US498164A - Agitator for oil-well cavities - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

T. H.5GALLAGHER. AGITATOR FOR OIL WELL-GAVITIES.

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PATENT OFFICE.

- THOMS H. GALLAGHER, OF OLEAN, NEW YORK.

AGITATOR FOR OIL-WELL CAVITIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 498,164, dated May 23, 1893.

Application led January 21, 1893. Serial No. 459.103. (No model.) A

T all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS I-I. GALLAGHER,

of Olean, in the county of Oattaraugus andi State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Agitators for Oil-Well Cavities, of which the following is a specificais the continuation of the well below thisA blasted cavity. The blast forms in the cavity a large quantity of comminuted rock and zo sand which must be taken out in order that the well may be worked advantageously. lf allowed to remain it would clog up the channels, tubing and working barrels, and necessitate the pulling of the same out of the well whichis expensive. Heretofore this cleaning out of the sand has been done in the following way. The same tools used to drill the well were also used to clean it out. The tool Awas run down into the well and the limited 3o quantity of sand which happened to be in the pocket was removed by the bailer or sand pump, while the larger bulk which remained in the large cavity outside of the pocket was not disturbed, but the operator was obliged to wait until the sand slowly filled into the pocket from the cavity again, which would take two or three days before there would be sufficient collected to justify putting the tools into the well again. In this way weeks werel 4o required to clean awell of the sand, and even then it might soon have to be cleaned again,

This entails large delay, expense, and loss of oil, and in old wells also necessitates the rebuilding of the derrick, as a derrick that has stood for two or three years is not strong enough to hold a string of drilling tools, and

in old wells also a boiler has to be set up near the well again. Y

My invention comprises means for thrash- 5o ing or agitating the large oil well cavity so as -tioned to clean out all the sand at once yassoon as the well is blasted, thus avoiding the expense. delay, and difficulties hereinbefore men- Figure l is a side elevation ot the device. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section ot' the samein the well, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken at right angles to Fig. 2.

In the drawings A represents one or more hollow stems closed at both ends and formed 6o of a middle tube with solid screw couplings at its ends. To the lower end of these hollow stems are screwed the working sections B CD of my invention. This corresponds in a measure to the construction of an ordinary drilljar in that it is composed in part of two links B and D which are coupled together to slide the one into the other by reason of their parallel sides. In between the two ysides of the upper link section B there is hung upon a bolt 7o Eat the top a pair of radially swinging arms C O which normally lie in vertical position in vthe slots between the two sides of the upper link section B. These arms have round disk shaped heads c where the bolt passes through, so that they may swing in true vertical planes. The lower one D of the link sections is designed to screw to one or more hollow sections A which rest upon the 'bottom `ot' the well and with the link D'act as a stationary 8o ram. The upper end of link D is directly in the line of the arms C C, which upper end is slightly pointed so that as the upper link section with the arms descend, the latter strike against the upper end of stationary link D and 8 5 are thrown violently out in a radial swing as shown in dotted lines Fig. 2 and penetrate the blasted cavity their full length, so that when the upper link vsection is' churned up and down by the working of its connections 9o from the top of the well these arms C C thrash about in the blasted cavity like Iiail arms and agitate the sand and fluid matter in said cavity, causing the sand to pass at once into the pocket or bottom end of the well hole where 9 5 it can be taken out continuously by the sand pump without delay, and, when, through the agency of this device, all the sand in the blasted cavity has thus been removed, the well can be uninterruptedly pumped of its oil roo without having to stop to clean it, and without the delay, expense, and trouble which this subsequent cleaning involves.

The object in making the stems A hollow is to render them light and easy to handle, which is a very great advantage in this kind of work, as any old derrick that is strong enough to pump a well is with these hollow stems strong enough to clean it out, and also the same power which is used for pumping is strong enough for handling my device.

In operating my devices the tools are lowered into the well until the thrashing arms C C are opposite the cavity made by the explosion, the lower link D being held stationary by the anchorage of its subjacent stem or stems ou the bottom ot' the well. Then as the upper link B is chnrncd up and down by the mechanism at the top of the well, the link D remains stationary, and causes the arms C C to be violently thrown out their full length into the cavity which, as before stated, agitates the sand and fluid substances and keeps them in motion, causingr them to iiow into the pocket so that the bailer or sand pump can remove them. There is no waiting for the sand to slowly gravitate into the pocket, but the operation is continuous and the sand is all removed, and when the well is thus once thoroughly cleaned there is no necessity for cleaning again until a nitro-glycerinc cartridge is again used.

I am aware that in rotary reamers or drills the cutting bits have been adjusted out with a radial swing and held there to cut a larger cavity than the well. I make no claim to drilling tools or such expanding reamers with cutting edges. My arms have no cutting edges, are much longer, and simply act vlike iiails with a continuous thrashing action to serve a different purpose.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isf- An agitator for oil well cavities consisting of two linked sections having a sliding inotion one over the other; in combination with radially swinging thrashing arms C C pivotally hung in the upper link section, to lie in the plane of the lower link section and be thrown out by impact therewith when the upper link section is lowered substantially as shown and described.

THOMAS Il. GALLAGl-IER.

Vitnesses:

JOHN B. Boss, WAYNE M. CROFP..

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