US2516581A

US2516581A - Well tool

Info

Publication number: US2516581A
Application number: US564919A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lynes John; James A Armitage
Original assignee: Lynes Inc
Current assignee: Lynes Inc
Priority date: 1944-11-24
Filing date: 1944-11-24
Publication date: 1950-07-25
Anticipated expiration: 1967-07-25

Description

July 25, 1950 J. LYNEs ETAL WELL TOOL 3 Sheets-Sheet l Fili/ffl Zink/: h.

Filed Nov. 24, 1944 INVENTOR 5mm www /Qoe/vfy,

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Flled Nov 24 1944 July 254, 1950 J. LYNEs ETAL 2,516,581

WELL TOOL Filed Nov. 24, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I 3 g: 6 Z

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Patented .uy 25T, 1950 WELL TOOL J ohn Lynes and James A. Armitage, Houston, Tex., assgnors to Lynes, Incorporated, Houston, Tex., a corporation of Texas Application November 24, 1944, lSerial No. 564,919

6 Claims.

The invention relates to a well tool which is particularly adapted for positioning in the well with a view of sealing oi an area, a formation, portion of a pipe or screen, or for any particular purpose such as for treating, testing, or cementing.

In providing a tool which must be lowered into a well bore for great distances and then manipulated for opening and closing the tool or to eiect circulation above the tool or to discharge or intake fluids relative to the well bore below the tool, it is desirable to have a tool with as few moving or operating parts as possible because all of the parts of the tool are immersed in the drilling uid or well liquid and are subjected to tremendous pressures and often high temperatures, so that the possibility of the parts sticking or leaking is minimized with the reduction in the number of movable parts.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a well tool which is made up of a pipe and one or more packers suspended thereon which are adapted to be inflated .to form a seal in the well.

Another object of the invention is to provide a well tool, including a hydraulically inflatable packer whereby a single pipe is utilized to both carry and iniiate the packer and to serve :as a conduit for the discharge or inlet of uids relative to the well.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a well pipe having one or more packers suspended thereon in a slidable position in such a manner that liquid forced from the pipe will inflate the packers so as to cause longitudinal contraction of the packers so that slight movement of the pipe will formation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hydraulic packer for a well bore which is supported on an operating pipe in such a manner that the inilation of the packer will on slight movement of the pipe open the pipe for discharge or inlet of liquid or fluid.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an operating pipe and a well packer therefor, which is movably suspended upon the pipe so that after the packer has been set the pipe may be moved relative to the packer so as to either circulate above the packer or effect a discharge or inlet of uid to or from the well below the packer.

Still another object ofthe invention is to provide a treating or testing tool having a single operating pipe which may be used to lower the vtool into the Well, wash the4 well, innate the then open the tool to the 2 packer, and discharge or intake iluid relative to the tool.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hydraulically inflatable tool where an opening from the operating pipe is normally disposed within the coniines of the deflated packer, and which may be uncovered to open the tool to an area outside of the packer after inflation of the packer.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a simple and economical treating, testing, cleaning, and cementing tool for wells wherein a packer may be inflated solely by the application of hydraulic pressure through the pipe and the pipe opened by sliding the inflating opening out ofthe packer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a well tool having an iniiatable packer wherein the same opening in the operating pipe is utilized to inflate and deilate the packer and for inlet and outlet for the tool.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a well tool which may be lowered into a well bore in a normally closed position, the packer inflated, the well washed above the packer, and the tool then opened to the formation.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a well tool wherein a hydraulic packer may be inflated or deflated and access had to a l sealed oft formation solely by the use of an operating pipe.

Other and further objects of the invention will be readily apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the tool in normally assembled position ready to be lowered into the well bore.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the upper end of the upper packer of the tool of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the lower end of the lower packer of the tool of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the tool with the packers inated in position in the well bore.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the upper packer of the tool of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional View of the lower packer of the tool of Fig. 4.

