US1574945A - Fluid-pressure pumping apparatus - Google Patents

Description

March 1926o 1,574,945

F. M. SLA-FER FLUID PRESSURE PUMPING APPARATUS Filed August 20, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheel l INVENTOR H15 ATToh EY arch 2 9 lg, 1,574,945

F. M. SLATER FLUID PRESSURE PUMPING APPARATUS Filed August 20l 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I v w V INVENTOR Patented Mar. 2, 1926.O

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.FRED M. SLATER, F EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO INGERSOLL-RAND COMPANY, 0F JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

FLUID-PRESSURE PUMPING APPARATUS.

Application med August 2o, 1925. serial No. 51,362.

To all whom tvmay concern.'

Be it known that I, FRED M. SLATER,.1 citizen of the United States, and a resident of Easton, .in the county of Northampton 5 and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain Fluid-Pressure Pumping Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, accompanied by drawings.

This invention relates to fluidpressure pumping apparatus, but more particularly to apparatus of this type for automatically and intermittently discharging the liquid from a well which may be a deep well in accordance with the rise of liquid in the well.

Great difficulty is experienced in economically and efficiently pumping the liquid from a depleted or-nearlyI exhausted oil well for instance. Because of the great depth, two-thousand feet or more for instance, and the comparatively small amount of oil which is available for recovery, at any one time, a reciprocating pump is expensive and impracticable. When a certain amount of oil is recovered, the pump must be stopped until sutlicient oil has flowed into the well again to enable the pump to be used and this may take considerable time.

Furthermore, pumping apparatus of various kinds located in the bottom f the well involving valves forming component parts of the pump, are unsatisfactory because the valves are apt to get out of order or become clogged with mud or other foi" eign matter.

The object ot' the presentinvention is to enable the liquid in a nearly exhausted well to be readily and economically recovered by means of Iiuid pressure pumping apparatus which is simple'and cheap to construct, and is valveless 1n so far as the parts at the bottom of the well are concerned.

Another object of the invention is to enable such a well to be automatically discharged by luid pressure from time to time when the liquid has risen in the well to a given point. After each discharge the main fluid pressure supply is stopped or cut off and is not used again until the proper amount of liquid has flowed into the well. The apparatus does not require watching er hand -control but is entire y automatic and dependent for operation on the beek pressure created in a casing forming a pump chamber adapted to be located near the bottom of the well.

The apparatus is shown in one of its preferred forms in the accompanying drawings, 1n which` 4 Figure 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal sectlonal elevation, broken in its length, of a deep well having my apparatus applied thereto,

Figure 2 is an enlarged side view of the controlling valve,

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section al view of the controlling valve on the line 3-3 of Figure 5 showing the valve closed,

Figure 4 is a similar view showing the valve open, and

Figure'5 is a transverse sectional view of the valve on the line 5 5 of Figure 4; but with the valve closed.

Referring to the drawings, the deep well A which may be an oil well, is assumed to be greatly depleted or nearly exhausted of its oil and for the purpose of recoveringl this oil, a casing B forming a pump chamber is adapted to be located in the well near the bottom of the well and below the level C of the liquid to which the oil will rise in the well, after a given period of time.

The casing B is preferably provided withthe upper head D and the lower head E, and a illlng pipe F as shown extends from a point G within the pump chamber near the upper head D, down through the lower head E to a point H near the bottom of the well.

A discharge pipe J extends from a. point K wlthin the pump chamber near the bottom head E, through the upper head D to the surface of the ground L and is preferably provided with a down turned'end O discharging into a tank or hopper P. This discharge pipe J is preferably provided with a vent Q, within the pump chamber near the upper head D, through which pressure fluid as compressed air, entering the pump chamber may esca e to atmosphere until the vent Q is closed y the liquid rising in the pump chamber from the well athrough the illing pipe F.

A main Huid pressure supply pipe R extends from the lsurface-of the ground to the pump chamber and terminates substantially at the point Siebove the height of the upper ber to discharge the liquid.

valve mechanism, includes means for continuously permitting leakage of pressure fluid down the supply pipe R vto the pump chamber until discharge takes place, and in this instance, means are provided controlled by timing mechanism for cutting 'off the main pressure fluid supply from the .main line U to the pump chamber, so that the apparatus is in readiness to permit the filling of the pump chamber again with oil or other liquid, and the well will be intermittently and automatically discharged.

The controlling apparatus indicated by the character T comprises a valve casing V to which the main supply line U is connected and to which the supply pipe R is also connected. A main valve WV is located in the casing V having the head X controlling the passage of iluid from the main line U to the supply pipe R. The main valve lV is preferably held normally in closed position as indicated in Figures 3 and 5 by line pressure u on the lower head Y entering the valve c amber from the supply line.

U through the opening a inside the main casing V.

The main valve lV is preferably controlled by the auxiliary spool valve Z) preferably shown hollow, and having apertures c and d cooperating with the' passages e and 7"' leading from the auxiliary valve cha-mber to the grooves g and lt respectively of the valve chamber of the main valve lV. lhe central portion of the valve chamber of the auxiliary valve b is in constant communication with the supply line U through the port j, and the hollow bore of the auxiliary valve b, is open to atmosphere through the aperturesltI in the plug 0. Longitudinal movement of the -valve b causes the main valve lV to aetuate by admitting line pressure from the supply linel U through port j and passage f beneath the lower head Y of the main val-ve while opening passage e from the up er end of the main valve to atmosphere t rough the aperture c in the auxiliary valve and the plug o, as indicated by the position of the parts in Figure 4, thus raising the main valve, and supplying pressure fluid from the supply line U through the aperture a in the casing around the neck f 0f the valve W to the Opening g in the casing which communicates with the supply pipe R leading into the well.

