope of application

of the appended claims.

  By way of example, an example of numerical data, which can be respected by the pipes, will be given below.

, 12, which are here made of steel.

  - difference in diameter: 1.25 cm,

  - modulus of elasticity of the ends 11, 13 of the tu-

  yaux: between 2 and 2.1 MPa, - hardness of the inner surface of the ends 11, 13: between 68 and 100 on the Rockwell B scale.

REVEINDICATIONS

  1.- Junction of pipes, realized between organs tu-

  bends maile and female (11, 13), especially for oilfield pipes, characterized in that the seal is made by metal-to-metal interaction and includes interconnect surfaces with hollow lines

in helices (17, 18).

  2. Junction according to claim 1, between the former

  tip end (11) and the tulip end (13) of gold

  Tubular ganes (10, 12), characterized in that the hollow lines are circumferential interconnecting threads.

  3. Junction according to one of claims 1 and 2,

  characterized in that the pipes (10, 12) are in

  steel and that the internal diameter of the female organ

  (13) is approximately 1.25 cm below the diameter of

  external meter of the male member (11) before the junction of said members, the female member (13) having a modulus of elasticity of between 2 MPa and 2.1 MPa and the mile member (11) having a modulus of elasticity elasticity between

2 MPa and 2.1 MPa.

  4. Junction according to claim 3, characterized

  in that the female member (13) has a surface

  dull, whose hardness is between 68 and 100 on the scale of the Rockwell B hardness scale, the male member (11) has an outer surface whose hardness is between 68 and on the Rockwell hardness scale B, and in that the metal-to-metal interaction junction brings the hollow lines (18) of the inner surface of the female member (13) and the hollow lines (17) of the surface

  external of the mile (11) organ to behave

  as interconnecting quote nets.

  5.- Method for forming the junction according to one of

  claims I to 4, characterized in that

  the female end (13) is formed on a first body

  tubular (12), having a diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the male end (11) of the second tubular member (10), and that the end

  male (11) of the second member (10) is inserted into the end

  female ment (15) of the first member (12) by rotation

  between the two elements around a longitudinal axis

  substantially common in order to form a junc-

  by metal-to-metal interaction causing interconnection of the helical hollow lines (17, 18) they comprise. 6. A process according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises the complementary operation

  applying a substance forming a lubricant

  and a sealant on a portion of at least one of the metal-to-metal contact surfaces between

  the female end (13) and the male end (11).

  7.- Method according to one of claims 5 and 6,

  characterized in that the end of the male element (11) is beveled to facilitate the joining of

  this end with the female element (13).

  8 - Method according to one of claims 5 to 7,

  characterized by the fact that the rotational movement is

  accompanied by a forced axial movement of approximation.

  9. Apparatus 1 for carrying out the method according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises two devices (19, 30) for blocking the pipes (10, 12) and motor means (21, 22, 23, 32, 33, 34,

  35, 36; 24, 25) to cause rotation and reconciliation.

  relating to the two blocking devices.