Patent US3762725A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3762725A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Wireline stuffing box and sheave
Assignee: Otis Engineering Corp
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Filing: 1971-05-20
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Granted: 1973-10-02
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Expires: 1991-05-20
Abstract
Abstract A wire line stuffing box having sealing gland means therein which is normally in an undistorted non-sealing position spaced from the wire line extending through the stuffing box, and which is compressed into sealing engagement with the wire line by hydraulic fluid pressure applied to opposite sides of piston means which longitudinally compresses the sealing gland and is subject to well pressure in a well. Means is provided for controlling the application of pressure to the sealing gland elements of the packing gland to control the friction with which the wire line is engaged by the sealing gland and the sealing effect of the packing elements. In addition, a flexible line sheave is disclosed which is provided with an overrunning structure permitting movement of the sheave wheel after movement of the flexible line is stopped to prevent damage to the line by stretching, abrasion or overstressing due to the momentum of the movement of the sheave wheel when movement of the line is stopped.
Inventors
- 👤 D Taylor
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 23:47
CPC Classifications
F; F16; F16J; F16J15/00; F16J15/16; F16J15/18; F16J15/184; F16J15/185; E; E21; E21B; E21B33/00; E21B33/02; E21B33/03; E21B33/068; E21B33/072
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
567 words
A fluid pressure controlled wire line stuffing box for sealing around flexible lines, including: a housing having a longitudinal passage therethrough; means providing upper and lower end portions of reduced diameter in said passage with the portion of the bore of the passage of said housing between said means providing a large diameter chamber area; an elongate movable tubular piston sleeve slidable in the passage of said housing having its tubular ends slidable longitudinally in sealed engagement in the reduced upper and lower end portions of the housing passage and having an enlarged external annular piston flange intermediate its ends slidable in sealed engagement in the enlarged chamber area of the housing between the reduced end portions thereof to divide the chamber area in the enlarged bore of said passage into two pressure chambers, one on each side of said flange; said piston sleeve having a longitudinal bore therethrough reduced in diameter at one end portion, said reduced bore forming shoulder stop means for supporting a set of packing rings in the bore of said movable piston sleeve for movement therewith; a set of packing rings supported in the bore of said piston sleeve with one end of said set engaging said shoulder stop means in said bore to prevent movement of such one end of said set of packing rings in said bore in the direction of said shoulder stop means and the other end of said set exposed and movable in said bore of said piston sleeve; an elongate tubular compressing sleeve having one end telescoping into the open end of the bore of said piSton sleeve opposite said reduced bore and engaging the exposed movable end of the set of packing rings in said piston sleeve bore and having its opposite end engaging a shoulder in the reduced upper end portion of the passage of the housing to be held against longitudinal upward movement in the housing; said piston sleeve being movable longitudinally in said housing passage toward and away from said compressing sleeve whereby longitudinal movement of said piston sleeve toward said compressing sleeve compresses and distorts the packing rings in the bore of the piston sleeve into sealing relationship with a flexible line extending through the bore of the packing rings and the passage of the housing; first fluid pressure conduit means connected to one of the pressure chambers in the housing passage on one side of said piston flange; second fluid passage conduit means connected to the housing and communicating with the other pressure chamber in the housing passage on the opposite side of said piston flange; said pressure fluid conduit means providing means for introducing pressure fluid into the pressure chambers on the opposite sides of said piston flange for controlling movement of said piston sleeve longitudinally of said housing passage toward and away from said compressing sleeve to control the compression of the packing rings in the bore of said piston sleeve, whereby said packing rings may be deformed into tight sealing engagement with said flexible line extending therethrough and the compression of the packing rings then reduced to a minimum effective sealing engagement with said flexible line by adjustment of the control fluid pressure on the opposite sides of the piston flange, whereby frictional engagement of the packing rings with the flexible line and wear of the packing rings due to movement of the line therethrough is reduced.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
567 words
A fluid pressure controlled wire line stuffing box for sealing around flexible lines, including: a housing having a longitudinal passage therethrough; means providing upper and lower end portions of reduced diameter in said passage with the portion of the bore of the passage of said housing between said means providing a large diameter chamber area; an elongate movable tubular piston sleeve slidable in the passage of said housing having its tubular ends slidable longitudinally in sealed engagement in the reduced upper and lower end portions of the housing passage and having an enlarged external annular piston flange intermediate its ends slidable in sealed engagement in the enlarged chamber area of the housing between the reduced end portions thereof to divide the chamber area in the enlarged bore of said passage into two pressure chambers, one on each side of said flange; said piston sleeve having a longitudinal bore therethrough reduced in diameter at one end portion, said reduced bore forming shoulder stop means for supporting a set