Abstract:
Disclosed herein is a valve. The valve includes a first member having a first port therethrough, a second member in operable communication with the first member having a sealing surface thereon and a second port therethrough that is movable relative to the first member. The valve also has a seal sealingly engaged with the first member and slidably sealingly engagable with the second member, and a support member movably disposed relative to the first member and the second member. The support member has a support surface dimensioned similarly to the sealing surface, and is movable with the second member relative to the first member so that upon such movement the seal is continuously supported by at least one of the sealing surface and the support surface.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Valving systems such as tubular valving systems, for example, typically employ seals that are slidably sealingly engaged via radial compression in an annular space defined between movable nested tubulars. When closed ports in the two tubulars are positioned on opposing longitudinal sides of the seal and when open are positioned on a same longitudinal side of the seal. Actuation of such valves simply requires longitudinally sliding one tubular relative to the other such that the ports of one of the two tubulars pass by the seal. The seals can however, be damaged upon such movement since the radial compression of the seal is at least momentarily removed when the port is aligned with the seal. Once the end of the port reaches the seal the seal must be recompressed. This recompression sometimes results in the seal being cut. Additionally, flow by the seal while the seal is uncompressed can dislodge or extrude the seal from a recess designed to position the seal. This can result in leakage upon closure of the valve. Operators of tubular valves are always interested in new devices and methods that avoid the foregoing drawbacks. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION 
       [0002]    Disclosed herein is a valve. The valve includes a first member having a first port therethrough, a second member in operable communication with the first member having a sealing surface thereon and a second port therethrough that is movable relative to the first member. The valve also has a seal sealingly engaged with the first member and slidably sealingly engagable with the second member, and a support member movably disposed relative to the first member and the second member. The support member has a support surface dimensioned similarly to the sealing surface, and is movable with the second member relative to the first member so that upon such movement the seal is continuously supported by at least one of the sealing surface and the support surface. 
         [0003]    Further disclosed herein is a method of supporting a seal of a valve. The method includes moving a second member and a support member relative to a first member and a seal, altering engagement of the seal between sealing engagement with a sealing surface of the second member and supporting engagement with a support surface of the support member, and altering position of a second port of the second member between a side of the seal opposite that of a first port of the first member to a same side of the seal as the first port of the first member. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]    The following descriptions should not be considered limiting in any way. With reference to the accompanying drawings, like elements are numbered alike: 
           [0005]      FIG. 1A  depicts a partial cross sectional view of a valve disclosed herein shown in a closed position; 
           [0006]      FIG. 1B  depicts a magnified view of a portion of the valve of  FIG. 1A  taken at circle  1 B; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2A  depicts a partial cross sectional view of the valve disclosed herein shown in an alternate closed position; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2B  depicts a magnified view of a portion of the valve of  FIG. 2A  taken at circle  2 B; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3A  depicts a partial cross sectional view of the valve disclosed herein shown in an open position; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3B  depicts a magnified view of a portion of the valve of  FIG. 3A  taken at circle  3 B; and 
           [0011]      FIG. 4A  depicts a partial cross sectional view of an alternate embodiment of the valve disclosed herein shown in a closed position; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4B  depicts a magnified view of a portion of the valve of  FIG. 4A  taken at circle  4 B. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures. 
         [0014]    Referring to  FIGS. 1A-3B , an embodiment of a valve disclosed herein as a tubular valve is illustrated at  10 . The valve  10  includes a first member  14 , a second member  18  movable relative to the first member  14  and a support member  22  movable relative to both the first member  14  and the second member  18 . The first member  14  and the second member  18  both being tubulars in this embodiment, and the support member  22  being a sleeve. A seal  26  is sealingly engaged with the first tubular  14  and slidably sealingly engaged with a sealing surface  30  of the second tubular  18 . The valve  10  is configured such that when moving from a closed position, as shown in  FIG. 1A , to an open position, as shown in  FIG. 3A , a support surface  34  of the sleeve  22  first moves into supporting engagement with the seal  26 , as shown in  FIG. 2A , prior to the valve  10  opening. The foregoing structure assures that the seal  26  is always supported by either the sealing surface  30  or the support surface  34  at all possible positions of the tubulars  14 ,  18  and the sleeve  22 . This differs from typical tubular valves that do not include the sleeve  22  and as such the seal  26  is unsupported during actuation of the valve thereby permitting fluid flow to possibly erode the seal  22  or to dislodge it from its seating position with the first tubular  14 . Additional damage can occur to the seal  26  of such valves while being actuated due to clipping a portion of the seal  26  between the tubulars  14 ,  18  as the seal  22  reengages with sealing surface  30  after being unsupported. It should be noted that the support surface  34  is dimensioned substantially the same as the sealing surface  30  to minimize any changes in radial compression of the seal  26  as the sleeve  22  and the second tubular  18  move into and out of engagement with the seal  26 . In fact, the seal  26  may sealingly engage with the support surface  34  upon engagement therewith. 
