Elastomeric seal with reinforcing ring

In an oil well apparatus which is lowered into and retrieved from an outer tubular member of a well, the outer tubular member having an cylindrical inner wall, the apparatus having a shoulder with a cylindrical shoulder wall, the improvement comprising in combination:

• an elastomeric seal carried on the shoulder of the apparatus and having a rectangular transverse cross-section, having a cylindrical outer surface, a cylindrical inner surface in contact with the shoulder wall, a flat upper surface and a flat lower surface, defining upper and lower outer corners at the junctions of the outer surface with the upper and lower surfaces, and upper and lower inner corners at the junction of the inner surface with the upper and lower surfaces;
• energizing means engaging the upper surface of the seal and being downwardly movable for moving the outer surface of the seal radially outward to an engaged position in sealing engagement with the inner wall of the outer tubular member;
• and
• at least one annular reinforcing ring embedded within the seal adjacent the inner surface, the reinforcing ring having sufficient tensile strength to be substantially nonexpansible to prevent stretching of the inner surface of seal when the apparatus is retrieved from the well.

A well tool which has a cylindrical wall and which is lowered into and retrieved from a cylindrical inner wall of a wellhead housing, comprising in combination:

• a shoulder formed on the cylindrical wall of the tool, having a cylindrical shoulder wall and a lower shoulder surface;
• an energizable elastomeric seal carried on the lower shoulder surface, the seal having a rectangular transverse cross-section, having a cylindrical outer surface which is substantially flush with the cylindrical wall of the tool prior to energizing the seal, a cylindrical inner surface in engagement with the shoulder wall, a flat upper surface and a flat lower surface in contact with the lower shoulder surface, defining upper and lower outer corners at the junctions of the outer surface with the upper and lower surfaces, and upper and lower inner corners at the junctions of the inner surface with the upper and lower surfaces;
• energizing means including an upper energizing member for moving downward against the upper surface of the seal, causing radial deformation of the seal to move the outer surface of the seal radially outward to an engaged position in sealing engagement with the inner wall of the outer tubular member;
• an annular reinforcing ring embedded within the seal at each of the inner corners, the reinforcing rings having sufficient tensile strength to be substantially nonexpansible, to prevent stretching of the inner surface of the seal when the well tool is retrieved form the well;
• and
• a pair of anti-extrusion coil springs, one of the springs embedded within the seal at the upper outer corner and one of the springs at the lower outer corner, the coil springs being expansible so as to allow the outer surface of the seal to freely radially expand to the engaged position but prevent axial extrusion of the corners of the seal.

A seal for a well tool, comprising in combination:

• an annular elastomeric member;
• an annular anti-extrusion coil spring embedded within and extending around the elastomeric member;
• and
• an annular elastomeric core which is cylindrical in transverse cross-section and which is located within the coil spring, the core having a hardness that is greater than a hardness of the elastomeric material of the elastomeric member.