IP Library Granted Patent US 12,735,952
Granted Patent B2
US 12,735,952 · App. 19/326,367 · Granted Sep 15, 2026

Latch coupling including unique axial alignment slots

Inventors: Lars Petter Larsen (Stavanger, NO); Borisa Lajesic (Stavanger, NO); Morten Falnes (Stavanger, NO); Vegard Dyrseth (Stavanger, NO)
Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
E21B23/02E21B7/061E21B17/046E21B17/0465E21B23/01E21B23/03E21B23/06E21B33/12E21B41/0035E21B47/00
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,735,952
App. No.
19/326,367
Granted
Sep 15, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Provided is a latch coupling, a well system, and a method for forming a well system. The latch coupling, in one aspect, includes a housing having an outside diameter (OD) and an inside diameter (ID). The latch coupling, according to this aspect, further includes a plurality of axial alignment slots located along the inside diameter (ID) of the housing, wherein a width (W AS ) of each of the plurality of axial alignment slots is within 10% of each other.

Claims (31)

1 . A latch coupling, comprising:

a housing having an outside diameter (OD) and an inside diameter (ID); and

a plurality of axial alignment slots located along the inside diameter (ID) of the housing, wherein a width (W AS ) of each of the plurality of axial alignment slots is within 10% of each other.

2 . The latch coupling as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of axial alignment slots is at least six axial alignment slots, and further wherein the width (W AS ) of each of the at least six axial alignment slots is within 10% of each other.

3 . The latch coupling as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of axial alignment slots is at least ten axial alignment slots, and further wherein the width (W AS ) of each of the at least ten axial alignment slots is within 10% of each other.

4 . The latch coupling as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of axial alignment slots is at least sixteen axial alignment slots, and further wherein the width (W AS ) of each of the at least sixteen axial alignment slots is within 10% of each other.

5 . The latch coupling as recited in claim 1 , further including a radial extending latch collet selector profile located along the inside diameter (ID) of the housing.

6 . The latch coupling as recited in claim 5 , wherein the radial extending latch collet selector profile is an uphole radial extending latch collet selector profile located uphole of the plurality of axial alignment slots, and further including a downhole radial extending latch collet selector profile located along the inside diameter (ID) of the housing and downhole of the plurality of axial alignment slots.

7 . The latch coupling as recited in claim 6 , wherein the uphole radial extending latch collet selector profile and the downhole radial extending latch collet selector profile each extends 360 degrees around the housing.

8 . The latch coupling as recited in claim 6 , wherein the uphole radial extending latch collet selector profile and the downhole radial extending latch collet selector profile each include tensile shoulders or compressive shoulders.

9 . The latch coupling as recited in claim 6 , wherein the uphole radial extending latch collet selector profile and the downhole radial extending latch collet selector profile each include tensile shoulders and compressive shoulders.

10 . The latch coupling as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of axial alignment slots each have a length (L AS ), and further wherein the length (L AS ) is at least 3 times the width (W AS ).

11 . A well system, comprising:

a wellbore extending through one or more subterranean formations; and

wellbore casing located in the wellbore, the wellbore casing including a latch coupling, the latch coupling including:

a housing having an outside diameter (OD) and an inside diameter (ID); and

a plurality of axial alignment slots located along the inside diameter (ID) of the housing, wherein a width (W AS ) of each of the plurality of axial alignment slots is within 10% of each other.

12 . The well system as recited in claim 11 , wherein the plurality of axial alignment slots is at least six axial alignment slots, and further wherein the width (W AS ) of each of the at least six axial alignment slots is within 10% of each other.

13 . The well system as recited in claim 11 , wherein the plurality of axial alignment slots is at least ten axial alignment slots, and further wherein the width (W AS ) of each of the at least ten axial alignment slots is within 10% of each other.

14 . The well system as recited in claim 11 , wherein the plurality of axial alignment slots is at least sixteen axial alignment slots, and further wherein the width (W AS ) of each of the at least sixteen axial alignment slots is within 10% of each other.

15 . The well system as recited in claim 11 , further including a radial extending latch collet selector profile located along the inside diameter (ID) of the housing.

16 . The well system as recited in claim 15 , wherein the radial extending latch collet selector profile is an uphole radial extending latch collet selector profile located uphole of the plurality of axial alignment slots, and further including a downhole radial extending latch collet selector profile located along the inside diameter (ID) of the housing and downhole of the plurality of axial alignment slots.

17 . The well system as recited in claim 16 , wherein the uphole radial extending latch collet selector profile and the downhole radial extending latch collet selector profile each extends 360 degrees around the housing.

18 . The well system as recited in claim 16 , wherein the uphole radial extending latch collet selector profile and the downhole radial extending latch collet selector profile each include tensile shoulders or compressive shoulders.

19 . The well system as recited in claim 16 , wherein the uphole radial extending latch collet selector profile and the downhole radial extending latch collet selector profile each include tensile shoulders and compressive shoulders.

20 . The well system as recited in claim 11 , wherein the plurality of axial alignment slots each have a length (L AS ), and further wherein the length (L AS ) is at least 3 times the width (W AS ).

