US2380612A - Tubing anchor and packer assembly - Google Patents

Description

H. J. QUINTRELL TUBING ANCHOR AND FACKER ASSEMBLY July 31, 1 945.

Filed Feb. 25, 1942 R ,J k W WA A??? 24 m1 150:5 E410 Ere .7

' INVENTOR fzkwen/f QV/AZGZZL ATTgRNEYe I Patented July 31, 1945 2,380,612 TUBING ANCHOR AND PACKER ASSEMBLY Harry J. Quintrell, San Gabriel, Calif., assignor to Lane-Wells Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a

corporation of Delaware Application February 25, 1942, Serial No. 432,182

8 Claims.

My invention relates to tubing anchors; that is, to devices carried by a tubing string for engagement with a surrounding casing in such a manner that the tubing string may be placed under tension between the tubing anchor and the top of the well. Among the objects of my invention are: I

First, to provide a tubing anchor which incorporates a packing means for sealing the annular space between the tubing string and surrounding casing;

Second, to provide a tubing anchor which is easily set and released, and is inherently so arranged that the slips and their expanders which look the tool in the well completely free themselves when removing the tool, thereby minimizing the danger of accidentally locking the tool in the well; and

Third, to provide a tubing anchor which incorporates circulation passages around and through the packing means to facilitate movement of the tool through liquids contained in the well.

With the above and other objects in view, as may appear hereinafter, reference is directed to the accompanying drawing, in which: a

Figure 1 is a partial elevational, partial sectional view of my tubing anchor with the parts shown in the positions assumed when the tool is being run into or lowered into the well casing;

Figure 2 is a similar partial sectional, partial elevational view thereof, showing the parts in the positions assumed when the tubing anchor is locked in the casing;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view through 3--3 of Figure 2; and

Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 are diagrammatical views showing the relativ positions of the split ring and its flange employed to insure release of the tubing anchor, wherein:

Figure 4 illustrates the running-in position;

Figure 5 illustrates the set position;

Figure 6 illustrates the released sition; and

Figure '7 illustrates the pull-out position.

The various elements of my tubing anchor are mounted on a mandrel l which is connected at its upper end to a collar 2, which in turn is joined to a tubing string A. The lower end of the mandrel is connected through a packer collar 3 to a tubing string continuation B. The lower or packer collar 3 is provided with an integrally formed upwardly extending bell portion 4 of larger diameter than the collar, the walls of the bell portion being spaced from the mandrel i. The upper end of the bell portion 4 is threaded to re ceive a retainer ring 5 which is provided with an internal shoulder. A cylindrical liner 6 is slidably mounted in the bell portion 4 and extends upwardly therefrom. The lower end of the liner 6 is provided with an external flange which coacts with the internal flange of the retainer rin 5 to limit upward movement of the liner. The upper end of the liner is provided with a head member 1 forming an external shoulder. Between the head member 1 and the retainer ring 5 the liner receives the packer comprising several elastic packing rings 8 which when compressed axially expand radially for engagement with a surrounding casing. The bell portion 4 is provided with circulation slots 9 which communicate between the annular space defined by the mandrel l and liner 6, and the annular space below the mandrel defined by the tubing string continuation B and the well casing designated C. The before described element supported by the bell portion 4, including the retainer ring 5, liner head 1, liner 5 and packer 8 comprise the packer assembly.

Slidably mounted on the mandrel I, above the head member I, is a slip expander Ill. The lower end of the slip expander forms a valve face II which is adapted to seat against an adjacent beveled valve seat formed on the upper end of the head member I to form a valve operative as hereinafter described to close the annular space between the mandrel l and liner 6. In addition, sealing rings I! are provided within the slip expander to *effect a seal between the slip expander and the mandrel. Initially the slip expander is secured in position on the mandrel by means of a shear pin 13.

The slip expander is provided with several upwardly converging guide faces [4 which are preferably undercut or dovetailed to receive slips 15 which move downwardly and outwardly on the guide faces into contact with the surroundin casing C. The slips are provided at their lower orsmaller ends with inwardly directed lugs l6 which ride in grooves ll which limit the amount of upward or inward movement of the slips. The slips are connected by journal pins to slip reins 48 which extend upwardly and are connected by other journal pins to a swivel collar IS.

The swivel collar I9 receives a ring 20 whichdeflnes therewith an internal annular channel adapted to receive a flange provided at the lower end of a sleeve 2|. The sleeve 2! fits loosely around the mandrel l and is screw-threaded at its upper end to an upper sleeve 22.

