US2572493A - Dump bailer - Google Patents

Description

R. J. KLAASEN ETAL DUMP BAILER Oct. 23, 1951 Oct. 23, 1951 R. J. KLAASEN ET AL DUMP BAILER Filed April 2, 1949 5 sheets-sheet 2 f f'Zr. 2b.

Ela 2a.

00L 23, 1951 R. J. KLAASEN ET AL 2,572,493

DUMP BAILER Filed April 2, 1949 l5A Sheets-Sheet 5 QrfQQA/EKS.

Patented Oct. 23, I* 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DUMP BAILER Ralph J. Klaasen, Lompoc, and Eugene M. Olsen, Avenal, Calif.

Application April 2, 1949, Serial No. 85,122

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in dump bailers suitable for use in depositing cement slurries or other materials in wells.

A primary object of the invention is to provide an improved dump bailer'which is so designed that the bailer can be lowered into the well and be caused to dump its load `at any desired level or depth therein. The dumping of the bailer is controlled from the surface so that lowering or elevating of the bailer in the well will not involve a dumping of the contents of the bailer.

Dump bailers have heretofore been employed which are opened to dump the contents by means of friction springs carried by the bailer `and which engage the walls of the casing. These friction springs are so connected to the outlet valve from the bailer that when the bailer is elevated within the well the outlet valve will be opened to dump the contents. It frequently occurs, however, that a vbailer is lowered into a well and for one reason or another it is desired to lift the bailer lbefore dumping its contents. The prior constructions above referred to, however, necessarily dump the contents of the bailer immediately as soon as the bailer is lifted and consequently they cannot be elevated to a desired level in the wellif the bailer has once been lowered to a point below the desired level.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bailer which can be lowered into the open hole and caused to dump its contents at any level desired.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved dump bailer which is of relatively simple and highly durable construction.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanying drawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Figs. la, 1b and lc are sectional views of the top, middle portion and bottom, respectively, of the dump bailer embodying the present invention illustrating the bailer in that position in which it is lowered into the well;

Figs. 2a, 2b and 2c are similar views but illustrating the bailer in that position after it has been opened to dump its contents;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken substantially upon the line 3-3 upon Fig. la;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken substantially upon the line 4-4 upon Fig. 1a;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken substantially upon the line 5-5 upon Fig. 1b; and y Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken substantially upon the line 6-6 upon Fig. 1c.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, the improved dump bailer consists of a bailer generally indicated at III and made up of sections of pipe suitably coupled together such as by couplings or collars II. Near the bottom of the bailer there is secured a valve seat holder I2 into which is screwed a valve seat I3. This holder may be mounted in the barrel in any suitable manner such as by welds I4. A valve closure I5 is adapted to seat on the valve seat I3 to retain cement slurry or other material in the barrel until such time as it is desired to dump it. The valve closure I5 carries a downwardly extending stem I6 on which is mounted a spider I'I. A compression spring I8 is compressed between the spider I 1 and a cap I9 which closes the bottom of the bailer except for a central aperture 20. The compression spring I8 serves to continually urge the valve closure I5 `into its upper or open position shown in Fig. 2c. However, as a means for keeping the valve closed until such time as it is desired to dump the contents, the top of the valve I5 is equipped with guide ribs or vanes 2| Within which there is provided a seat for a bullnose 22. The bullnose 22 is secured to the bottom of a retaining element made up of sections of tubing 23 coupled together by means of couplings or collars 24. Spiders 25 are slipped onto the sections of tubing 23 just prior to their assembly and may descend by gravity until arrested by the coupling or collar A24. next below. Therev is preferably one spider 25 fory each section 23 and these spiders serve t0 engage the interior of the barrel I0 and prevent the retaining elem-ent made up of the tubing sections 23 from buckling or collapsing. The upper end of the retaining element slidably extends through a dog or latch support 26 which is screwed into the top of the barrel such as by threads 21. This dog or latch support carries one or more pivoted dogs or latches 28 which are pivotally mounted thereon as by pivots 29. The lower ends of these dogs or latches are urged into engagement with the retaining element such as by compression springs 30. They have their lower ends formed or shaped complementary to teeth or shoulders 3| which are formed at the top of the retaining element. Thus when the latches are in engagement with the. teeth v or shoulders 3l, the retaining element made up of the tubing sections 23, can be held in its lowermost position wherein the bullnose 22 presses the valve closure I5 firmly against its seat I3 against the action of the compression spring I8. However, whenever the dogs or latches 28 are caused to disengage the teeth or shoulders 3i, the compression spring I8 becomes immediately effective to lift the valve I5 from its seat and to lift the retaining element supported thereby, thus opening the valve and lallowing the contents of the barrel t be dumped past the open valve and through the opening 20.

As a means for providing for a fine adjustment of the retaining element so that it will hold the valve closure I against its seat, the dog or latch holder 26 is provided on its exterior with a series of vertical grooves or recesses 32. These grooves may be reached through openings 33 in the top of the bailer which enable the insertion cfa suitable tool to turn the latch holder in the barrel .and thus' screw it Vupwardly or downwardly relatively to the barrel by means of the threads 2I. This fine adjustment will enable the retaining element to firmly Apress the closure I5 vagainst its seat'to retain the load within `the 'bailer.

