US2173903A - Packer - Google Patents

Description

4 Sept. 26, 1939.

E. P HALLIBURTON PACKER Filed March 5, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Erie PHa/[iburton 4 w Mao-eh ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 26, 1939. E. P. HALLIBURTON' PACKER Filed March 5, 1957 l granted August 13, 1912. If it is known prior to constructed in accordance with the present in- Patented Sept. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" 14 PACKER Erle Prlialliburton, Los Angelcs, Ca1ii'., assignor to Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company, Duncan, Okla.

Application March 5, 1937, SerialNo. 129,204

2 Claims. (01. 16612) This invention relates to apparatus adapted for Fig, 6 is an enlarged view of a fragment of the use in oil wells or the like, and more particularly apparatus shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and illustrating to packers or means for retaining elements in the position of the slips while the apparatus is fixed and sealed relation with the casing of an being raised into locking position on the collar I 5 oil well. of the casing. I

It is often desirable, as in the cementing of an Referring to the drawings in detail, and first oil well, to fix a valve or other structure to a to the arrangement of Figs. land 2, it will be casing. An example of means for this purpose seen that a casing H is there shown as of usual is shown in the patent to Baker, No. 1,035,674, construction. Within the casing the apparatus.

.the time the casing is placed in the well that a vention is located. This apparatus may consist valve is to be needed or used therein, as during a of an inner section of pipe or tubing [2 which it cementing operation, a collar or a shoe may be is desired to position and fix to the casing H. The made up with the casing and may contain the tubng I2 may contain a valve or other device I2 waive. However, it is often desirable to cement which it is desired to place at a certain point in wells after the casing has been in place for some the casing ll. Preferably the tubing and the time and many other occasions arise where it is valve, where one is used, are made of cement or desired to fix a valve or the like to a casing aluminum or like material so that they may be while the casing is in the well. easily 'drilled out in case it is desired to continue It is an object of the present invention to dedrilling operations in the casing after the opera- 20 vise means for securing a device to the casing in tions in which the valve is used are completed. the well and which will hold the device firmly The tubing l2 may be provided with suitable and provide a suitable seal between it and the flanges or other means for retaining the valve casing. or other structure but since these may take a It is another object of the invention to provide variety of shapes they have not been illustrated 25 a novel means and method for securing a packer and it will be understood that the valve or other .in position in a casing of an oil well. device may. be secured to the tubing l2 in any Another object is to provide a structure which suitable way. may be easily drilled out and removed from the The main feature of the invention involves the casing if desired. manner in which a packer is set between the Other objects and advantages reside in certain tubing [2 and the casing II. In the arrangenovel features of the arrangement and construcment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 thepacker is i1lustion of parts, as will be apparent from the followtrated at l3 and is held in position concentrically ing description taken in connection with the acaround the tubing l2 by means of a pair of recompanying drawings, in which: -taining rings I4 and IS the lower one of which 5 Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a may rest upon a shoulder 16 integral with the portion of the casing of an oil well with apparatubing.

tus constructed in accordance with the present For use as packing material fabric, rubber, or invention located therein but not yet fixed other flexible material may be employed provided thereto. the arrangement is such that the packing will 40 Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the bulge out and contact the casing II when the resame apparatus as illustrated in Fig. 1 but illustaining rings l4 and -l5 are pressed toward each trating the relative position of the parts after the othei. The packing material I3 is shown as prosetting of the packerand slips of the apparatus. vided with a number of pockets certain ones of i Fig. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a which, as shown at ll, are arranged around the 45 portion of a casing with a device shown in crossoutside of the packing material while another set,- section located therein, the device also being such as those shown at l8, are placed on the in shown in cross-section and illustratinga modified side of the packing adjacent the tubing l2. form of invention. Each of the pockets I1 and I8 is provided with Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a a small tube IQ of cement, glue, adhesive, or 50 fragment of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3 and other fluid adapted to aid the packing material showing the position of certain elements after in sticking to the tubing l2 and the casing II. the packer has been set. One such suitable cement or adhesive which Fig. 5 is a plan view of the slips used in the may be found suitable for this purpose is called arrangement of Figs. 3 and 4; and Smooth-On. It is manufactured by the Smooth-n Manufacturing Company, Jersey City, New Jersey. Other cements may consist of powdered iron oxide treated in such a way as to cause solidification when brought into contact with water. Ordinary Portland cement might be used if treated with known chemicals to cause rapid setting.

their operation upon the principle that a tube fllled with liquid will not burst so long as the pressure in all directions upon it remains equal,

even though the pressure is high. The tubes may be caused to burst, however, by changing their shape, as in flattening them out. Thus, in the arrangement illustrated, when the retaining ringsand I are moved toward each other the tubes l9 are flattened and burst, thus causing the cement or glue therein to ooze out in contact with the inner and outer surfaces of the packer, the tubing l2 and the casing ll, thus securing the paker thereto.

Some means must be provided for causing the retaining rings I4 and I5 to move toward each purpose.

other to accomplish the operations mentioned above and in the arrangement of Figs. 1 and 2 the use of slips is illustrated. to accomplish this The slips may also be used to hold the tube l2 against movement in one direction if desired and the construction may be similar to that shown in the Baker patent mentioned above.

In the arrangement illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 a plurality of slips are employed as shown at 20, these devices consisting merely of segments of cylinders provided with teeth 2| on the outside and with a conical or wedge-shaped inner surface 22. 'For expanding the slips a truncated conically shaped body 23 is provided so as to engage the inner surfaces 22 of the slips. The body 23 may rest upon the upper retaining ring l5 so that as the tube [2 is raised, pressure will be exerted through the packer upon the cone 23 and cause the slips to expand and to bite into the casing l I.

