Abstract:
A coiled adaptive seat is held to a smaller diameter for delivery with a tool that can feature a locating lug for desired alignment of the seat with an intended groove in the inner wall of a tubular. The release tool retracts a cover from the seat allowing its diameter to increase as it enters a groove. Alternatively the adaptive seat is released near the groove and pushed axially in the string to the groove for fixation. Once in the groove the inside diameter of the string is a support for a blocking object so that sequential treatment of parts of a zone can be accomplished. The blocking object is removed with pressure, dissolving, milling or disintegration leaving a narrow ledge in the tubular bore from the seat that can simply be left in place or milled as well. An E4#10 from Baker Hughes is modified for adaptive seat delivery.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    Priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/332,708, filed May 6, 2016, incorporated herein by reference, is hereby claimed. 
     
    
     STATEMENTS AS TO THE RIGHTS TO THE INVENTION MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    None 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The field of the invention is a barrier support used in sequential formation treatment and more particularly barrier supports that are energized by intrinsic potential energy for fixation in a tubular string to receive an object for isolating already treated zones below that are originally fracked or zones below that have been re-fractured where the drift dimension of the support is large enough that removal of the support is not necessary. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Currently conventional frac plugs have to be milled/cut out after a well is hydraulically fractured. This can be very costly and it also restricts the depth at which plugs can be used. Plugs themselves can be run out to very long distances; however, such plugs cannot be easily milled/cut out after being set because coil tubing or other drilling/milling means can only extend out so far in a horizontal well. 
         [0005]    There is also an issue with the amount of water it takes to pump a plug in a horizontal or directional well to its destination. 
         [0006]    Dissolvable plugs and balls are available, but conventional technology is not reliable. A portion of the balls/plugs dissolve, but often they don&#39;t completely dissolve and they end up causing a restriction in the wellbore. Operators are often required to go back into a well and run a mill/cleaning trip to remove debris left by such dissolving plugs. This negates the benefits of running the dissolvable plug in the first place. 
         [0007]    The present invention (“Adaptive Seat”) also referred to as adaptive seal, or plainly the seat comprises a simple sealing seat and plug assembly designed to replace a conventional frac plug. The present invention is designed so that it can be deployed into the inner bore of a liner system and support a dart, ball or other dropped object. Once the dart/ball/object lands on the seat, it seals off the portion of the wellbore below the seat and makes it possible for the zone above the seat to be hydraulically fractured. Typically, a composite plug made up of many parts is used to accomplish this task. By contrast, the adaptive seat which is a relative simple low cost item of unitary construction that can be used instead of the costly composite frac plug. 
         [0008]    The adaptive seat can be deployed using a conventional wireline or pipe-conveyed setting tool. The setting tool can be easily retrofitted by removing certain parts from its lower end and replacing them with components that allow the seat to be deployed in a well. Once deployed, the adapter kit for the seat has a collet mechanism that holds the adaptive seat in place while a mandrel adapter pushes the seat into position. Once the seat is in position, an observable pressure increase is visible at surface to let an operator know the seat has been set within a wellbore. 
         [0009]    The seat does not have any issues running downhole or in a horizontal well since it doesn&#39;t have any packer/rubber elements on it. As such, the bottom hole assembly for the seat can be run into a wellbore and set very quickly, up to two to three times faster than conventional frac plugs. 
         [0010]    The seat design has a large internal diameter (ID), including after it is set in casing. The seat will not need to be milled out. The dart/ball/object is constructed of dissolvable material so it does not have to be milled out either. 
         [0011]    In one embodiment, the adaptive seat is run in conjunction with a dart/ball that has a slight taper which will help the adaptive seat seat/set. The harder you pump on the dart the more it pushes the seat radially outward into the casing which insures said seat is fully set. 
         [0012]    The seat is designed to handle high amounts of stress while it is coiled into a small adaptive seat and expand out into a recessed area when relaxed or against a support in a tubular passage. This can be done by optionally cutting the outside diameter and the inside diameter of a square or circular seat such that the high stresses in the outside diameter and inside diameter of the seat are removed and the seat is free to open out to its uncompressed size from very small diameters. 
         [0013]    The dart/ball supports the seat in its groove and makes it impossible for the seat to come out of the groove. It can be designed with a taper which lands in the inside diameter of the seat and pushes the seat out into the groove. Additionally or alternatively, the seat can have a bevel or chamfer for the same purpose. The seat can have a seal on the front of it to help it seal against the seat so the seat doesn&#39;t have to be designed with a seal on it. Alternatively, the seat can seal using a metal-to-metal seal. 
