US3124205A - Pneumatic clean out tool - Google Patents

Description

March l0, 1964 P. R. YATES PNEUMATIC CLEAN oUT TooL Filed Dec. 5, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY March 10, 1964 P. R. YATEs 3,124,205

PNEUMATIC CLEAN OUT TOOLl Filed Dec. 5. 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l 4a@ "Q 72 56 PAUL R. YATES INVENTOR.

FIG. 2

FIG. 2A

ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,124,205 PNlElUh/A'IEC CLEAN GUT TL Paul It. Yates, i020 NW. Slet, @klahoma City, lrla.,

assigner of thirty-three and one-third percent to William H. Lamhdin and thirty-three and one-third percent to Geroid Anthony Shideil, @Mahoma City, Ghia.

Filed Dee. 5, i968, Ser. No. 73,730

Claims. (Ci. l75-93) The present invention relates to the oil industry and more particularly to a clean out tool.

In drilling and equipping an oil well for production it is frequently necessary to form a cement or other type plug within the bore hole or within the casing and thereafter remove the plug and clean out the hole.

The principal object of the instant invention is to provide a tool for the breaking up and removal of such a plug or bridge.

Another object is to provide a clean out tool which may be run on a wire line.

Still another object is to provide a clean out tool which includes an air chamber containing air under pressure which when released will actuate the tool in a drilling action on the obstruction within the well.

Still another object is to provide a tool of this class in which the air chamber may be recharged with compressed air and the tool used repeatedly without disassembly.

A further object is to provide a tool of this class which utilizes compressed air in combination with hydrostatic pressure within a well to actuate the tool in a vertically reciprocating action.

The present invention accomplishes these and other objects by providing an elongated tubular housing adapted to be connected to a wire line at one end and having a drill shoe connected to its other end. A pair of spacedapart movable pistons seal with the wall forming the bore of the housing to provide an air chamber intermediate the ends of the housing. The compressed air is released from the chamber to force the tool downwardly.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying two sheets of drawings, wherein:

FIGURES l, 1A and 1B are vertical cross-sectional views, partly in elevation, of the upper, medial and lower sections, respectively, of the device;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIG. l, illustrating the plunger in lowered position;

FIGURE 2A is a View similar to FIG. 1A, illustrating the pistons in air releasing position;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are horizontal cross-sectional views taken substantially along the lines 3--3 and 4 4 of FIGS. 1A and lB, respectively; and,

FIGURE 5 is a vertical cross-sectional View, to an enlarged scale, of one of the pistons, per se.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in those figures of the drawings in which they occur.

In the drawings.

The reference numeral lll indicates the device, as a whole, comprising three elongated tubular body sections A, B and C. The top of the section A is provided with a head l2 rigidly secured thereto as by welding. The head 12 includes a skirt portion i4 of a reduced diameter having a downwardly tapered surface 16. An elongated plunger or mandrel i8y is closely received in slidable relation by 3,l24,25 Patented Mar. I0, 1964 the head 12. The depending end portion of the mandrel is circumferentially enlarged, as at 2), and includes a central bore 22 of a selected depth. A portion of the wall of the plunger adjacent the enlarged end portion is tapered, as at 2l, for contacting the head tapered portion 16 when lifting the tool. The upper end portion of the mandrel 18 is centrally bored, as at 24, and circumferentially enlarged, as at 26, downwardly of the bore 24 for receiving a rope socket 28 and attaching a wire line 29 thereto. The upper end portion of the mandrel 18 is provided with an enlarged elongated opening 30 adjacent the lower end of the rope socket bore 26. The opening 30 is preferably large enough to permit removal and insertion of the rope socket 28. The rope socket 28 is maintained in assembled relation in its bore by a set screw 32. Intermediate its ends and upwardly of the head 12 the mandrel 18 is provided with a ilange 34 for limiting movement of the mandrel into the barrel A.

A pair of cylindrical members 36 and 38 form tool joints for connecting the body sections A, B and C. Each tool joint has the wall, forming the bore thereof, tapered outwardly at its respective ends, as at 40 and 42, for the purposes which will presently be apparent.