of packing rings in the bore of said movable piston sleeve for movement therewith; a set of packing rings supported in the bore of said piston sleeve with one end of said set engaging said shoulder stop means in said bore to prevent movement of such one end of said set of packing rings in said bore in the direction of said shoulder stop means and the other end of said set exposed and movable in said bore of said piston sleeve; an elongate tubular compressing sleeve having one end telescoping into the open end of the bore of said piSton sleeve opposite said reduced bore and engaging the exposed movable end of the set of packing rings in said piston sleeve bore and having its opposite end engaging a shoulder in the reduced upper end portion of the passage of the housing to be held against longitudinal upward movement in the housing; said piston sleeve being movable longitudinally in said housing passage toward and away from said compressing sleeve whereby longitudinal movement of said piston sleeve toward said compressing sleeve compresses and distorts the packing rings in the bore of the piston sleeve into sealing relationship with a flexible line extending through the bore of the packing rings and the passage of the housing; first fluid pressure conduit means connected to one of the pressure chambers in the housing passage on one side of said piston flange; second fluid passage conduit means connected to the housing and communicating with the other pressure chamber in the housing passage on the opposite side of said piston flange; said pressure fluid conduit means providing means for introducing pressure fluid into the pressure chambers on the opposite sides of said piston flange for controlling movement of said piston sleeve longitudinally of said housing passage toward and away from said compressing sleeve to control the compression of the packing rings in the bore of said piston sleeve, whereby said packing rings may be deformed into tight sealing engagement with said flexible line extending therethrough and the compression of the packing rings then reduced to a minimum effective sealing engagement with said flexible line by adjustment of the control fluid pressure on the opposite sides of the piston flange, whereby frictional engagement of the packing rings with the flexible line and wear of the packing rings due to movement of the line therethrough is reduced.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
47 words
A stuffing box of the character set forth in claim 1 wherein: one of said means providing the reduced diameter passage in upper and lower end portions of the housing passage is removable therefrom to permit installation and removal of the piston sleeve and packing rings therein.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
55 words
A wire line stuffing box of the character set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the means providing the reduced diameter portions in the passage of the housing at opposite ends thereof is removable from the passage of the housing to permit servicing the piston sleeve and ready replacement of packing rings contained therein.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
108 words
A stuffing box of the character set forth in claim 1, wherein a wiper seal is provided in the upper reduced diameter portion of the passage of the housing spaced longitudinally of the passage above the piston sleeve and defining a third chamber in said passage of said housing spaced from the control fluid pressure chambers therein; conductor means communicating with the third chamber in the passage of the housing between the packing rings in the piston sleeve and the wiper seal for conducting fluids passing through the packing rings in the piston sleeve with the flexible line from said third chamber to a remote point for disposal.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
54 words
A stuffing box assembly of the character set forth in claim 4, wherein said conductor means communicating with the third chamber also provides means for introducing corrosion inhibitor or lubricant or both into said third chamber for treating the flexible line moving into and out of the well flow conductor through the stuffing box.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
253 words
In a wire line stuffing box for sealing around a flexible line, a packing ring assembly comprising: a set of a plurality of separate tubular sealing ring members in longitudinally aligned position between bored compressing means at the opposite ends of said set, each of said sealing ring members having a bore larger than the diameter of the flexible line to be passed through the stuffing box and larger than the minimum bores of the compressing means; the sealing ring member on one end of the set comprising a hard ring formed of fabric wound spirally about the lonGitudinal axis of the bore of the ring member and bonded by an oil resistant synthetic elastomeric material; the ring next adjacent said one ring member being formed of a plurality of transversely disposed layers of glass fiber or nylon fabric bonded by an oil-resistant elastomeric material; at least one ring member adjoining the second ring member formed of low-friction high wear-resistant elastomeric material; and a follower ring member on the other end of said set of packing rings comprising a plurality of transverse layers of glass fiber or nylon fabric bonded together by an oil resistant elastomeric material; the bores of the packing ring members all being greater than the diameter of the flexible line to be passed therethrough, whereby the flexible line may pass through said ring members without engaging the same until the ring members have been compressed longitudinally by the compressing means to deform them into engagement with said flexible line.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
253 words