         [0014]    A conventional setting tool can be used to easily deploy the adaptive seat. It&#39;s designed with a collet assembly to hold the seat from getting cocked in the inside diameter of the casing. Once the setting tool pushes the seat down to a groove in the casing, a pressure increase will be observable at surface allowing the operator to stop operations and retrieve the setting tool. 
         [0015]    The adaptive seat removes the need to run a costly composite frac plug. Having a single part greatly reduces cost and failure modes. It can be run out to any depth since it does not have to be milled up later. 
         [0016]    The seat also has a very large inside diameter, even when it&#39;s set into a groove in a wellbore. This makes it possible to leave the seat in a well and not have to go back and mill it out. 
         [0017]    A dart/ball is used in conjunction with the seat. The interface between the dart and the seat make the seat much less likely to collapse and not likely to come out of the groove. Having a taper on the dart or seat also allows the dart to apply additional forces on the seat such that it will aid the seat in staying in the groove under high pressures typically observed during a hydraulic fracturing operations. 
         [0018]    Modifying the outside diameter and the inside diameter of the seat with small gaps or cuts, it is possible to decrease the stresses in the seat and make it possible to “roll” up the seat into a small cylinder and then knock it out of its cylinder so that it opens up radially outward. This makes it possible to land said seat into a groove in the inner surface of the wellbore. It sticks out in the inside diameter just enough to catch the dart/ball and its inside diameter is large enough that small diameter composite plugs can be run through it if needed. A composite plug can still be used as a contingency if there&#39;s an issue with the seat or the casing. The large inside also leads to composite plugs being run through it for re-fracs later in the well&#39;s life. 
         [0019]    The seat of the present invention is a single item, very cost effective, and simple to deploy, there is no need to go back and mill/cut up a plug. Frac plugs can be run through it if needed. Those skilled in the art will more readily appreciate these and other aspects of the present invention from a review of the description of the preferred embodiments and the associated drawings while appreciating that the full scope of the invention is to be determined from the appended claims. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0020]    The adaptive seat is held to a smaller diameter for delivery with a tool that can feature a locating lug for desired alignment of the seat with an intended groove in the inner wall of a tubular. The release tool retracts a cover from the seat allowing its diameter to increase as it enters a groove. Alternatively the seat can be released near the groove and pushed axially in the seat to the groove for fixation. Once in the groove the inside diameter of the string is a support for a blocking object so that sequential treatment of parts of a zone can be accomplished. The blocking object can be removed with pressure, dissolving or disintegration leaving a narrow ledge in the tubular bore from the seat that can simply be left in place. A known setting tool such as an E4#10 from Baker Hughes is modified for seat delivery. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the adaptive seat showing outer surface notches; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a section view of the adaptive seat in its tubular notch with a ball landed; 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is the view of  FIG. 2  with a dart landed; 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view of the adaptive seat retained by a sleeve for running in; 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is the view of  FIG. 4  with the adaptive seat landed adjacent its intended support groove; 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  is a schematic view of the adaptive seat landed or pushed into its intended support groove; 
           [0027]      FIG. 7  is the view of  FIG. 6  with a ball landed on the adaptive seat; 
           [0028]      FIG. 8  is a section view of a run in position for a first version of a adaptive seat delivery tool; 
           [0029]      FIG. 9  is the view of  FIG. 8  in the seat released position; 
           [0030]      FIG. 10  is the view of  FIG. 9  with the tool released from a locating groove for removal; 
           [0031]      FIG. 11  is the view of  FIG. 10  as the delivery tool is pulled out of the hole; 
           [0032]      FIG. 12  is the view of  FIG. 11  with an object laded on the seat when the seat is extended into a groove; 
           [0033]      FIG. 13  is another version of the seat delivery tool in the running in position; 
           [0034]      FIG. 14  is the view of  FIG. 13  with the seat set in a groove; 
           [0035]      FIG. 15  is another version of the seat delivery tool with the seat released into an associated groove; 
           [0036]      FIG. 16  is another version of the seat delivery tool in the seat running in position; 
           [0037]      FIG. 17  is the view of  FIG. 16  in the seat pre-set position; 
           [0038]      FIG. 18  is the view of  FIG. 17  in the seat set position; 
           [0039]      FIG. 19  is another version of the seat delivery tool in the running in position; 
           [0040]      FIG. 20  is the view of  FIG. 19  in the seat set position; 
