PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15952431
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-04
Publication Date: 2018-09
Patent Classification: ["166", "376000"]

Abstract:
An engineered composite system designed to be passive or inert under one set of conditions, but becomes active when exposed to a second set of conditions. This system can include a dissolving or disintegrating core, and a surface coating that has higher strength or which only dissolves under certain temperature and pH conditions, or in selected fluids. These reactive materials are useful for oil and gas completions and well stimulation processes, enhanced oil and gas recovery operations, as well as in defensive and mining applications requiring high energy density and good mechanical properties, but which can be stored and used for long periods of time without degradation.

Claim (Index 49):
A method for controlling dissolving, degrading, reacting, fracturing or combinations thereof of a component for use in down-hole applications comprising:\n a. providing a down-hole component for use in down-hole applications, said down-hole component is selected from the group consisting of a frac ball, valve, plug, ball, sleeve, casing, hydraulic actuating tool, ball/ball seat assembly, fracture plug, sealing elements, and well drilling tool, said down-hole component at least partially formed of a hierarchically-designed reactive component, said hierarchically-designed reactive component includes:\n i. a core, said core dissolvable, reactive, or combinations thereof in the presence of a fluid environment, at least 70 weight percent of said core includes a core material selected from the group consisting of aluminum, calcium, lithium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, lithium aluminum hydride, sodium aluminum hydride, potassium aluminum hydride, magnesium aluminum hydride, lithium borohydride, sodium borohydride, calcium borohydride, magnesium hydride, n-Al, borohydride mixed with alanates, metal hydrides, borohydrides, and divalent cation alanates; and, \n ii. a surface layer that partially or fully encapsulates said core, said surface layer having a different composition from said core, said surface layer includes polymer; said surface layer forming a protective layer about said core to inhibit or prevent said core from degrading, dissolving, reacting, or combinations thereof when said component is exposed to a fluid environment in said down-hole applications, said surface layer is not degradable, dissolvable, reactable, or combinations thereof in said fluid environment until said surface layer is exposed to an activation event which thereafter causes said surface layer to controllably dissolve in said fluid environment; \n b. inserting said down-hole component into a well, said surface layer of said hierarchically-designed reactive component does not or substantially does not dissolve, degrade, react, or combinations thereof when exposed to said fluid environment in said well; c. exposing said surface layer of said hierarchically-designed reactive component to said activation event to cause said surface layer to degrade, dissolve, react, or combinations thereof to thereby expose said core to said fluid environment, said activation event includes one or more events selected from the group consisting of a temperature change of said fluid environment, a pH change of said fluid environment, exposure of said surface layer with an activation compound, a change in composition of fluid environment, exposure of said surface layer to an electrical charge, exposure to of said surface layer to certain electromagnetic waves, a change in salt content of said fluid environment, a change in electrolyte content of said fluid environment, exposure of said surface layer to certain sound waves, exposure of said surface layer to certain vibrations, exposure of said surface layer to certain magnetic waves, and exposure of said surface layer to a certain pressure; and, d. causing said exposed core to degrade, dissolve, react, fracture, or combinations thereof when exposed to said fluid environment, said degradation, dissolving, reacting, fracturing, or combinations thereof of said core thereby causing said down-hole component to at least partially degrade, dissolve, react, fracture, or combinations thereof.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 2.0
- Percentile: 91.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.46835
- Patent Class: 166.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['14627189', '14940209', '15403739', '14519476', '15592325']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.8047109633848102
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5342438914754876
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.7776642561938779
- Mean Citation Score: 206.86791
- Max Citation Score: 394.9109
- Similarity Product: 299.0011600057483

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 0
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test