STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not applicable REFERENCE TO A"MICROFICHE APPENDIX" Not applicable BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to thread connected pipe joints such as those used in the oil and gas well industry including for example oil well tubing, casing, line pipe and drill pipe (all of which will be referred to hereinafter as "pipe"or"pipe joints"). Even more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for detecting wear at pin and box joints that can include dovetail, wedge and/or taper type thread connections.

2. General Background of the Invention In the oil and gas well drilling industry and in the production of oil and gas, it is common to employ a number of

joints of pipe that are connected end-to-end for purposes of communicating with oil and gas that is contained deep in the earth. These lengths of pipe can be used for drilling and/or production purposes.

For many years, oil well drill pipe and like pipe joints used a standard pin and box connection that included transverse faces or annular shoulders that would engage upon assembly of a pair of joints. These abutting faces created a seal.

Recently, pin and box type connections and similar type connections have been developed that form a seal with the interlocking threads of the pin and box connections. In such a situation, because the pin and box threads form a seal, there is no need for abutting annular shoulders, transverse faces or annular faces to form a seal. Indeed, the transverse end portions or stand-off surfaces of the joints do not touch unless the threads are badly worn.

One of the problems facing a user of such pipe joints is that the wear can be very gradual. It is important that the operator know when the wear has reached a level requiring replacement.

A number of patents have issued for pin and box type connections that use threaded connections such as dovetail, wedge threads, taper threads and the like. Some of these patents disclose stand off surfaces, i. e., any two transverse surfaces that are spaced apart upon assembly. An example of such a patent is the Blose patent 4,161,332, entitled"Dovetail Connection for Pin and Box Joints". In the Blose'332 patent, a pipe joint includes pin and box members having interengaged two step threads and interengaged annular shoulders preventing radial and axial separation of the members.

The Blose patent 4,192,533 discloses a pipe joint pin and

box connection wherein the pin and box member have interengagable two step threads and interengagable annular shoulders for preventing radial and axial separation of the members.

The Ortloff patent 4,703,954 discloses a threaded pipe connection of the wedge shaped thread type that avoids high stress concentrations in the box between the first thread and the end of the box by making the length of the box between the first thread and the end of the box equal to or greater than 5% of the pipe diameter and by providing clearance between the crest of the first full thread on the box and the root of the last thread on the pin and between the crest of the last full thread on the pin and the root of the first full thread on the box.

A metal-to-metal wedge thread coupling connector is the subject of the Reeves patent 4,712,815.

The Mott patent 5,454,605 discloses a tubular connection having interlocking wedge threads. A threaded pipe connection that discloses a coupling used to join two pin members is the subject of U. S. patent 5,794,985. A reissue of the Reeves'409 patent is reissue patent 34,467, entitled"Tubular Connection".

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method of detecting thread wear for pipe joints that are connectable end-to-end and which use wedge threads, tapered threads, dovetail threads, and the like. The present invention provides a pair of pipe joints to be joined, each joint having end portions with threaded sections that connect to similarly threaded sections of the other joint.

A projection is placed on a first of the pipe joints near the joint end portion, the projection facing a second pipe joint during assembly of the pair of pipe joints.

The joints of pipe are connected together, wherein transverse faces of the two joints are spaced apart upon

connection when the threaded portions are not unduly worn.

A user observes the joints of pipe after assembly at the projection to determine whether or not the projection has become worn, or has marked the second joint of pipe. If in fact the projection has become worn or has marked the second joint of pipe, such indicates a worn condition of the threads in that the transverse faces of the respective joints have moved too close in proximity. This observation can be made when the joints have been disassembled or, when still assembled, if the projection is mounted on an external transverse face, such as shown in Figure 7.

A worn condition is thus present if the projection extends to and engages a transverse face of the second joint of pipe, marking, scoring or deforming the projection and/or the transverse face of the second joint of pipe.

If in fact the projection has scored the second joint of pipe or marked the second joint of pipe, such a mark or score will be visible to the inspector and the presence of a worn condition can then be visually confirmed.

The transverse surfaces on the respective joints can be in the form of annular shoulders, transverse faces, bevelled faces or other end portions of pin and box type connections that are typically at the end of the threaded section of the pin and box members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is an elevational view of a first embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; Figure 2 is a sectional elevational view of a second embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; Figure 3 is a sectional elevational view of a third

embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; Figure 4 is a transverse cut away view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; Figure 5 is another transverse cut away view of an alternate embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of the second embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view of the second embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention when the interengaging threaded portions of the pipe joints are unduly worn; Figure 8 is a partial perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention showing a worn pipe joint after it has been marked or scored using the method and apparatus of the present invention; Figure 9 is a sectional fragmentary elevational view of the first embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention and showing a projection that is hemispherically shaped; Figure 10 is a partial sectional elevational view of the first embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention and showing a projection that is conically shaped; Figure 11 is a fragmentary view illustrating a hemispherically shaped projection taken along lines 11-11 in figure 5; Figure 12 is a fragmentary view illustrating a cylindrically shaped projection; and Figure 13 is a fragmentary view illustrating a conically shaped projection.