Figs. 7, 8, and 9 show three different positions of a slightly modified form of the tool, wherein provision has been made for washing or circulating in the well above the packer.

As best seen in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the tool is made up of the pipe 2 having a swivel collar 3 therein so that the pipe 2 may be rotated rela- 3 tive to the tool li. This swivel may be of any desire-d form, usually embodying anti-friction bearings which serve to transmit any load through the swivel While permitting rotation of the pipe which extends in opposite directions therefrom.

The pipe 2 extends on through the swivel as best seen in Fig; 2 and has a coil spring E therearound whose upper end l abuts the swivel 3 while the lower end 8 thereof rests upon the annular ring lo which is slidably arranged about the pipe 2.

An outstanding flange Il is xed to the pipe 2 and has a plurality of openings therein to receive the suspension bolts I2 which are threaded at I3 into the upper iitting le of the upper packer l5. In this manner as seen*4 in Fig. 2, thisupper packer is suspended from the ange Il in normal position when the packer is not inated and normally retainedm from sliding on the pipe because the ring l is pressed against thev bolt heads bythe spring 6.

The packer l5' is made up of the upper tting lli'andthe lower tting i`6'which are spaced apart by the resilient packing Il; which is suitably affixed to the bushings as at I8 at each end in accordance with the' detail' construction disclosed and claimed in the copending applications of' Lynes, Serial No. 65,843, filed December 17, 1948, which is a continuation of Serial No. 473,928, filed January 29,. 1943, for. I-IighPressure Inflatable Packer and Assembly for Testing and Treating Well Formations, now abandoned, and' Serial No. 559,338 filed October 19, 1944 for Well Formation Tool and Packer Therefor.

For. purposes of description here, it may be said that this packing is made up of a packing sleeve 2o having the reinforcing wires or strands 2l embedded therein in combination with the internal liner 22 which tends to seal the connectionlfor the other portions of the packer.

In order to. provide. a seal with the periphery 23 of the pipe 2, the. inside of the packing has the seal. rings,- 24 in position and the tting I4 may have a plurality of packing rings 25 to assist.in.-maintaining` the seal about the pipe.

The lower tting I6 is arranged in a manner similarY toi-the. upper tting lli in that such fittingv is slidable on the pipe.

The lower packer 25, illustrated generally in Eig.- 3, is identicallyy constructed and is suspended fromthe intermediate or middle flange 25 by the bolts l2. while. the loweri'ltting 2.8 is somewhat longer than the fitting IB of tbeupper packer.

@ne or more openings, 3Q in the pipe 2 are arranged so that. they are disposed` withinthe confines of the packer i5 when the packer is dedated. When liquid isforced down through the pipe- 2, it will discharge through these.. openings 3o to the. interior 39' of the packer l5 and cause inflation ofthe packer.

It seems obvious that as this packer is enlarged radially and circumferentially due to in- Iiation, that of. necessity it will contract longitudinally. The present tool is,V of such a simple and economical construction and arrangement that the positioning of this. opening 3B is such that the first application of pressure will cause iniiation and the longitudinal contraction of the packer to. such an extent that the lower fitting H5 will move up toa position such that. the ring 2A will almostcover the opening at about the time the iniiation is completed. The packer is new rmly engaged against the wall of the. Well or the pipe in the well in which it is positioned so that the pipe 2 may be lowered slightly to move the opening 3i! into the fitting I6, This traps the liquid in the packer to lock the packer in an iniiated position. Any additional movement of the pipe will uncover the opening as seen in Fig. 5.

In other words, when the packer is deiiated, the opening 3i) will be inside of the packer but whenk the packer is inflated and the pipe lowered slightly relative to the packer, the opening will first move into the fitting i6 to lock the liquid that is in the packer in such confined position so the packer will. remain iniated, and continued movement will. then move the opening 3D on through the tting IE into the opening 3l in the. Wellbore 32 as best seen in the bottom of the' upper endsoffmiel-bolts;l The swivel 3' has moved;- clownk with the pipe and' this has caused some compression of the spring 6';

The packer is thus'inated'witha known pressure which is preferably suicient to hold the packer' in sealingposition with the wall of the well4 or-th-e' pipe'inwhichl it' has been set so as tov supportthefload of"Y any liquid which may be in space 33'in the well above the packer.

