Valve with balanced blind seal ring

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10077623-B2
Application number	US-201615211156-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 15, 2016
Priority date	Jul 15, 2016
Publication date	Sep 18, 2018
Grant date	Sep 18, 2018

Abstract

Directional control valves with blind shear rings are provided. In one embodiment, a valve includes a piston within an inner chamber of a hollow body having inlet and outlet ports in fluid communication with the inner chamber. The valve includes a shear seal ring positioned in the piston and seated against an interior surface within the hollow body. The shear seal ring includes an interior cavity for allowing fluid communication between the inlet port and the outlet port via the interior cavity depending on the position of the piston. Further, the valve includes a blind ring positioned in the piston. At least a portion of the blind ring is exposed to fluid via the interior cavity of the shear seal ring, and the blind ring prevents flow of fluid from the interior cavity of the shear seal ring through the blind ring. Additional systems, devices, and methods are also disclosed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a valve including:
a hollow body having an inlet port and an outlet port in fluid communication with an inner chamber of the hollow body;
a piston disposed within the inner chamber of the hollow body;
a shear seal ring positioned in the piston and seated against an interior surface within the hollow body, wherein the shear seal ring includes an interior cavity sized to permit the interior cavity to be positioned simultaneously over the inlet port and over the outlet port to selectively allow fluid communication between the inlet port and the outlet port via the interior cavity depending on the position of the piston within the inner chamber of the hollow body; and
a blind ring positioned in the piston, wherein at least a portion of the blind ring is exposed to fluid via the interior cavity of the shear seal ring and the blind ring prevents flow of fluid from the interior cavity of the shear seal ring through the blind ring.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the hollow body includes a seal plate having the inlet port, the outlet port, and the interior surface against which the shear seal ring is seated.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , comprising a blind plate, wherein the blind ring is seated against the blind plate.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the hollow body includes a main body in which the seal plate is received.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the hollow body includes end caps fastened to the main body so as to enclose the inner chamber of the hollow body.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the blind ring contacts the main body in which the seal plate is received.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the piston includes a bore in which both the shear seal ring and the blind ring are positioned.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , comprising a spring positioned between the shear seal ring and the blind ring so as to bias the shear seal ring and the blind ring outwardly from the piston in opposite directions.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the hollow body includes an additional outlet port positioned such that the shear seal ring can be moved by the piston within the inner chamber of the hollow body to selectively allow fluid communication between the inlet port and the additional outlet port.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the blind ring includes a wear pad and a carrier.

11. An apparatus comprising:
a directional control valve including:
a hollow body having an inlet port and an outlet port; and
a carriage assembly that includes shear rings and is received in the hollow body so as to allow reciprocal movement of the carriage assembly within the hollow body, wherein the shear rings include a shear seal ring that is biased toward and seals against an internal surface within the directional control valve and a blind shear ring that is biased toward and contacts a different internal surface within the directional control valve, and the shear seal ring includes an interior cavity sized to permit the interior cavity to be positioned simultaneously over the inlet port and over the outlet port to selectively allow fluid communication between the inlet port and the outlet port via the interior cavity.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the directional control valve includes a shear seal plate and the internal surface within the directional control valve against which the shear seal ring seals includes a surface of the shear seal plate.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the carriage assembly includes a hydraulic piston.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the directional control valve is mounted on a subplate or on a manifold along with one or more additional directional control valves that each include:
a hollow body; and
a carriage assembly that includes shear rings and is received in the hollow body so as to allow reciprocating movement of the carriage assembly within the hollow body, wherein the shear rings include a shear seal ring that is biased toward and seals against an internal surface within the directional control valve and a blind shear ring that is biased toward and contacts a different internal surface within the directional control valve.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , comprising a blowout preventer control system including the directional control valve.

16. A method comprising:
receiving a control fluid within a bore of a piston of a control valve, wherein receiving the control fluid within the bore of the piston includes receiving the control fluid within a bore of a shear seal ring positioned in a first end of the bore of the piston;
preventing flow of the control fluid out of a second end of the bore of the piston with a blind ring positioned in the second end of the bore of the piston; and
moving the piston of the control valve such that the shear seal ring slides along a seal plate and overlaps both an inlet port of the control valve and a first outlet port of the control valve so as to place the inlet port of the control valve in fluid communication with the first outlet port of the control valve via the bore of the shear seal ring.

17. The method of claim 16 , comprising moving the piston of the control valve such that the shear seal ring slides along the seal plate and places the inlet port of the control valve in fluid communication with a second outlet port of the control valve via the bore of the shear seal ring.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the blind ring contacts an inner surface of a hollow body of the control valve rather than a blind seal plate, and moving the piston of the control valve causes the blind ring to slide along the inner surface of the hollow body.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the blind ring and the inner surface of the hollow body include mating curved surfaces, and moving the piston of the control valve causes the curved surface of the blind ring to slide along the curved surface of the hollow body.

Assignees

• Cameron Int Corp

Inventors

• Carrillo Kody
• Matteucci Brian

Classifications

• E21B34/02

  in well heads · CPC title

• F16K31/1221

  one side of the piston being spring-loaded · CPC title

• E21B33/063

  for shearing drill pipes (cutting of wireline E21B29/04) · CPC title

• E21B33/06 Primary

  Blow-out preventers {, i.e. apparatus closing around a drill pipe, e.g. annular blow-out preventers (rotating blow-out preventers E21B33/085)} · CPC title

• F16K27/003 Primary

  Housing formed from a plurality of the same valve elements · CPC title