The present invention is directed to connecting lengths of well coiled tubing or connecting tools to coiled tubing.
Coiled tubing is a continuous conduit without joints used in an oil/gas well carried on a spool or reel at the well surface. The coiled tubing can be lowered into an oil and/or gas well and is of a small diameter, for example, one to two inches. Coiled tubing can be used for installing and operating a variety of well accessories, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,166. Interconnection of the coiled tubing with other links of coiled tubing and well tools has been accomplished in the past, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,657, by providing a connector gripping the exterior of the coiled tubing. However, such connectors inherently provide an outside diameter which is greater than the outside diameter of the coiled tubing. This provides difficulty in allowing the coiled tubing and connector to sealingly and freely pass through the injector chains, around the gooseneck, and onto the coiled tubing spool or reel. Furthermore, such connectors are not spoolable. That is, they cannot be wound up on the spool or coiled tubing reel a number of times without losing pressure and tensile integrity.
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus which internally grips and connects to the coiled tubing by an internal ratchettype spoolable connector which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art connections by being spoolable, will sealably pass through packoffs, by having an outer body size no greater than the outside diameter of the coiled tubing, and can withstand a number of cycles of being spooled and unspooled without losing pressure or tensile integrity.