A wiper for wiping liquids from the interior walls of various tubular members, such as drill pipe, tubing, casing or internal upset pipe is disclosed which is particularly useful in drilling and workover as the tubular members are withdrawn from a well bore. Features of the wiper include the ability to readily and easily pass through and wipe liquids from restricted passages or bores such as internal upset pipe, means for centralizing the wiper in the passages or bore for efficient wiping, pressure equalization for equalizing pressures within the wiper with outside pressures encountered within the well bore, made from materials which will not create an explosive condition in use, and ease of manufacture, assembly and disassembly, so that the wiper can be manufactured easily, readily and inexpensively, and repairs and replacement of wear prone parts can be readily and inexpensively made. Other features and advantages are disclosed.
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1. A wiper for wiping liquids from the interior walls of a bore of a member as it is removed from a bore hole comprising,
a buoyant chamber having a closed top and a bottom effective to float the wiper in liquids in the bore of the member and being smaller in external diameter than the smallest bore of the member in which the wiper is to be used, a flexible centralizer connected to the wiper adjacent the bottom of the buoyant chamber arranged to permit movement of liquid past it, the centralizer extending outwardly sufficiently to centralize the bottom portion of the wiper in the bore of the member and flexible enough to readily pass through the smallest bore of the member, a mandrel yieldingly connected to and extending upwardly from the buoyant chamber, first and second flexible wipers provided with drain openings through them, the wipers extending outwardly far enough to engage and arranged to circumferentially wipe the largest bore and flexible enough to readily retract to pass through and circumferentially wipe the smallest bore of the member, means securing the first and second wipers to the mandrel, the first and second wipers being axially spaced from one another a distance sufficient to permit ready passage through the smallest bore of the member and to centralize the wiper's upper portion in the bore of the member, whereby the wiper floats in the liquid in the bore with the first and second wipers above the liquid, and as the member is removed from the well bore, the first and second wipers wipe the bore of the member of liquid and any of the liquid above the wipers drains through the drainholes, and means for equalizing pressure within the buoyant chamber with pressure in the well bore comprising an open passageway extending into a lower portion of the buoyant chamber, the bouyant chamber, the flexible centralizer, the mandrel and the first and second wipers formed of material which will not cause an explosion of an explosive mixture when rubbing or striking the interior walls of the member.
6. A wiper for wiping liquids from the interior of the bore of a member as it is removed from a bore hole comprising,
an elongate, tubular buoyant chamber having a bottom and a closed top, the chamber effective to float the wiper in liquids in the bore of the member and being smaller in external diameter than the smallest bore of the member in which the wiper is to be used, a mandrel yieldingly connected to and extending upwardly from the buoyant chamber, first and second flexible wipers comprised of one or more flexible wiper members forming a circumferential wiping surface and provided with drain openings through them, the wipers extending outwardly far enough to engage or wipe the largest bore and flexible enough to readily retarct retract and pass through and wipe the smallest bore of the member, a first spacer slidably disposed about the mandrel, the second first wiper being slidably disposed about the mandrel below the spacer and the second wiper being slidably disposed about the mandrel above the spacer, the first spacer axially spacing the first and second wipers from one another a distance sufficient to permit ready passage through the smallest bore of the member, and to centralize the wiper's upper portion in the bore of the member, a second mandrel secured to and extending from the bottom of the buoyant chamber, and a flexible centralizer connected to the second mandrel, the flexible centralizer arranged to permit movement of liquid past it and extending outwardly sufficiently to centralize the bottom of the wiper in the bore of the tubular member and flexible enough to readily pass through the smallest bore of the member, whereby the wiper floats in the liquid in the bore with the wipers above the liquid, and as the member is removed from the well bore, the wiper continues to float in the liquid and the first and second wipers wipe the bore of the member of liquid and any of the liquid above the wipers drains through the drain openings, and means for equalizing pressure within and outside the buoyant chamber comprising a passageway extending in the second mandrel into the bottom of the buoyant chamber, the buoyant chamber, the flexible centralizer, the first mandrel, and the first and second wipers, formed of material which will not cause an explosion of an explosive mixture when rubbing or striking the interior of the member.
