US 12,326,069 B2
Perforating gun and alignment assembly
Christian Eitschberger, Munich (DE); Thilo Scharf, Letterkenny (IE); and Gernot Uwe Burmeister, Austin, TX (US)
Assigned to DynaEnergetics Europe GmbH, (DE)
Appl. No. 18/249,645
Filed by DynaEnergetics Europe GmbH, Troisdorf (DE)
PCT Filed Oct. 20, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/079019
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 19, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/084363, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 28, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/093,883, filed on Oct. 20, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0383625 A1, Nov. 30, 2023
Int. Cl. E21B 43/117 (2006.01); E21B 43/119 (2006.01)
CPC E21B 43/117 (2013.01) [E21B 43/119 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
8. A perforating gun and alignment assembly comprising:
a perforating gun housing formed from a singular and monolithic piece of metal material, the perforating gun housing comprising:
a first housing end portion comprising an internal thread;
a second housing end portion comprising a threaded end portion including an external thread, and a friction reduction portion spaced apart from the threaded end portion; and
a chamber extending from the first housing end portion towards the second housing end portion;
a single shaped charge positioning device positioned in the chamber, wherein the single shaped charge positioning device comprises a shaped charge holder portion for housing a shaped charge;
an electrically contactable bulkhead assembly sealingly secured in the second housing end portion;
a retention collar positioned adjacent the electrically contactable bulkhead assembly, wherein a bulkhead body of the electrically contactable bulkhead assembly is retained by an upper wall of the retention collar; and
an alignment assembly secured to the second end portion of the perforating gun housing, wherein the alignment assembly is movable between a rotatable position and a non-rotatable position, wherein:
the alignment assembly comprises:
an alignment ring disposed around the friction reduction portion, wherein the alignment ring comprises:
a first end;
a second end; and
a cavity extending between the first end and the second end and comprising:
an upper portion;
a lower portion; and
a medial channel extending between the upper portion and the lower portion,
wherein the upper portion is adjacent the friction reduction portion of the perforating gun housing.