Patent ID: 9206930
Filing Date: 2015-12-08
Classification: E21B,F16L

Abstract:
1. A device for protecting a female end of a component of a threaded tubular connection for drilling and working hydrocarbon wells, the female end of the component including at least one internal threading, an annular end surface, and an internal surface placed respectively upstream and downstream of the internal threading and respectively having first and second selected orientations, the device comprising: a body having a longitudinal axis and including an external threading configured to cooperate with the internal threading; and first and second annular flexible sealing elements placed respectively upstream and downstream of the external threading and configured to provide first and second seals respectively at the internal surface and the annular end surface, wherein the first and second sealing elements have selected first and second orientations at least one of which differs by an angle of at least 10° from the corresponding second or first orientation of the female end before screwing the device onto the female end and are deformable by axial bending to acquire, by surface contact with the internal surface and the annular end surface, an energy that at least partially opposes any unintentional unscrewing when the female end is screwed onto the body into a final position, and the first sealing element is in a form of an annular tongue, the annular tongue being connected to the body via an interior periphery thereof and projects radially outwardly from the longitudinal axis, wherein an internal surface of the female end is an annular abutment surface, wherein the body is configured so that when screwing on and at a moment the first sealing element comes into contact with the internal surface, the second sealing element is positioned at an axial distance from the annular end surface which is in a range from about 0.5 mm to about 1 mm, wherein the second sealing element projects radially outwardly from the longitudinal axis and from an outer circumferential surface of the body, and wherein a distal end of the first sealing element, that is farthest from the interior periphery of the body, is configured to contact the internal surface of the female end downstream of the internal threading.