1. A method of forge welding tubular ends, wherein the tubular ends are heated to a predetermined temperature above 1200 degrees Celsius and surrounded by a shield gas when the tubular ends are pressed together to form forge welded tubular ends, whereupon the forge welded tubular ends are cooled down rapidly from said temperature above 1200 to at most 600 degrees Celsius within 3 minutes after the forge welding operation.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the forge welded tubular ends comprise a high carbon steel grade.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the forge welded tubular ends are cooled down from above 1200 to at most 600 degrees Celsius within one minute after the forge welding operation.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein high carbon steel grade has an austenising temperature, and wherein the forge welded tubular ends are cooled down from the austenising temperature or above to approximately 300 degrees Celsius within one minute.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the forge welded tubular ends are quenched from an austenitic structure to a martensitic structure.
6. The method of claim 5, further comprising tempering by reheating the forge welded tubular ends in a post welding treatment.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a sealed chamber around the tubular ends and releasing the quench media into the sealed chamber.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the sealed chamber is formed by a split collar.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the split collar is formed by a split ring collar.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the split collar is portable.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein the quench media circulates through the sealed chamber from a supply hose to a drain hole in the sealed chamber where-through the quench media exits the sealed chamber.
12. The method of claim 7, wherein the tubular ends comprise steel having an austenising temperature, and wherein sealed chamber is applied after the welding before the forge welded tubular ends have cooled below the austenising temperature of the steel.
13. The method of claim 7, wherein the sealed chamber is applied before pressing the tubular ends together.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the sealed chamber is filled with the shield gas during pressing the tubular ends together.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the sealed chamber is integrated with a heating mechanism.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the forge welded tubulars are cooled down using a quench media.
17. The method of claim 16, comprising flushing the tubular ends with the quench media external to the forge welded tubular ends in conjunction with flushing the tubular ends with the quench media internal to the forge welded tubular ends.
18. The method of claim 16, comprising inserting an internal spear into the interior of the tubular ends, and injecting the quench media via the internal spear towards the forge welded tubular ends after the forge welding operation.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the internal spear is used to align the tubular ends while being forge welded together.
20. The method of claim 18, further comprising sealing off the interior of the tubular ends in a welding zone with the internal spear.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein sealing off the interior of the tubular ends comprises inflating sealing elements against the interior surfaces of each of the tubular ends.
22. The method of claim 20, further comprising filling the sealed-off zone with the shield gas.
23. The method of claim 18, wherein the internal spear comprises upper and lower sections coupled together employing compression elements, wherein the method further comprises drawing the upper and lower sections of the spear together.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the internal spear further comprises expandable gripping elements on both sections of the spear, wherein the method further comprises expanding the gripping elements against the interior surface of the tubular ends.
25. The method of claim 18, wherein the internal spear comprises an inspection probe for inspecting the forge welded tubular ends and wherein the method further comprises inspecting the forge welded tubular ends.
26. The method of claim 18, wherein the internal spear comprises heating elements.
27. The method of claim 26, further comprising employing the heating elements in said heating the tubular ends to the predetermined temperature.
28. The method of claim 26, further comprising a post weld heat treatment employing the heating elements.
29. The method of claim 1, wherein the forge welded tubular ends are cooled by flushing the tubular ends with at least one of cold liquid nitrogen and liquid carbon dioxide.
30. The method of claim 1, wherein the forge welded tubular ends are cooled by flushing the tubular ends with at least one of helium, nitrogen, argon.
31. The method of claim 1, wherein the shield gas is at least one of a non-oxidizing and a reducing shield gas.
32. The method of claim 1, wherein the shield gas is a hydrogen-containing shield gas.
33. The method of claim 1, further comprising radially expanding the forge welded tubular ends wherein the forge welded tubular ends are circumferentially stretched.
34. The method of claim 1, wherein the tubular ends form part of oilfield tubulars.
35. The method of claim 1, further comprising drilling a borehole employing the forge welded tubular ends are part of a casing-while-drilling string, the casing-while-drilling string comprising a drill bit while drilling the borehole, whereby the casing-while-drilling string remains in the borehole after completion of the drilling.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of diagnosing the power plant of a vehicle with diagnostic instrumentation including a microprocessor, the power plant including an engine, a power train control module, sensors and a key for starting the engine, the method including the steps of:
(a) programming the microprocessor to extract parameter identification data (hereinafter \u201cPID data\u201d) from the power train control module;
(b) programming the microprocessor with values in the form of Break Points;
(c) programming the microprocessor to process extracted PID data to generate values in the form of calculated PIDS (hereinafter \u201cCPIDS\u201d);
(d) with the key in the on position and the engine off (\u201cKOEO\u201d), extracting PID data from the power train control module with the diagnostic instrumentation and, with the microprocessor, generating from such KOEO extracted PID data at least one CPID, and checking at least some of such KOEO extracted PID data against at least one value selected from the group including Break Points and CPIDS;
(e) with the key in the on position and the engine cranking (\u201cKOEC\u201d), extracting PID data from the power train control module with the diagnostic instrumentation and, with the microprocessor, generating from such KOEC extracted PID data at least one CPID, and checking at least some of such KOEC extracted PID data against at least one value selected from the group including Break Points and PIDS; and
(f) with the key in the on position and the engine running (\u201cKOER\u201d), extracting PID data from the power train control module with the diagnostic instrumentation and, with the microprocessor, generating from such KOER extracted PID data at least one CPID, and checking at least some of such KOER extracted PID data against at least one value selected from the group including Break Points and CPIDS.
2. The method as set forth in claim 1, further including the step of acquiring battery charging voltage and wherein step (d) further includes the step of checking one or more of KOEO extracted PID data, Break Points and CPIDS for one or more parameters selected from the group including: open circuit battery voltage; barometric pressure; throttle position sensor; engine coolant temperature; intake air temperature; O2 bias voltage; diagnostic trouble codes; pending codes; and Mode 6 data.
3. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein step (e) further includes the step of checking one or more of KOEC extracted PID data, Break Points and CPIDS for one or more parameters selected from the group including: battery voltage; cranking vacuum; and cranking RPM.
4. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein step (f) further includes the step of checking one or more of KOER extracted PID data, Break Points and CPIDS for one or more parameters selected from the group including: battery charging voltage; engine running vacuum, volumetric efficiency; catalyst efficiency; fuel control; fuel trim; time to engine temperature; engine coolant sensor and cooling system; intake air temperature; mass air flow sensor; oxygen sensors; throttle position sensor; pending codes; and Mode 6 data.
5. The method as set forth in claim 4, further including the step of acquiring battery charging voltage when there is no PID data for battery charging voltage.
6. The method as set forth in claim 1, further including the steps of:
(g) providing the diagnostic instrumentation with a first series of alert lights;
(h) programming the microprocessor with a plurality of algorithms each of which analyzes PID data;
(i) associating each algorithm with one of the alert lights of the first series;
(j) each algorithm analyzing PID data selected from the group including KOEO extracted PID data, KOEC extracted PID data and KOER extracted PID data (hereinafter \u201cselected PID data\u201d) to determine the illumination condition of its associated first series alert light, and
(k) utilizing the associated first series alert light to visually indicate the determined illumination condition.
7. The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein the illumination condition of step (k) of claim 6 is selected from the group including: not illuminated; illuminated; and flashing illuminated.
8. The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein the power plant further includes a fuel control system and a fuel delivery system, and wherein the steps of providing alert lights and associated algorithms includes the step of providing such first series of alert light-algorithm combinations that signal one or more of the following conditions: the fuel control system of the power plant has good delivery; the fuel control system of the power plant does not have good delivery; the fuel delivery system has proper airfuel ratio; the fuel delivery system has failed to control proper airfuel ratio; engine coolant temperature has properly reached a preselected point within a preselected time; and the engine coolant temperature has not reached a preselected point within a preselected time.
9. The method as set forth in claim 6, further including the steps of:
(l) providing the diagnostic instrumentation with a second series of alert lights;
(m) associating each Break Point with one of the alert lights of the second series;
(n) for each Break Point analyzing the selected PID data to determine the illumination condition of the associated second series alert light; and
(o) utilizing the associated second series alert light to visually indicate the determined illumination condition.
10. The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the illumination condition of step (o) of claim 9 is selected from the group including: not illuminated; illuminated; and flashing illuminated.
11. The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the steps of providing the second series of alert lights and associated Break Points includes the step of providing such alert light-Break Point combinations that signal one or more of the following conditions: if the airfuel ratio of the engine is less than 14.7 to 1 or \u201crich\u201d; if the airfuel ratio of the engine is greater than 14.7 to 1 or \u201clean\u201d; the relation of measured fuel trim to \u201c0\u201d fuel trim; the relationship between bank one fuel trim to bank two fuel trim; engine vacuum; the open circuit battery voltage; and whether or not all the monitors have run.
12. The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the illumination condition of an alert light selected from the group including a first series of alert lights and a second series of alert lights is a first color if there are no current problems with the selected PID data and the analysis of such data.
13. The method as set forth in claim 12, wherein the first color is green.
14. The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the illumination condition of an alert light selected from the group including a first series of alert lights and a second series of alert lights is a second color if the analysis of the selected PID data indicates that one or more parameters have been exceeded.
15. The method as set forth in claim 14, wherein the second color is yellow.
16. The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the illumination condition of an alert light selected from the group including a first series of alert lights and a second series of alert lights is a third color if the analysis of the selected PID data indicates a system failure.
17. The method as set forth in claim 16, wherein the third color is orange.
18. The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the illumination condition of an alert light selected from the group including a first series of alert lights and a second series of alert lights is a fourth color if the analysis of the selected PID data indicates a system failure that needs immediate attention.
19. The method as set forth in claim 18, wherein the fourth color is red.
20. The method as set forth in claim 1, further including the step of programming the microprocessor to generate values for one or more of the following calculated PIDS: bank 1 total trim; bank 2 total trim; cross counts B1S1; cross counts B2S1; cross counts B1S2; cross counts B2S2; engine vacuum; engine running time; B1 fuel control monitor; B2 fuel control monitor; bank 1 to bank 2 fuel trim; catalyst efficiency; theoretical air flow; and volumetric efficiency percent.
21. The method as set forth in claim 1, further including the steps of:
(p) programming the microprocessor with one or more charts, each chart being divided into a number of cells; and
(q) for each chart, filling a plurality of cells.
22. The method as set forth in claim 21, wherein the step of programming further includes, for at least one chart, the step of providing such chart with a first axis representing increasing values of a first parameter selected from a first group of power plant parameters and a second axis representing increasing values of a second parameter selected from a second group of power plant parameters, whereby each cell in such chart represents different ranges of ranges of both the first parameter and the second parameter.
23. The method as set forth in claim 22, wherein: the first group of power plant parameters includes air flow, absolute throttle position, and temperature; and the second group of power plant parameters includes revolutions per minute and time.