           [0041]      FIG. 21  is another version of the seat running tool in the run in position; 
           [0042]      FIG. 22  is the view of  FIG. 21  is the seat set position; 
           [0043]      FIG. 23  is the view of  FIG. 22  with the tool being removed from the hole; 
           [0044]      FIG. 24  is another version of the seat running tool during running in; 
           [0045]      FIG. 25  is the view of  FIG. 24  with the seat set; 
           [0046]      FIG. 26  is the view of  FIG. 25  with the tool released for removal; 
           [0047]      FIG. 27  is the view of  FIG. 26  showing the tool being removed; 
           [0048]      FIG. 28  is another version of the tool in the running in position; 
           [0049]      FIG. 29  is the view of  FIG. 28  in the seat set position; 
           [0050]      FIG. 30  is the view of  FIG. 29  with the tool released for removal; 
           [0051]      FIG. 31  is another version of the seat delivery tool in the running in position; 
           [0052]      FIG. 32  is the view of  FIG. 31  in the seat released position; 
           [0053]      FIG. 33  is the view of  FIG. 32  with the tool released from a locating groove for removal; 
           [0054]      FIG. 34  is the view of  FIG. 33  as the delivery tool is pulled out of the hole; 
           [0055]      FIG. 35  is the view of  FIG. 34  with an object landed on the seat when the seat is extended into a groove; 
           [0056]      FIG. 36  is another version of the seat delivery tool in the running in position; 
           [0057]      FIG. 37  is the view of  FIG. 36  in the seat released position; 
           [0058]      FIG. 38  is the view of  FIG. 37  with the tool released from a locating groove for removal. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0059]    Referring to  FIG. 1  a round shaped adaptive seat  10  is illustrated. It is preferably a continuous coil of preferably flat material that presents an inner surface  12  and an outer surface  14 . Preferably surfaces  12  and  14  are aligned for each winding when the adaptive seat  10  is allowed to relax in a retaining groove or recess  16  located in a tubular such as casing or liner or sub  18 . Alternatively the outer surface  14  can have surface treatment or texture to bite into or penetrate into the tubular wall when allowed to relax into contact with the tubular wall for support of an object such as ball  22  or dart  24  by resisting shear stress transmitted to adaptive seat  10 . Since the seat  10  is delivered compressed to a smaller diameter there can optionally be notches  20  in outer surface  14  to reduce the force needed to reduce the diameter of the seat  10  for running in. Notches  20  also reduce the stress in the adaptive seat. Optionally notches such as  20  can also be on inside surface  12 , however locating them there may also create a fluid path for some leakage when a ball  22  or a dart  24  land on the seat  10  as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Alternatively, surface  12  can have a taper, bevel or chamfer to help the ball  22  or the dart  24  seal against the seat  10 . On the other hand, the ball  22  or dart  24  or some other blocking shape can also block any notches that may be located on the inner surface  12 . Preferably all the coils of seat  10  hit bottom surface  26  of groove  16  at the same time so that on release or movement into groove  16  the outer surface  14  and the inner surface  12  form a cylindrical shape. As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3  the extension of adaptive seat  10  into the flowpath having a centerline  28  is only to the extent to withstand the anticipated shear loading on the seat  10  when treatment pressure is applied from above to seated ball  22  or dart  24  or some other blocking object. Ball  22  or dart  24  or some other blocking object are designed to be removable from adaptive seats  10  after the desired increments of a zone to be treated are completed. Removal of ball  22  or dart  24  or some other equivalent blocking object can be with applied pressure to a predetermined value higher than the anticipated treating pressures. Alternatively, materials can be introduced into the borehole that can dissolve the ball  22  or dart  24  or equivalent blocking object by exposure to well fluid. Materials can be selected that will disintegrate with time exposure to well fluids such as controlled electrolytic materials that are known or that change shape with thermal exposure to well fluid so that they can pass through an inside diameter of inner surface  12  of the seat  10  in the deployed positions of  FIGS. 2 and 3 . After that happens there is no need to mill out because the extension of the seat  10  into the passage denoted by centerline  28  is sufficiently minimal that negligible resistance to subsequent production flow is offered by the seat  10  located throughout the treated interval. Optionally, if the material of the seat  10  can tolerate compression to a run in diameter and still exhibit a property of dissolving or disintegration or can otherwise be non-interventionally removed then not only ball  22  and dart  24  or their equivalent blocking member be removed non-interventionally, but also the seat  10  can also be removed leaving open grooves  16  that will have even less impact on subsequent production flow rates after the treatment is over and production begins. Seat  10  can be circular with an adjustable diameter without permanently deforming. 