2. The wiper of
the means for equalizing pressure within the buoyant chamber with pressure in the member, comprises a second mandrel connected to the lower portion of the buoyant chamber and having the passageway extending into the buoyant chamber.
3. The wiper of
a pressure plug in the passageway operable to move out of the passage in response to a predetermined maximum pressure differential between the pressures inside and outside of the buoyant chamber thereby equalizing pressure in the buoyant chamber with pressure in the member when the wiper is subjected to pressure therein greater than the maximum pressure differential.
4. The wiper of
a fishing head connected to the upper end of the mandrel having a downwardly facing shoulder extending outwardly of the mandrel for engagement with a grapple for removal of the wiper from the bore of the member, the fishing head formed of a material which will not cause an explosion with an explosive mixture when striking the interior walls of the member.
5. The wiper of
at least one of the first and second wipers comprises, a pair of flexible discs having inwardly tapering opposed sides, the discs being arranged with respect to one another to provide complete circumferencial wiping in all positions, the discs formed of a material which will not cause an explosion with an explosive mixture when striking the interior walls of the member.
7. The wiper of
the first and second wipers are comprised of at least a pair of wiper members, each wiper member of which being a flexible disc having opposed sides substantially cut out, each wiper member being arranged with respect to the other wiper member of its pair so that a complete circumferencial wiping surface is provided by each pair of wipers.
8. The wiper of
a guide member yieldingly connected to the second mandrel's lower end below the centralizer, buoyant chamber's lower end, the guide member formed of a material which will not cause an explosion of an explosive mixture when rubbing or striking the interior of the member.
9. The wiper of
a guide member yieldingly connected to the buoyant chamber's lower end. 10. The wiper of claim 6 including, a guide member yieldingly connected to the buoyant chamber's lower end.
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application is a Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 25,302, filed Mar. 30, 1979, abandoned in favor of this application.
There has been a need for a wiper which wipes the internal walls of tubular members free of liquids, such as drill pipe, tubing, casing, and particularly tubular members having restricted passages, such as internal upset pipe and tubing, in operations such as drilling and workover, so that liquids, such as drilling muds, oil and the like are not spilled on the floor when coming out of the bore to change drill bits or other operations requiring removal of drill pipe, tubing and the like. Spilling of such liquids on the floor is hazardous and drilling muds are quite expensive. A number of proposals have been made in the past to wipe the inside of these tubular members free of liquid; however, these have not been entirely satisfactory.
Patents which relate to various wipers for use inside of pipes or tubes include the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,510,581 to Boynton; 1,732,277 to Owens; 2,257,080 to Turner; 2,460,481 to Abel; 2,740,480 to Cox; 3,058,525 to Humphries; 3,265,133 to Burch; and 4,007,784 to Watson, et al. Of these patents the patent to Cox discloses a pipe wiper having a plurality of bunched flexible discs above a float for wiping the inside of drill pipes as the pipes are being removed from the well.
The patent to Humphries has a plurality of arms extending out and contacting the inner wall of the pipe for holding the Humphries cleaning apparatus in a centralized position.
The remaining patents are illustrative of the state of the art.
The foregoing patent structures and proposals have a number of disadvantages. They cannot readily pass through and clean the interior of restricted openings, such as internal upset tubing or drill pipe, they are not pressure equalized so that when pressures are encountered in the well bore damage to or malfunctioning of the wiper occurs, they are relatively expensive to manufacture and are not readily repairable, they do not include a grappling or fishing head by which the wiper can be removed readily from the tubular member, such as by a wire line and an overshot, and they are not made of materials which avoid explosive conditions in use.
It would be highly advantageous to provide a wiper for wiping liquids from the interior of tubular members as they are removed from a bore hole which overcomes the disadvantages and shortcomings of prior art wipers, such as set forth above.
