US3535056A - Oil well pump assembly - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 20, 1970 n.1'. HARBlsN 3,535,056 I oIL wELLPUMP ASSEMBLY l 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 001;. 7, 1968 VInn/Emma Dlxon T; Harblson ATTORNEYS cl. 20, 1970 D, 1', HARB|SQN y3,535,056

oIL WELL PUMP ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 7. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR FlG.7

ATTORNE YS Dixon T. Horbson United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 417-448 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An oil well pump assembly including a standing valve and having a plunger reciprocable in a Working barrel and adapted to strike the standing valve upon each downstroke so as to jar said valve suiciently to unseat its valve ball and permit upward llow of high gravity, relatively low volume well iluids past said valve ball upon the upstroke of the plunger. Spring-biased telescoping members are mounted in the plunger to absorb the shock of such jarring, and the valve seat of the standing valve may have an extremely narrow seating surface to facilitate and prolong the disengagement of the valve ball therefrom.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention Pumps for well vlluids of high gravity and relatively low volume and having suicient gas mixed therewith to partially aerate the fluids and form oil bubb-les which prevent eicient operation of the pumps.

Description of the prior art Heretofore, conventional oil well pumps have been very inefficient when the well tluids have contained sufficient gas to partially aerate said fluids and form oil bubbles. The :aerated or gasied oil became trapped between the standing and travelling valves and created a vapor Alock that prevented opening of said standing valve and upward flow of well iluids upon the upstroke of the pump plunger.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A novel oil well pump assembly including a working barrel having a standing valve at its lower end and a reciprocable plunger thereabove. The stroke of the plunger is such that it strikes the standing valve upon each downstroke so as to jar said valve suliiciently to unseat its valve ball to permit upward flow of well fluids therethrough upon the upstroke of said plunger, whereby the well lluids being pumped may be of high gravity as well as relatively low volume and have sufficient gas mixed therewith to partially aerate said fluids and form oil bubbles. The plunger includes telescoping members, which are urged apart by a helical spring, for absorbing the shock of this jarring action. Unseating of the valve ball is facilitated by providing the valve seat of the standing valve with a seating surface of extremely narrow width which facilitates and prolongs the disengagement of said valve ball therefrom. Also, the springbiased telescoping members permit relative upward movement of the portion of the plunger therebelow for drawing well uids through the standing valve.

Desirably, the pump plunger has wiper rings above and below its packing means for sealing off between the working barrel and plunger, and said barrel has end extension of enlarged internal diameter to permit washing of sand from the wiper rings by the well fluids upon said rings moving into the barrel extensions at the ends of the upstroke and downstroke of said plunger. Also, the plunger may have wear members above and below its packing means for centering said plunger in the barrel ice and for assisting said packing means in sealing olf between said barrel and plunger.

A construction designed to carry out the invention will be described hereinafter, together with other features of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION THE DRAWINGS FIG. l is a longitudinal, sectional view, partly in elevation, of the upper portion of an oil well pump assembly constructed in accordance with the invention,

FIGS. l-B, 1-C and l-D are views, similar to FIG. 1, showing the remainder of the pump assembly.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, horizontal, cross-sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of FIG. 1,

FIGS. 3 and 4 are enlarged, horizontal, cross-sectional views taken on the lines 3--3 and 44, respectively, of FIG. 1-B,

FIGS. 5 and 6 are enlarged, horizontal, cross-sectional views taken on the lines 5-5 and 6 6, respectively, of FIG, l-D, and

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal, elevational view, partly in section, of the pump assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawing, the numeral 1 designates an oil well pump assembly embodying the principles of the invention and including an elongate, Working barrel 2 and a coacting tubular plunger 3 which has a cylindrical rod 4 connected to its upper end for attachment to a conventional pump or sucker rod 5. A cylindrical sleeve or extension 6, of slightly greater internal diameter, is screwthreaded onto each end of the barrel 2 which has internal, bevelled or tapered end faces 7 (FIGS. 1 and l-C) to provide smooth transitions between the bores of said barrel and its extensions. The upper end of the upper barrel extention 6 is screwthreaded into the enlarged lower portion of a guide bonnet 8 through which the rod 4 is slidable. When this rod as well as the pump rod 5 are solid as shown, the lower portion of the guide bonnet 8 has lateral discharge ports 9 (FIGS. 1 and 2) for communicating with the well tubing (not shown) above the pump assembly 1.

