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US 11,634,972 B2Granted
Catcher for dropped objects
AssigneeWeatherford Technology Holdings, LLC
InventorsRichard Lee Giroux, Rohit Joshi, Joshua Vernon Symms, Ryan Bacsik
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A catcher for use in a wellbore includes a housing and an insert disposed within the housing. A method of using the catcher includes disintegrating at least a portion of the insert while the insert is held rotationally stationary with respect to the housing by a taper connection between the insert and the housing.
Claims17
A catcher for use on a work string in a wellbore, the catcher comprising:
- a housing having an upper end attachable to a first tubular member of a work string, a lower end attachable to a second tubular member of the work string, a housing outer wall of fixed diameter, and a housing inner wall defining a longitudinal bore, the housing inner wall having a first taper;
- and
- an insert disposed within the housing, the insert having:
- an upper end;
- a lower end;
- an insert inner wall defining a longitudinal bore extending from the upper end to the lower end;
- a seat for catching an object dropped or pumped into the housing;
- and an insert outer wall having a second taper engaging the first taper, and wherein the second taper engaged with the first taper forms a self-locking taper connection.
5 more elements
A catcher for use in a work string in a wellbore, the catcher comprising:
- a metallic housing having an outer wall of fixed diameter, an inner wall including a first taper, the inner wall defining a longitudinal bore extending through the housing;
- and
- a non-metallic insert disposed within the longitudinal bore of the housing, the insert having an inner wall defining a longitudinal bore extending through the insert, and an outer wall including a second taper engaged with the first taper of the inner wall of the housing, wherein the second taper engaged with the first taper forms a self-locking taper connection.
A method of using a catcher in a work string in a wellbore, the method comprising:
- disintegrating at least a first portion of a non-metallic first insert of a first catcher, the first insert defining a longitudinal bore therethrough, the first insert positioned within a longitudinal bore of a metallic first housing of the first catcher while the first insert is held rotationally stationary with respect to the first housing by a self-locking taper connection formed between a tapered outer wall of the first insert and a cooperating tapered inner wall of the first housing, and wherein the self-locking taper connection inhibits relative rotation of the insert with respect to the housing about a longitudinal axis of the insert.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.