The amount'of lowering of the pipe may be gauged or-measuredif desired', andthe pipe may havev allor part of the liquid'removed after the packer' is inated and While the opening 30 is in the lower fitting lli` if' an operation is'to be performed Where it is desired that there be a lesser static pressure in the pipe than at the formation or location where the tool is to be opened. Of course if any particular liquid is to bedischarged fromthe tool, such liquid maybe used as'the infiatingiliquid if desired, but if it is a liquid unsuitable for iniiating the packer or packers, then' a' desired'quantity of suitable liquid may be'rst inserted.Y in the pipe so that the rst applied pressure will cause the suitable liquid to move into the packers and after thepackers are closed by movement'of 'the pipe the tool is then opened.

In releasing the tool it is .only necessary to lift or raise the pipe slightly to return the ports 3U to the interior of the packers and if there is an excess. of pressure in the wellbore over that. in

the: pipe, the packersA will deate. The inherent resiliencyl of the packers-assists in the. deflation i but if the packers should become stuck, anupward' pull on the pipe raises the ange. Il and a consequent upward pullis exerted onthe-upper end of the packertopull it loose.

The foregoingv description. has beengiven in connection vwitha singlepaclzerV and where such a. single. packeris used, asuitable bull plug, float shoe, or other member 341 will. be threaded onto the lower endof the.` pipe 2. This.` may be-directly below the openings 3ll'4 if a single packer is used'or it may beattachedv to, the. lower end. 35 of the pipe Z-'as seenin Fig. 6.

The lower packer 2.5 isseen generally irrFig. 6 and its construction and. operation will. be. the sameas that of the upper packerv I5; Theremay be a slight difference in that the lower tting. 28 is. somewhat: longer than the tting is. onv the lower endof the upperpacker i5y because it may not beJ desirable to` open the. tool into the space {iE-below*theflower'packer. 25; In this. manner the opening 30 Will not be uncovered as the pipe amasar:

is" lmoved down but will lock the liquid in the packer and then remaincovered lor closed while the openings 30 between the packers will tendf-to open the tool. y

Very often in operating a tool of this sort it is desirable to lower the tool into position in the well and before the packers are inflated, it may be desirable to wash the well or to circulate liquid for some reason or other. To accomplish this, the lower end 35 of the pipe 2 has been provided with openings 40 so that circulation may be had. When it is desired to set the packers, a godevil 4i can be droppedthrough the operating pipe 2 yso as to land in position as seen in Fig. 6. Suitable packings 42 are arranged inside of the pipe 2 so as to form a seal with the go-devil and close the openings 40. A'spear-head 43 on the go-devil permits its recovery after the oper-ations have peen performed 'and it is desirable to again circulate in the well if the tool is to'be moved u to another location or removed from the well. As seen in Fig. 3 these openings 4D will be normally open when the packers are dei-lated and the tool is being lowered into the well bore.

It seems obvious that the tool may be arranged to operate with either one or two packers, depending upon the operation to be performed, the location of the area to be operated on, treated, tested, cemented, or cleaned.

Figs. 7, 8, and 9 show a slightly modied form of the mechanism wherein an arrangement has been provided to determine the position of the pipe relative to the packers and which will permit circulation through the well above the packers after the tool has been lowered into the Well. This arrangement as seen in Fig. '7 includes a coupling 45 which is threaded at 46 into the upper tting I4 of the packer on the tool or the upper packer if two packers are used. This coupling is provided with an internal chamber 41 which is arranged to receive a ilange 48 which is quite similar to the flange I I and bolt arrangement I2 in that the ange abuts against a shoulder 49 in a circulation head 50 so that the spring 6 pressed against the upper end 5| of this head normally holds the packer against sliding movement. This arrangement is desired in order to hold the opening 52 in position in the flow-head ,50, so that it will be closed going into the well bore by being positioned between the two spacedpackings 53.