         [0060]    While the preferred treatment is fracturing, the teachings of the present disclosure may be used in a variety of well operations. These operations may involve using one or more treatment agents to treat a formation, the fluids resident in a formation, a wellbore, and/or equipment in the wellbore, such as production tubing. The treatment agents may be in the form of liquids, gases, solids, semi-solids, and mixtures thereof. Illustrative treatment agents include, but are not limited to, fracturing fluids, acids, steam, water, brine, anti-corrosion agents, cement, permeability modifiers, drilling muds, emulsifiers, demulsifiers, tracers, flow improvers etc. Illustrative well operations include, but are not limited to, hydraulic fracturing, stimulation, tracer injection, cleaning, acidizing, steam injection, water flooding, cementing, etc., all collectively included in a term “treating” as used herein. Another operation can be production from said zone or injection into said zone. 
         [0061]    Referring to  FIGS. 4-7 , adaptive seat  10  is shown retained by a retaining sleeve  30  on the way to a groove  16 . Although a single adaptive seat  10  and a single groove  16  are shown the invention contemplates delivery of multiple adaptive seats  10  in a single trip to multiple grooves  16  that are spaced apart. Alternatively, each section of tubular  32  that is manufactured with a groove such as  16  can already have an adaptive seat  10  inserted into a respective groove  16  at the tubular fabrication facility or at another facility or at the well site before a string is made up with stands of tubulars such as  32 . Preassembling the seats  10  into respective grooves  16  before the pipe  32  is assembled into a string and run in saves rig time otherwise used to deliver the seats  10  after the string is already in the hole. The downside is that different inside diameters would need to be used so that sequentially larger objects would need to land on successive adaptive seats such that the seats with the smallest opening would then be candidates for removal. Another disadvantage is that the blocking objects would have to be delivered sequentially by size and that can introduce operator error. By inserting the seats one at a time the same large inside diameter opening can be used so that all the balls or objects are the same size and the seat opening diameter in the deployed state is large enough so that removal of the seat after treatment is not necessary. 
         [0062]      FIG. 5  shows deploying at least one adaptive seat  10  adjacent bore  16  which would then require pushing the seat in its quasi relaxed state axially until it snaps into groove  16  as it further relaxes. Alternatively, the seat  10  can be released when aligned with a respective groove  16  such as by using a locating tool as will be described below so that when allowed to relax the seat  10  will go directly into the groove  16  without the need to be pushed axially.  FIG. 7  shows a ball  22  somewhat distorted by differential pressure during a treatment while seated on seat  10  when seat  10  is supported in groove  16 . 
         [0063]      FIGS. 8-12  illustrate a preferred design for a delivery tool  40  to deliver an adaptive seat  10  to a groove  16 . One or more dogs  42  are radially outwardly biased by springs  44  into a locating groove  46  as shown in  FIG. 8 . A pickup force places the dogs  42  at the top of locating groove  46  and aligns the seat  10  in a compressed state due to a cover sleeve  48  with groove  16 . Piston  50  moves from pressure applied through passage  52  into a variable volume between seals  54  and  56 . Movement of piston  50  takes with it sleeve  48  so that the seat  10  is exposed to radially relax as seen in  FIG. 9  for placement in groove  16 . Segmented retainers  58  are radially biased by springs  60  so that when sleeve  48  is retracted by outer piston  50  the movement of the retainer segments  58  is guided radially by opening  62  in lower mandrel  64 . Lower cap  66  has a series of collet fingers  68  that terminate in heads  70  to protect the sleeve  48  and the seat  10  from damage during running in. Inner piston  72  is initially locked against axial movement to upper mandrel  74  by virtue of one or more lugs  76  supported into upper mandrel  74  by an hourglass shaped support member  78  biased to be in the  FIG. 8  position by a spring  80 . Plunger  82  can be part of a known setting tool such as an E4#10 explosively operated setting tool sold by Baker Hughes Incorporated of Houston, Tex. or other tools that can apply a mechanical force to support member  78  to allow lugs  76  to retract into the hourglass shape as shown in  FIG. 9  can be used as an alternative. The movement of support member  78  can be locked in after allowing lugs  76  to retract to prevent subsequent re-engagement shown in the  FIG. 8  position. Piston  72  in  FIG. 9  is freed to move and is no longer locked to the upper mandrel  74  as a result of impact from plunger or actuating piston  82  of the known setting tool that moves piston  72 . Movement of piston  72  reduces the volume of chamber  84  between seals  88 ,  87  and  86  that results in pressure buildup through passage  52  and stroking of the piston  50  to retract the sleeve  48  from over the seat  10  to deliver the seat  10  into groove  16  in the manner described above, as shown in  FIG. 9 . Thereafter the removal of the tool  40  is accomplished with picking up upper mandrel  74  that takes with it release sleeve  90  and presents recess  92  under lugs  42  so that lugs  42  can retract from groove  46 , as shown in  FIG. 10 . Segmented retainers  58  have a sloping surface  94  that allows an uphole force to retract them as they jump over the seat  10  now supported in groove  16  with the potential energy releases from the seat  10  by retraction of the sleeve  48 .  FIG. 11  shows the entire delivery assembly of tool  40  coming away from seat  10  that remains in groove  16 .  FIG. 11  shows a ball  22  delivered to the seat  10  and pressure applied from above during a treatment such as a frac when the region above has previously been perforated. 
