Systems and methods for producing a housingless tubing anchor catcher

Abstract

A housingless tubing anchor catcher (TAC) is described herein. While the TAC can have any suitable component, in some cases, it includes a mandrel that defines an internal channel and a first cone and a second opposing cone that are each threadingly coupled to the mandrel such that movement of the mandrel in a first direction with respect to the cones causes the cones to move closer together. In some cases, a slip is disposed between the first and second cone such that when the cones move closer together, the slip is forced lateral from the TAC to engage an inner wall of the casing. In some cases, the TAC lacks a cylindrical outer housing that extends around a circumference of the first and second cones. Instead, the first and second cones are coupled together via a cone coupler. Other implementations are also described.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A tubing anchor catcher comprising:
 a mandrel that defines an internal channel;   a first cone;   a second cone;   a cone coupler that extends between the first cone and the second cone and that is configured to lock a rotational movement of the first cone to a rotational movement of the second cone; and   a slip that is at least partially disposed between the first cone and the second cone;   wherein the first cone and the second cone are coupled to the mandrel such that when the mandrel is rotated in a first direction with respect to at least one of the first cone and the second cone, the at least one of the first cone and the second cone is configured to move to reduce a distance between the first cone and the second cone to force the slip to move laterally from the tubing anchor catcher, and   wherein the tubing anchor catcher lacks a cylindrical outer housing that extends around a circumference of, and that receives, the first cone and the second cone.   
     
     
         2 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 1 , wherein the first cone comprises a first slip protector that is coupled to and that extends laterally from the first cone. 
     
     
         3 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 1 , wherein the second cone comprises a second slip protector that is coupled to and extends laterally from the second cone. 
     
     
         4 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 1 , wherein the cone coupler comprises a first end that is fixedly coupled to either of the first cone and the second cone and a second end that is slidably coupled to the other of the first cone and the second cone. 
     
     
         5 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 4 , wherein the cone coupler comprises an elongated plate having an arched end profile. 
     
     
         6 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 5 , wherein an outer surface of the first cone defines a first recess receives the first end of the cone coupler, and wherein an outer surface of the second cone defines a second recess that slidingly receives the second end of the cone coupler. 
     
     
         7 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 1 , wherein the cone coupler comprises a first catch that is configured to catch a portion of the slip to prevent the slip from overextending laterally from the tubing anchor catcher. 
     
     
         8 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 1 , further comprising a slip retention mechanism that is configured to limit a proximal movement and a distal movement of the slip with respect to the mandrel where the tubing anchor catcher lacks the cylindrical outer housing. 
     
     
         9 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 8 , wherein the slip retention mechanism comprises a protrusion that extends from the mandrel and that is received by a recess defined in a medial portion of the slip, and wherein a tension spring biases the slip medially towards a longitudinal axis of the mandrel. 
     
     
         10 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 1 , further comprising a body nut that is disposed on the mandrel, adjacent to the first cone, wherein the body nut is configured to limit a rotation of the mandrel with respect to the first cone. 
     
     
         11 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 1 , wherein the mandrel comprises a full-bore mandrel. 
     
     
         12 . A tubing anchor catcher comprising:
 a mandrel that defines an internal channel;   a first cone;   a second cone;   a cone coupler that extends between the first cone and the second cone and that locks a rotational movement of the first cone to a rotational movement of the second cone; and   a slip that is at least partially disposed between the first cone and the second cone;   wherein the first cone and the second cone are coupled to the mandrel such that when the mandrel is rotated in a first direction with respect to at least one of the first cone and the second cone, the at least one of the first cone and the second cone moves to reduce a distance between the first cone and the second cone to force the slip to move laterally from the tubing anchor catcher, and   wherein the first cone comprises a first slip protector that is coupled to and that extends laterally from the first cone.   
     
     
         13 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 12 , wherein the tubing anchor catcher lacks a cylindrical outer housing that extends around a circumference of the first cone and a circumference of the second cone and that receives the first cone and the second cone. 
     
     
         14 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 12 , wherein a first end of the cone coupler is fixedly coupled to the first cone and a second end of the cone coupler is slidably received in a recess defined in the second cone. 
     
