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US 12,735,962 B2Granted
Dart and clutch assembly
AssigneeEpic Lift Systems
InventorsRobert G. Roycroft, Shannon Freeman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and apparatuses that include a dart and/or a clutch for a dart plunger. In an exemplary embodiment, the clutch consists of a one-piece unit having a length, an outside diameter, and an inside diameter where at least a portion of the inside diameter is sized to create a frictional interface with a dart. The clutch may also include a gap, a slot, and/or a spiral cut. The dart may include a shaft having opposite ends and a shaft diameter that varies between the opposite ends.
Claims22
A clutch for a dart plunger, comprising:
- a one-piece unit having a slot-free top surface, a slotted bottom surface, and an inside diameter sized to create a frictional interface with a dart, wherein
- the slotted bottom surface of the one-piece unit includes at least one slot so that an entirety of the inside diameter of the one-piece unit does not create the frictional interface with the dart.
A clutch for use in an artificial lift device, comprising:
- a one-piece unit having an inside diameter for creating a frictional interface with a component of the artificial lift device, wherein the one-piece unit includes a contoured outside surface having:
- a non-tapered upper section;
- a tapered mid-section;
- and
- a tapered lower section,
- wherein the tapered lower section includes at least one slot.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.