US3070019A - Devices for use in pump installations - Google Patents

Description

'INVENTOR. FRANK N. SIES F N. SIES DEVICES FOR USE IN PUMP INSTALLATIONS Filed Sept. 8, 1961 Dec. 25, 1962 BY Mm, M fmf A TTORNE Y5.

atent 3,030,013- Patented Dec. 25, 1952 ice 3,070,019 DEVICES FUR USE EN PUMP INSTALLATIONS Frank N. Sies, Rte. 6, Westminster, Md. Filed Sept. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 136,924

6 Claims. (Cl. 103-5) This invention relates to devices for use in installing jet pumps in subterranean drilled wells and to drilled wells installations that involve such devices.

Jet pumps are extensively used for pumping water from relatively shallow wells which typically are about 25 to 120 it. deep and have bore hole diameters of about -7 inches. Jet pump installations involve a surface pump and pressure tank connected by means of lengths of pipe or tubing to a jet unit and foot valve positioned at or near the bottom of the bore hole.

Current practice in making pump installations as just described involves the use of semi-rigid plastic pipe having a wall thickness of about A; to inch and an outside diameter between about 1 and 2 inches. Such plastic pipe is bendable, but rather stiff and is usually supplied to the plumber or other pump installer in coiltorm. When the plastic pipe is uncoiled, it retains a certain amount of the bend acquired in the coil form. Thus, when the necessary length of plastic pipe is unrolled from a coil, it will lie straight as long as it is held, but upon being released, it has a tendency to coil right back into its original shape. When an attempt is made to feed the plastic pipe down into the bore hole, the pipe tends to curve and run into the side of the walls of the bore hole, rather than go straight down into the well. Hence, when the jet unit and foot valve are fixed on the end of two lengths of such plastic pipe, one serving as a down-comer and the other as a return, it is extremely difficult to get the jet unit, foot valve and plastic pipe down into the well because the jet unit and foot valve jam against the side wall, due to the curving action of the plastic pipe. Actually, it is not uncommon for plumbers making well installations of this type to damage, even to a state of unusability, jet units and foot valves during the feeding of the plastic pipe down the bore hole. Even if this feeding operation causes no damage to the foot valve or jet unit, the difiiculty in placing the pipe and jet unit into the bore hole because of the coiling tendency of the plastic pipe causes substantial loss of time and increases the labor cost of making such jet pump installations.

A principal object of this invention is the provision of new devices which may be used to aid in the fast and efficient installation of jet pumps in subterranean drilled wells. Further objects include:

(1) The pro-vision of a clamping device which may be used for installing semi-rigid flexible tubing or pipe in a drilled Well to prevent the tubing from binding upon the walls of the bore hole as the tubing or pipe is lowered into the well.

(2) The provision of new jet pump drilled well installations in which the jet unit and depending foot valve are attached to sections of semi-rigid plastic pipe which are held in a straightened condition to provide for free flow of liquid through the valve and jet unit and prevent damage to these components.

(3) The provision of new methods for installing jet pumps in drilled wells which permit substantial savings of time to be realized in the placement of the components of the pump system within the bore hole of the well.

(4) The provision of new devices for use in making jet pump installations to hold the jet unit upon the ends of the pipe or tubing which extends into the bore hole of the well to prevent the jet unit from being blown off the pipes by pressure in the system.

Other objects and further scope af applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, is given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Referring in detail to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic fragmentary sectional side view of a jet pump installation including a new device of this invention;

.FIG. 2 is a side view of the lower end of a jet pump installation provided with a new device of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form of the device shown in FIG. 2.

A jet pump installation in accordance with this invention comprises a clamping device 2, a surface pump unit 4, a jet unit 6, a depending foot valve 8 and a pair of plastic pipes 10 and 12 connecting the jet unit 6 with the surface pumping unit 4.

The jet unit 6 has an upwardly extending inlet fitting 14 and outlet fitting 16 and is connected to the foot valve 8 by threaded nipple 19 which threads into the lower end 18 of the jet unit 6 and into the upper end 20 of the foot valve 8.

' The downcomer pipe 10 and return pipe 12 are fixed in their respective inlet and outlet fittings 14 and 16, by end threads, cement or the like.

The clamping unit 2 comprises a first clamping member 22 and a T-shaped second clamping member 24. The first clamping member 22 is formed of a pair of ring portions 26 and 28 joined integrally with one another by the mid-section 30. The hole 32 in the ring portion 28 is threaded to receive the lower threaded end 34 of the metal pipe section 36. The other hole 38 in the ring portion 26 is preferably unthreaded and may carry a bushing 40 to permit the clamping member 22 to be used with several sizes of nipples which join the jet unit 6 to the foot valve 8. Clamping member 22 also carries in the ring portion 26 a set screw 42 which is used to fix the member 22 on the nipple 19.

The T-shaped second clamping member 24 comprises three triangularly spaced holes 44, 46 and 4S and this second member is split along the locus 59 of the centers of the two holes 44 and 46, forming two second clamping member sections 52 and 54. These sections 52 and 54 are clamped together about the plastic pipes to and 12 by means of the bolt 56 which passes through a hole drilled in the section 52 and is threaded into the section 54.

In the form of the device shown in FIG. 3, section 54 t) of member 24 carried a set-screw 53 by which the upper end at} of the pipe as may be held in fixed position relative to the member 24-, with the pipe 36 inserted through the hole 48 of the section 54.

In the modified form of the new device as shown in FIG. 5, the section 54 of the second clamping member 24 has the hole 43 threaded and the upper end 6th of the pipe 35, in this case, is provided with threads 62 sothat the second member 24 may be held in fixed position upon the pipe 36 with respect to the lower or first clamping member 22.

When it is desired to install a jet pump in a drilled well without running into the ditficulty of having the jet unit and foot valve jam against the side walls of the bore hole as these components are lowered into the well, the installation is made using the holding or clamping device of this invention. A section of metal pipe typically 26 ft. in length and of pipe size corresponding to the holes 32 and 48 of the clamping members 22 and 24 respectively,

typically or 1 inch O.D. standard pipe, is cut and threaded at one end of a unit as shown in FIG. 3 is to be used, or threaded at both ends it a modified form as shown in FIG. 5 is to be used. This section of pipe 36 is then threaded into the hole 32 of the clamping member 22 and with the foot valve 8 removed from the nipple 19, the member 22 is slipped over the nipple 19 and fixed in this position by tightening of the set-screw 42. The foot valve 8 is then threaded back onto the nipple 19, joining it with the jet unit 6. Previous to this operation, lengths of plastic pipe 10 and 12 would have been connected to the jet unit 6 by threading or cementing the lower ends of these pipes into the inlet and outlet fittings of the jet unit. The section 54 of the second clamping member 24 is then slipped over the top end 60 of the pipe 36 so that the semi-circular openings in the section 54 which define the holes 44 and 46 contact the side of the plastic pipe in and 12. The second section 52 of the clamping m mber 24 is then placed against the other side of the 'c pipes 14} and 12 and clamped into position with bolt 56. Finally, the T-shaped clamping member 24 fixed upon the pipe 36 by tightening the set-screw 58.

When using the modified form of device shown in FIG. 5, this procedure is simply altered by first placing the section 54 of the member 24 upon the upper threaded end of the pipe 36, so as to cause the semi-circular openings the section 54 to contact the walls of the pipes 10 and 12. The installation of the device 2 upon the jet pump unit isthen completed by positioning of the section 52 on the other side of the plastic pipes and clamping sections 52 and 54 together by tightening of the bolt 56.

With the device 2 installed as described, the lower ends of the plastic pipes 10 and 12 will be held in a straightened condition throughout the length of the metal pipe 3 With this arrangement, the jet unit 6, foot valve 8 and plastic pipes 10 and 12 can be lowered into the bore hole of the well rapidly and without any tendency of any of the elements on the lower end of the plastic pipes to jam against the walls of the bore hole, slow down the installation or damage the components of the pump installation.

I claim:

1. In a subterranean drilled well installation, the combination which comprises a surface pump, a jet unit and a depending foot valve positioned in the bore hole of a drilled well, said jet unit having upwardly extending inlet and outlet fittings, a first plastic pipe connected to said inlet fitting and extending up the bore hole to said surface pump, a second plastic pipe similarly connected to said outlet fitting, a nipple connecting said foot valve to said jet unit, a first clamping member comprising a pair of ring portions formed integrally with one another, a section of metal pipe between about 2 to 6 feet in length, the bottom end of which is fixed in one of said ring portions, said nipple being fixed through the other ring portion, and a T-shaped second clamping member comprising three triangularly spaced holes therethrough, said T- shaped member being split along the locus of the centers of two of said holes forming two sections of said T-shaped member, said plastic pipes being clamped between said two sections which are forced together by a bolt, upper end of said metal pipe section being fixed through the unsplit hole in said T-shaped member whereby said pias tic pipes are held in a straightened condition between said first and second clamping members.

2. In a subterranean drilled well installation, the combination which comprises a surface pump, a jet unit and a depending foot valve positioned in the bore hole of a drilled well, said jet unit having upwardly extending inlet and outlet fittings, a first plastic pipe connected to said inlet fitting and extending up the bore hole to said surface pump, a second plastic pipe similarly connected to said outlet fitting, a nipple connecting said foot valve to said jet unit, a first clamping member comprising a pair of ring portions formed integrally with one another, a section of metal pipe between about 2 to 6 feet in length, the bottom end of which is threaded into one of said ring portions, said nipple extending through the other ring portion and being fixed in position by a set-screw, and a T- shaped second clamping member comprising three triangularly spaced holes therethrough, said second member being split along the locus of the centers of the two holes positioned in the top of the T forming two sections of said T- shaped member, said plastic pipes being clamped between two sections which are forced together by a bolt and the upper end of said metal pipe section extending through the unsplit hole in said T-shaped member and being fixed thereon by a set-screw, whereby said plastic pipes are held in a straightened condition between said first and second clamping members.

In a subterranean drilled well installation, the combinationv which comprises a surface pump, a jet unit and a depending foot valve positioned in the bore hole of a drilled well, said jet unit having upwardly extending inlet and outlet fittings, a first plastic pipe connected to said inlet fitting and extending up the bore hole to said surface pump, a second plastic pipe similarly connected to saidoutlet fitting, a nipple connecting said foot valve to said jet unit, a first clamping member comprising a pair ofring portions formed integrally with one another, a section of metal pipe, the bottom end of which is fixed in one of said ring portions, said nipple being fixed through the other ring portion, and a T-shaped second clamping member, the top of which is split into two sections and the base of which has a hole therethrough, said plastic pipes being clamped between said two sections and the upper end of said metal pipe being fixed in said hole whereby said plastic pipes are held in a straightened condition between said first and second clamping members.

4. A device for use in installing jet pumps in subterranean drilled wells comprising a first clamping member and a second clamping member, said first member comprising a pair of ring portions formed integrally with one another and means for fixing tubular elements in each of said ring portions, said second clamping member being T-shaped and comprising three triangularly spaced holes therethrough, the second member being split along the locus of the centers of two of said holes forming two second member sections, bolt means for clamping said two sections together and means for fixing a tubular element in the unsplit hole of said second member, and an elongated rigid columnar member which is fixed at one end into one of the ring portions of said first clamping member and the opposite end of which is fixed into said unsplit hole of said second clamping member.

5. A device for use in installing jet pumps in subterranean drilled wells comprising a first clamping member and a second clamping member, said first member comprising a pair of ring portions formed integrally with one another, one of said ring portions being internally threaded and the other ring portion carrying a set-screw to fix a tubular element therein, said second clamping member being T-shaped and comprising three triangularly spaced holes therethrough, the second member being split along the locus of the centers of the two holes positioned in the top of the T forming two unequal sized sections out of said second member, a bolt which passes through the smaller of said two sections and threads into the larger of said two sections for clamping the two sections together and a set-screw carried in the base of the T for fixing a tubular element in the hole positioned in said 10 55 base, and a section of metal pipe threaded at one end into said threaded ring portion of said first clamping member and fixed at the opposite end through said unsplit hole by said base-carried set-screw.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein the unthreaded ring portion of said first clamping member carries a bushing through which the set-screw in said ring portion passes.

No references cited.

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