         [0015]    The open versus closed position of the instant valve  10  is determined by the relative longitudinal positions of a first port  38  in the first tubular  14  and a second port  42  in the second tubular  18  relative to the seal  26 . The closed position ( FIG. 1A ) is defined by the second port  42  being on an opposite side of the seal  26  than the first port  38 , while the open position ( FIG. 3A ) is defined by the second port  42  being on a same side of the seal  26  as the first port  38 . The open position allows fluidic communication between an inside and outside of the tubulars  14 ,  18 . 
         [0016]    The seal  26  may be constructed of various materials and have various shapes with the seal  26  illustrated in this illustrated embodiment being polymeric with a plurality of chevron elements  46  that are radially compressed between the first tubular  14  and either the sealing surface  30  or the support surface  34  depending on the instant position of the valve  10 . The chevron shaped elements  46  provide increasing sealing forces when pressure is greater on one side than the other. By having some of the chevron shaped elements  46  oriented in each of two opposing longitudinal directions the seal  26  supports greater pressure in both directions than if the chevron shaped elements  46  were oriented in only a single longitudinal direction. 
         [0017]    The sleeve  22  is longitudinally biased between the first tubular  14  and the second tubular  18  by a biasing member  50  illustrated herein as a compression spring. This biasing assures that an end  54  of the sleeve  22  remains in contact with a shoulder  58  of the second tubular  18  whenever the sleeve  22  is moving relative to the seal  26 . This contact prevents a longitudinal gap from forming between the end  54  and the shoulder  58  that portions of the seal  26  could extend radially into if it were allowed to form. 
         [0018]    A shoulder  68  on a second end  72  of the sleeve  22  is contactable with a shoulder  76  on the first tubular  14  to stop movement of the sleeve  22  relative to the first tubular  14  during opening of the valve  10 . This allows the second port  42  to become uncovered by the sleeve  22  as the second tubular  18  moves to position the second port  42  on a same side of the seal  26  as the first port  38 . 
         [0019]    Two detents are formed between the first tubular  14  and the second tubular  18  by a snap ring  78  that move with the second tubular  18  into grooves  82 ,  86  on the second tubular  18 . The grooves  82 ,  86  are positioned to maintain the valve  10  in the closed position when the snap ring  78  is located in the first groove  82  and the open position when the snap ring  78  is located in the second groove  86 . 
         [0020]    The valve  10  disclosed in this embodiments includes a second seal  90  that sealingly engages with both the first tubular  14  and the second tubular  18  throughout all movements thereof. The second seal  90  prevents leakage between the tubulars  14 ,  18  in a longitudinal direction opposite the direction of the first port  38  where the seal  22  is located. Alternate embodiments could employ other means than the sliding second seal  90  shown, such as a flexible bellows member (not shown), for example, that would allow the tubulars  14 ,  18  to move relative to one another while maintaining a seal therebetween. 
         [0021]    The tubular valve  10  disclosed herein is employable in any tubular system. For example, the valve  10  could be employed downhole in a borehole of a carbon sequestration operation, in a wellbore of a hydrocarbon recovery operation and in a wellbore of a water well operation, to name a few. These examples often employ very high pressures and flow rates that can be detrimental to seals of typical valves that are unsupported for even short durations of time while such valves are actuated. By employing the disclosed valve  10  in these applications, even higher pressures and flow rates than those currently allowed will likely be achievable. 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIGS. 4A and 4B , an alternate embodiment of a valve disclosed herein is illustrated at  110 . The valve  110  employs many of the same components as the valve  10  and as such these components are depicted by the same reference characters. These components will not be described in detail again herein but instead the differences between the two valves  110 ,  10  will be elaborated on. Instead of using the biasing member  50  to bias the sleeve  22  against the shoulder  58  the valve  110  employs an interfering member  150  illustrated in this embodiment as a collet that is formed as a portion of the second tubular  18 . The collet  150  includes fingers  156  that are biased radially outwardly such that the fingers  156  interferingly engage with the second end  72  of the sleeve  22  such that when the second tubular  18  is moved leftward in the Figures, the sleeve  22  also moves leftward. This arrangement assures that the sleeve  22  is positioned over the second ports  42  before the second ports  42  move longitudinally past the seal  26 . The sleeve  22  is stopped from moving further leftward when the shoulder  68  on the sleeve  22  contacts the shoulder  76  on the first tubular  14 . The fingers  156  of the collet  150  then flex radially inwardly as the second tubular  18  continues to move allowing the fingers  156  to slide along an inner surface  170  of the sleeve  22  until the second ports  42  longitudinally align with the first ports  38  resulting in an opening of the valve  110 . 
         [0023]    During closing of the valve  110  the sleeve  22  remains in its previous position by frictional engagement with the first tubular  14 , for example, until the shoulder  58  of the second tubular  18  contacts the end  54  of the sleeve  22  thereby causing the sleeve  22  to move with the second tubular  18  from there on until the valve  110  is back to the fully closed position. 
         [0024]    While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims. Also, in the drawings and the description, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms may have been employed, they are unless otherwise stated used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention therefore not being so limited. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item.