In a wire line stuffing box for sealing around a flexible line, a packing ring assembly comprising: a set of a plurality of separate tubular sealing ring members in longitudinally aligned position between bored compressing means at the opposite ends of said set, each of said sealing ring members having a bore larger than the diameter of the flexible line to be passed through the stuffing box and larger than the minimum bores of the compressing means; the sealing ring member on one end of the set comprising a hard ring formed of fabric wound spirally about the lonGitudinal axis of the bore of the ring member and bonded by an oil resistant synthetic elastomeric material; the ring next adjacent said one ring member being formed of a plurality of transversely disposed layers of glass fiber or nylon fabric bonded by an oil-resistant elastomeric material; at least one ring member adjoining the second ring member formed of low-friction high wear-resistant elastomeric material; and a follower ring member on the other end of said set of packing rings comprising a plurality of transverse layers of glass fiber or nylon fabric bonded together by an oil resistant elastomeric material; the bores of the packing ring members all being greater than the diameter of the flexible line to be passed therethrough, whereby the flexible line may pass through said ring members without engaging the same until the ring members have been compressed longitudinally by the compressing means to deform them into engagement with said flexible line.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
318 words
In combination with the fluid pressure controlled wire line stuffing box of claim 1, wherein the reduced frictional engagement of the packing rings with the flexible line provides for more ready and rapid movement of said flexible line through said stuffing box: a rotatable sheave means connected with the housing and operable to direct said flexible line into and out of said housing through the housing passage and the packing rings therein and into and out of a well flow conductor; mount means swingably mounting said sheave means on said housing for swingable movement of said sheave means about the upper end of the housing around the longitudinal axis of said housing with said flexible line entering the passage of said housing in longitudinal axial alignment with the axis of said housing passage; said sheave means comprising a wheel and a rim sheave section movable thereon; anti-frictional means between the wheel and sheave rim section; said sheave rim section having an external groove thereon in which the flexible line is movable to be guided into the housing passage of the stuffing box; said anti-frictional means between said rim section and the wheel permitting rotational movement of the wheel while the rim section of the sheave is held stationary, to permit movement of the flexible line through the stuffing box housing passage and the packing rings therein to be stopped abruptly while moving readily at a rapid rate through the stuffing box, without wear and deformation of said flexible line resulting from continued momentum rotation of the sheave wheel and to prevent damage of the packing rings in said stuffing because of damage to the flexible line which would otherwise be caused by continued rotation of said sheave wheel, and which would result in loss of the sealing engagement of said packing rings with said flexible line and flow of fluids past said packing rings into the surrounding areas.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
273 words
A fluid pressure controlled wire line stuffing box including: a housing having an elongate passage therethrough; an elongated tubular packing ring assembly in said housing passage compressible to contracted position to seal around a flexible line extending through said housing passage; and fluid pressure operated means for controlling the compression of the packing ring assembly in the housing to control the engagement of the said packing ring assembly with the flexible line extending through said housing comprising: an elongate movable tubular piston sleeve movable longitudinally in the passage of said housing and having a longitudinal bore in which said packing ring assembly is disposed; a fixed elongate tubular compression sleeve in said housing telescoping into the bore of said piston sleeve to engage the packing ring assembly in said bore to compress said packing ring assembly in said bore; said piston sleeve also having an external piston flange intermediate its ends slidable sealingly in the passage of said housing; means at the opposite ends of said housing passage sealing between the ends of said piston sleeVe on opposite sides of said flange to provide two pressure chambers in said housing, one on each side of said piston flange on said piston sleeve; means for conducting control fluid pressure to said chambers to act on the piston flange to control the movement of said movable piston sleeve in said passage of said housing toward and away from said compression sleeve for controlling the compression of the packing ring assembly in the bore of said piston sleeve to control the engagement of said packing ring assembly with the flexible line extending through the housing passage.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
273 words
A fluid pressure controlled wire line stuffing box including: a housing having an elongate passage therethrough; an elongated tubular packing ring assembly in said housing passage compressible to contracted position to seal around a flexible line extending through said housing passage; and fluid pressure operated means for controlling the compression of the packing ring assembly in the housing to control the engagement of the said packing ring assembly with the flexible line extending through said housing comprising: an elongate movable tubular piston sleeve movable longitudinally in the passage of said housing and having a longitudinal bore in which said packing ring assembly is disposed; a fixed elongate tubular compression sleeve in said housing telescoping into the bore of said piston sleeve to engage the packing ring assembly in said bore to compress said packing ring assembly in said bore; said piston sleeve also having an external piston flange intermediate its ends slidable sealingly in the passage of said housing; means at the opposite ends of said housing passage sealing between the ends of said piston sleeVe on opposite sides of said flange to provide two pressure chambers in said housing, one on each side of said piston flange on said piston sleeve; means for conducting control fluid pressure to said chambers to act on the piston flange to control the movement of said movable piston sleeve in said passage of said housing toward and away from said compression sleeve for controlling the compression of the packing ring assembly in the bore of said piston sleeve to control the engagement of said packing ring assembly with the flexible line extending through the housing passage.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