A standing valve 10 has its cylindrical blind cage or housing 11 screwthreaded into the lower end of the working barrel 2 (FIG. 1-D) and has an annular, upwardlyfacing valve seat 12 for coacting with a valve ball 13 to permit the uptlow of well iluids into said barrel upon the upstroke of the plunger 3 and to prevent downlow from said barrel during the downstroke of said plunger. It is noted that the valve seat 12 has an extremely narrow, such as 1;/32 of an inch, bevelled face 14 at its inner, upper periphery whereby the ball valve 13 is readily unseated or disengaged from the seat face. A tubular seating nipple 15 is mounted on the lower end of the standing valve 10 by having its upstanding pin `16 screwthreaded into the lower end of the blind cage 11 so as to confine the valve seat 12 against displacement in coaction with an overlying, annular shoulder 17 in said cage. 'Ihe seating nipple 15 is provided with packing cups or rings 18 for sealing off therearound and, although subject to variation, may have a screwthreaded socket 19 in its lower end for detachable connection with a suitable anchor (not shown). In order to rotate the entire pump assembly 1 when it becomes stuck in a well due to accumulation of sand therearound and difficult to remove, a cylindrical enlargement 20 (FIG. 1) is formed on the upper end of the rod 4 and has depending lugs 21 for engagement with complementary notches or recesses 22 in the upper end of the guide bonnet 8.

The pump plunger 3 includes a coupling 23, having lateral discharge openings 24, screwthreaded onto the lower end for connecting an elongate, tubular member or sleeve 26 thereto. An elongate, tubular member or tube 27 telescopes within the sleeve 26 and has an external, annular shoulder 28 on its upper end for coacting with an internal, annular shoulder 29 on the lower end of the sleeve to prevent separation of the tube and sleeve. The tube 27 is constantly urged downward-ly relative to the sleeve by a helical spring 30 confined on said tube between the sleeve shoulder 29 and a collar 31 (FIG. l-C) screwthreaded onto the lower end of said tube. An adapted coupling 32 is screwthreaded into the lower end of the collar 31 for suspending a cylindrical tube or tubular mandrel 33 which has a similar adapted coupling 34 (FIG. l-D) screwthreadly connecting a travelling valve 35 to its lower end. Between the adapter couplings 32 and 34, the mandrel 33 carries in descending order an upper wiper assembly 36, an upper tubular spacer 37, an upper wear member or sleeve 38, a packing assembly 39, a lower wear member or sleeve 40, a lower tubular spacer 41 and a -lower wiper assembly 42.

Each of the wiper assemblies 36 and 42 (FIGS. l-C and l-D) includes an annular body or collar 43 having an external, circumferential recess 44 for receiving a split packing ring 45, of plastic or other suitable material, for sealing engagement with the bore of the barrel 2. As shown by the numeral 46, coacting annular grooves and tongues are provided at the inner peripheral portions of the recess 44 and ring 45, both top and bottom, for conning the ring against engagement with the larger bore of each barrel extension 6 (FIG. 5). Each of the wear sleeves 38 and 40 have an external diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter of the working barrel so as to center the plunger 3 therein and assist the packing assembly 39 in sealing off between said barrel and plunger. The tubular spacers 37 and 41 have external diameters less than the diameter of the working barrel bore to permit flow therepast. The packing assembly 39 may be of conventional construction and includes the usual cups 47, of plastic or other suitable material, and spacer rings y48.

The travelling valve 35 is similar to the standing valve in that it has a cylindrical blind cage or housing 49 containing an annular, upwardly-facing valve seat 50 and a coacting valve ball 51. A tubular plug 52 is screwthreaded into the lower end of the blind cage 49 for conning the valve seat 50 against displacement in coacting with an overlying, annular shoulder 53 in said cage. It is noted that the plug 52 has appreciable axial and radial thickness so as to be capable of functioning as a hammer. An anvil for striking by the hammer is provided by a horizontal, diametric, cross bar or member 54, of relatively large transverse dimensions, overlying and secured to the upper end of the blind cage 11 of the standing valve 10.

