Patent ID: 9683434
Date: 2017-06-20
CPC Classifications: E21B

Claim:
1. Apparatus for controlling a downhole device in an oil, gas or water well, the apparatus comprising a body having a control slot engaging a pin, the control slot and the pin being provided on separate parts that are movable relative to one another, such that movement of the pin relative to the control slot switches the downhole device between active and inactive states, the slot having at least one first loop wherein the pin is moveable between different idling configurations of the pin and slot in which the device is inactive, and at least one second separate loop spaced around the body with respect to the first loop, and wherein the pin is moveable in the second loop between different configurations of the pin and slot which correspond to active and inactive configurations of the downhole device, wherein the pin is switchable between the first and second loops, and wherein the pin is cycleable between the different configurations within each one of the at least one first loop and the at least one second loop without switching between the first and second loops, wherein each loop comprises a first track and a second track, and the second track returns the pin to the starting point of the first track, wherein the at least one first loop has a first axial track at one end, and the at least one second loop has a second axial track at the same end, with a length different from that of the first axial track, wherein the slot has alternating first and second loops spaced circumferentially around the body, and wherein each of the alternating first loops overlap adjacent alternating second loops at a transition area.