         [0064]      FIGS. 13 and 14  are essentially the same design as  FIGS. 8-12  with the difference being that the locating lugs  42  are omitted and the outer shape of support segments  58  is such that the compressed adaptive seat  10  is supported near lower end  96  so that if released above groove  16  the seat  10  can be pushed down axially into groove  16  to further move out. Another groove  16 ′ is provided in the event the segments  58  are installed in the reverse orientation than that shown so that the seat  10  can be released below groove  16 ′ and pulled up into it. If groove  16 ′ were not there and the segments  58  were installed in a reverse orientation than shown the seat  10  would not be movable uphole beyond reduced diameter  98 . 
         [0065]      FIG. 15  works similarly to  FIG. 13  except that an array of collet fingers  100  can engage the seat  10  released above groove  16  and push it down into extension into groove  16  as shown. 
         [0066]      FIGS. 16, 17 and 18  use a movable hub  102  to push the adaptive seat  10  axially out from under sleeve  48  which in the design shown should release the seat uphole or to the left of groove  16  so that tapered surface  104  can push the seat  10  in a downhole direction or to the right into groove  16 . Alternatively if the seat is actually released downhole or to the right of groove  16 ′ then tapered surface  106  can be used to move the seat  10  uphole or to the left into groove  16 ′. 
         [0067]    In  FIGS. 19 and 20  the cover sleeve  48  is pushed downhole away from the seat  10  and collets  100 ′ either guide the seat into groove  16  or push seat  10  downhole into groove  16  if seat  10  is released above groove  16 . 
         [0068]      FIGS. 21-23  are similar to  FIGS. 8-12  except that the locating lugs  42  a below seat  10  when entering groove  46  and the locking feature such as  78  is not used. 
         [0069]      FIGS. 24-27  are similar to  FIGS. 8-12  with the locking feature  78  eliminated and the sleeve  48  moved out from over the seat  10  in a downhole direction as opposed to an uphole direction in  FIGS. 8-12 . 
         [0070]      FIGS. 28-30  are similar to  21 - 23  with respect to the use and location of the locating dogs  42  and retaining sleeve  48  pulled in a downhole direction but also incorporating the nested collets  100 ′ and protective sleeve  110  shown in  FIGS. 18-19  for the same purpose of protecting the sleeve  48  for running in as in the case of protective sleeve  110  and to guide the seat  10  into groove  16  whether the seat  10  is initially aligned with groove  16  as it should be in  FIGS. 28-30  in a groove since there are dogs  42  in locating groove  46 . 
         [0071]      FIGS. 31-35  are similar to  FIGS. 8-12  except that the outer piston  50  is moved with hydrostatic pressure instead of pressure applied through a passage. Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure generated by the column of fluid in the well bore. Outer piston  50  is initially locked against axial movement to lower mandrel  124  by virtue of one or more lugs  120  supported into outer piston  50  by a protrusion shaped support member  122  on mandrel  126 . Once the protrusion shaped support member  122  is moved the lugs  120  are allowed to retract and allow movement. 