When, however, the tool is to be operated, pressure can be applied through the operating pipe which will pass outwardly through the openings 30 to cause inflation of the packer so that it will form a seal at 55 with the well bore or pipe in which the tool is being set. When such a seal is made, then the pipe 2 will be lowered slightly so as to move the opening 52 downwardly into alignment with the circulating ports 56 arranged in the circulating head 50. In this manner circulation can be had in the well bore so as to wash the space 33 above the upper packer as seen in Fig. 5. This downward sliding movement of the pipe 2 to align the

ports

52 and 56 will also lock the liquid in the packers by moving the port 30 into the lower tting i6 of the packer. In this manner the well can be sealed and washed prior to the opening of the tool.

The next step as seen in Fig. 9 will be an additional lowering of the pipe 2 so as to cause the port 52 to move out of alignment with the discharge port 56 so that it will in turn be sealed in the flow-head 50 between the two .spaced packings 51. This lower position is insured due t'ing I4 receives the Hangers 'sd .that the operator knowsthat Vby lowering hislpipeiuntil it' will not move downwardly any moredue 'to' the fact that the load of the `pipe oraportion thereof at least is supported by the packer. The driller will receive this indication by lookingiat his weight indicator. l

Y This downward movement closes the tool above the packer. It opens the tool below the packer due to the fact that the opening 3i) moves out of the tting i6 at the lower end of the packer due to the last lowering operation.

When the desired operation has been performed, it is only necessary to lift slightly the pipe 2 in order to close the tool and if desired the reverse steps may be performed so as to again lopen the ports 5t and permit circulation either to replace heavy liquid in the well so as to avoid a blow-out when the packer is-released or for the purpose of washing materialr away above the packer. The opening of the ports 56 may also serve to wash out the operating pipe 2 above the tool.

Ii a pressure is to be retained on the formation, the pipe 2 will be raised so as to move the ports; 3B back into the tting i5, locking any pressure in the area 3l in the well bore below the tool or of course the pressure may be held in the operating pipe 2 on the area below the packer as long as desired, but in such instance, the pipe would not be raised from the position of Fig. 9,` whereas, if the pressure were to be locked and circulation had in the well above the packer,l the pipe would be raised to the position of Fig. 8.

When the operation has been completed and it is desired to remove the tool, the pipe will be raised an additional amount to the position of Fig. '7 so that the opening i3 moves back into the interior of the packer so as to allow the packer to deilate. This deating operation is normally insured due to the fact that the Dacking is resilient and will tend to return to a deflated position. If, however, the packer should not deflate, the pipe 2 may be raised so that the ilange 48 abuts the shoulder 49 and a pull can thus be exercised on the upper end oi' the packer, tending to draw it out of sealing position.

Broadly, the invention contemplates a vtool which can be used for a great number of different operations in the well bore such as the treating of the formation by discharging liquid there-into, the testing of a formation by drawiing liquid from the formation into the tool, the cementing or squeezing of a formation with liq-` uids applied under pressure through the tool or the cleaning of the screen or strainer in the well.

The simple operation of having only one moving part which is the pipe movable relative to the packer provides a tool which is fool-prooi and which insures successful manipulation in the well bore.

What is claimed is:

1. A well tool comprising an operating pipe extending to the top of the well, upper and lower spaced hydraulically inatable packers thereon, means slidably supporting said packers on said pipe, an opening through said pipe disposed within each packer when deflated to direct liquid under pressure into the packers to inflate the packers, said packers being contractible longitudinally upon iniiation, the upper of said packers having a lower fitting slidable on said pipe and tg the fact that trie shoulder 58 of the upper rit- 75 disposed, below the opening in the pipe for the upper packer when the packer is deateia huid excluding seal in said tting about saidoperat.- ing pipe, said pipe being slidable to a position to move such opening as the packer is inated'to a position below said lower tting so that the pi-pe is thus opened to the area. between the packers.