A small leak port 1 is provided in the wall of the casing between the valve controlled openings a and g so that pressure fluid is constantly leaking down the well supply pipe R to the pump chamber. This constant leakage of air orf/pressure fluid passes to atmosphere through the hole Q in the discharge pipe J until said hole is closed bythe rising oil vin the' pump chamber. At

pump chamber and the oil Within the pump chamber Will be discharged out through the discharge pipe J to the surface of the ground thlus emptying the chamber.

Timing mechanism is also provided in the controller for maintaining the main valve W open for a sufficient length of time to permit the discharge of the pump chamber and then to close the main valve automatically until the Well is in readiness again to be discharged.

The casing V is provided with a plunger s having a neck t extending across the top of the main opening u of the casing V and having a head 'u between which and the cap w a springm is adapted to be compressed for returning the plunger s to initial position shown in Figure 3 after it has been actuated tothe position indicated in Figure 4 by back pressure. A' port 1/ connects the supply pipe R with the plunger cha-niber 2 which chamber is closed by the cap 2. The neck t of the plunger is provided with a collar 3 which cooperates .with tripping mechanism `operatively connected to the auxiliary valve b and also operatively connected to timing mechanism in the form of a dash pot 4 having a plunger 5 for retarding the return movement of they auxiliary valve 7) and thus maintaining the main valve open for the desired time.

The tripping mechanism is pivoted on the stud 6 and in the form of a toggle coinprising .the bell crank lever 7 having the arm 8 to which the rod 9 of the plunger 5 is pivotally connected by means of the link 10. The bell crank lever 7 is provided with a pivoted latch l2 at its upper end having a spring 13 bearing thereon and connected at one end to the lever 7 as b v means of the screw or pin 14. This latch 1,2 cooperates with the collar 3 on the neck t of the plunger s and as the plunger is forced inwardly by back pressure, the collar '3 engages the latch and rocks the bell crank lever 7 on its ivot.

Also .pivoteg on the stud 6 is a 'lever 15 connected by a link 16 to the auxiliary valve at one end and at the same end provided with a lip or finger 17 engaging the fork 18 at thelower end of the bell crank lever 7. The linger 17 is narrower than the width between the fingers of the fork 18 so that there is lost motion or play between the bell crank lever 7 and the outer lever 1.5. The upper end of the lever is connected by a telescopic link 19 to the upper portion of the casing V and a spring 20 surrounds this link between the ends of the portions ofthe telescopic lever, so that as the bell crank lever 7 is rocked on its pivot the lever 15 and the link 19 which forma toggle are thrown over the center from the position indicated in Figure 3 to lthe position indiv cated in Figure 4. The lost motion connection between the lever 15 and the bell crank lever 7 causes the auxiliary valve b to be thrown quickly in one direction or the other.

The timing element including the rdash pot 4 and plunger 5 causes the mechanism to return slowly to its original position. The plunger 5 is loosely mounted on the end of the connect-ing rod 9 and a spring 21 surrounding the connecting rod bears against the collar 22 on the rod and this spring is compressed as the arm 8 of the bell crank lever 7 is raised so that the oil about the plunger 5 may pass freely through the plungcr apertures 23 and into the lower portion of the dash pot. 4. The spring 21 before compression, torces the plunger rod 9 downwardly and the collar 22 closes the plunger holes 23 so that the oil in the lower part of the dash pot 4 is forced back through the passage 24 into the oil reservoir 25. The rate of movement of the plunger 5 is controlled by the needle valve 26 so that the timing mechanism may be set for any desired time in which to permit the well to discharge.

In the operation of the device, the oil entering the well will rise in the filling pipe F and pass to the pumpchamber in which the level will rise until the vent Q, is closed. 'lhe back pressure hereinbefore referred to acting upon the controlling plunger .9 will force said plunger to the left as the dra-wings are viewed and the collar 3 on the plunger neck t will engage the latch 12 and rock the bell crank lever 7 upon its pivot which movement will in turn rock the lever 15 and the auxiliary valve b will be actuated to admit pressure fluid beneath the main valve IV and raise said valve. Pressure fluid from the main line U will then be admitted to the pump chamber through the pipe R. The spring a' will return the plunger s to the initial position and the collar 3 will pass backwardly over the latch 12. The spring 21 on the dash pot plunger rod 9 will force the dash pot plunger `5- downwardly in the dash pot at a rate determined by the setting of the needle valve 26, thus returning the auxiliary valve b to initial position which will cause the closing of the main valve IV. The apparatus is then in condition to be again actuated to embody the pum chamber when the pump chamber has fille with oil.

I claim:

1. Fluid pressure pumping apparatus for automatically discharging liquid from a well in accordance with the rise of liquid in the well, comprising a casing located in the well into which the liquid is permitted to enter, means controlled by the back pressure in the casing for automatically discharging the casing by main pressure fluid, said discharging mechanism including a main valve,-an auxiliary valve controlling the main valve, and a back pressure valve controlling the auxiliary valve.

2. Fluid pressure pumping apparatus for automatically discharging liquid from a deep well in accordance with the rise of liquid in the well, comprising a casing located in the well into which the lliquid is permitted to enter, a controller controlled by th back pressure in the casing for automatical y discharging the casing by main pressure fluid, said controller comprising a main valve, an auxiliary valve controlling the main valve, a controller plunger subject to back pressure, operative connections between the controller plunger' and the auxiliary valve, and a timing element operatively connected to said connections between the plunger and the auxiliary valve, said timing element having fluidretarding means, and means for varying the time in which said timing clement acts.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

FRED M. SLATER.

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