Asa means for 4causing the dogs .or latches `28 to release the retaining element, an internally vconed or carnmem-ber -34 is slida-ble in the barrel above ther-dog or latch holder 26. The interior -of `thisomember is conedso that when Vit descends relatively -to the dogs or .latches 28 it may engage 'the upper ends thereof and swing these dogs or latches from the position shown 'in Fig. la Vinto -the position shown in Fig. 2a. This releasing of the retainingr element Aallows the compression spring I8 to become effective to open the valve. The coned or cam member has a plurality Aof rods 35 secured thereto which slidably extend .upwardly through the top of the barrel and which are connected to `an anvil-or striker bar 35. Compression spring-s 31 are disposed about the upper ends of these rods and urge the striker bar and the cam member 24 into their uppermost positions, or into -a position illustrated in Fig. la.

. The top ofthe barrel provides a cable socket-38 adapted to receive the flared and leaded end of a cable or wire line 39 by which the barrel is lowered into the well. This cable extends through the-anvil or striker Vbar 36. A tubular weight v40 is slidable on this cable or line andris initially `retained at the surface by means of a gate 4I which may be supported on the rotary table or any-equivalent means of support. This gate is illustrated as being composed of hingedly connected parts adapted to be swung into closed position about the cable and retained therein by means of a latch bar 42. When this gateris closed the weight 4D will lbe retained thereabove although the cable or wire line 39 can be raised or lowered therethrough. However, when the gateis opened the weight 40 may be allowed to fall by gravity on the `line v39 until it strikes the anvil or striker .bar 36. When this bar is struck downwardly to compress the springs 31 the coned or` cam member 34 will be caused to descend to engage the dogs or latches 28 and thus eiect a release of the retaining element which allows the valve I 5 to be opened. As a means for retaining the coned or cam member 34 in its lowermost position to which it may have been forced by the descending weight 40, spring actuated ball detent 43 is mounted on the coned or cam member 34. This ball when in its lowermost position will be forced by its spring into a recess or hole 44 Yin the walls of the barrel and thus lock vhave been lifted in the well.

the cam member 34 in its lowermost position. The cam member can be released for upward movement by means of the compression springs 31 by inserting an implement through the hole 44 so as to unseat the ball 43. The bailer may be filled through an inlet opening 45 normally closed by a valve 46. A hose conducting the materia1l to be lowered into the well can be inserted through this opening and the'bailer lled.

When the bailer has been iilled and is in the position shown in Figs. 1a, 1b and 1c, it may be lowered into the well. While in the well it may be raised or lowered without necessarily involving a dumping of the bailer. Also, if desired, the bailer can be lowered into the open hole. Whenever the bailer has reached the desired level and itis desired to dump its contents, the gate `4I is opened to allow the weight 40 to descend by gravity on the line 39. On striking the anvil or striker bar 3S the cam member 34 will be forced downwardly engaging the dogs 28 and causing them to swing into the position shown in Fig. 2a. This releases the retaining element for upward movement and allows the compression spring I8 to lift the valve I5 and the Vretaining element. The bottom ofY the bailer is thus opened and its contents dumped after which the bailer can be recovered from the well by means of the line 39.

From the above described construction it will be appreciated that the improved bailer is so designed that its operation can be completely controlled at al1 times from the surface. The bailer will not and cannot `.be 4dumped until such time as the weight 4I] is released and this may take place either before or after the bailer may The fact that the improved dump bailer 'does vnot `employ friction springs enables the bailer to be advantageously used in the open hole whenever it is desired to deposit .or dump chemicals of various types therein.

Various changes may .be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

We claim:

l. A dump bailer comprising a barrel adapted to be lowered into a well on a line, a valve seat adjacent the bottom of the barrel, a valve adapted to seat thereon, spring `means urging the valve into open position, a Aretaining element in the barrel engageable with the valve to hold the valve in closed position, said retaining element having teeth thereon, one ormore dogs mounted for vertical adjustment in the body engageable with the teeth to .hold the retaining element in valve closing position, a weight adapted to be dropped on the line, and means arranged to be struck by the weight for causing the dogs to disengage the retaining element and Athus allow the valve to open and dump the contents of the bailer.

2. A dump bailer comprising a barrel adapted to be lowered into a well on a line, fa valve seat adjacent the bottom of the barrel, a valve adapted to seat thereon, spring means urging the valve into open position, a retaining element in the .barrel engageable with the `valve to hold the valve in closed position, -said retaining element having teeth thereon, a dog holder screwed into the barrel and accessible from the exterior thereof so as to be capable of being rotated to vertically adjust the dog holder, one or more dogs mounted on the dog holder engageable with the teeth on the retaining element, a-cam vertically movable in the barrel engageable with the dogs to cause the dogs to disengage the retaining element, a striker bar at the top of the barrel connected to the cam, and a weight adapted to be dropped on the line to strike the striker bar and thus effect a release of the retaining element to allow the valve to open.

3. A dump bailer comprising a barrel adapted to be lowered into a Well on a line, a valve seat adjacent the bottom of the barrel, a valve adapted to seat thereon, spring means urging the valve into open position, a retaining element in the barrel engageable with the valve to hold the valve in closed position, said retaining element having Iteeth thereon, a dog holder screwed into the barrel and accessible from the exterior thereof so as to be capable of being rotated to Vertically adjust the dog holder, one or more dogs mounted on the dog holder engageable with the teeth on the retaining element, a cam vertically movable in the barrel engageable with the dogs to cause the dogs to disengage the retaining ele- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,715,504 Johnston et al June 4, 1929 2,099,080 Rusler Nov. 16, 1937 2,154,308 Henderson Apr. 11, 1939 2,322,425 Dempsey June 22, 1943 2,453,068 Haynes 1 Nov. 2, 1948 2,467,835 Lee Apr. 19, 1949

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