Patent Abstract:
A system for inserting control lines to a control line receptacle at an alternate path structure including an upper guide having a path structure engagement roller, a control line insertion wheel and a control line bypass space. The system further includes a lower guide separate from the upper guide and having a path structure engagement roller and a control line insertion wheel. The path structure engagement roller and control line insertion wheel are resiliently biased to a position to cause control line insertion to the alternate flow path structure when in an engaged position. A method for inserting control lines is included.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims priority to provisional application 60/765,900 filed Feb. 6, 2006, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 

   BACKGROUND 
   In the hydrocarbon exploration and recovery art there is often a need to install control lines of one sort or another on strings being run in the well. Such control lines are generally desired to be connected in some way to the string to avoid damage thereto. While there have been different attempts to by hand or mechanically insert the lines there is much to be desired in efficient and competent installation of the control lines. To this end the art is always in need of alternate means that improve efficiency and reliability. 
   SUMMARY 
   Disclosed herein is a system for inserting control lines to a control line receptacle at an alternate path structure. The system includes an upper guide having a path structure engagement roller, a control line insertion wheel and a control line bypass space and further includes a lower guide separate from the upper guide and having a path structure engagement roller and a control line insertion wheel, the path structure engagement roller and control line insertion wheel being resiliently biased to a position calculated to cause control line insertion to said alternate flow path structure when in an engaged position. 
   Further disclosed herein is a control line insertion tool for inserting control line to a control line receptacle at an alternate flow path structure. The tool includes a frame, a path structure engagement roller in operable communication with the frame, and a handle in operable communication with the frame. The tool further includes a control line insertion wheel in operable communication with the handle and a retention arrangement that in a disengaged position allows movement of the handle relative to said frame and in an engaged position, restricts movement of the handle relative to the frame. 
   Yet further disclosed herein is a spring biased control line insertion tool for inserting a control line to a control line receptacle at an alternate flow path structure. The tool includes a control line insertion wheel, an alternate path structure engagement roller, a biasing arrangement in operable communication with the wheel and the roller, and the biasing arrangement, and a biasing arrangement in operable communication with the wheel and the roller toward one another. 
   Also disclosed herein is a method for inserting a plurality of control lines to a control line receptacle at an alternate flow path structure. The method includes separating a plurality of control lines supplied from a remote source, engaging one of the plurality of control lines with a control line insertion wheel of an upper control line guide and urging the engaged control line to the control line receptacle, bypassing at least one other control line of the plurality of control lines with the insertion wheel of the upper control line guide, and engaging one control line of the at least one other control line with a control line insertion wheel of a lower control line guide and urging the one control line of the at least one other control line to the control line receptacle. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic elevation view of a section of tubular having an alternate flow path and a set of guides in an engaged position; 
       FIG. 2  is the view of  FIG. 1  with the set of guides in an unengaged position; 
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the upper guide taken along section line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the lower guide; and 
       FIG. 5  is a section view of the lower guide taken along section line  5 - 5  in  FIG. 4 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , a system for inserting control lines to a control line receptacle at an alternate flow path structure is generally illustrated at  10 . Numeral  12  denotes a tubular upon which an alternate flow path structure  14  is mounted. Tubular  12  may be any type of tubular or even other arrangement but commonly an alternate flow path structure is utilized with respect to a gravel packing apparatus and the tubular therefore is commonly a screen. For the embodiments discussed herein the alternate flow path structure  14  includes a passage  16 , which might be used for a flow of material and at least one control line receptacle  18  (illustrated herein as two receptacles  18 ). The type of alternate flow path structure contemplated herein is similar to that described within U.S. Publication No. 2006/0219404 A1 filed on Jan. 12, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference. Also visible within  FIG. 1  are two control lines  20  and  22  being deposited within the control line receptacle  18  by upper guide (or tool)  24  and lower guide (or tool)  26 . In one embodiment of the system, an upper guide  24  (“upper” is used only for distinctive purposes) inserts a first control line while bypassing a second control line. The second control line is then inserted by a lower guide  26  (“lower” is used only for distinctive purposes). In one embodiment, the upper guide  24  is tethered via tether  28  to a fixed distance structure such as the control line sheave (not shown). Tether  28  maintains upper guide  24  in a longitudinally fixed position but allows for it to move laterally relatively easily. Upper guide  24  is tethered to lower guide  26  by tether  30  to maintain a convenient distance between upper guide  24  and lower guide  26 . In one embodiment it has been determined that less than eighteen inches is a convenient distance for appropriate operability. It should be further noted at this juncture the tether  30  connects to lower guide  26  at a pivot pin  32 . This is important to be noted because if tether  30  is connected at pin  32  the normal frictional drag seen by lower guide  26  along the control line and the alternate flow path structure  14  is effectively translated to additional clamping force of lower guide  26  onto alternate flow path structure  14 . The clamping force and the structure of lower guide  26  will be made more clear subsequently herein when the lower guide  26  is discussed in detail. One further point to be made with respect to  FIG. 1  is that upper guide  24  includes a separation pin  34  whose purpose it is to prevent the control lines from crossing over one another prior to insertion. If such crossover should happen, it is possible that the control lines would become crushed during insertion. 
