Patent attributes
A sealed perforating gun assembly for use with automatic pipe handling equipment on oil and gas drill rigs. An upper sealed connector and a lower sealed connector have sealed threaded connections for mating with ends of a perforating gun. The connectors have external dimensions equivalent to the external dimensions of standard drill pipe and have standard tapered thread couplings. Ignition transfer explosives are carried within cavities in the connectors. The cavities are sealed on their drill pipe coupling ends. The ignition transfer explosives are adapted to penetrate the seals so that ignition can be transferred between the gun assembly and adjacent sections of the gun string. Since the external dimensions of the sealed connectors correspond to the external dimensions of drill pipe, automatic drill pipe handling equipment can handle the gun assemblies.