The pump assembly 1 is adapted for use in wells of high gravity and relatively low volume well fluids having mixed therewith a quantity of gas sucient to partially aerate the fluids and form oil bubbles which become trapped between the standing and travelling valves 10 and 35, thereby creating a vapor lock that prevents opening of said standing valve. In order to ensure opening of the standing valve, the plug 52 is adapted to strike the cross bar 54 upon each downstroke of the plunger 3 so as to bump or jar said valve and cause suicient shock or vibration to unseat the valve ball 13. As noted, the narrowness of the face 14 of the valve seat 12 facilitates the disengagement of the valve ball from said face and prolongs the duration of such unseated or opened condition so as to permit the well fluids therebelow to flow past said valve ball upon upward movement of the plunger. Due to the telescoping members 26 and 27, the portion of the plunger 3 therebelow abruptly travels upwardly upon striking of the anvil cross bar by the hammer plug to commence drawing well fluids through the standing valve 10. Of course, the helical spring 30 limits upward movement of the lower or inner telescoping member relative to the upper or outer telescoping member so as to prevent damaging thereof and forces said lower member downwardly. Also, the telescoping members permit engagement of the lugs 21 with the notches 22 for rotating the entire pump assembly 1 during removal thereof.

Although the packing cups 47 as well as the wear sleeves 38 and 40 remain in the working barrel 2 during reciprocation of the plunger 3, the wiper rings 45 move out of said barrel into the extensions 6 thereof at the ends of the downstroke (FIG. l-D) and upstroke of said plunger. Due to the bores of the barrel extensions being of larger diameter than the working barrel bore, the wiper rings are spaced from the former bores to permit the well uids to flow past said rings for washing sand therefrom and thereby prolong the life of the pump assembly. The sand drops or is washed downwardly olf of the ring of the lower wiper assembly y42 and is carried or washed upwardly off of the ring of the upper wiper assembly 36 to prevent said sand from contacting and damaging the packing cups. Ample flow area for this washing action is provided by the tubular spacers 37 and 41 being of an external diameter less than the diameter of the working barrel bore so as to be spaced therefrom as well as from the enlarged bores of the barrel extensions 6. It is noted, however, that the wiper rings 45 are sulliciently contiguous the bores of the barrel extensions, as well as frictionally engage the working barrel bore, whereby said rings resist movement of the lower portion of the plunger relative to its upper portion under the influence of the spring 30 so as to dampen or snub such movement.

What is claimed is:

1. An oil well pump assembly for lifting well uids of high gravity and relatively low volume and having sufficient gas mixed therewith to partially aerate the lluids and form oil bubbles including a working barrel,

a standing valve at the -lower end portion of the working barrel,

a plunger reciprocable within said barrel above the standing valve,

said standing valve including a blind cage communicating with said barrel and having an annular upwardly facing valve seat therein for coacting with an overlying valve ball,

anvil means at the upper end of the blind cage,

and hammer means at the lower end of the plunger for engagement with the anvil means,

the stroke of said plunger being adjusted so that the hammer means strikes said anvil, means at the end of each downstroke for jarring said standing valve suciently to unseat the valve ball and permit the upward ow of well fluids past said valve ball upon upward movement of said plunger.

2. An oil well pump assembly as dened in claim 1 wherein the anvil means includes a cross bar secured to the upper end of the blind cage of the standing valve.

3. An oil well pump assembly for lifting well fluids of high gravity and relatively low volume and having sufficient gas mixed therewith to partially aerate the Iuids and form oil bubbles including a working barrel,

a standing valve at the lower end portion of the Working barrel,

a plunger reciprocable within said barrel above the standing valve,

said standing valve including a blind cage communieating with said barrel and having an annular upwardly facing valve seat therein for coacting with an overlying valve ball,

the stroke of the plunger being adjusted so that its lower end strikes the blind cage at the end of each downstroke for jarring said standing valve sufciently to unseat the valve ball and permit the upward flow of well iluids past said valve ball upon upward movement of said plunger,

the valve seat having a seating face of extremely narrow width to facilitate and prolong disengagement of said valve ball therefrom.

4. An oil Well pump assembly dened in claim 7, 8 or 9 including packing means mounted on the plunger for sealing olf therearound,

wiper rings mounted on said plunger above and below the packing means for sealing olf between the working barrel and plunger,

said working barrel having end extensions of enlarged internal diameter,

CFI

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1922 Wilcox 103-179 5/1927 Cleage et al. 103-179 5/1961 Guptill 103--228 8/ 1943 Chenault 103--180 WILLIAM L. FREEH, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. R.X.

Images