   Referring to  FIG. 2 , tubular  12  will be familiar as will be alternate flow path structure  14 . These have not changed in configuration or location. It will be appreciated that upper guide  24  is illustrated in an alternate position from that of  FIG. 1 . It will also be appreciated that lower guide  26  is illustrated in an alternate position from that of  FIG. 1 . The positions illustrated for upper guide  24  and lower guide  26  in  FIG. 2  are in the open position, which position allows the placement of the guides  24  and  26  over alternate flow path structure  14  prior to engagement therewith. It should be appreciated that control line insertion wheel  36  of upper guide  24  and alternate flow path structure engagement roller  38  are not positioned in engagement with the alternate flow path structure  14  or in contact with control lines  22  or  20 . It should further be recognized that a first control line insertion wheel  40  of lower guide  26  and a second control line insertion wheel  42  of lower guide  26  are not in contact with control lines  20  or  22  in the illustration of  FIG. 2 . In order to insert lower guide  26  onto alternate flow path structure  14 , the lack of contact allows the guide  26  to be placed over alternative flow path structure  14  prior to being engaged therewith. It will further be appreciated that the upper guide  24  and lower guide  26  engage the alternate flow path structure  14  differently from each other. Whereas wheel  36  and roller  28  of upper guide  24  are both out of engagement with alternate flow path structure  14  when being installed, lower guide  26  is illustrated with a pair of rollers  44  and  46  already engaged with alternate flow path structure  14 . Only the control line insertion wheels  40  and  42  are disengaged in lower guide  26 . This is because the lower guide  26  operates on a spring principle, which will be discussed hereinafter, when lower guide  26  is discussed in detail. 
   Turning now to a detailed description of upper guide  26  and referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3  simultaneously, it will be appreciated that upper guide  26  includes a frame  48  upon which are articulated two handles  50  and  52 . Each handle is attached to frame  48  via a pin  54  such as a cap screw and each handle  52  and  50  includes an opening  56  alignable with a through hole  58  in frame  48  through which a release pin  60  may be selectively inserted and retained. In one embodiment, the handles  50  and  52  include an undercut  61  to receive a retention arrangement  62  of release pin  60 . As noted above in the  FIG. 2  embodiment, the upper guide  24  is illustrated in the open position whereas in  FIG. 1  it is illustrated in the closed position with release pins  60  in place. Upon each handle  50  and  52  and between a location of pin  54  and opening  56  is a wheel retention arrangement  64 . The arrangement  64 , in one embodiment, utilizes a socket head shoulder screw  66  and bearing  68  to pivotally retain control line insertion wheel  36  which comprises a cylindrical portion  70  and a flange portion  72  with a concavity  74 , which concavity is complimentary to a control line such as control line  20  or control line  22  intended to be inserted to control line receptacle  18  by upper guide  24 . It should be pointed out that  FIG. 3  illustrates the control line insertion side of upper guide  24  and does not illustrate the engagement roller side of upper guide  24 . The view however would be nearly identical except that concavity  74  would be substituted by a perimeter of flange  72  having no concavity. Cylinder  70  both locates flange  74  to proper location relative to the rest of the guide  24  and provides room for control line bypass in control line bypass area  76 . 
   As was alluded to above, the upper guide  24  is intended to insert one of the plurality of control lines being mated with alternate flow path structure  14 . In the illustrations herein two control lines are shown however it should be understood that more control lines could be utilized if control line receptacle were sized sufficiently to accept more than two. 
   Because upper guide  24  inserts only the first control line, there is a significant amount of excess room within receptacle  18 . Therefore, there is no need for upper guide  24  to have any resilience. The pin structure therefore is desirable. 
   Once the upper guide  24  is closed and the pins  60  put in place upper guide  24  will very effectively insert one of the control lines while allowing a second control line to bypass upper guide  24  in bypass area  76 . The control line that is bypassed by upper guide  24  remains outside of receptacle  18  until encountering lower guide  26  at which time it is inserted into receptacle  18  adjacent the control line that was inserted therein by upper guide  24 . 