     
         15 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 14 , wherein the second cone comprises a catch that extends over a lateral face of the cone coupler to keep the cone coupler in the recess. 
     
     
         16 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 12 , wherein the mandrel comprises a raised ring that extends laterally from an outer surface of the mandrel and that is received by a recess defined in a medial portion of the slip, and wherein a tension spring biases the slip medially towards a longitudinal axis of the mandrel. 
     
     
         17 . A tubing anchor catcher comprising:
 a mandrel that defines an internal channel;   a first cone;   a second cone;   a cone coupler that extends between the first cone and the second cone and that is configured to lock a rotational movement of the first cone to a rotational movement of the second cone; and   a first slip, second slip, and a third slip that are each at least partially disposed between the first cone and the second cone;   wherein the first cone and the second cone are coupled to the mandrel such that when the mandrel is rotated in a first direction with respect to at least one of the first cone and the second cone, the at least one of the first cone and the second cone moves to reduce a distance between the first cone and the second cone to force the first, second, and third slip to move laterally from the tubing anchor catcher,   wherein the mandrel comprises a protrusion that extends from an outer surface of the mandrel and that is received by a first recess defined in a medial portion of the first slip, a second recess defined in a medial portion of the second slip, and a third recess defined in a medial portion of the third slip, and   wherein a first tension spring couples the first slip to the second slip,   wherein a second tension spring couples the second slip to the third slip,   wherein a third tension spring couples the third slip to the second slip, and   wherein the first tension spring, the second tension spring, and the third tension spring bias the first slip, the second slip, and the third slip medially towards a longitudinal axis of the mandrel.   
     
     
         18 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 17 , wherein the tubing anchor catcher lacks a cylindrical outer housing that is configured to:
 extend around a circumference of the first cone and the second cone, and   receive the first cone and the second cone, from a proximal end of the first cone to a distal end of the second cone, where the distal end of the second cone is configured to be disposed further from a well head when the tubing anchor catcher is introduced into the well head and disposed below the well head.   
     
     
         19 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 17 , wherein the first cone comprises a first slip protector that is coupled to and that extends laterally from the first cone. 
     
     
         20 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 19 , wherein the second cone comprises a second slip protector that is coupled to and that extends laterally from the second cone. 
     
     
         21 . The tubing anchor catcher of  claim 17 , wherein a first end of the cone coupler is fixedly coupled to the first cone, wherein an outer surface of the second cone defines a recess that slidingly receives a second end of the cone coupler, wherein the second cone further comprises a catch that extends over a portion of a lateral face of the cone coupler to retain the second end of the cone coupler in the recess, and wherein the first cone comprises a first set of slip protectors that are coupled to and that extend laterally from the first cone. 
     
     
         22 . The tubing anchor of  claim 17 , wherein a first end of the cone coupler is disposed in a recess defined in the first cone, wherein the cone coupler comprises an arched-shaped end profile, and wherein the first end of the cone coupler is fixedly coupled to the first cone by a fastener. 
     
     
         23 . A method for extracting a tubing anchor catcher from a well casing, the method comprising:
 cutting a slip protector of a first cone of a tubing anchor catcher, and   cutting a slip from the tubing anchor catcher to release the tubing anchor catcher from the well casing,   wherein the tubing anchor catcher comprises:
 a mandrel that defines an internal channel; 
 the first cone, with the slip protector being coupled to and extending laterally from the first cone; 
 a second cone; 
 a cone coupler that extends between the first cone and the second cone and that locks a rotational movement of the first cone to a rotational movement of the second cone; and 
 the slip, with the slip being at least partially disposed between the first cone and the second cone, 
   wherein the first cone and the second cone are coupled to the mandrel such that when the mandrel is rotated in a first direction with respect to at least one of the first cone and the second cone, the at least one of the first cone and the second cone is configured to move to reduce a distance between the first cone and the second cone to thereby force the slip to move laterally from the tubing anchor catcher, and   wherein the tubing anchor catcher lacks a cylindrical outer housing that extends around a circumference of the first cone and the second cone and that receives the first cone and the second cone.