Patent ID: 11940064
Assignee: SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  E | IPC E  F

Claim 9:
10. A method comprising:
providing a connector, the connector comprising:
a box:
a first box thread disposed on an interior surface of the box and having a first pitch; and
a second box thread disposed on the interior surface of the box and having a second pitch different from the first pitch;

providing a tubular joint, the tubular joint comprising:
a pin at a distal end of the tubular joint;
a first pin thread disposed on an external surface of the pin, the first pin thread having the first pitch, wherein the first pin thread is dimensioned so as to be compatible with a box thread of a standard American Petroleum Institute (API) coupling and has a length along a longitudinal axis of the tubular joint that is substantially equivalent to a length along a longitudinal axis of a tubular joint of the standard API coupling; and
a second pin thread disposed on the external surface of the pin between the first pin thread and an unthreaded portion of the tubular joint, the second pin thread having the second pitch, wherein the second pin thread has a length along the longitudinal axis that is substantially equivalent to a length of a runout zone of the standard API coupling;

disposing an elastomeric seal ring around the tubular joint between the first pin thread and the second pin thread, wherein the elastomeric seal ring comprises a material that swells in response to the presence of hydrocarbons and does not swell in response to the presence of an aqueous solution, the material comprising at least one of:
natural rubber;
ethylene-propylene-copolymer rubber;
butyl rubber;
butadiene rubber;
isoprene rubber; and
chloroprene rubber; and

engaging the pin with the box such that the first pin thread engages with the first box thread, the second pin thread engages with the second box thread, and the elastomeric seal ring forms a swellable metal-to-elastomer seal between the first pin thread and the second pin thread, thereby forming a tubular connection of the tubular joint with the connector.