US2715943A - Tubing thread leak repair tool - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 23, 1955 M. E. TRUE 2,715,943

TUBING THREAD LEAK REPAIR TOOL Filed April 29, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l Y i. i i

INVENTOR. Martin E. True, BY

A 7' 7' OfP/VE X Aug. 23, 1955 M. E. TRUE 2,715,943

TUBING THREAD LEAK REPAIR TOOL Filed April 29, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 x 3 57 4 6 w m w w w. 2/54 W m7 INVENTOR Mari/n 5 True,

ATTOR/VE).

0 OI I 2 :6 5H m Fmw a mm 745 9 8m 222 N T B 7 p 2 X R A R Q A 2 R United States Patent C) 2,715,943 TUBING Truman LEAK REPAIR TOOL Martin E. True, Houston, Tex., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Essa Research and Engineering Company, Elizabeth, N. 3., a corporation of Delaware Application April 29, 1954, Serial No. 426,452

4 Claims. (21. 166-63) This application is directed to a tool adapted to be lowered into a string of tubing or casing and manipulated to force thread sealing material into a joint of the tubing or casing to seal it against leakage.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention may be seen from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawing in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 taken together are in the form of an elevation, partly in section, showing an embodiment of the present invention with Fig. 1 showing the upper end of the device and Fig. 2 the lower end;

Fig. 3 is a view taken along lines III-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3a is an isomeric view of the member R apart from the structure of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view taken along line IVIV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4a is a view taken along the lines VV of Fig. 2;

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are fragmentary views showing the several positions of a valve member of the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view showing the lower end of another embodiment of the present invention, the upper end of the embodiment may be identical with that of Fig. 1 so that Figs. 1 and 8 taken together show a complete second embodiment.

Turning now specifically to the drawing and first to the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 7, a body assembly is made up of sections A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. These separate parts are connected together by conventional means, such as screw threads as shown in the drawing, to form a single body. A pair of packer assemblies H and J is mounted on the body with a collar locator K mounted on the body between the packer assemblies. Within the body are chambers L and M with valve control means N, O, and P. At the upper end of the body is a head assembly Q which consists of the separate parts R, S, T, U, and V. The head assembly Q controls the position of valve member N.

When the device is assembled and ready to run into the well, chamber L contains gas under high pressure and is sealed from chamber M in which is a thread sealing compound. Thread sealing compounds suitable for use are known to the art, a suitable compound being described, for example, in application Serial No. 165,377, entitled Thread Lubricant filed in the name of Rudolph C. Buchan, filed May 31, 1950, an abstract of which is published in the Otficial Gazette, volume 662, book 4, page 1188.

Taking up specifically the assembly in Figs. 1 and 2 and starting at its upper end, member A consists of an outer tubular portion 11 which connects through spider 12 to a smaller diameter tubular section 13.

In the head assembly Q, member R is a slidable sleeve provided with an outwardly extending circular shoulder 14. The member R is also provided with longitudinally extending ribs 7 which are slidably arranged in or received by openings 12 of spider 12 such that member R may move downwardly with respect to spider 12 on shearing of pin member U. Member R is provided with .ing force.

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an inwardly extending circular shoulder 15 at approximately its mid-point, shoulder 15 being adapted for engagement with the lower surface of tubular section 13 to limit the extreme upper movement of member R when pin member U is not operative to act as a restrain- Circular member S cooperates with annular member T to couple member R with valve member N by engaging head 16 of valve member N. Annular member T also cooperates witht the upper end of section B to limit the downward travel of member R when pin member U is not acting as a restraining force.

In head assembly Q, pin member U secures members R and V to member A and prevents longitudinal movement of valve member N. Pin U is arranged so that upon being subjected to shear stresses it first shears at points 17, 17 between member R and section 13 of member A while its next points of shear 18, 18 are between member V and section 13 of member A. In order to simplify the drawing, means for causing pin U to shear at these predetermined points is not shown. It will be understood that various arrangements to achieve this result are known to the art.

Member V terminates at its lower end in an outwardly extending shoulder 19 so that when pin U is not operative to act as a restraining force its upper movement is limited by engagement of shoulder 19 with circular shoulder 15 of member R and its lowermost movement is limited by engagement with the lower surface of shoulder 19 with circular member S. The upper end of member V is provided with a conventional head 20 for engagement with a conventional wire line coupling member 5 attached to wire line 6 as shown in Figs. 5 and 7.