2. A Well tool comprising an operating pipe extending to the top of the well, upperand lower spaced hydraulically inatable packe-rs thereon, means slidablyA supporting saidv packers on said pipe for limite-d longitudinal movement thereon, an opening through said pipe disposed within each packer to direct liquid under pressure into the packers to innate the packers, said packers being contractible longitudinally upon inflation, the upper of said packers having a lower fitting slidable on said pipe and disposed below the opening in the pipe for the upper packer when the packer is deflated, a. fluid excluding seal in said fitting about said operating pipe, said pipe being slidable to a position to uncover suchv opening as the packer is inflated to a position below said lower fitting so that the pipe is thus opened to the area between the packers, said pipe within the packer being a blank pipe when the packer is inated after the movement of said opening out of the packer due to the fitting moving above said opening and serving to lock the packer in iniiated condition, said pipe having limited movement relative to the set and locked packerA so as to return the opening back into the packer to release and deflate the packer.

3. A well tool' comprising an operating pipe extending to the top oi the well, upper and lower spaced hydraulically inflatable packers thereon, means slidably supporting said packers on said pipe, an opening through said pipe disposed within each packer when deflated to direct liquid under pressure into the packers to inflate the packers, said packers being contractible longitudinally upon inflation, each of said packers having a lower fitting slidable on said pipe and normally disposed below the said opening in the pipe within the packer when the packers are deflated, a seal in each fitting about said pipe, said fitting of the upper packer being slidable to a position to cover such opening when the packer is iniiated, said pipe being slidable relative to the upper packer so that4 the opening for the upper packer may be moved below the tting thereof so that the pipe is thus opened to the area between the packers.

4. A well tool comprising a pipe extending to the surface, an inflatable packer Sealed thereon, means slidably supporting said packer on said pipe, and an opening in said pipe `which is normally disposed within the deflated packer and opening into said packer to eiect inflation by the;` applicationof liquid pressure in the pipe,`

saldi-packer being contraotible longitudinally along said pipe. as it inflated. said packer supporting means permitting slidable movement of4 fittings. andan inflatable sleeve'r therebetween.

means. to slidably seal said fittings upon said pipe, openings: in the.` pipe to direct liquid into said packers. to inflate the packers, the ends of said packers being. movable on the pipe for contraction of.. thev length of. the packer: on` the pipeftoiacilitate radial. expansionof said sleeve.

6. .A well. tool comprising an operating pipe extending tothe top oi the well, upper and lower spaced hydraulically inflatable packersltliereon, means slidably mounting said packers on said pipe, an opening through said pipe disposed within'eaohpaclrer when deflated to direct liquid under pressure into the packers to inflate the packers, said packers being contraotible longitudinally` upon inflation, each of said packers having a lower ttingslidable on said pipe and normally disposed below? the said opening in the pipe within the packer when the packers are donated', a` seal in each fitting about said pipe, said lower fitting of the upper packer being slidable to' a position to cover'sueh opening when the upper packer is inflated, said pipe being slidabl'e relatve to the inflated upper packer so that the openingfor the upper packer may be moved below the fitting thereof so that the pipe is thus opened tothe area between the packers', the spacing ofsaid'lower ttingon the lower packer with respect to such lower packer opening in the pipe beingv such that such lower' tting covers the opening for the lower packer when thetool is opened: between thefpackers.

' JOHN- LYNES.

JAMES A. ARMITAGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of'this patent:

UNI'IED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date l-'1"712,6821- Phipps Aug. 12, 1930 2,177,601' Smith Oct. 24, 1939 .2,191,635 Stamps Jan. 16, 1940 y2,227,731? Lynes Jan. 7, 1941 2,232,825 Hamilton Feb. 18, 1941