21 . A method for forming a well system, comprising:

forming a wellbore through one or more subterranean formations; and

positioning wellbore casing in the wellbore, the wellbore casing including a latch coupling, the latch coupling including:

a housing having an outside diameter (OD) and an inside diameter (ID); and

a plurality of axial alignment slots located along the inside diameter (ID) of the housing, wherein a width (W AS ) of each of the plurality of axial alignment slots is within 10% of each other.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 11, 2025
From: LARSEN, LARS PETTER; LAJESIC, BORISA; FALNES, MORTEN; DYRSETH, VEGARD
To: HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC.
Reel/Frame 072227/0707 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 18481587 · Oct 5, 2023
Provisional Application 63414272 · Oct 7, 2022
Related Publication 20260009301A1 · Jan 8, 2026
References Cited (113)
US 1571931A · Church · 1926 [cited by applicant]
US 1636032A · Abbott · 1927 [cited by applicant]
US 2107420A · Kothny · 1938 [cited by applicant]
US 2314352A · Hoffoss · 1943 [cited by applicant]
US 2894586A · Schramm et al. · 1959 [cited by applicant]
US 2948338A · Raulins et al. · 1960 [cited by applicant]
US 2962097A · Dollison · 1960 [cited by applicant]
US 2994389A · Le Bus, Sr. · 1961 [cited by applicant]
US 3117636A · Wilcox et al. · 1964 [cited by applicant]
US 3190378A · Davey, Sr. et al. · 1965 [cited by applicant]
US 3292938A · Tamplen · 1966 [cited by applicant]
US 3409081A · Brown · 1968 [cited by applicant]
US 3450205A · Current · 1969 [cited by applicant]
US 3856081A · Canalizo · 1974 [cited by applicant]
US 3934648A · Amancharla et al. · 1976 [cited by applicant]
US 4042033A · Holland et al. · 1977 [cited by applicant]
US 4307902A · Schnatzmeyer · 1981 [cited by applicant]
US 4362211A · Fisher, Jr. · 1982 [cited by applicant]
US 4406324A · Baugh et al. · 1983 [cited by applicant]
US 4465133A · Bridges · 1984 [cited by applicant]
US 4545434A · Higgins · 1985 [cited by applicant]
US 4623277A · Wayne et al. · 1986 [cited by applicant]
US 4726425A · Smith, Jr. · 1988 [cited by applicant]
US 5092402A · Perricone et al. · 1992 [cited by applicant]
US 5320176A · Naquin et al. · 1994 [cited by applicant]
US 5398763A · Watson et al. · 1995 [cited by applicant]
US 5433275A · Melenyzer et al. · 1995 [cited by applicant]
US 5692564A · Brooks · 1997 [cited by applicant]
US 5806596A · Hardy et al. · 1998 [cited by applicant]
US 5829518A · Gano et al. · 1998 [cited by applicant]
US 5944103A · White et al. · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 5957224A · Ilomaki · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 6012527A · Nitis et al. · 2000 [cited by applicant]
US 6035953A · Rear · 2000 [cited by applicant]
US 6145593A · Hennig · 2000 [cited by applicant]
US 7240738B2 · Pendleton · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 7416036B2 · Forstner et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 8439131B2 · Runia · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8678097B1 · Telfer et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8936101B2 · McGlothen et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 9546535B2 · Hayter et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9739117B2 · Campbell et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 10066452B2 · Cochran et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10450801B2 · Zhang et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10513898B2 · Allamon et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10724342B2 · MacDonald · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 10724344B2 · Dietz · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 10989022B2 · Kohn et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 11377920B2 · Parameshwaraiah et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 11506013B2 · Nordheimer et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 11713638B2 · Nordheimer et al. · 2023 [cited by applicant]
US 11905773B2 · Atkins et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 12338697B2 · Larsen et al. · 2025 [cited by applicant]
US 20010040054A1 · Haugen et al. · 2001 [cited by applicant]
US 20040216892A1 · Giroux et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20050257935A1 · Craig · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20060260796A1 · Layton · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 20070221384A1 · Murray · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20080173481A1 · Menezes et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20110220345A1 · Evans · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20120012338A1 · Blanton et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120067595A1 · Noske et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120160521A1 · McGlothen et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20130161027A1 · Inglis et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20130319666A1 · Nygardsvoll et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20140251615A1 · Donovan et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20150034330A1 · Merron et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150060049A1 · Saurer et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150129242A1 · Farquhar · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150197996A1 · Latiolais, Jr. et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150308206A1 · Yue et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160145956A1 · Dahl et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160258253A1 · MacLeod et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160273288A1 · Lajesic et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160273290A1 · Harms · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160298404A1 · Beckett et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160356117A1 · Tuckness et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20170198543A1 · Nordheimer et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170211346A1 · Bullock · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20180003005A1 · Dorban et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180023370A1 · Silva · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180163486A1 · Davies · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180171724A1 · Daigle et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180195356A1 · Mailand · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180195365A1 · Cocker, III et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180274300A1 · Vemuri et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180274316A1 · Dancer · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180363401A1 · Van der Veen et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190100978A1 · Carmody et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190153813A1 · Campbell et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190316444A1 · Entchev et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190390526A1 · Durst et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20200018135A1 · Zeng · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20210140278A1 · Steele et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210310338A1 · Turley et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210332658A1 · Hepburn et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210396086A1 · Payne et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20230265719A1 · Lajesic · 2023 [cited by applicant]
US 20230265743A1 · Lajesic · 2023 [cited by applicant]
US 20240117679A1 · Lajesic et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 20240117680A1 · Lajesic et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 20240117701A1 · Larsen et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
CN 105507839A · 2016 [cited by applicant]
EP 961008B1 · 2006 [cited by applicant]
EP 3211176A1 · 2017 [cited by applicant]
EP 3241981A1 · 2017 [cited by applicant]
WO 2012166400A2 · 2012 [cited by applicant]
WO 2013122589A1 · 2013 [cited by applicant]
WO 2017083072A1 · 2017 [cited by applicant]
WO 2019096990A1 · 2019 [cited by applicant]
WO 2019194800A1 · 2019 [cited by applicant]
WO 2021080934A1 · 2021 [cited by applicant]
Westgard, D., How Operators Are Benefiting From Level 3 Multilaterals in Alaska, World Oil, vol. 223, No. 6, Jun. 2002, 6 pages. [cited by applicant]