Fluid responsive core barrel system

Claim 2

In a system for obtaining a core sample that includes a hollow string extending into a bore hole, a coring bit connected to said drill string and a latch seat in said drill string; a core sampling unit comprising: a sampling unit body; a core sample container connected to said body; at least one flexible and resilient latch finger carried by said body for selectively connecting said body to said latch seat in said drill string, said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger including a movable latch element adapted to move into or out of said latch seat; actuating means carried by said body for contacting said at Least one flexible and resilient latch finger and moving said latch element into said latch seat thereby bending and stressing said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger and for moving said latch element out of said latch seat thereby allowing said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger to return to an unstressed condition; and means connected to said core sample container for contacting said actuating means and causing said actuating means to move the latch element from said latch seat when said core sample container has received the core sample thereby allowing said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger to return to an unstressed condition.

Claim 3

The system of claim 1 including a seal element mounted on said body that form a fluid seal between said body and said drill string, a fluid passage through said body to allow fluid to flow through said body and valve means in said fluid passage for blocking and unblocking the fluid passage.

Claim 6

The system of claim 3 including means for providing a signal if the core sampling unit fails to latch to the drill string.

Claim 7

The system of claim 3 including means for providing a signal indicating that the core sample container has been filled with said length of core sample.

Claim 8

The system of claim 3 including means for providing a signal indicating that the core sampling unit is latched to the drill string.

Claim 9

The system of claim 6 including means for providing a channel to pass fluid by the core sampling unit when the core sample container is receiving said length of core sample.

Claim 10

The system of claim 7 wherein said means for latching said core sampling unit to said drill string includes a movable latch element adapted to move into or out of said latch seat.

Claim 11

The system of claim 8 wherein said means responsive to the core sample container being filled by said length of core sample includes a latch actuator that causes said latch element to move out of said latch seat when said core sample container is filled with said length of core sample.

Claim 12

A core sampling unit for obtaining a core sample from a formation penetrated by a bore hole by the core sampling unit being transported through a holloW drill string that extends into the bore hole until it reaches a coring bit at the end of the drill string and is latched to a latch seat on the drill string during the drilling of a core and is returned through the drill string to obtain the core sample, comprising: a sampling unit body; a core sample container connected to said body, said core sample container including an internal cavity for receiving core sample; at least one flexible and resiLient latch finger carried by said body for selectively connecting said body to said drill string, said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger including a movable latch element adapted to move into or out of said latch seat; actuating means carried by said body for contacting said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger and selectively moving said latch element into said latch seat thereby bending and stressing said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger or moving said latch element out of said latch seat thereby allowing said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger to return to an unstressed condition; and means connected to said core sample container for contacting said actuating means thereby causing said actuating means to move the latch element out of said latch seat when the core sample has filled the cavity in the core sample container thereby allowing said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger to return to an unstressed condition.

Claim 13

A core sampling unit for obtaining a core sample from a formation penetrated by a bore hole by the core sampling unit being transported through a holloW drill string that extends into the bore hole until it reaches a coring bit at the end of the drill string and is latched to a latch seat on the drill string during the drilling of a core and is returned through the drill string to obtain the core sample, comprising: a sampling unit body; a core sample container connected to said body, said core sample container including an internal cavity for receiving core sample; at least one flexible and resiLient latch finger carried by said body for selectively connecting said body to said drill string, said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger including a movable latch element adapted to move into or out of said latch seat; actuating means carried by said body for contacting said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger and selectively moving said latch element into said latch seat thereby bending and stressing said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger or moving said latch element out of said latch seat thereby allowing said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger to return to an unstressed condition; and means connected to said core sample container for contacting said actuating means thereby causing said actuating means to move the latch element out of said latch seat when the core sample has filled the cavity in the core sample container thereby allowing said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger to return to an unstressed condition.

Claim 14

The core sampling unit of claim 10 including a seal element on said sampling unit body that forms a fluid seal be-tween said body and said drill string, a fluid passage through said body to allow fluid to flow through said body and valve means in said fluid passage for blocking and unblocking the fluid passage.

Claim 15

The core sampling unit of claim 11 including means connected to said sampling unit body for moving said valve means to block said fluid passage when the sampling unit body is being transported through the drill string and for unblocking said fluid passage when the sampling unit body is connected to the drill string.

Claim 16

The core sampling unit of claim 12 including means on said sampling unit body for connecting a retriever to the body and means for moving said valve means to unblock said fluid passage when the core sampling unit is being retrieved.

Claim 17

The core sampling unit of claim 13 wherein said at least one flexible and resilient latch finger includes an upper portion rigidly affixed to the sampling unit body with the remainder of said finger extending toward said core sample container.

Claim 18

The core sampling unit of claim 14 wherein said valve means is connected to said actuating means and wherein said sampling unit body includes a spring connected to said actuating means for maintaining the actuating means and the valve means in a position where the valve means blocks said fluid passage thereby allowing the core sampling unit to be transported through the drill string by fluid pressure.

Claim 19

The core sampling unit of claim 15 wherein said means for connecting a retriever to the sampling unit body is affixed to the actuating means and acts against said spring to move the actuating means and the valve means to a position where the valve means unblocks said fluid passage when the core sampling unit is being retrieved.