Methods and apparatus for removing debris from a well bore
US5299639A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 30, 1993 |
| Grant date | Apr 5, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 30, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC E)Fixed Constructions
- CPC primaryE21B27/04
- WIPO fieldCivil engineering
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A well clean-out tool includes a cylindrical member in which a helical conveyor screw is arranged for vertical sliding movement relative to the cylindrical member. The tool is lowered into a well bore until the shoe contacts debris within the bore. At that time, the screw is caused to descend relative to the cylindrical member, whereupon a lower end of the screw projects slightly below a lower end of the cylindrical member, and a rotary coupling between the screw and the cylindrical member is released, and a spring is caused to store energy. Thereafter, the screw is rotated relative to the cylindrical member, while the spring presses the cylindrical member against the debris in order to resist rotation of the cylindrical member. The screw projects only slightly downwardly beyond the lower end of the cylindrical member, e.g., less than one inch, in order to convey debris upwardly within the cylindrical member. At the end of a clean-out operation, the screw is raised back into the cylindrical member whereupon the rotary coupling is re-engaged in order to produce rotation of the cylindrical member as the tool is removed from the well bore.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.