US776523A - Pipe-grab. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED DEC. 6, 1904:.l

' P. J. LUX-INS.

PIPE GRAB. IUEPLIGA'IION` FILED FEB. 21, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

s 65 x Y@ 4M tro. 776,523.

5 ira STATES Patented December 6, 1904.

FRED J. LUKINS, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NOR TO THE AMERICAN WELL WORKS, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PIPE-GRAB.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 776,523, dated December 6, 1904. Application filed February 21,'1903. Serial No. 144,552. (No model.)

T all whom it may cof/warn:

Be it known that I, FRED J. LUKINs, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Grabs, of which the following is aspecitication, reference being had to the accomigianying drawings.

My invention relates to well-sinking apparatus, and has for its object to provide certain improvements in tools known as pipegrabs employed for taking out pipes that have been broken off or dropped into tubular or Artesian wells.

I5 In sinking a well when the boring-tool is engaged with a part of the pipe that is broken off and it cannot be lifted, which frequently happens, it is necessary to employ another tool for the removal of the broken pipe. Such 2O tool is called a pipe-grab and is arranged to grapple the broken pipe, so that it can be removed to permit further sinking' of the well.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved pipe-grab constructed and arranged so that it may be readily inserted in a well and after being lowered to the proper point may be caused to firmly grip the inside of the pipeto be removed, so that such pipe may be withdrawn with the tool.

A further object is to provide means by which the pipe-grab may be caused to release the pipe to be removed, as is sometimes necessary where such pipe is so firmly held in the well as to prevent its removal. By providing for releasing the pipe-grab when necessary I am enabled to save the tool where the effort to remove the broken pipe or other obstruction is futile.

I accomplish these objects as hereinafter described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

What I regard as new is set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a partial vertical section of a piece of pipe, illustrating my improved tool in elevation. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the parts shown in Fig. l. Fig. 8 is a horizontal section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig'. 4 is a horizontal section on line 4 4 of Fig. 2, and Fig'. 5 is a hori- 50 zontal section on line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 6 indicates the pipe to be removed, which in practice is at a greater or less depth in the well.

7 indicates a tube which supports certain 55 parts of the tool.

8 indicates a plugin the lower end of the tube 7, as shown -in Fig. 2, said plug being preferably screwed into the lower end of the tube 7 so that it may be removed at pleasure. 60

9 indicates what may be termed a spreaden which, as illustrated in Fig. 2, is provided with a tapered portion at its lower end and a stem at its upper end, the latter being secured to the plug 8. As shown, the upper end of said stem isscrew-threaded, so that it may be separated from the plug 8, if desired; but it may be secured theretoin any suitable manner. From an inspection of Fig'. 4C it will be seen that the stem l0, as illustrated, is circular in cross-section, while the tapered head 1l at the lower end of the spreader is provided with flattened sides a and is preferably quadrilateral, so aste accommodate four wedges, as will be hereinafter-described. The number of sides of the tapered portion l1 may, however, be varied, and, if desired, the stem l0 may be non-circular in cross-section. The sides of the head 11 extend gradually inward and upward until they merg'e in the circular 8O stem 10. I prefer alsoto provide the head l1 with a pointed lower end 12, as shown in Fig. 2.

13 indicates wedges which are provided with inclined inner surfaces adapted to bear against the sides of the spreader-head 1l, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. The outer surfaces of the wedges 13 are roughened or serrated, as shown at 1A in Fig. 2, so as to adapt them to engage the inner surface of the pipe to be removed, and they are also arranged at a sufiicient angle to the inner faces of the wedges to cause them to lie substantially parallel with the inner surface of the pipe when in operative position. Obviously when the wedges are forced down upon the spreader-head l1 or the spreader-head is drawn upbetween the wedges the wedges are forced out into eng'agevspreader may be adjusted.

ment with the inner surface of the pipe. The vertical position of the wedges 13 is controlled from an operating-rod 15, which extends down through the tube 7 and is connected with said wedges by rods 16, (shown in Fig. 2,) so that bymeans of said rod the position of the wedges or gripping' means with reference to the In the construction illustrated the rod 15 is provided at its lower end with a head 17, in which are formed recesses 18,adapted to receive nuts 19, screwed upon the upper ends of the rods 16, which enter the recesses 18 from below, passing through the under portion of the head 17, as shown in Fig. 2. The rods 16 pass through suitable passages in the plug 8 into the upper portions of the different wedges 13, respectively, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. The wedges 13 are also provided with recesses 20, which receive pins 21, secured in the lower ends of the rods 16, the wedges 13 being thus secured upon the lower ends of the rods 16. Instead of using the pins 21 to secure the wedges to the rods 16 the connection may be made with nuts, as shown at the upper ends of said rods. The passages through which the rods 16 pass into the recesses 2() are large enough, so that the wedges 13 may rock slightly upon the pins 21. Consequently they may adapt themselves properly to their work. The connection of the rods 16 with the head 17 at their upper ends is also loose, and the passages through the plug 8 are of somewhat greater diameter than the rods 16, so that slight lateral movement of said rods is permitted.

In operation when the tube 7 is lowered into the pipe to be removed the wedges slide up far enough along the stern 10 of the spreader to permit them to pass freely into the well and into the pipe to be withdrawn. After they have been lowered to place by means of the tube 7 the spreader is drawn up between the wedges or the wedges are forced down upon the spreader-head, as may be desired, thereby forcing the wedges firmly into engagement with the pipe to be withdrawn. The tube 7 is then hoisted, the power applied thereto serving not only to raise the pipe to be withdrawn, but also to force the wedges more firmly into engagement therewith, and the greater the pull upon the tube 7 the more rmly are the wedges forced outward. If for any reason the pipe cannot be withdrawn and it is desired to release and remove the grabbingtool by forcing down the spreader 9 by means of the tube 7 and attaching and pulling up on the rod 15, the wedges are permitted to move inward, releasing their grip upon the pipe.

It will be understood, of course, that the number of wedges employed may be varied, one or more being employed, as may seem desirable. Furthermore, my invention is not restricted to the specific details of the con'- struction illustrated and described, except in so far as such details are particularly claimed.

That which I regard as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A pipe-grab, comprising a spreader composed of a tapered head and a stem, a tube connected with said stem, a rod lying within said tube and moving longitudinally thereof, a plurality of rods Connected with said firstmentioned rod and extending below said tube, and wedges carried by said rods and arranged to be operated by said spreader-head to grip the pipe to be removed, substantially as described.

2. A pipe-grab, comprising a spreader composed of a tapered head and a stem, a tube connected with said stem, a rod lying' within said tube and moving longitudinally thereof, a plurality of rods connected with said firstmentioned rod and extending below said tube, and wedges movably connected to the lower ends of said rods and arranged to be operated by said spreader-head to grip the pipe to be removed, substantially as described.

3. A pipe-grab, comprising a spreader composed of a tapered head and a stem, a tube connected with said stern, a rod lying within said tube rand moving longitudinally thereof, a plurality of laterally-movable rods connected with said first-mentioned rod and extending below said tube, and wedges carried by said rods and arranged to be operated by said spreader-head to grip the pipe to be removed, substantially as described.

FRED J. LUKINS.

lVitnesses:

M. T. CHAPMAN, C. B. SPEIR.

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