A tubular member 44 extends from a point below the barrel portion B and upwardly thereof a substantial distance into the barrel section A. The upper end portion of the tubular member is externally threaded for the purposes more fully explained hereinbelow. A pair of pistons 46 and 48 are connected to the tubular member 44 within the tool joints 36 and 38, respectively. The upper piston is maintained at the desired location on the tubular member by an annular stop 50 and a lock nut 52 threadedly engaged with the tubular member. The lower piston 48 is secured to the member 44 by a similar stop 54 and a lock nut 56. The upper piston 46 is transversely divided, intermediate its ends, to form an upper section 46A, an intermediate section 46B and a lower section 46C. The meeting edges of the respective sections are provided with co-operating annular recesses 58, adjacent their peripheries, for receiving packing, preferably in the form of a pair of O-rings 6i). The O-rings, when compressed by the nut 52, seal with the inner wall of the upper tool joint 36. The upper section 46A of the piston 46 is provided with a plurality of recesses 62 which are open upwardly to the top of the piston through co-operating openings 64. The lower piston 48 is similarly formed of three sections 48A, 48B and 48C and includes a pair of O-rings 66 which seal with the inner wall of the tool joint 38. The upper section 48A of the piston 48 is similarly provided with a plurality of recesses 68 in communication with vertical openings 7 0. A stop washer 72 is interposed between the lock nut 56 and the piston section 48C for limiting upward movement of the member 44 and the pistons 46 and 48. The stop washer 72 is provided with a plurality of vertical openings 73 to quickly release air trapped within the member C as more fully described hereinbelow. The pistons 46 and 48 and their respective tool joints 36 and 38 deiine an elongated air-tight chamber 74 within the body section B. A plurality of guides 76 are secured to the tubular member 44 intermediate its ends to add rigidity to the latter. Each of the guides 76 are similarly provided with a plurality of vertical apertures 78 forming passageways for quick release of compressed air upwardly through the chamber 74. A helical spring 80 surrounds the upper threaded end portion of the tubular member 44 and is interposed between the uppermost end of the tool joint 36 and a spring adjusting nut 82. The purpose of the spring 80 is to normally maintain the pistons 46 and 48 within the respective tool joint 36 and 38. The uppermost end of the tubular member is provided with a conventional air inlet valve 84. Apertures 85 are formed in the wall of the piston rod 44, between the pistons, for communication with the air chamber 74 to lill the latter with air under pressure. A pair of windows 86 is formed diametrically opposite each other through the wall of the body section A for access to the air valve 84.

The tubular member C, threadedly connected to the tool joint 38, is provided with an internally threaded depending end for connection with a shoe 90. The shoe 90 includes a diametrically reduced sleeve-like upper end portion 92 which is closely received by the inner wall 94 of the member C. An outlet port 96 is formed in the wall of the member C for mating and mis-mating with a similar outlet port 98 formed in the sleeve portion 92. An annular shoulder 100 formed on the inner wall of the shoe upwardly of its connection with the member C, forms a horizontal seat for a Hap valve 102 which is hingedly connected with the wall at one side of the shoe. The depending end of the shoe 90 is provided with a plurality of depending rod-like prongs 104 each having a sharpened or pointed free depending end 106. Intermediate their ends the prongs 104 are circumferentially provided with a plurality of rigidly connected downwardly tapering knives or cutters S. In horizontal cross-section each knife 108 is substantially triangular thus disposing one edge 110 of the triangular shape outwardly of the periphery of the respective prong 104. The purpose of the prongs 104 and their respective knives 108 is to pro- Y vide a means for imparting a drilling, breaking or cutting action to a bridge or plug, not shown, in the drilled hole as the tool is vertically reciprocated as more fully disclosed hereinbelow.

Operation In operation the device is assembled as disclosed hereinabove and the plunger 18 is connected to the wire line 29. The air chamber 74 is lled with air under a desired pressure. The device is lowered into the well until the shoe 90 reaches the plug or bridge. As the device is lowered into the well fluid enters the member'C through the flap valve 102 trapping and compressing air within the upper end portion of the member C. The plunger 1S is then quickly lowered into contact with the spring adjusting nut 82 which forces the tube 44 and associated pistons 46 and 48 downwardly against the resistance of the spring 80. The upper piston 46 leaves the member 36 before the lower piston 48 leaves the member 38. Fluid, not shown, is usually present in the well and as the piston 46 moves downwardly out of sealing contact with the member 36 some of the compressed air within the chamber 74 rushes upwardly, through the recesses 62 and openings 64 in the piston 46, against the fluid column. The release of part of the compressed air against the fluid column forces the entire device downwardly and forces the prongs 104 into the plug or bridge. When the sealing ring 66 of the lower piston 48 is out of sealing contact with the member 38, the air trapped in the upper end of the member C by hydrostatic pressure rushes through the openings 68 and 70 of the lower piston 48 to enter the chamber 74 and replenish the supply of compressed air. The remaining air under pressure within the chamber 74, aided by the resiliency of the spring 80, lifts the plunger 18 and repositions the pistons 46 and 48 within the respective members 36 and 38. Hydrostatic pressure in the well simultaneously enters the member C through the Hap valve 102 to replace the air released from the upper end of the member C which tends to lift or force the tool upwardly. The weight of the plunger 18, resting on the adjusting nut 82, then forces the tube 44 downwardly to repeat the cycle until an equilibrium has been established between the air pressure within the chamber 74 and the hydrostatic pre..- sure. Continued release of the compressed air from the chamber 74 and the hydrostatic pressure of fluid in the well entering the member C causes the tool to reciprocate vertically resulting in a drilling action on the bridge until the lower end section C of the device is filled, by hydrostatic pressure, with fluid and cuttings. The device is removed from the well and the shoe is rotated to align the port 98 with the port 96 to empty the contained fluid and cuttings. The shoe is then rotated to its original position to mis-align the ports 96 and 98 and the air chamber 74 is recharged. This completes one cycle of operation.