Member B is provided with a central passage 21 in which valve member N is slidably arranged with spaced sealing members 22 and 23 mounted in the passage. A side port 24 communicates through passage 25 to chamber L and is provided with screw threads 26 and a check valve 27 for filling chamber L with gas under high pressure by a suitable means, not shown in the drawing.

Member D is provided with a central passage 30 in which the lower end of valve member N slidably fits with the space between the central passage and valve member N sealed by spaced sealing members 31 and 32. Mounted in member D are check valve assemblies 0 and P which taken together with member N may be considered as the valve means controlling fluid flow between chambers L and M and space W within member A which in turn communicates with the exterior of the body assembly. Check valve assemblies 0 and P prevent flow from chamber L'to chamber M when the pressure in chamber L is greater than the pressure in chamber M but allow flow from chamber M to chamber L when the pressure in chamber M is greater than the pressure in chamber L.

' Chamber M is divided by piston 40 having sealing rings 41 and 42 into a space 43 and a space 44. The space 43 is filled with gas while the space 44 contains thread sealing material. Piston 40 is not essential for the operation of the device but has the avantageous efiect of protecting the valve means N, O, and P from the thread sealing material.

In the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 7 valve member N is in the form of an elongated rod with its upper end terminating in a head 16 which is engaged with assembly Q as previously described. Below head 16 member N fits slidingly in central passage 21 of member B. Its lower end extends within portion 43 of chamber M and terminates in a circular outwardly extending shoulder which serves to limit positively the upward movement of member N. The lower end of member N immediately above shoulder 50 fits slidingly with passage 30 of member D. Near the upper end of member N is a central paswhich position it isheld by" assembly Q as long as. Pi U is, intact, side' por t.52 iswithin passage 21 of member B. and is sealed by'seals 22' and 23. At the lower end of member N, side port56f is within passage 30 of member D and. is sealed by seals 31 and '32. Thus, in the initial er'jfirst position member: N seals oft: chamber L in a fluidtight manner, the check valves O and P also sealing chamber Lirem hamber as long as the pressure in chamber L' exceeds the pressure in chamber M. 7

When member'N is in its second position, as shown in Eigs, 5. and 6, side port 52 at its upper end is stillwithin r B and sealed by sealsv 22 and. 23 but the side port 5,6at its lower end is withinchamber. M and side p'ort55 is within chamber L. Thus, when member N its second position chamber L is sealed from space W but is in fluid communication with chamber M. I When valve member N is in'itsthird position, as; shown in Fig. 7, side port 52 is above seal 22. of member B is in fluidcom munication with space W while side port 53 is below embe I in u d feei m eieetieti w hambe L Thus, when valve member N is in its third position chamber L i ls in communication with space Wand if the nte uie ham e eee th t! the ee p e h e he; e al e. ssembl s nd eetn un e te ehem nt 9 r d: o the oo he. eck r as emblies H and. te il idli ei tii ted' and a t! flui emm nieaies. with ha be M- z r e 9f. member E has a e i t ra asefll eenimtin e n i h ehamb M. a d intern hi aessase. emm nie tee w th a simila y ized e nt l pe e e fil embers M mb F has y n ical ch mber 62 which communicates with passage 61 and in turn coni ets with m age 6 Bass e 6 eo tmun eatsw h exter r f a e. d hr h a s de next 65 hisk e' l se whe the q s. a ranse ia w ri igi q heher e e y mea s of a. f an i e di s. 66 held in pl as b te tle i en l a embe .Pa sase. 6. a so ei aeet w th. a e er e indr eal ehambee Uppe ecker assembly-H ons s a nibbe p eki i w e d ree and its t ap t end;

tiemb s 9 havin i. e at ns inen. gya lxextendins eireular shou de l e em to. the l ii -T in amid-ti ht e y eei i ete edibetw en q t rfa e 71 member 5.2 25

hetil etfl efnz mbe Thet eefe d o he. aelset ma b exp qde esei st he ubin 1 bvmeans i; an

ees mb yee e ins f e. mem er .see r tl e ether namely, libu ee shap pi to member 7. and uhula memb 4 having t! e er ed e shar d surfa e emb r} 74 haml e aeninse. 74.4 h a i wh h ib or longitudinally extending splines 74b proj'eet, Splines 7411' eti lthr e i connected emember Mar ime. is a r nged e biee.. eeeet v, .14 9. it lewerreei:

tion in chamber 62, spring 76 having its upper end stns a a st groeve in m m et F and. itelewer s i et s sein m gnbt fll, Upon t e @PBHFfiiQBP fl Pr s r n hamber. rtil l a ain t e tee ar e d,

