Acoustic downhole tool with rubber boot protected by expandable sleeve

Abstract

A downhole tool having a body, a transducer within the body, and an opening formed through a sidewall of the body. The opening provides a port through which the transducer can communicate from within the body. An elastomeric boot in the body covers the opening and is a barrier that prevents fluid ingress into the downhole tool. An expandable sleeve envelopes the elastomeric boot and provides support that limits bulging of the elastomeric boot from within the body through adjacent openings in the body. An example sleeve is made from elongated members woven into a tubular.

1 . A downhole tool comprising:
 a housing;   a space in the housing;   an opening formed through a sidewall of the housing;   a barrier between the opening and the space comprising a membrane; and   a series of elongate members arranged on a side of the membrane facing the opening, so that when pressure in the space exceeds pressure ambient to the housing, the members restrain the membrane from bulging through the space.   
     
     
         2 . The downhole tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a transducer within the housing, wherein the transducer comprises a device selected from the group consisting of is an acoustic transmitter, an acoustic receiver, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The downhole tool of  claim 2 , wherein the transducer acoustically communicates from within the housing and through the membrane and the series of elongate members. 
     
     
         4 . The downhole tool of  claim 1 , wherein the barrier is formed from an elastomeric material and formed into a sleevelike configuration and wherein the elongate members define a sleeve that circumscribes the barrier. 
     
     
         5 . The downhole tool of  claim 3 , further comprising a mandrel in the space and a coupling anchoring the sleeve and barrier to the mandrel. 
     
     
         6 . The downhole tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of openings from through the sidewall of the housing, a barrier between each of the openings and the space, wherein each of barrier comprises a membrane, and a series of elongate members on the surface of each membrane facing the opening. 
     
     
         7 . The downhole tool of  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the elongate members intersect some of the other elongate members to define a mesh. 
     
     
         8 . A method of wellbore operations comprising:
 providing a downhole tool comprising: a housing with an inside space, an opening through a sidewall of the housing, and a barrier between the inside space and the openings;   applying a series of elongate members between the barrier and the opening that are coupled with the tool, thereby shielding the barrier from direct contact with a borehole wall when inserted into the wellbore and retaining the barrier within the housing when the pressure in the space exceeds pressure ambient to the housing and;   deploying the downhole tool in the wellbore.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the elongate members are arranged in a mesh-like configuration and intertwined to form a cohesive member. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the barrier and the cohesive member are tubular members, the method further comprising clamping the barrier and cohesive member to a mandrel within the housing. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising acoustically communicating from within the housing and through the barrier and elongate members. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of acoustically communicating comprises actuating a transducer within the housing, wherein the transducer comprises a device selected from the group consisting of is an acoustic transmitter, an acoustic receiver, and combinations thereof.