US 11,306,548 B2Granted

Full tubing inner-diameter spin-through rod centralizers

AssigneeHarrier Technologies, Inc.

InventorWilliam Bruce Morrow

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Abstract

A spin-through drive rod centralizer consisting of a stator constructed of plastic, or other appropriate material, which is mounted on a rotor attached to the body of the drive rod, which provides the bearing surface for rotation of the rotor within the stator. The stator is equipped with multiple vanes which extend to the full internal diameter of the production tubing. In one configuration, the radially oriented vanes have cut-outs which allow the tip of the vane to compress inward, allowing passage through tight spots in the tubing, then rebounding to the full ID of the tubing. In another configuration, the vanes are tangentially attached to the stator body, such that they bend in a circumferential direction to allow passage through tubing tight spots, then rebound to full tubing ID.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A drive rod centralizer to position drive rods at a centerline of production tubing, comprising:

a cylindrical rotor, said cylindrical rotor being attached to the body of said drive rod, the centerline of said cylindrical rotor being collinear with the centerline of said drive rod;
a stator, said stator being comprised of a cylindrical body, said cylindrical body having an external diameter less than the internal diameter of said production tubing, and having a smooth central bore, said bore having an internal diameter larger than the external diameter of said cylindrical rotor;
wherein said stator is installed on said drive rod such that said rotor is within said central bore of said stator;
wherein said stator has several, equal length vanes projection radially outward from said cylindrical body, with the major axis of said vanes being oriented along the centerline of said stator body, the axial length of said vanes being approximately equal to the axial length of said stator body;
wherein the radially inner surface of each of said vanes is attached to the outer surface of said stator body and the radially outer surface of each of said vanes is longitudinally arc-shaped with the crest of the arc in contact with the inner surface of said production tubing,
wherein some material of the body of some of said vanes is removed, forming a cavity oriented along the centerline of said stator body in some of said vanes,
wherein vane material between said cavity and the outer surface of the vane flexes inward into the cavity in said vanes, so that the centralizer outer diameter is reduced to pass through one or more tight spots in the production tubing, and
wherein the vanes spring back and remain in contact with the inner wall of the tubing once the one or more tight spots have been passed.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/712,665Filed 12 Dec 2019 · us provisional application
Priority: 13 Dec 2018
Published: US 2020/0190916 A118 Jun 2020
Granted: 19 Apr 2022
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

E21B 17/1071
Wear protectors; Centralising devices , e.g. stabilisers: specially adapted for pump rods, e.g. sucker rods
E21B 17/1014
Wear protectors; Centralising devices , e.g. stabilisers: flexible or expansible centering means, e.g. with pistons pressing against the wall of…
E21B 17/1064
Centralising devices with rollers or with a relatively rotating sleeve: pipes or rods with a relatively rotating sleeve
E21B
Earth or rock drilling

Family

Application62/779,105Us provisional application · filed 13 Dec 2018
US 2020/0190916 A1Pre-grant publication · published 18 Jun 2020
US 11,306,548 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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