Sliding Sleeve Having Contracting, Segmented Ball Seat

摘要

A sliding sleeve opens with a deployed ball. The sleeve has a seat disposed in the housing, and the seat has segments biased outward from one another with a C-ring or other biasing element. Initially, the seat has an expanded state in the sliding sleeve so that the seats segments expand outward against the housing's bore. When an appropriately sized ball is deployed downhole, the ball engages the expanded seat. Fluid pressure applied against the seated ball moves the seat into the inner sleeve's bore. As this occurs, the seat contracts, which increases the engagement area of the seat with the ball. Eventually, the seat reaches the shoulder in the inner sleeve so that pressure applied against the seated ball now moves the inner sleeve in the housing to open the sliding sleeve's flow port.

主权项

1. A sliding sleeve opening with a deployed plug, the sleeve comprising:
a housing defining a first bore and defining a flow port communicating the first bore outside the housing; an inner sleeve defining a second bore with an engagement point and being movable axially inside the first bore from a closed position to an opened position relative to the flow port; and a seat disposed in the sliding sleeve and having a plurality of segments biased outward from one another, the segments in a first axial position expanded outward in the first bore of the housing and defining a first internal dimension initially engaging the deployed plug, the seat being movable axially from the first axial position in the first bore of the housing to a second axial position in the second bore of the inner sleeve in response to fluid pressure applied against the deployed plug engaged in the seat, the segments in the second axial position contracted inward in the second bore of the inner sleeve and defining a second internal dimension subsequently engaging the deployed plug, the second internal dimension being less than the first internal dimension, the seat in the second axial position engaging the engagement point of the inner sleeve and moving the inner sleeve axially open in response to the applied fluid pressure.