7 e fn' em rii t n es he b a f rin 7 to. be ev eme .9. ha the assemb y 4 e i awee an he ed aped tiae 7.5 ex and Paeke memb p'm outwardly to make a fluid-tight seal with tubing. 19.

.L 'w r Ra k t". a s m 1 QQP e f a r bbe pa ss. mem er 8.0 hav e e e pe e f e eeq s lq r ees terminating in an inwardly; extending circular shoulder hi e? .helti t9 th es in e flu det s it. ma ner bytbe gretained between shoulder 81 of member G and shoulder 82 of member F. The means for expanding the packer 80 consists of an assembly consisting of two members secured together, namely, piston 83 and tubular member 84 which has its outer surface 85 in the shape of a circular wedge. The assembly 83, 84 is biased to an upward position in chamber 68 by spring 86 which has its lower end in contact with member G and its upper end in contact with member 83. Member 84 is provided with slots or openings 84a through which ribs or longitudinally extending splines 84b project. Splines 84b are thr eada b ly connected to member G as shown in the drawing. However, when pressure is applied in chamber 68 it is exerted against surface 87 of piston 83 so that the bias of spring 86 is overcome and the assembly 83, 85 movesdownwardly so that the wedge shaped surface 85 expands packer member 80 outwardly to make a fluid-tight seal with tubing 10.

sembly is lowered by the wire line through tubinglQ to a depth just below coupling 9. whieh, for the purpose of, explaining the invention will be assumed to have a leak eu e. th e dshe ass mb y is hen raised until tubing locator K engages the leaking coupling 9. then a sleeve 8 may bedropped down the wire line and strikes he upp end. o memb r R. of ssem y Q an au pin U to shear ata point 11 and causes members R. S. T.

arid valve member N't o travel downwardly so that valve member N goes from its first position, as. show inFig;

1 to its second position as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Movement of valve member N to its second position l ows empxe eed as to pa s fro ham er L to portion 7 43 of chamber M and drives piston downwardly which in turn forces thread sealing material into chambers 62 and 68 so that the packer members/Z0. and. of packer assemblies and J are forced into contact with he. el of t b 0-. Wh n th e u n si p t 5 934 t9 a. edete i ed v l i c .66. fractures n ,allews hre d e lin mat al 9. li -injected .in

P??? et ee theexpa ded p ke a em lies .H and 1. 3 5 f s i 0Id y h P11655136 of the compressed tqmeham Lin q h e king co p ng 9.-

ot er the thread sea in a rial as een squeezed into eak n e pl n 9 h a bly ay e r riev d from the well by taking an upward pull by the means'of the wire line on; member Q so as to cause pin U' to. shear at points 18, 18. After pin U shears, a continued upward. pull on part Q first brings circular ledge 19. into contact with shoulder 15 and an additional pul Causes the tire assembly Q to m upwa y king with it valve membe $9 thatvalve memb r N m ves fr m. its second position to its third position, as shown in Fig. 7. When a vemembe N s in ts third. positi n. comp sse air s. e eased f om hamber L t r u P 1 3, p ssag 1 and port 52 into space W within member A and thenceinto he tith n o he we l- When. the Pre u wi hin. cham-v ber L drops, check valve assemblies 0 and P release the pressure from chamber 'M into chamber 'L (where, in'

um. i diseha ges i t spa W) nd llow l e'packing assemblies H and I to bereleased. When the packers have been released, 'a n additional upward pull on the wire line will'eause failure of the prongs of tubing collar .loeator K after which the tool may be withdrawn upward- P2 e tlx a b identi l q e e t e be im nt 0 se and 2.. 9. th t; thew pl e dev c o n b Figs. 1 and 8 taken together. In this embodiment the parts in Fig. 8, identical to the parts of the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, are designated by identical reference characters.

In Fig. 8, section F of the body consists of members 101, 102 and 103. Section F is secured to the lower end of section E and has section G secured to its lower end. Mounted on section F are packer assemblies H and I. Packer assembly H consists of member 103 which has its upper end secured and sealed to the body assembly by being retained between surfaces 104 and 105 of E and surfaces 106 and 107 of member 101. Similarly, the lower end of packer 103 is secured and sealed to the body member by being retained between surfaces 108 and 109 of member 102 and surfaces 110 and 111 of member 101. Lower packer assembly 1' consists of a packer member 112 which has its upper end retained and sealed between retaining member 113 with surfaces 114 and 115 in contact with the packer and surfaces 116 and 117 of member 103. The lower end of the packer is retained and sealed in position between surfaces 118 and 119 of member G and surfaces 120 and 121 of member 103.

llember E has cavity M therein, the lower end of which communicates with passage 60. Passage 60 in turn communicates with passage 130 in member 101 of assembly H and this passage in turn communicates with central passage 131 of member 102 and passage 132 of member 103 of assembly F. Passage 130 communicates with side ports 133 which discharge to a mid-point within packer 103 of upper packer assembly H. Passage 132 discharges into side port 134 which discharges at a mid-point within the lower packer member I. Passage 131 communicates to side port 65 which is sealed by frangible disc 66 held in place by threaded annular member 67.

The embodiment consisting of Fig. l and Fig. 8 taken together may be employed in a manner identical to the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2. When pressure is imposed on the thread sealing compound in chamber M, this thread sealing material is forced into side ports 133 and 134 to expand packers H and 1 against tubing after which additional build-up in the pressure causes frangible disc 66 to rupture and forces thread sealing compound into the annulus between the body and the tubing in the space between the expanded packers H and J and then into the threads of the leaking coupling. After suflicient time has passed to allow the valve sealing compound to be forced into the leaking coupling, the tool may be retrieved in a manner identical to that in the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2, the release of the pressure allowing packers H and J to deflate.

While the present invention has been described and explained in conjunction with specific embodiments, it will be understood by a workman skilled in the art that various changes in the sizes, shapes, proportions and parts may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A tool for forcing thread sealing compound into the threads of a leaking coupling comprising, in combination, an elongated body having a first chamber containing gas under high pressure and a second chamber containing thread sealing compound, a partition member between said chambers provided with first and second passageways, spaced first and second pressure actuated packer assemblies carried on said body member, said body member being provided with a third passageway fluidly communicating said packer assemblies with the second chamber, said body member being also provided with a discharge port closed by a frangible disc com municating fluidly with the third passageway and discharging from the body member at a point between said spaced first and second packer assemblies, check valve means in the first passageway allowing flow of gas from the second chamber to the first chamber when the pressure in the second chamber is greater than the pressure in the first chamber and preventing flow of gas from the second chamber to the first chamber when the pressure in the first chamber is greater than the pressure in the second chamber, a longitudinally movable valve element slidably arranged in the second passageway adapted to assume a first position sealing said first chamber and movable from the first position to a second position communicating said first chamber with said second chamber and movable from the second position to a third position communicating said first chamber with the exterior of said elongated body, and a valve actuating means mechanically connected with said movable valve element, said valve actuating means including an elongated member having a head adapted to be engaged with a wire line, a slidable sleeve, and a frangible member releasably connecting the elongated member and the slidable sleeve adapted to shear at a first point allowing movement of the slidable sleeve downwardly to move the valve element from its first position to its second position and shearable at a second point to allow movement of the elongated member upwardly and the valve element from its second position to its third position.

2. A tool in accordance with claim 1 in which the second chamber is provided with a free piston separating gas in the second chamber introduced from the first chamber from the thread sealing compound.

3. A device in accordanc with claim 1 in which said first and second packer assemblies each consist of a flexible packer member having one end secured to said body and having a slidable packer expanding member with a wedge shaped outer surface slidable under pressure to expand said packer.

4. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which each of said first and second packer assemblies consists of a packer having its upper and lower ends secured to and sealed to said body to form third and fourth chambers, respectively, in fluid communication with said second chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,370,832 Baker Mar. 6, 1945 2,399,125 Lehnhard Apr. 23, 1946 2,642,139 Bedford June 16, 1953 2,681,114 Conrad June 15, 1954

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