         [0072]      FIGS. 36-38  are similar to  FIGS. 31-35  except that the outer piston  50  is locked in place with hydraulic fluid which is trapped between seals  126  and  128 . The shear bolt  127  is partially drilled to leave a passage  129  for fluid to flow through once the protrusion shaped support member  122  is forced to shear the bolt and leave unrestricted flow of passage  129  into the inner volume created by seals  130  and  132 . 
         [0073]    Those skilled in the art will now appreciate the various aspects of the present invention. An adaptive seat is released into a predetermined groove and has minimal extension into the inside diameter, which preferably reduces the drift diameter of the passage therethrough by less than 10%, into the flow bore that is still sufficient to support a blocking object under pressure differential that is applied during a treatment. The adaptive seats are added one at a time as the next interval is perforated and then treated. The same size object is usable at each stage. There is no need to remove the seats after the treatment and before production as the reduction in drift dimension from the seats is minimal. The seat has preferably a rectangular, round or multilateral cross-section and may contain a chamfer or a bevel. The objects on the spaced adaptive seats can be removed with pressure, dissolving or disintegrating or with thermally induced shape change such as when using a shape memory material. Alternatively, milling can be used to remove the objects. Alternatively an induced shape change from thermal effects on the relaxed adaptive seat can reconfigure such a seat to retract within its associated groove to the point where there is no reduction of drift diameter from the seats in their respective grooves. Subsequent procedures can take place with equipment still being able to pass through an adaptive seat in its respective groove. If need be known frack plugs can be run in through a given adaptive seat and set in a known manner. The seat can have chamfers or slots on an inside or/and outside face to reduce the amount of force needed to compress the seat into a run in configuration. An alternative that is also envisioned is use of a ring shape of a shape memory material that needs no pre-compressing but grows into an associated groove with either added heat locally to take the seat above its critical temperature or using well fluids for the same effect to position such an adaptive seat of a shape memory alloy in a respective groove. The seats can be added sequentially after an already treated interval needs isolation. All the blocking objects can be removed after the zone is treated without well intervention as described above. 
         [0074]    The delivery device can employ a locating dog so that when a cover sleeve and the compressed adaptive seat separate, the seat can relax into a groove with which it is already aligned. Alternatively the seat can be released near the groove and pushed axially into position in the groove. Some embodiments forgo the locating groove and associated dog. A known setting tool can be modified to provide motive force to a central piston whose movement builds pressure to move another piston that retracts a sleeve from over the seat. The central piston can be initially locked to prevent premature adaptive seat release. Actuation of the known setting tool modified for this application will first release a lock on the central piston and then move that piston to generate fluid pressure to retract the retaining sleeve from over the seat to place the seat in a respective groove. Alternatively an outer hydrostatic chamber is activated to move a piston and an outer sleeve to uncover the adaptive seat. The retaining sleeves&#39; piston can be held in place by lugs or the use of a hydraulic lock between two seals. Both can be released by actuation of the known setting tool modified for this application. The lugs become unsupported and allow movement or the shearing of a partially drilled bolt allows passage of fluid to move from one camber to the next, therefore removing the hydraulic lock. 
         [0075]    Collets can protect the retaining sleeve from damage during running in while other collets can guide the path of the seat to ensure it winds up in the respective groove. The seat can be initially held in a central groove of segments that are radially biased to push the seat out when the covering sleeve is retracted. The locating dog is spring biased to find a locating groove and is abutted to the end of a locating groove with a pickup force. A greater applied force undermines the locating dog and allows the seat delivery tool to be pulled out of the hole. The seat can be located centrally in a groove of the extending segments or off toward one end or the other of the extending segments. The protection device for the adaptive seat sleeve can be retracted when the seat is released after protecting the sleeve and associated seat during running in. A separate collet assembly can guide the outward movement of the seat and alternatively can be used to axially advance the seat into its associated groove if the seat is released without being aligned to the respective groove. The sleeve can be moved axially away from being over the seat or the string can be moved axially relative to the covering sleeve to release the seat into its respective groove. Various tapered surfaces on the running tool can be used to engage the seat when released axially offset from the groove to advance the seat into the groove. 
         [0076]    The delivery tool retains the ability to remove an adaptive seat from the well that fails to locate in the recess or support. This can be achieved using a simple hooked shape member on the bottom of the tool such that movement downward would allow the adaptive seat to get entangled by the hook which in turn will catch the adaptive seat and bring it back to surface. 
         [0077]    The above description is illustrative of the preferred embodiment and many modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention whose scope is to be determined from the literal and equivalent scope of the claims below: