US2151059A - Valveless sand pump - Google Patents

Description

March 21, l939l l.. J. TowNE ET A1.

VALVELESS SAND PUMP Filed May 7, 1937 wm MT D /m EN Y 5B x ATTORNEY PatentediM'ar. 21, 1939 A.

' VALVELESS SAND PUMP vLeland J. Towne,V Oldahoma City, and Edgar B.

' De Loe, ,Sapulpb Okla.

`Application May 7, 1937',y Serial No. 141,336`

'K 4 Claims.

ffy'Ihe` invention relates tovrrsand pumps used in y Ther greatest cleaning out. sand and other foreign matter from deelzrwells.y ,n

, difficulties with Vpumps of this classat present are the'sticking of the plunger,

f and the sticking of the check valves'due to sand CIL and; other foreign mattersettling on top of andv Varound the plunger andivalves. Y f

L@Toobviate these difliculties various manufac- 'turers have adoptedtheexpedient'of making the rplunger somewhat smaller in diameter than the interior diameter of 'the barreLMw'ith the` idea that the sand and otherforeign matter settling outofthe;liquid would pass downward in the.

barrel Varound the plunger.rv The actual results of; this change-in construction have been: "exe trexnelyy lfastwearon 4the outer surface of the plungerfdue togthe abrasiveraction of the sand and other foreign matter in the liquid, causing aboutr midway of the barrel, and, as the pump is withdrawn from the liquid in the bottom of the ,wellf theweight, of the' fluidand of the barrel causes the dislodgingof the particles holding the plunger, and .theloaded barrel drops,the impact ofy its headagainst the top of the plunger fre" kquentlyl'breaking the sand line supporting the pump. y/Naturally fthe pump drops to the bot- :tom ofthegwell, `and a fishing job is necessary,

y with consequent lloss ofvaluable time. This con- [the check'valves. n Y v jflheychief objects of our invention, therefore,Y

struction` has not greatly reduced thel sticking of are to eliminate the abovementioned difficulties,

i4in connection with the'f accompanying drawing4 whichiorm a part of this application. 'I'he drawing is to be considered illustrative only.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 isa side sectional view of our sand pump assembled; n

`Figure2 is'a perspective view of one of the four shoes which form the plunger head, and shows by dotted lines the manner in which the shoes cooperatively fit together;

' Figure 3 is a top sectional View taken along the line 3--3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but shows the plunger head contracted; and

Figure 5y is a top sectional view taken along the line 5 5 0f Figure 1. 15

, kLike characters of reference designate like parts in all Iigures. Ihe invention includes a barrel I0, a head -I I, and a bottom I2. The bottom is provided with an upwardly opening pressure operated valve I3. 'I'he barrel Il! is provided with a plurality of ports I4 and I5, which are so positioned that they lie below the plunger when it is at the upper end of its stroke. These ports thus serve as anoutlet for fluid inthe barrel above the plunger as the plunger is drawn upward within the barrel, but as the Vplunger approaches the upper end of its stroke itrcloses these ports trapping liquid in the upper portion of the barrel above it. The only outlet for'this liquid is through the opening I6 in the head around the sand line I'I; thus the liquid above the plunger serves as a cushion to prevent the plunger operating rod from hitting the interior wall of the head with such force as to break the head, and the sand line.

The plunger includes a central plunger operating rod I8 threaded at its upper end as at I9 and connected to a usual rope socket 253, and having Va flattened portion 2l to facilitate connection to the Vsocket 2li. Intermediate its ends the rod is` provided ywith an annular enlarged shoulder 22. Amandrel 23 is rotatably mounted on the lower portion of the rod below the shoulder 2;?, and is heldin position thereon by a washer 24, ainut 2 5, and a cotter pin 26. The upper end of the mandrel 23 is of larger diameter than its central portion and has a plurality of longitudinally extending slots 26 and 21, the oice of which will be later described. Intermediate its ends the mandrel has a portion 28 of reduced 50 diameterV formed by opposite converging frustoconical surfaces. rI he lower end 29 of the mandrel is square, as shown in Figure 5.

The plunger also includes an expansible head, designated as a whole by the numeral 30, and 55 composed of a plurality of interlocking arcuate shoes 3I, 32, 33, and 34, the shape of which is more clearly shown in Figure 2. As illustrated, each shoe forms an equal portion ofthe complete circular plunger head, and interlocks withl the adjacent shoes in a manner to permit radial movement with relation to the central rod I8 about which they are arranged. Each shoe has a slot in its periphery, which slots serve as seats for the upper ends of reins 36,31, 38, and

39, which are respectively secured to the'shoesl by means of counter sunk screws 40, 4I, 42, and 43. Intermediate their ends, each of these reins lis provided with an oiset portion 44 which` is so formed as to conform to the constricted portion 28 of the mandrel 23, when the upper and lower portions of the reins lie flat against the mandrel. y

' QThe lower ends of the reins are slotted to receive the integral, spaced arms 5I, 52, 53, and 54, of a rein yoke 45, which is centrally `provided with a square through perforation of a size as to allow Y it toy slidably t the lower end 29 of the mandrel. The lower ends of the reins are heldin position on the arms 5I, 52, 53, and 54, respectively, by cotter pins 48, passing through the outer ends of the arms. This arrangement permits relative axial movement between the mandrel, and theY yoke 45, the reins 38, 31, 38, and 39, and the head 3U; and also permits each rein' to pivot with its respective arm as an axis. Figure 3 shows the head in its expanded posi tion, its yshoes completely sealing against the wall of the barrel I0. Figure 4 shows the head Y 38 partially contracted leaving an annular space f between the outer surface of the head and the shoes is accomplished by a movement of vthe mandrel 23 upward with relation'to the reins 3%, 31, 38, and 39. This movement causes the tapering shoulder46 of the mandrel to Contact the offset portions of the reins, causing them to pivot, with their respective arms 5I, 52, 53, and 54 asV their axes, and forcing their upper ends outward toward thel wall of the barrel I0. When the mandrel is again moved downward with relation to the yoke,` 45, and with relationV to the reinsthe offset portions 40 ofthe reins seat in the constricted portion ZlOfthemandrel,`

' permitting the upper ends of the reins to move toward the rod I8, which of course permits the shoes 3l, 32, 33, and 34, to move into their contracted position as shown by Figure 4, the upper ends ofthe reins seating in the like plurality of properly spaced slots 26 and 21 in the upper end of the mandrel 23.

We call attention to the fact that as the shoes 3l, 32, 33, and 34, are moved axially away from the center rod I8, the center hole in the plunger head 30 is increased in diametenand outwardly extending grooves are formed between the upper portions of the adjacentshoes and between the lower portions of the adjacent shoes. With the shoes 'in their expanded position, theV grooves Iformed between the upper portions of the adjacent shoes have no outlet, and fluid in the upper portion of the barrel can not pass theV plunger through these grooves. The grooves formed between the lower portions of these shoes, when the head is in its expanded form, serve as outlet ports for fluid above the plunger, due to the fact that the upper end of the mandrel 23 is of less diameter than the interior diameter kof the; A

barrel I0. The upper end of the mandrel closes outward fromtheir inner ends, leaving their outer ends open at the bottom.k This is an important feature of our invention as it preventssand` and 'other foreign matter fromv settling on top of the plunger, thus causing the piston to stick. As theV sand settles out of the fluidvtrapped above the plunger, thecirculation of the fluid throughV these lower grooves, as just described, carries the settling sand with it to a point below theY plunger head, where it passes out of the Ywhen the pump isemptied.

Operation barrel production tubing until it reaches the point in the well to be cleaned. During the downward travel of the pump, the plunger is at the upper end of its stroke, the valve I3 is Vfree tov open,

andthe fluid is free'topa'ss yupward through the ln operation, the pump is lowered into vthe Y barrel andout'through-the'ports I4 and I5.

When the bottom l2 seats on the sand or other foreign Vmatter in the well, the Yplunger moves through the fluid to the bottom of the vbarrel due to its own weight, the iiuid passing around the expansible head 3u. VAn upwardV pull on thesand' line il causes the'mandrel 23 to Vmove axially upward with relation to the reins, as previously dscribed, thus 'expanding thefplunger head ,'30.

As the pull on the sand' lineis continued the plunger draws liquid into the barrel through` the `valve i3, andas the plunger approaches the upper end ofthe barrel its impact against the head is cushioned, as previously described. The entire pump is now drawn upward out of the well where it is emptied by unscrewing 'the set screw 4l, and

permitting the valve VI3 to'drop downward in thek bottom I2, as shown bythe dotted lines, and the operation'is repeated.

' While we' have Vdescribed and Villustrated a ik specic embodiment of our invention, we-are' aware that numerous changes may be madeA .therein and we donot Wish to be limited except ed claims.

We claim:

l.,V sand pump comprising: a barrel; a head for said barrel; .a valvecl bottom for said barrel; a plunger 'within the barrel including an expansible head formed of 'a plurality of relatively movable interlocking( shoes, a" mandrel about which said shoes` are positioned and with relation to which said shoes are radially movable, and a rein connected to each of said shoes and operable by said mandrel for moving said shoes radially;A andmeans connected to. said plunger bythe prior art and by thescope of the append-.7 i'

and extending outside `saidbarrelfor movingsaid -Y plunger with relation/to said barrel, and for moving saidmandrel with relation to said plunger head. j Y

2. AV sand pump including: a barrel; ahead for said barrel; a .bottom forV saidbarrel; a

. plunger comprising a central plunger rod, a sectionally formed expansible head surrounding said rod intermediate its Aends and movable axially with relation thereto, its Vindividual sections ybeing movable radially with relation thereto, a yoke lmountedrfor limited axial movement on the -lower endof .said rod, and a plurality'ofreins each having itsV lower end pivotally connected to said yoke and its upper end rigidly secured to onesec- 2 tion yof said expansible head; and ,means connected yto'theupper end of said central rodand y extending ,outside the barrel for moving said "plunger with relation to said barrel, and for moving said central rod With relation to said plunger head and said yoke, whereby said sectional head is expanded to seal against the Wall of said barrel.

13 A pump plunger comprising: a mandrel mounted ona central plunger operating rod; a

sectional expansible plunger head surrounding the rodadjacent 4the mandrel; an axially slidable yoke on the mandrel; and means connecting the yoke to the individual sections of said head for moving the Yindividual sections radially outward ywith relation to said mandrel and said rod when the mandrel is moved axially with relation to said yoke.

4. A pump plunger comprising: a mandrel rotatably mounted on a plunger operating rod; a yoke mounted for limited axial movement only on the lower end of said rod; a plurality of radially movable interlocking shoes surrounding said rod adjacent the upper end of said mandrel and forming an expansible plunger head movable axially with relation to said rod; a like plurality of reins, each having one end attached to one of said shoes and the other end pivotally connected to said yoke; said reins adapted to expand said plunger head from its normally contracted form When said mandrel is moved up- Ward With relation to said yoke and said head.

LELAND J. TOWNE. EDGAR B. DE LOE.

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