Patent ID: 7735549

Claim:
A down hole flow control device for use in a well bore, comprising: a) a central mandrel sized and shaped to fit within a well bore and including a packer ring disposed thereon, the packer ring being compressible along a longitudinal axis of the central mandrel to form a seal between the central mandrel and the well bore; b) an upper slip ring and a lower slip ring disposed on the central mandrel, the upper slip ring disposed above the packer ring and the lower slip ring disposed below the packer ring, each of the upper and lower slip rings including a plurality of slip segments joined together by fracture regions to form the slip rings, the fracture regions being configured to facilitate longitudinal fractures to break the slip rings into the plurality of slip segments, and each of the plurality of slip segments being configured to secure the down hole flow control device in the well bore; c) the upper and lower slip rings having different fracture regions from one another to induce sequential fracturing with respect to the upper and lower slip rings when an axial load is applied to both the upper slip ring and the lower slip ring; d) an upper backing ring and a lower backing ring disposed on the central mandrel between the packer ring and the upper and lower slip rings, respectively, each of the upper and lower backing rings further including: i) a plurality of backing segments disposed circumferentially around the central mandrel; and ii) a plurality of fracture regions disposed between respective backing segments, the fracture regions being configured to fracture the upper and lower backing rings into the plurality of backing segments when the axial load induces stress in the fracture regions, and the backing segments being sized and shaped to reduce longitudinal extrusion of the packer ring when the packer ring is compressed to form the seal between the central mandrel and the well bore; e) an upper cone and a lower cone disposed on the central mandrel adjacent the upper and lower backing rings, respectively, each of the upper and lower cones being sized and shaped to induce stress into the upper an lower backing ring, respectively, to cause the backing ring to fracture into the plurality of backing segments when the axial load is applied to the upper slip ring; and f) a plurality of spacers disposed about the upper and lower cones, the spacers corresponding the fracture regions in the upper and lower backing rings to transfer an applied load from the upper and lower cone to the fracture point of the upper and lower backing rings to reduce uneven fracturing of the backing rings into backing segments.