US598700A - Device for cleaning oil-wells - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

W. C. EDWARDS. DEVICE FOR CLEANING .OIL WELLS. No 598 Zilli! 'mononms versus cn. mom-Uma, WASHINGTON. u c.

PATENT s Critics.

WILLIAM C. EDWARDS, OF MANNINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA.`

DEVICE `FORCILEANINGOIL-WELLS.

SPECIFICATIONformIIg part of Letters Patent No. 598,700, datedFebruary `8, 1898.

Application liled August l1, 1896. Renewed December 30, 1897. Serial No. 664,748. (No model.)

T0 a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. EDWARDs, of Mannington, in the county of Marion and State of West Virginia, haveV invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Devices for Cleaning Oil-Wells.; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form `part of this speciiication.

This invention relates to devicesfor cleaning oil-wells 5 and its primary object is to provide an apparatus of` simple and improved form for loosening and elevating paraiiin deposits in well-casings. i

The invention contemplates the construction of such an improved device as will be adapted for cleaning wells from bottom to top in which two or more sizes of casing occur.

The invention also includes a swab of simple and improved form.V

The invention consists in the novel features of construction hereinafterfully described and claimed, and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical sectional view of a well provided with two sizes of casings, the

cleaning device being shown in the larger or upper casing-section. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the cleaner at the junction of the` two sizes of casings, the lower portion of .the cleaning device shown as disconnecting au` tomatically fromthe upper portion. Fig. 3` is still another vertical section showing the parts of the cleaning device separated `and in operative position in the respective casingsections. Y

In deep oil-wells `it frequently occurs that the lower part or section of the casing is of smaller diameter than the upper part, andin some instances the casings maybe` graded into a greater number of sizes where. wells are very deep.

For the purpose of illustrating the present invention a section of a well is shownprovidedwith only two sizes of casings, A repfy `the drilling-tool.

resenting the upper or larger section, and B the lower or smaller section. The bellmouthed collar B at the upper end of the casing B unites or splices the casing-sections, as shown. The cleaning device, which is adapted to remove paraffin deposits fromboth sections,.consists of parts of a drilling-tool C, having the elongated hollow stern D, provided adjacent its upper end with outlet D'- The lower enlarged portion of the stem is formed with opposite Vertical elongated depressions E, in the upper ends of which are pivoted depending `catches F, and the lower operating ends of these catches are held normally sprung outward by springs F. The lower extremities F of the catchesare rounded outwardly slightly for the purpose presently to be explained.

` Encirclinghollow stem D is a tube G, and secured to its lower end is the depending collar l-I. The interior of the lower extremity ofthis collar is formed with annular shoulder H', which is adapted to be engaged by `catches F automatically when the parts, are

in proper relative position, and by this means the tube G is heldito the hollow stem D and caused to move in unison with `the parts of Considerable of `tube G is inclosed or incased` by a packing material I, such as rubber, the lower end of the same `abutting the upperend of collar I-I, while nut J, which is adapt-ed to move on the outer -that the packing material will be expanded, `and thus it will be caused to t as tightly as desired in the` well-casing.

Tube G, collar H, packing I, and ring J constitute the swab for the upper or larger casing-section A. Catches F serve to unite thel upper swab with the operating-tool, so as to carry the same to the lower end `of the larger casing-section. Otherwise, `as the swab ts tightly within the casing, it would stick fast and the operating `tool would simplymove downward inthe cas ing through it.

The swabor cleaning device for the lower .or smaller casing-section is secured permanently to operating-stem D, the same consisting of tube-section K, screwed into the lower end of the hollow stem, the tube being incased by the rubber or other packing L, which abuts the lower end of the stem,while nut M, movablel on the screw-threaded exterior of the casing, clamps the packing in place and governs the expansion thereof, as described of the packing for the upper swab. At the lower end of tube K is coupling N, which unites thereto pipe-section O, in which is placed the upwardly-opening check-valve P.