An annular channel is formed between the upper portion of the lower sleeve II and the lower end or the upper sleeve 22, which channel receives and retains a split chamfered locking ring 23 adapted to ride in said channel on the mandrel I. The mandrel I is provided at a point normally above the location of the split ring 23 with a flange 24 having a sloping lower edge and a square cut upper edge adapted to actuate the locking ring 23 as hereinafter described. The sleeves 2| and 22 have suflicient clearance from the mandrel to accommodate the flange. At a point below the split ring 23 the mandrel I is provided with a second flange which forms an annular abutment 25. A spring 26 is -coiled around the mandrel I and extends from the abutment 25 to the slip expander I0. Preferably the upper end of the slip expander is counterbored to accommodate a portion of the spring 26.

A cage 21 comprising a pair of coaxially coupled sleeves 2I and 22, carry an upper cage ring 28, a lower cage ring 29 and interconnecting outwardly bowed cage springs 30 is slidably supported on the upper section of the mandrel. One of the cage rings 28 or 29 is fastened to the correspondlng sleeve, while the other ring is slidable. The upper cage sleeve 22 is provided with a latching means comprising control slot 3| and a pin 32 extending thereinto from the mandrel l. The control slot 3| includes a lateral portion 33 which intersects a vertically or longitudinally extending slot forming an upper extension 34 above the lateral portion 33 and a lower extension 35 below said lateral portion.

Operation of my tubing anchor is as follows: The tubing anchor is assembled as shown in Figure 1, the shear pin I3 initially holding the slip expander in fixed position on the mandrel and the split ring 23 being located below the flange 24, as indicated also in Figure 4, The pin 32 is in the lateral portion 33 of the control slot. This places the slips I in their upper or retracted positions on the slip expander Ill and clearance is provided between the valve face H and the head member I, so that fluid may circulate between the mandrel I and liner 6 during descent of the tool. When the desired location is reached the tubing string is rotated in a direction to move the latch pin 32 from the lateral portion of the latch control slot. The tubing is then raised,which raises the packer collar 3 and associated packer assembly, and initially raises the slip expander Ill. The cage, together with sleeves 2| and 22, slip reins l8 and slips I5, tends to remain stationary by reason of the frictional engagement of the cage springs 30 with the surrounding casing. Consequently, upward movement of the slip expander moves the slips outwardly into engagement with the casing. Continued upward movement of the tubing string and mandrel, after the slip expander is held from movement, shears the pin I3 and brings the packer assembly into en gagement with the slip expander. Suflicient upward tension is then applied to fully expand the packing rings 8, into sealing contact with the casing walls as shown in Figure 2. The splr. ing 23 and flange 24 are now in the relative positlm shown in Figure 5. The tubing string is suitably fastened at the mouth of the well in order to maintain an upward tension on the tubing anchor.

When it is desired to remove the tubing anchor the tubing string is lowered until,the pin 3| moves into the lower extension 35 of the control slot. Downward movement of the tubing string compresses the spring 26 and thereby tends to push the cone downwardly from between the slips, the slips tending to remain fixed relative to the 2,380,612 W casing by reason of the cage springs 30. This downward movement, of course, opens or releases the packer assembly. The counterbore in the clip expander is preferably deep enough to accommodate the entire spring so that, if necessary, the abutment 25 may engage the upper end of the slip expander so that it may be jarred loose from the slips.

The downward movement of the mandrel required to release the slip expander moves the flange 24 downwardly beyond the split locking ring 23, as shown in Figure 6, it being noted that the split ring being chamfered on the inner edge is capable of being expanded radially to permit downward passage of the flange 24. After the flange has moved below the split ring the tubing may be raised, which causes the square upper edge of the flange 24 to engage the square lower edge of the ring 23 in locked relation to one another so that a positive connection is provided between the mandrel, slip cage and slips, to hold the slips in an upper retracted position, as indicated in Figure 7.

Various changes and alternate arrangements may be made within the scope of the appended claims, in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in the invention.

I claim:

1. A tubing anchor and packer assembly comprising a mandrel suspended from a tubing string Within a well casing, a packer assembly including a packer collar fixed on said mandrel, a packer head member surrounding and movable along said mandrel, an elastic packing ring surrounding said mandrel between said packer collar and said packer head member, a slip expander slidable on said mandrel and initially spaced above said packer head member, said packing ring and said packer head member being radially spaced from said mandrel, said packer collar having perforations therethrough communicating with the space between said packing ring and said packer head member to provide a fluid circulation path between said packer assembly and said mandrel, the adjacent confronting surfaces of said packer head member and said slip expander cooperating to close said fluid circulation path when said slip expander is in contact with said packer head member, a cage on said mandrel above said slip expander supporting slips in position on said slip expander, said cage being slidable on said mandrel and including means frictionally engageable with a surrounding well casing, whereby upward movement of said mandrel relative to said cage will cause said slip expander to expand said slips into engagement with a surrounding casing and said slip expander will form a stationary abutment cooperating with said packer head member to close said fluid circulation path and to axially compress and radially expand said packing ring.

