US1343821A - Tool for replacing sucker-rods - Google Patents

Description

'-E. 'B. HATCH.

TOOL FOR REPLACING SUCKER RODS.

APPLICATION men OCT. 21. 1919.

1,343,821. PatentedJune 15, 1920.

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TOOL FOR REPLACING SUCKER R008 APPLICATION FILED OCT. 27, 19l9- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HWENTOI? ATTORNEYS Patented June 15, 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD BENSON HATCH, or TURLEY, OKLAHOMA;

TOOL ron REPLACING SUCK ER-RODS.

To all vlwm it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, EDWARD BENSON HATCH, a citizen of the United States, and

a a resident of Turley, in the county of Tulsa and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tools,

for Replacing Sucker-Rods, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention is an improved tool for use in replacing sucker rods in oil wells.

It has heretofore been customary, in replacing sucker rods in oil wells, to allow the weight of the rods to be set upon the tubing each time an'additional rod is screwed in place on the string, the entire weight of the string of rods coming upon the rod elevator. In order to remove this elevator, to allow the rods to'be lowered down into the tubing, the string of rods must be raised by means of the pulling machine customarily used. This operation of raising the rods requires the services of a team of horses or of two men to lift the. weight of the string every time a new rod is screwed on. This extra labor in addition to consuming a great deal of time, is fraught with danger to the men operating'the pulling machine,

for it oftentimes happens that the brakeman gets caught in the crank ,of the pulling machine by which he raises the rods, and

once caught in this manner, with the weight of several tons on the line, he iseither killed or crippled for life. 7 l I It is the object of my invention to correct these evils by providing a tool by the use of which the dangerous operation of liftingthe rodsofl' of the elevator will be done away with, and which will make itimpossible 'forrods to get away from the brakeman by providing a check for the rods, in a case the line should break which willprevent the rods from falling farther than the tubing nipple.

With this and other objects in view which will become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the construc- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J n 15, 192(1 Application filed October 27, 1919. Serial No. 333,737. 9 9

closing the correlative positions of the elements of the tool. 9 o

Fig. 3 represents a vertical sectional view taken at right angles to Fig. l. I

F1g. 4: represents a view inperspective of the bar, and

Fig. 5 represents a similar view of the wrench. Referring more particularly to the drawings, 5 indicates the uppermost section of the well casings, and 6 indicates one of the sections of, the string of sucker rods. The tool comprises three elements, viz., the socket plate, indicated at 7, the bar, indicated at 8, and the wrench indicated at 9.

The socket plate includes a lower annular member 10, interiorly threaded to fit the threaded nipple 11 of the casing 5, and an uppermember 12, bolted to the lower mem her as at 13, and having a central cut away portion conforming in shape to the enlarged head 14 of the bar 8. .In' operation this headed end of the bar fits in the socketafforded by the upper member and rests on of the bolts 13, provides a lug ilfi (see Fig.

2) which overhangs one corner of the socket and under which the headed end of the bar 8 engages, whereby to. prevent accidental loss orremoval of the bar from the cover plate.

The. headed end of the bar is provided.

withua slot 17, of a width substantially coincident ,with the diameter of the sucker rod, and into which the sucker rod fits when the tool is in operation.

The wrench member 9, of the tool, isprovided at one end with a hook 19 for fitting the squared portion 20 of the sucker rod,

the opposite end of the wrench being provided with an offset 21 having a reduced portion 22 for fitting in a recess 23 in the bar 8, whereby to prevent the wrench, and consequently the sucker rod, from turning.

Before starting to run the rods back into the well. the socket plate is screwed onto the tubing nipple. The first rod is then started into the tubing, and the bar is then engaged with the socket plate, the head 14 fitting in the socket and the sucker rod slidably fitting in the slot 17 of the bar. The rod is then lowered in the casing until the enlarged portion of the rod, adjacent the squared portion thereof engages upon the bar. The weight of the rod now is taken up by the bar. The elevator (not shown) is now free to be removed and hooked onto the next section. The operator then engages the wrench 9 with the squared portion of the rod and rests the offset 22 into the recess 28 of the bar. Thus the rod is held against turning while the next section 24 (see Fig. l) of the sucker rod is screwed onto the section already in the casing. After the next section (24:) has been screwed on and is ready to be lowered, the operator removes the wrench and engages it in any suitable manner on the stud 25 provided on the bar. The wrench is thus supported, while not in use, in a convenient position to be handy to the operator. I

After the wrench has been removed the bar is lifted out of the socket plate while the brakeman holds the brake of the pulling machine. The rods are then lowered, and as soon as the enlarged connecting joint between the rods has passed below the top of the tubing, the bar is replaced so as to catch the upper end of the rod section 24 whereby to support the rods in the casing while the process is repeated.

A number of advantages accrue to the use of my invention among which may be enumerated the fact that the tool forms a safety appliance for holding the rods and preventing them from getting away while the successive sections are being screwed on. Heretofore it often happened that the rods would slip off the elevator while being screwed on and thus be lost. Furthermore, the process of coupling up and lowering the rod sections is expedited, and the danger incident to the work reduced to a minimum.

Although I have described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I- may desire to make such changes in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts thereof as do not depart from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims. I

I claim:

1. A tool of the class described including a socket plate adapted to removably fasten to a well casing and having a socket therein; a bar having a slotted head adapted to removably lit in the socket and to slidably embrace a sucker rod below the enlarged end thereof, a plate carried by the socket plate and having a portion overhanging the socket to prevent accidental removal of the said bar, and a wrench having a hooked end adapted to removably engage the squared portion of the sucker rod and having an offset adapted to engage in a recess in the bar for holding the wrench and consequently the sucker rod against turning.

2. In a tool of the class described the combination of a socket plate adapted to removably fasten to a well casing, a bar having a slotted head adapted to removably engage in the socket plate and to slidably embrace a sucker rod, means for preventing accidental removal ofthe said bar, and a wrench having means for removably engaging the squared portion of the sucker rod and having means detachably engageable with the bar whereby the wrench and consequently the sucker rod will be held against turning.

3. A tool of the class described including a socket plate adapted to removably fasten to a well casing, a bar removably engageable with the socket plate and adapted to support a sucker rod, and a wrench engageable with the bar and with the squared portion of the sucker rod for holding the rod against turning.

4:. A tool of the class described including a bar having means for slidably engaging a sucker rod'below the enlarged end thereof, means whereby the bar may be detachably supported on a well casing for sustaining the weight of the sucker rod, and means removably engageable with the sucker rod and with the bar for preventing turning motion of the sucker rod.

5. In a tool of the class described the combination of a means adapted to be removably interposed between a sucker rod and a well casing for supporting the weight of the sucker rod, and means removably engageable with the first said means and with the sucker rod for holding the latter against turning.-

EDWARD BENSON HATCH.

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