A collar Q is loose upon but encircles the` lower extremity of hollow stem D, said collar being of about the same diameter as collar H, so as to move freely through the larger portion of the well-casing. Inoperation the several parts are united and lowered in the well, their position being as shown in Fig. l. When bell-mouthed collar B', however, is reached by the cleaning device, the lower swab portion is of sufficiently small diameter to pass freely therethrough, but collar Q is engaged thereby and stopped, as indicated in Fig. 2, and the continued downward movement of the device forces the lower end F" of catches F downward against the inner beveled surface Q' of collar Q, thus forcing said catches inward and causing them to release their hold upon collar H of the upper swab.

The upper swab is thus released from the tool and operating-stem at the lower portion of the larger casing-section, while the lower swab is free to descend as far as desired in the lower casing-section.

The packing material of the swab is sprung orbulged sufliciently by pressure of nuts J and M, respectively', to cause them to iit tightly the respective casing-sections, so as to disengage the paraffin deposits from the casing, and this deposit will be forced upward along with the oil through check-valve P and the hollow stem, through which it cannot return when the device is moved upward, and thus the objectionable deposit is effectually removed, having first been thoroughly loosened by the swab.

Owing to the peculiar nature and arrangement of the swab-packing the same is adapted i to yield to the uneven contour of the casing without being wornthereby. When an unevenness is passed, theswab simply expands and fills the casing completely,as before,with out any perceptible injury thereto. Devices for this purpose now in general use are rigid transversely and not so constructed as to yield radially, as just described. On this account the devices just described are exceedingly objectionable, for it not infrequently occurs that by the time a swab of that class has been lowered in a well-casing it has become so worn and indented by the `dents and obstructions in the casing as to have lost its usefulness in raising the liquid loaded with the loosened parafin, as well as having bev come worthless for even an effective repetition of the downward cleaning movement.

Where more than two sizes of casings are used in a well, the number of swabs or cleaning devices may be increased or multiplied by simply coupling them together in succession in the manner shown of the device here illustrated, the largest cleaner always being at the top of the series, and the devices grading downward in diameter to the lowermost section, which kis secured to the hollow stem. In such case it will of course be necessary to increase the length of the hollow stem to accommodate the number of cleaning devices employed.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is Y A l. An improved device for cleaning wellcasings made up of casing-sections of differ.

ent diameters, comprising a stem, a cleaner for the lower casing-section carried by the lower end of the stem, a cleaner for the upper casing-section through which the stem is adapted to pass freely, devices for securing the upper cleaner to the stem, and a releasing mechanism adapted-t0 lodge at the upper end of the lower and smaller casing-section and when thus stopped being adapted to disengage the upper cleaning device from the hollow stem, substantially as shown and described. Y l

2. The combination of the longitudinallyhollow stem open at its upper end, the cleaner for the lowercasing-section secured to the lower end of the stem, the upwardly-opening check-valve at the base of the said cleaner, the cleaner for the upper casing-section through which the stem is adapted to move freely, catches carried by thestem and normally projected outward so as to engage the upper cleaner and secure it to the stem, and the collar carried by the lower extremity of the stem immediately beneath the upper cleaner, whereby when the device is lowered in the well made up of casing-sections of different diameters, said collar when engaging the upper end of the lower section will be held from downward movement, and the continued downward movement of the device will cause the said catches to engage the collar and disengage their hold upon the upper cleaner, substantially as shown and describedf 3. The combination of the stem, the lower cleaner carried thereby, the upper cleaner through which the stem is adapted to move freely, the collar H constituting the lower portion of the upper cleaner and provided with the internal shoulder H', catches G pivoted to the stem and heldnormally in an outwardly-sprung position and in engagement with the shoulder H', said catches depending beneath collar H and shoulder H', ring Q IOO carried by the lower portion of the stem and upper cleaner, substantially as shown and de- Io beveled upon its inner surface, whereby when scribed.

the device is inserted in a well and the said In jtestimony whereof I affix my signature ring lodged upon the upper end of the lower in presence of two witnesses.

and smaller easing" -seetion the continued downward movement of the device will cause Y WYILLIAM C' EDVARDS the' catches to be moved inward owing,` to Witnesses: their engagement with the beveled surface of C. F. RIGBY,

the collar and thus be disengaged from the G. L. MCMULLEN.

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