   Turning to lower guide  26  reference is made to  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  4  and  5 , simultaneously. Lower guide  26  operates on a spring principle to allow for tolerances in the control lines and the alternate flow path structure. Guide  26  utilizes a bow spring  80 , in one embodiment, that is connected at each end thereof to a lower guide arm  82  and  84 . Spring  80  is connected to the lower guide arms  82  and  84  via bow spring retainer pins  86  which are threadedly received in lower guide arms  82  and  84 . In one embodiment a snap ring which is not visible is placed between the bow spring  80  and the lower guide arms  82  and  84  on the retainer pins  86  to maintain the bow spring and retainer pins as an assembly when the retainer pins are unscrewed from the lower guide arms  82  and  84 , which capability is utilized when control lines  20  and  22  are to be inserted in the opposite side receptacle  18  of path structure  14  from that which is illustrated in the drawings herein. In such case, the lower guide arms  82  and  84  are swapped so that the same function of inserting a control line can be done on the opposite receptacle  18  of structure  14 . 
   Also mounted upon retainer pins  86  is a lower guide locking arm  88  (there may be one locking arm  88  or two locking arms  88 , as illustrated herein) and a lower guide handle arm  90 . These arms are articulated on the retainer pins  86  and are articulated to each other at pin  32 . The function of the locking arm  88  and handle arm  90  are to urge the bow spring outwardly when it is required to either engage or disengage the lower guide  26  from alternate flow path structure  14 . It will be apparent from  FIG. 4  that the locking arm  88  and handle arm  90  are disposed at an angle to one another at pin  32 . If the handle on  90  is urged in a direction to longitudinally align locking arm  88  and handle arm  90 , the distance between retainer pins  86  will grow forcing bow spring  80  to yield and forcing the control line insertion wheels  40  and  42  to grow more distant from engagement rollers  44  and  46 , respectively. In one embodiment, and as illustrated, the angle of handle arm  90  is such that pin  32  will “over-center” when the handle  90  is urged toward pin  86  so that the lower guide  26  will be locked in an open position. The bow spring  80  when in the engaged position provides a resilient clamping force on the remaining uninstalled control line to urge the same into control line receptacle  18 . The distinction between upper guide  24  and lower guide  26  is directly related to the number of control line versus the size of the receptacle  18 . As noted above, upper guide  24  inserts a single control line into a receptacle  18  that is sized to receive more than one control line. Therefore, there is plenty of room for the control line to move in without concern for tolerance stack-up. In the illustrated embodiments herein, however, the receptacle  18  is intended to hold two control lines. Since the lower guide inserts the second control line into control line receptacle  18  tolerance stack-up is indeed an issue and must be considered. In order to avoid potential problems due to tolerance stack-up the lower guide  26  has been rendered resilient so that it can be deflected outwardly should the tolerances grow larger than expected. 
   Finally and importantly with respect to lower guide  26 , the lower guide arms  82  and  84  are configured to provide specific axis angles for the mounting of the two control line insertion wheels  40  and  42  and the two alternate flow path structure engagement rollers  44  and  46  to ensure that the flanges of each will be positioned appropriately relative to a tangent line 90° to the axis of the wheels and rollers. In order to understand the foregoing, it is useful to identify access pin  92 , roller bearing  94  and wheel  40 , which comprises cylindrical portion  96 , flange portion  98  and concavity  100 . The wheel  40  has a base surface  102 . The angle of this base surface  102  is important relative to the angle of force supplied to the control line being inserted into control line receptacle  18 . In order to optimize the insertion process, it is desirable to provide forced direction vectors both inwardly to the control line receptacle  18  and in a direction toward the tubular upon which the alternate flow path structure is mounted. Utilizing a tangent line as a starting point, which line is defined perpendicular to the axis  92  of wheel  40 , the desired off tangent angle for wheel  40  is between 0 degrees and about 20 degrees inclined toward the base tubular  12  and in one embodiment is about 10° under the tangent. The same is true for engagement roller  44 . 
   In  FIG. 5  it will be easily noticed that the angles of wheel  42  and engagement roller  46  appear to be different from the angles of wheel  40  and engagement roller  44 . This is an optical illusion due to the fact that the alternate flow path structure is helical on the base tubular and therefore the lower guide  26  is essentially helical in configuration which makes for the angle appearance difference. The wheel  42  and roller  46  are positioned within the same range of angles as wheel  40  and roller  44 . 
   While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4