Obviously the invention is susceptible to some change or alteration without defeating its practicability, and I therefore do not wish to be confined to the preferred embodirnent shown in the drawings and described herein, further than I am limited by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An oil well clean out tool, comprising: an elongated tubular body; a head closing the upper end of said body, said body having a pair of vertically spaced-apart diametrically reduced areas formed on its inner wall intermediate its ends; a pair of pistons slidably received by the reduced areas of said body and forming a compressed air chamber; a piston rod interconnecting said pistons and eX- tending upwardly beyond the uppermost piston; spring means connected with the upper end portion of said piston rod and normally urging said pistons into sealing relation with the reduced areas of said body; a plunger slidably received by said head, said plunger having a lower end portion adapted for contacting said piston rod and moving the latter downwardly; a flap valve closing the lower end of said body; and a shoe connected with the lower end of said body.

2. A pneumatic well clean out tool, comprising: an elongated tubular body, the inner wall of said body having a pair of diametrically reduced areas in vertically spacedapart relation; a head closing the upper end of said body; a pair of pistons slidably tted within said reduced areas and forming a compressed air chamber; a tubular piston rod interconnecting said pistons, said piston rod having a closed lower end and having its other end extending beyond the uppermost limit of the upper piston, said piston rod having a plurality of apertures in its wall in that portion between said pistons; an air inlet valve secured to the upper end portion of said piston rod, said body having an access port in its wall adjacent said air inlet valve; a plunger slidably received by said head, said plunger having a lower end portion adapted for contacting said piston rod and moving the latter downwardly; a iiap valve closing the lower end portion of said body; and a shoe connected with the lower most end of said body.

3. Structure as specied in claim 2 and a spring interposed between the upper end portion of said piston and the upper one of the reduced areas of said body for normally urging said piston rod upwardly; and a stop carried by the lower end portion of said piston rod for limiting the upward movement of the latter.

4. A pneumatic well clean out tool, comprising: an elongated three piece tubular body; a pair of tool joints threadedly interconnecting the three tubular body sections, said tool joints each having a bore diametrically reduced with respect to the inside diameter of said body sections; a head closing the upper end of the upper body section; a pair of pistons slidably received in sealing relation by the wall forming the bore of said tool joints and forming a compressed air chamber; a tubular piston rod interconnecting. said pistons and extending beyond the upper limit of the uppermost said tool joint, said piston rod having a closed lower end and having a series of ports in its wall area between said pistons; an air inlet valve secured to the upper end of said piston rod, the upper one of said body sections having an access port in its walladjacent said air inlet valve; an adjusting nut threadedly engaged with the upper end portion of said piston rod; a spring interposed between said adjusting nut and the upper one of said tool joints for normally urging said pistons into sealing engagement with said tool joints; a. stop connected with the lower end portion of said piston rod for limiting the upward movement of the latter; a plunger slidably received by the said head, said plunger having an upper end portion adapted for connection with a wire line, said plunger having an enlarged centrally bored lower end portion for reception of the upper end portion of said piston rod and permitting Contact between the lower end of said plunger and said adjusting nut for moving said piston rod and said pistons downwardly; a centrally bored shoe connected with the lower end portion of said lowermost body section; and Valve means opening and closing the bore of said shoe.

5. Structure as specied in claim 4 and a plurality of prongs depending from said shoe; and a plurality of knives, triangular shaped in horizontal cross section, connected with the periphery of each said knife.

Short Feb. 18, 1930 Reynolds July 21, 1953

Claims (1)

1. AN OIL WELL CLEAN OUT TOOL, COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED TUBULAR BODY; A HEAD CLOSING THE UPPER END OF SAID BODY, SAID BODY HAVING A PAIR OF VERTICALLY SPACED-APART DIAMETRICALLY REDUCED AREAS FORMED ON ITS INNER WALL INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS; A PAIR OF PISTONS SLIDABLY RECEIVED BY THE REDUCED AREAS OF SAID BODY AND FORMING A COMPRESSED AIR CHAMBER; A PISTON ROD INTERCONNECTING SAID PISTONS AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY BEYOND THE UPPERMOST PISTON; SPRING MEANS CONNECTED WITH THE UPPER END PORTION OF SAID PISTON ROD AND NORMALLY URGING SAID PISTONS INTO SEALING RELATION WITH THE REDUCED AREAS OF SAID BODY; A PLUNGER SLIDABLY RECEIVED BY SAID HEAD, SAID PLUNGER HAVING A LOWER END PORTION ADAPTED FOR CONTACTING SAID PISTON ROD AND MOVING THE LATTER DOWNWARDLY; A FLAP VALVE CLOSING THE LOWER END OF SAID BODY; AND A SHOE CONNECTED WITH THE LOWER END OF SAID BODY.

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