2. A tubing anchor and packer assembly as described in claim 1 having a releasable latching means for initially retaining said cage in such position relative to said mandrel and said slipexpander that said slips are in retracted position.

3. A tubing anchor and packer assembly comprising a tubular mandrel adapted to be interposed in a tubing string; a packer assembly including a packer collar secured to said mandrel, a packer head member surrounding and movable along said mandrel above said collar and an clastic packing ring between said collar and said head member; a slip expander slid ble on said mandrel above said head member and engageable therewith; a cage slidable on said mandrel above said slip expander and having means for frictionally engaging a surrounding well casing; slips supported by said'cage and arranged to be expanded by said slip-expander into engagement with the surrounding well casing upon upward movement of said mandrel and said slip expander relative to said cage; a longitudinal slot in said cage having a lateral branch intermediate its ends; a pin on said mandrel slid-able in said slot and positionable in said lateral branch whereby said cage may be initially retained in an intermediate position with said slips in retracted position, said pin being movable out of said lateral branch to permit downward movement of said cage relative to the mandrel to expand said slips and upward movement relative to said mandrel to release said slips, and locking means for looking said cage in upper position with said slips in released position.

4. A tubing anchor and packer assembly comprising a mandrel, a packer assembly including a packer collar fixed on said mandrel, a packer head member movable along said mandrel, an elastic packin ring positioned between said packer collar and said packer head member, said packing ring being adapted to be compressed axially and thereby expanded radially into sealing engagement with a surrounding casing, a slip-expander longitudinally slidable on said mandrel andarranged to transmit compressive force to said packer head member to axially compress said packing ring, a cage slidably mounted on said mandrel above said slip-expander, said cage having laterally. extending members frictionally enageable with a surrounding casing, slips supported by said cage and adapted to ride outwardly on said slip-expander into wedging engagement with a surrounding casing upon movement of said slip-expander and said slips relatively toward one another, a lock means associated with said mandrel and said cage operative only upon extreme upward motion of said cage relative to said mandrel to lock and support said cage in an upper position on said mandrel with said slips in fully retracted position, a releasable latch operative when latched to hold said cage and said slips supported thereby in an initial intermediate fixed longitudinal position on said mandrel with said slips in a retracted position relative to said slip-expander and when unlatched freeing said cage and slips for limited longitudinal motion in either direction from the said intermediate latched position on said mandrel, the downward motion relative to said mandrel being sufiicient to expand said slips into wedging position between said slip-expander and a surrounding casing and upward motion relative to said mandrel from its downward position being suflicient to release said slips from wedging position between said slip-expander and said surrounding casing and to also actuate said locking means between said cage and said mandrel to lock the slips in a fully retracted position relative to i the slip-expander during subsequent upward force on the mandrel relative to the cage.

5. A tubing anchor and packer assembly according to claim 4 in which the said lock means between said cage and said mandrel comprises a split chamfered ring retained in a recess formed between said mandrel and said cage, and a flange fixed on said mandrel and adapted to pass without obstruction downward through said chamfered ring to couple said mandrel with said cage upon subsequent relative motion upward of said mandrel and the flange into contact with said ring.

6. A tubing anchor according to claim 4 with means initially fixing said slip-expander on said mandrel out of contact with the upper end of the said packer head member, said means being releasable by upward pull on said mandrel upon predetermined wedging action between said slip-expander and said slips.

7. A tubing anchor comprising: a mandrel adapted to be suspended by a tubing string within a well casing; a cage including a sleeve slidable on said mandrel, said sleeve having a longitudinal slot including a lateral branch intermediate its ends, said mandrel having a coacting pin whereby said sleeve may be initially secured in an intermediate position by positioning said pin in said lateral branch; cage springs carried bysaid sleeve and frictionally engageable with a surrounding casing; slips depending from said sleeve; a slip expander slidable on said mandrel and adapted, when moved upwardly relative to said slips, to expand said slips into engagement with a surrounding casing; means connected with said mandrel for moving said slip-expander upwardly to expand said slips when said pin is moved into the upper portion of said slot; yieldable means for portion of said slot.

8. A construction, as set forth in claim 7 wherein the means which urges said slip-expander upwardly to expand said slips comprises: a packer collar member secured to said mandrel and having fluid circulation ports therein; a packer head member movable along, and spaced from said mandrel to define another circulation port, said head member being engageable with said/slipexpander; a cylindrical liner connected to one of said members and slidable relative to the other of said members and defining with said mandrel a circulation passage intercommunicating with said ports; and an elastic packing ring on said cylindrical liner between said members.

HARRY J. QUINTREIL.

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