In U.S. application, Ser. No. 848,966, a related application of Ward M. Haggard, a wiper is disclosed which overcomes some of the foregoing disadvantages.
The present invention is directed to an improved wiper for wiping liquids from the interior of various tubular members which overcomes the foregoing disadvantages and shortcomings of prior art wipers and constitutes an improvement on the wiper disclosed in the above-identified application.
In short, the wiper includes an elongate mandrel provided with a buoyant chamber at its bottom portion effective to float the mandrel, has a flexible centralizer connected to its bottom portion adjacent the buoyant chamber arranged to permit movement of liquid past it and centralize the lower portion of the wiper in the bore, and includes first and second flexible wipers comprised of flexible members provided with drain openings through them and which extend outwardly far enough to engage and circumferentially wipe the largest bore and flexible enough to readily retract to pass through and wipe the smallest bore of the tubular member, which wipers are secured to the wiper above the float and are axially spaced from one another a distance sufficient so that they do not bunch up and readily pass through the smallest bore of the tubular member, such as internal upset drill pipe or tubing, and which also centralize the wiper's upper portion in the bore of the tubular member. The parts of the wiper which engage interior walls of the members to be wiped are made of inert materials, such as aluminum alloy and rubber so as not to cause an explosive condition in use. Sections of the wiper are yieldingly connected together for easy and nonsticking movements through the bore to be wiped. The wiper floats in the liquid in the bore with the wipers above the liquid, and as the tubular member is removed from the well bore, the wipers wipe the bore of the tubular member of liquid and any of the liquid above the wiper drains through the drain holes thereby preventing an accumulation of liquid on the floor of the drilling rig or workover rig.
The wiper includes improved pressure equalizing means which equalizes pressure inside the buoyant chamber with pressure in the tubular member to prevent damage to or malfunctioning of the wiper, and includes a fishing head which is arranged to be engaged with a grapple on a wire line for ready removal of the wiper from the bore when desired.
Preferably, the wipers are removably secured to the mandrel by means of spacers and an extension member and a removable retaining head, and the centralizer comprises a plurality of flexible arms and is removably connected to the wiper so that these wear prone parts can be readily removed and replaced.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wiper for wiping liquids from the interior of tubular members as they are removed from a bore hole which readily and easily wipes the liquids from the bores of tubular members including those having restricted passages, such as internal upset tubing and drill pipe, and which is centralized in the bore to effectively wipe the internal walls of the bore clean of liquids.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a wiper for wiping liquids from the internal walls of tubular members as it is removed from a bore hole in which the wiper is pressure equalized with unexpected pressures encountered in the bore.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a wiper for wiping liquids from the internal walls of tubular members as they are withdrawn from a bore hole in which parts of the wiper can yieldingly move with respect to other of its parts thereby permitting easy movement of the wiper through restricted or canted openings in the tubular members.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a wiper for wiping liquids from the internal walls of tubular members as they are removed from a bore hole in which the wiper is constructed of inert materials which could engage the internal walls of steel tubular members at high rates of speed thus avoiding combusting and exploding explosive gases, such as methane, present in the mud in the bore hole.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a wiper for wiping liquids from the internal walls of tubular members as they are removed from a bore hole which is inexpensive to manufacture, easy to assemble and disassemble, and in which wear prone parts, the wipers and centralizers, can be readily removed and replaced.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a wiper for wiping liquids from the internal walls of tubular members as it is removed from a bore hole and which includes a fishing head which can be engaged and retrieved by a grapple on a wire line for ready removal from the tubular member when desired.
Other and further features, objects and advantages of the invention appear throughout.
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of internal upset drill pipe or tubing shown in section and illustrating a wiper in elevation therein according to the invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded elevational view, partly in section, illustrating the wiper of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a stabilizer of the wiper of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a wiper member of the wiper.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another wiper member of the wiper.
FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the wiper member of FIG. 4 in retracted position.