For a further understanding of the nature, objects, and advantages of the present invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, read in conjunction with the

following drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements and wherein: DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figures 1-8 show the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention in three slightly alternate configurations designated respectively as 10A, 10B, and 10C in Figures 1-3, and 6-7.

Thread wear indicator 10A is shown in Figure 1. Indicator 10B is shown in Figure 2 and 10C in Figure 3. Each embodiment 10A, 10B and 10C includes a pair of connected joints of pipe.

In Figure 1, the joints include joint 11A and joint 12A. In Figure 2, the joints include joint 11B and joint 12B. In Figure 3, the joints include joint 11C and joint 12C that are joined by coupling 21.

Each joint includes an outer surface 13 or 14 and an inner bore 15 or 16 as shown best in Figures 4 and 5. Each joint 11, 12 also includes a wall 17,18 respectively (see Figure 4 and 5).

The joints 11A, 11B, 11C, 12A, 12B, 12C can each provide pin and box end portions. In Figure 1, the pin end is designated as 19A, the box end being designated as 20A. In Figure 2, the pin end 19B is shown connected to box end 20B. In Figure 3, a coupling 21 joins two pin end portions 22,23. The joint 11C has a bore 24 and the joint 12C has a bore 25. In Figure 6, each of the joints 11B, 12B can provide a transverse face 26 or 27. Such a transverse face 26,27 can be in the form of an annular shoulder for example or a bevelled annular shoulder."Transverse face"simply means that the surface or face 26,27 forms an angle with a central longitudinal axis 40 of the flow bores 15,16 or 24,25 as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. In many situations, these transverse faces of separate joints are separated even after assembly, becoming stand off surfaces such as 26,27 in figure

6. Further, these"stand off"surfaces can be internal or external. In Figures 1,3 and 9, the"stand off"transverse surfaces are internal. In Figures 2, 6,7 and 10, the transverse "stand off"surfaces 26,27 are external of bore 15,16.

When the connecting threads 31,32 of a pair of connected joints 11A, 12A or 11B, 12B or 11C, 12C with coupling 21 are not unduly worn, a gap or space 28 extends between transverse faces 26,27. This gap 28 is a proper gap when the distance 37 in between the surfaces 26,27 is greater than the height or thickness of projection 30,30A or 30B as shown by the arrow 36 in Figure 6. If an unduly worn condition exists in the interengagable threads 31,32, the gap 29 between transverse faces 26,27 is reduced so that the gap 29, having a distance 38, is smaller than the height or thickness 36 of the projection 30.

In such a situation, the projection 30,30A and 30B engages transverse face 26 marking or scoring face 26 and/or deforming and flattening the projection 30,30A and 30B, as shown in Figures 7 and 8. This observation can be made when the joints have been disassembled or, when still assembled, if the projection 30 is mounted on an external transverse face, such as shown in Figure 7.

In Figure 8, a score 35 is shown in face 26, said score occurring when a pair of joints 11A, 12A or 11B, 12B or 11C, 12C with coupling 21 have been joined and the threads 31,32 are unduly worn. The score 35 would be visible because as the user rotates the two joints relative to one another during assembly, the projection 30 engages the face 26 marking or cutting it to produce the score 35 shown in Figure 8. The projection 30,30A and 30B would typically also show wear and/or a flattening or deformation under such circumstances.

As shown in Figure 5, the projection 30,30A or 30B can be

in the form of a single or multiple separate projections. As shown in Figure 4, the projection 30,30A or 30B can be in the form of an annular projection extending 360 degrees. The cross section of the projection 30,30A or 30B can be triangular (Figures 6,10,13) or hemispherical (Figure 11) or rectangular (Figure 12) as examples.

In Figure 9 and 10, the gap 28 is of a proper size upon assembly of the pipe sections so that the projection 30,30A, 30B does not engage transverse face 26 of joint 12A or transverse face 26 of joint 21.

Figures 11-13 illustrate different configurations for the projections including a cone shaped projection 30 as shown in Figures 6,7,10 and 13 or a hemispherically shaped projection 30A in Figures 9 and 11. Figure 12 shows a cylindrically shaped projection 30B.

The method and apparatus of the present invention can be used with any type of wedge thread or dovetail thread or taper thread such as those shown in one or more of the following patents, each of which is incorporated herein by reference: 4,161,332; 4,712,815; 4,703,954; 5,794,985; and Re. 34,467.

The following table lists the parts numbers and parts descriptions as used herein and in the drawings attached hereto.

PARTS LIST Part Number Description 10A thread wear indicator 10B thread wear indicator 10C thread wear indicator 11A joint 11B joint 11C joint 12A joint

12B joint 12C joint 13 outer surface 14 outer surface 15 bore<BR> 16 bore<BR> 17 wall<BR> 18 wall 19A pin end 19B pin end 20A box end 20B box end 21 coupling 22 pin end 23 pin end 24 bore<BR> 25 bore 26 transverse surface 27 transverse surface 28 gap<BR> 29 gap 30 projection 30A projection 30B projection 31 threaded portion 32 threaded portion 33 annular curved surface 34 annular curved surface 35 score 36 distance 37 distance

38 distance 40 central axis The foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only; the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims.