Nov. 25, 1969 R. L.. ANDERSON ET AL SEATING ARRANGEMENT FOR SUBSURFACE PUMPS Filed Jan. 1e. 1968 United States Patent O 3,479,958 SEATING ARRANGEMENT FOR SUBSURFACE PUMPS Robert L. Anderson and `lohn M. Rohrig, Huntington Beach, Calif., assignors to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 698,914
Int. Cl. F0411 47 /02, 21/06 U.S. Cl. 103-46 3 Clalms ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An arrangement for seating a subsurface oil well pump to prevent foreign material from accumulating around the pump barrel and interfering with removal of the pump. Barrel has vent ports through which foreign material discharges as the pump plunger makes an upstroke. Seat is located immediately below these ports where it blocks off the space below. Consequently foreign material returns to the barrel through the ports as the plunger makes a downstroke.
'Ihis invention relates to an improved seating arrangement for a high-volume subsurface pump.
A conventional high-volume pump used in oil wells includes upper and lower barrels and respective plungers movable up and down within the barrels. The well tubing contains a seat on which the lower barrel rests to hold the pump at the proper depth. The lower barrel has vent ports near its upper end to prevent Huid from becoming trapped above the plunger. One diculty is that foreign material, such as sand, discharges through the vent ports along with the fluid and accumulates in the space below the ports between the lower barrel and tubing. Such accumulations interfere with removal of the pump from the tubing, as is occasionally necessary.
An object of our invention is to provide, for a pump of the foregoing type, an improved seating arrangement which prevents foreign material from accumulating and interfering with removal of the pump.
A more specific object is to provide an improved seating arrangement in which the seat is located immediately below the vent ports, where it blocks off the space therebelow and prevents foreign material from accumulating.
In the drawing:
FIGURE 1 is a partially diagrammatic vertical sectional view of a subsurface pump seated in accordance with our invention, showing the position of the parts during an upstroke;
FIGURE 2 is a similar view, but showing the position of the parts during a downstroke; and
FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view showing our actual preferred construction of the vent ports and seat.
FIGURES l and 2 show diagrammatically a high volume subsurface pump which includes upper and lower barrels and 12, a
connector 13 and
liner 14 between the barrels, and respective upper and lower plungers and 16 movable up and down within the barrels. A
tubular connector 17 joins the two plungers and fits closely within the
liner 14. A
rod 18 extends upwardly from the upper plunger to be connected to the usual sucker rod string (not shown). The
lower barrel 12 and the
upper plunger 15 carry the usual standing
valve 19 and
traveling valve 20 respectively. The pump is housed within a
tubing 21. The
upper barrel 10 has
delivery ports 22. The
lower barrel 12 has
vent ports 23. The
upper plunger 15 has
ports 24 above the
traveling valve 20. The
connector 17 has ports 25 -within the
upper barrel 10.
lCC
As FIGURE l, the standing
valve 19 opens during an upstroke of the
plungers 15 and 16, while the
traveling valve 20 closes. Fluid is drawn from the well into the
lower barrel 12 and through the
lower plunger 16,
connector 17 and
ports 25 into the
upper barrel 10. The
upper plunger 15 forces fluid from the upper portion 0f the
upper barrel 10 through the
delivery ports 22 into the
tubing 21 and thence to the surface. Any fluid which reaches the portion of the
lower barrel 12 above the
plunger 16 escapes into the tubing through the
vent ports 23, as indicated by arrows in FIGURE 1.
As FIGURE 2 shows, the
traveling valve 20 opens during a downstroke of the plungers, while the standing
valve 19 closes. Descent of the
lower plunger 16 forces fiuid from the
lower barrel 12 through the
plunger 16,
connector 17,
plunger 15,
traveling valve 20 and
ports 24 into the portion of the
upper barrel 10 above
plunger 15. Descent of the
upper plunger 15 forces fluid from the lower portion of the
upper barrel 10 through
ports 25,
connector 17,
plunger 15,
traveling valve 20 and
ports 24 into the portion of the upper barrel above plunger 15. A fraction of this iiuid is forced through the
delivery ports 22 into the
tubing 21 and thence to the surface. Fluid which was forced from the
lower barrel 12 through the
vent ports 23 during the preceding upstroke may return to the lower barrel through these ports.
Pumps of the foregoing construction and operation are well known. Hence we have not shown or described the pump in greater detail.
In accordance with our invention, we place a
seating shoe 28 within the
tubing 21. The outside of the
lower barrel 12 has a downwardly facing
shoulder 29 which is located immediately below the
vent ports 23 and rests on this shoe. The lower barrel carries a series of
sealing rings 30 below the shoulder. These rings engage the inside of the
seating shoe 28 to furnish a seal therebetween. Foreign material may discharge through the
vent ports 23 during an upstroke of
plunger 16, but the
sealing rings 30 and
shoe 28 prevent such material from reaching the space between the
lower barrel 12 and
tubing 21. Instead this material is forced upwardly as indicated by arrows in FIGURE 1. During the ensuing downstroke of
plunger 16, the material returns through the
vent ports 23 to the
lower barrel 12, as indicated by arrows in FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 3 shows our actual preferred seat construction. The
lower barrel 12 includes a
bushing 31 fixed to the upper end of its working portion and a
mandrel 32 fixed to the bushing. The
vent ports 23 and
shoulder 29 are formed on the
mandrel 32. The mandrel has a second downwardly facing
shoulder 33 below
shoulder 29. A plurality of
metal spacer rings 34 encircle the portion of the mandrel of reduced diameter below the
second shoulder 33 and support
friction rings 30a. A pair of
resilient cups 30b encircle the mandrel below the
spacer rings 34 and are held in position by
additional spacers 35 and a
nut 36 threadedly engaged with the mandrel immediately below the
bushing 31. The friction rings 30a and
cups 30b contact the inside of the
shoe 28.
From the foregoing description it is seen that the present invention affords a simple effective arrangement for preventing foreign material from accumulating around the lower barrel of a high-volume pump and interfering with removal of the pump. With the seat located immediately below the vent ports, the space around the lower barrel is blocked off and there is no opportunity for foreign material to reach this space.
While we have shown and described only a single embodiment of our invention, it is apparent that modifications may arise. Therefore, we do not wish to be limited to the disclosure set forth but only by the scope of the appended claims.
We claim:
1. The combination, with a subsurface pump which is of the high-volume type and includes upper and lower barrels and respective plungers within said barrels, said lower barrel having a vent port near its upper end, and a tubing in which said pump is found, there being a space between the outside of said lower barrel and the inside of said tubing, of an improved arrangement for seating said pump in said tubing, said seating arrangement including a shoe mounted in said tubing, a downwardly facing shoulder formed on said lower barrel immediately below said port, said shoulder resting on said shoe, and sealing means encircling said barrel below said shoulder and engaging the inside of said shoe, said shoe and sealing means blocking off the space between said lower barrel and tubing and thereby preventing foreign material which discharges through said port from accumulating in this space.
2. A combination as defined in
claim 1 in which said lower barrel includes a working portion, a bushing fixed References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l/1929 Martin 103-190 1l/193l Yerkes et al. 103-187 ROBERT M. WALKER, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 103-187, 219