FIG. 6 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 illustrating a modification.
FIG. 7 is an exploded view similar to that of FIG. 2 of the modification of FIG. 6.
Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, a tubular member 10 having the internal upset portion 12 for securing sections of the tubular member together is illustrated, which is here shown as internal upset tubing or drill pipe used in the drilling or working over of wells in a well bore or casing, not shown. While internal upset drill pipe or tubing is illustrated, the wiper of the present invention can be used for cleaning liquids from the internal walls of any member, such as drill pipe, tubing, casing and various tools and apparatus having bores or passages through them. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the wiper 14 is illustrated floating in the liquid L, such as drilling mud, well liquid and the like.
In this connection, it is common practice in the drilling of bore holes for oil, gas and the like, to use various kinds and specific gravities of drilling mud which is circulated in the bore hole during drilling operations. As previously mentioned, these muds are expensive and include chemicals, wetting materials and the like and it is highly desirable to wipe the interior walls of the tubular member clean as it is withdrawn from the bore hole or casing when coming out of the hole in drilling or workover operations. In this connection, the term "bore hole" as used herein means both cased and uncased bore holes, that is, the tubular member may be in casing in a bore hole or may be simply in an uncased bore hole.
Referring now to FIG. 2, which illustrates the assembly of the wiper 10 and its components, the wiper includes elongate, tubular mandrels 16 and 16a to which an elongate tubular buoyant chamber 18 is secured to the lower and a mandrel 16b is secured to the lower end of the buoyant chamber 18. Various components of the wiper are secured to these mandrels as subsequently described. The bouyant chamber 18 is effective to float the wiper 14 in liquids L in the bore of the tubular member 10 in which the wiper is to be used and the buoyant chamber 18 is closed at its top and bottom by the closure members 20 and 22, respectively. The mandrel 16 extends upwardly above the top 20 of the buoyant chamber 18 a substantial distance and the lower mandrel 16b extends below the bottom 22 of the buoyant chamber 18 a relatively short distance, as illustrated.
A flexible centralizer 28, here shown as having the radially outwardly extending flexible arms 30 (see FIG. 3) is removably secured to the mandrel 16a below the buoyant chamber 18. The arms 30 extend outwardly radially a distance sufficient to centralize the lower end of the wiper 10 in the bore of the tubular member 10.
As shown in FIG. 2, the lower end of the mandrel 16a is threaded and is threaded into the upper closure end 20 of the buoyant chamber 18. For this purpose the nut or enlargement 32, a packing member 34 and a friction ring 36 are provided so that when the nut 32 is completely threaded into the threaded opening in the upper closure member 20, the packing is compressed against the upper surface thereof and the lower surface of the nut 32 thereby effectively closing the upper closure member 20, and hence, the upper portion of the float chamber 18.
Secured to the nut 32 is a coil spring 38 which in turn is secured to another nut 40 which threadedly receives the lower threaded end 42 of the mandrel 16. An internally threaded locking 44 is also provided so that the lower end 42 of the mandrel 16 is readily and releasably secured to the nut 40 and, hence, by the spring 38 and threaded mandrel 16a to the upper end 20 of the float chamber 18. A first tubular spacing member 46 is slidably disposed about the mandrel 16 and spaces the first wiper assembly, here shown as the wiper members 48 and 50 slightly above the spring 38. A pair of support rings or washers 52 and 54 are provided at the top and bottom of the wiper mut mud, all as previously described.
All other parts and its mode of operation are the same as that described in connection with FIGS. 1-5.
As previously mentioned, the wipers can take a variety of forms and shapes, and the mandrels and spacers need not be tubular. Also, the wiper can be used to wipe other than tubular bores.
The present invention therefore is well suited and adapted to attain the objects and ends and has the advantages and features mentioned as well as other inherent therein.
While presently preferred embodiments have been given for the purposes of disclosure, changes may be made therein which are within the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.
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| Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
| Sep 02 1983 | Haggard I. D. Wiper, Inc. | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / |
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