In accordance with known practice, where slips are used it is advisable to employ drag springs, such as those illustrated at 24, to hold the slips against the upward movement until they contact the casing. The drag springs 24 are preferably connected to the slips by means of the links 25.

To lower the apparatus described to the proper point in the casing I l and to lift the same to expand the packer and set the slips, a mandrel 26 may be used and may be connected to the lower end of drill pipe or the like.

The mandrel 26 is connected to the upper .end

. of the tubing l2 by means of a bayonet joint connector consisting of a plurality of pins 21 on the tube l2 which fit into J-slots 28 in the lower end of the mandrel 26. The mandrel 26 is also preferably provided with a flange element 29 above the upper end of the drag springs 24 to hold the assembly of the cone 23, the slips 20 and the drag springs 24 in position while the apparatus is being lowered into the well.

After the apparatus is set in the Well the mandrel 26 may be disconnected therefrom and removed from the well by merely depressing the same slightly and rotating it sufllciently to cause the pins 21 to enter the longitudinal portion of the J-slots 28.

In the arrangement of Figs. 1 and 2 the casing H has been illustrated as consisting of merely a smooth pipe, such as is now commonly employed, in which the sections or stands are welded together instead of using connected collars. Where connecting collars are employed a different embodiment of the invention may be used advantageously and may be constructed as illustratedin Figs. 3 to 6 of the drawings. In these figures two sections or stands of casing are illustrated at 3| and 32 and are joined together by means of a collar 34. Where the sections of casing are joined by means of collars, it is customary to have the sections spaced slightly rather than abut so that they take the position illustrated, leaving an annular space between the ends of the casing and the collar, as illustrated at 35. In accordance with the present invention it is proposed to utilize this annular space and the ends of the sections of casing to secure a valve or other apparatus to the casing and an arrangement for accomplishing this is illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6.

As in Figs. 1 and 2, the apparatus of Figs. 3 to 6 may include the central tubing 31 adapted to have a valve or the like mounted therein and the tubing 37 may have a bayonet joint connection at its upper end like that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. In the arrangement shown, however, the arrangement is modified slightly, the mandrel 26 being provided with pins 2'! adapted to cooperate with J-slots 28' in the tubing 31. The mandrel is also provided with a shoulder 28' which engages the top of the tubing 31.

The lower end of the tubing 31 is provided with a shoulder 38 which supports a lower retaining ring 39, the packing material l3 which may be identical in construction and operation with the material l3 illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2,-and an upper retaining ring 40.

The lower retaining ring 39 may be identical in construction to that illustrated at I4 in Fig. 1

but the upper retaining ring 40 is preferably modified to the extent that it is provided with an upwardly extending flange 4|, as shown in the enlargement viewed in Fig. 6, which is adapted to cooperate with the slips 42 as will presently be described.

The slips 42 are similar to those illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 except that in place of teeth on their outer surface they are provided with an interlocking catch or flanged portions 43 adapted to enter the annular space 35 in the casing mentioned above and interlock with the section of pipe above the collar.

Instead of using a separate conical member to actuate the slips, as in Fig. l, the tubing 31 may have a portion integral therewith, as illustrated at 44, for actuating the slips, and this portion of the tube 31 is also preferably provided with a flange 45 at its upper end to retain the slips in the proper position, the flange 45 also abutting against the retainer 29' on the mandrel to hold the parts in assembled relation.

The operation of the apparatus is such that as the tube 31 and associated'parts are being lowered into the well the slips 42 will take the position illustrated in Fig. 3. The catch portions 43 thereon will be dragging slightly on the casing. When it is desired to set the slips, however, by lifting up upon the mandrel 26 and the tube 31 the conical portion 44 of the tube will contact the upper end of the slips and cause them to rotate outwardly slightly about the fulcrums prountil the catch 43 enters an annular space 35 near a collar 34. When that occurs, further up ward movement of the tube 31 will cause the packer to set and the slips to be wedged into place, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

After the cement in the packer has hardened the assembly will be held against downward movement in the casing and the slips 42 will present upward movement therein so that the tube 31 will be flxed flrmly to the casing. The mandrel .28 may then be disconnected from the assembly,

as before, and removed from the well.

It is to be noted that the arrangement is such that the packer in Figs. 3 to 6 cannot be compressed to cause the cement to exude from the tubes therein until the slips have entered the annular space 35. Until the slips enter this space there is nothing tending to force the upper retaining ring downwardly toward the lower retaining ring 39. After the slips are engaging the casing, however, the lower ends abut against the retaining ring 40 and compress the packer as the tube 31 is raised, the final position of the parts being as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The entire apparatus in both of the embodiments of the invention illustrated may be made of material whichmay be easily drilled out. All

of the metal parts may be made of aluminum or some soft metal or alloy except the slips. The

slips are preferably made of cast iron with the teeth or catch-members being case hardened so as to aid them in biting into or engaging the casing and to prevent wear as they are passing through the casing.

While only two embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein, it is obvious that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. An arrangement for securing and sealing an apparatus in the casing of an oil'well or the like which includes a packer and means for securing said packer to the casing, said means including sealed containers embedded in said packer and having therein a quantity of a cement of such nature that it hardens and binds the packer to the casing upon mixing with water.

2. A packer adapted for use in an oil well or the like to secure and seal an apparatus to a casing, which consists of a body of flexible material having pockets therein and cement in said pockets,

the structure being such that as the flexible material is deformed, the cement will be exuded from said pockets.

ERLE P. HALLIBUR'ION.

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