US1476110A - Well-capping device - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 4 1923.

F. SIEVERN WELL CAPPING DEVICE Filed April 12. 1920 F'lllz.

FIBEI.

Patented cc. 4, 1923.

WELL-CAPPING DEVICE.

' Application filed. April 12, 1920. Serial No. 873,453. 7

To all whomit may concern:

' Be it known that I, FREDBICK s-IEVERN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of McKeesport, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a.

new and useful Improvement in Well-Capping Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear and exact description thereof. Y My invention relates to apparatus for ca ping oil and as wells, and it has for its 0 ect to provi e a simple and effective device whereby, when a drilled well begins 'to flow, it may be quickly and easily brought under control.

When an, oil or gas well is brought in, that is to say, when the drill penetrates the sand where the oil or gas is held under high pressure, considerable difficulty is experienced in controllin the flow from the mouth of the well. This is especially diflicult in the case of gas wells which often, when first brought in, flow at the rate of many millions of cubic feet per day, and therefore issue from the mouth of the well at such a high velocit that ordinary capping means are not su cient. 7, Also, such wells often catch fire and may burn for many days before the flames are extinguished and the well brought under controL.

My presentinven'tion aims to avoid the difficulties mentioned above by means of a device composed of two main parts, one of which ,is attached to the upper section of the well casing during the drilling opera? tion, while the second member carries a valve which is moved over the mouth of the well and securely fastened in place without interrupting the flow of s or oil, the flow being then stopped by simply closing the valve.

One effective form of my device is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a lan view of the assenibled device; Fig. 2 1s a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken centrally of the device.

shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is an end elevationalview of the same device.

As shown in the drawing, the device consists of a rectangular'base plate 1 provided with a circular opening 2 which'is screwthreaded for attachment to the upper'end of a well casing 3. The plate 1 has a channel.

or vent opening 4 communicating with the circular opening 2, and is also provided with a flange 5 that extends around three sides which register with similar of the plate 1 and is undercut as shown at 6 to provide a dove-tailed seat for a cover plate 7. The sides and one end of the plate 7 are beveled. as shown at 8 to fit in the dove-tailed seat provided by the flange 5, and the plate 7 is also provided with a threaded opening 9 for receiving a globevalve 10 and with-two smaller openings 11 o enings 12 in the plate 1 when the plate 7 is, slid into position on the plate 1, as shown on the drawing. Bolts 13 are passed through the registering openings 11 and Y12 in the baseplate and the cover-plate and are fastened in lace by means of nuts 14.

ile the well is being drilled, the base-. plate 1 is secured to the top of the upper section of the well casing, and does not obstruct the drilling operation in any way. As the casing is lengthened'by adding new sections, the plate is removed from the old top section and attached to the new top section. When the gas or oil be'gins to flow from the well, and it is desired to bring the flow under control, the plate 7 carrying the .valve 10 is slid into its seat on the base plate 1 which may beacconiplished even though the well is flowing under high pressure, because the vent opening 4 maintains continuous free communication between the casing 3 and the openin 9 in the cover plate 7 7 while the cover p ate is being slid into. position. The

valve 10 is, of course, open at this time and I the gas or oil therefore escapes freely. When the. plate 7 is fully seated on the base plate 1,.it is secured in place by means of the bolts 13 and the nuts 14, whereu on the flow from the well may be shut o by closing the valve 10. This valve may be the permanent control-valvefor the well, and may be of any usual or d sired construction.

It is a special advantage of my present invention that the well is capped without interrupting its flow. Previous devices for bringing high-pressure wells under control have been difiicult to a ply, because they" have involved shuttin g o the flow from the well at least momentarily and thereby working against the full pressure of the well. Accor ing to my resent invention, the cutoff valve 1s secure y applied to the well casing, but the flow from the well is never interrupted until after the valve is permanently fastened inplace.

While I have herein shown and described an embodiment of my invention which I have found to be efiective and which I now prefer to employ, it will be evident that various changes in the forms and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from my invention, and I therefore desire that no limitations be imposed upon my invention, except such as are indicated in the ap ended claims.

hat I claim is:

1. A Well-capping device comprising a cut-off valve and means movable across the mouth of a well for securing the said valve thereto, the said means including a contin: uously open channel for permitting the free flow of fluid from the well while the said valve is being applied.

2. A well-capping device -comprising a member adapted to be attached to the well casing during drilling, a cut-off valve and a member carrying said valve and adapted to be moved across the opening of the said well and to be held in place by the said firstnamed member. I I

3. A well-capping device comprising a member adapted to be attached to the well casing during drilling and provided with a seat, a second member, slidably received in said seat, a valve carried by said second member and means for permitting uninterrupted flow of fluid through the said device While the said second member is being slid into the said seat.

4. A well-capping device comprising a base plate adapted to be attached to the well casing during drilling, the said plate being provided with a seat for receiving a second.

plate, and also being provided with a vent opening, a cover plate adapted to be slid into the said seat in the said base plate, and means for securing the said plates together.

5. A well-capplng device comprising a base plate having a screw-threaded opening for attachment to the upper end of a well casing, the said baseplate. being also provided with a Vent opening communicating with the said screw threaded opening, a flange formed on the said base plate and having undercut sides forming a dove-tailed seat, a second plate adapted to fit within the said seat and having a screw-threaded openingfor receiving a control valve, and means for securin the said plates together.

6. A we l-capping device comprising a base plate having a screw threaded opening for attachment to the upper end of a wellcasing, the said base plate being also provided with an elongated depression or vent opening communicating with the said screwthreaded opening, a flange formed on the said base plate, and undercut to provide a dove-tailed seat, a cover plate adapted to be slid into the said seat and having a screw threaded opening communicating with the said vent opening while the said cover plate is being slid into position, the said base plateand cover plate being provided with registering openings for receiving fastening means.

In testimony whereof I, the said FRED- RICK SIEVERN, have hereunto set my hand.

FREDRIGK SIEVERN. Witnesses:

L. N. MORGAN, CHAS. RING.

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