185 words
A fluid pressure controlled wire line stuffing box of the character set forth in claim 1, wherein: said set of packing rings have bores therethrough larger than the flexible line against which they are disposed to seal when distorted within the movable piston sleeve, one end of said set of packing rings having a tubular follower compression ring engaging said shoulder stop means in said piston sleeve and the opposite end of said set of packing rings having a tubular follower compression ring engaged by said compression sleeve telescoped into the bore of the piston sleeve whereby movement of the piston sleeve toward and away from said compression sleeve compresses and distorts said set of packing rings to reduce the bore of said rings and move said rings into sealing engagement with the flexible line and releases said set of packing rings from such compression for movement out of engagement with said flexible line, the control fluid pressure acting on opposite sides of said piston flange in said chambers for controlling the force with which said sealing packing rings arecompressed to engage said flexible line.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
271 words
A fluid pressure controlled wire line stuffing box of the character set forth in claim 1, wherein said set of packing rings in said movable piston sleeve in said housing comprises: a plurality of separate tubular sealing ring members in longitudinally aligned position between bored compressing means at the opposite ends of said set, each of said sealing ring members having a bore larger than the diameter of the flexible line to be passed through the stuffing box and larger than the minimum bores of the compressing means; the sealing ring member on one end of the set comprising a hard ring formed of fabric wound spirally about the longitudinal axis of the bore of the ring member and bonded by an oil resistant synthetic elastomeric material; the ring next adjacent said one ring member being formed of a plurality of transversely disposed layers of glass fiber or nylon fabric bonded by an oil-resistant elastomeric material; at least one ring member adjoining the second ring member formed of low-friction high wear-resistant elastomeric material; and a follower ring member on the other end of said set of packing rings comprising a plurality of transverse layers of glass fiber or nylon fabric bonded together by an oil resistant elastomeric material; the bores of the packing ring members and the bored compressing means all being greater than the diamter of the flexible line to be passed therethrough, whereby the flexible line may pass through said packing ring members without engaging the same until the packing ring members have been compressed longitudinally by the compressing means to deform them into engagement with said flexible line.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
79 words
A fluid pressure controlled wire line stuffing box of the character set forth in claim 10 wherein: a wiper seal is provided in the housing spaced longitudinally from the packing assembly therein and defining a separate chamber in said housing for receiving fluid pressure passing the packing assembly; conductor means communicating with said separate chamber in said housing for conducting fluids passing through the packing assembly with the flexible line from said chamber to a remote point for disposal.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
58 words
A stuffing box assembly of the character set forth in claim 11 wherein: said conductor means for conducting fluids from said separate chamber of saiD housing between said wiper seal and said packing assembly also provides means for introducing corrosion inhibitor or lubricant or both into said chamber for treating the flexible line moving through the stuffing box.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
265 words
A fluid pressure controlled wire line stuffing box of the character set forth in claim 8 wherein: said packing ring assembly in said housing comprises: a plurality of separate tubular sealing ring members in longitudinally aligned position between bored compressing means at the opposite ends of said set, each of said sealing ring members having a bore larger than the diameter of the flexible line to be passed through the stuffing box and larger than the minimum bores of the compressing means; the sealing ring member on one end of the set comprising a hard ring formed of fabric wound spirally about the longitudinal axis of the bore of the ring member and bonded by an oil-resistant synthetic elastomeric material; the ring next adjacent said one ring member being formed of a plurality of transversely disposed layers of glass fiber or nylon fabric bonded by an oil-resistant elastomeric material; at least one ring member adjoining the second ring member formed of low-friction high wear-resistant elastomeric material; and a follower ring member on the other end of said set of packing rings comprising a plurality of transverse layers of glass fiber or nylon fabric bonded together by an oil-resistant elastomeric material; the bores of the packing ring members when relaxed and the bored compressing means all being greater than the diameter of the flexible line to be passed therethrough, whereby the flexible line may pass through said packing ring members without engaging the same until the packing ring members have been compressed longitudinally by the compressing means to deform then into engagement with said flexible line.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-10-01 | 1977-04-02 | 1977-10-02 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-10-01 | 1981-04-02 | 1981-10-02 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-10-01 | 1985-04-02 | 1985-10-02 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |