US2198016A - Lateral drill mechanism - Google Patents

Description

April 23, 1940- J. 0. ROGERS ET AL .198.01

' LATERAL DRILL MECHANISM Original Filed Aug. 1a, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 1940- J. c. ROGERS Er AL r ,1 8,

LATERAL DRILL MECHANISM Original Filed Aug. 18. 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MGR-0 ens Patented Apr-.23, 1040 PAT NT] om n I emit Ls'raasr. mun. moasyrsu .I 0. ram sum James D.

mes Hall. I a ian.

Application August 18, 1938, Serial No. 225,640

' lenewed september 28, 1939 6 claims. (Cl. 255-1) This invention relates to improvements in drill,-

. ing devices or machines designed for use p marily in connection with the sinking of oil wells.

In well drilling, the situation is frequently encountered where the oil producing formation is of such a character that it seriously retards the flow of oil from the earth surrounding a drill hole, into the hole and thus the productionwf the well is seriously interfered with. The gen go away with the use of acids, which procedureis costly and is also attended by danger from the handling of the acids which must be introduced into the well hole.

- The present invention has for its principal obiect to provide an improved form of drill which is designed, after being inserted into the lower end of the well hole, to drill or bore laterally from the well hole into the surrounding formation and further, is of such a character that these drillings may be made inany direction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lateral drill of novel construction wherein the cuttings are carried up through the center of the drill and a pipe employed as a means for tuming the drill which is of a flexible character and adapted to be guided in the desired direction through a rigid guide tube.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a lateral drill having a flexible drill carry- 0 ing portion with novel means associated with the flexible drill carrying portion for stiflening such portion sufficiently to permit application 'oflongitudinal force thereto without causing the flexible portion to buckle, while at the same time allowing suiilcient bending of the flexible portion topermit it tobe guided around abendinaguide tube.

- The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed dlcription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be'conflned to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings butmay be changed g .ormodifled so long as such changes or modiflca 'forma'tion whichis indicated by the numeral tions mark no material departure from. the salient features ofthe invention as expressed the appended claims.

In the drawings: I Y Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the device embodying the present invention showing the same in working position. I I

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view throllah 'flle 'Fig. 3 is asection on the line3-3 of Fig. 21'

Hg. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 'ofl 'ig. 1. Fig. 5 is a section on the'line 3-! of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a view in detail of a portion of the flexible conduit, a part of the same being in longitudinal section. jl

7 is a plan view of a washer. I i i Referring now more particularly to the'drawings, the numeral I generally designates a well hole drilled in the earth into an, oil producing which well hole I is sheathed or reinforced by the usual well casing I which extends substantially to the upper part of the oil producing formation 2.

- The lateral drill embodying the present inu vention is indicated generally by-the numeral 4 and is inserted through the well casing 3 into the lower part of the hole into the area sur-. rounded by the formation 2, and this drill comprises a tube 5 having at its lower end the right 39 angular bend or neck 6, the end of which is spaced a distance from the remote side of the tube of which it forms a part, not greater than the inside diameter of the casing 3. Thus it will be seen that the tube 5 may be extended longla tudinally downwardly through the casing and that the open lower end of the laterally turned portion will be directed toward and perpendicular to the wall of the lower part of the hole I when the tube has been lowered to the desired 0 I extent.

Formed integrally with the convex face of the laterally curved portion 6 of the tube is a downwardly opening sleeve 1 which is interiorly threaded to have threaded connection with the 5 upper end of a foot post 8 which is designed to rest upon the bottom of the hole so as to support the end of the portion 6 at the desired elevation therein. This post 8 may be removed to have substituted for it a post of greater or lesser go tension therethrough of the drill driving pipe H. The collar 9 is provided with apertures I! which permit the forcing of oil downwardly through the I in overlapping joined relation, as indicated at l5, whereby flexing of the tube It is permitted while at the same time the continuous wall formation is maintained so that a fluid or other substance may be passed through the flexible conduit or tube without any material portion of it escaping from the same between the convolutions. The central tubular portion ll of the conduit is encased in a woven wire sheath I. The sheath and conduit are joined at one end to the pipe I I as previously stated, and the other end thereof is connected with a drill head I! which is of an overall diameter greater than the outside diameter of the conduit Ill and has the central passageway I. which communicates with the divergently related outer end passages ll, and a group of outside passages 2| which extend therethrough parallel to the axial center for the e of fluid as hereinafter described. The drill head I1 is provided with suitable blades 2| and the several passages I! and open between these blades so that as the drill is forced into the earth, there will be no obstruction of the passages and fluid will be permitted to flow freely through the same.

The rear of the drill I1 is circumferentially recessed as indicated at 22, to receive a stabilizing ring 23 which forms one end of a group of similar rings 24 which encircle the flexible conduit ll between the drill l1 and the opposite end of the conduit. These stabilizing rings 23 and it are provided with the annular series of apertures 25 and the apertures of the rings are alined to form continuous passages from one end of the flexible conduit to the other, the ends of such es at the drill head end of the conduit communicating with the passages 2|. In order that the passages may not be interrupted by rotation of the rings, one face of each ring may have an annular groove 24' connectins the apertures as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The possible interruption of the passages may also be avoided by making the apertures 25 closer together so that any turning of the rings would still keep some of the apertures in communication with those of adjacent rings.

At the end of the series of stabilizing rings adjacent the lower end of the pipe ii, there are placed one or more washers 28 which support an end of an expansion spring 21 which surrounds the lower end of the pipe II, as shown. At the upper end of this spring an anti-friction unit 28 encircles the pipe and bears against the adjacent end of the spring and this unit is maintained firmly compressed against the adjacent end of the spring by the adjusting nuts 29 which are connected with the pipe II by the screw threads 30. Sufficient clearance is permitted between the tube 4 and the nuts and between the bearing unit 28 and,the tube to permit fluid to pass downwardly through the area occupied by the nuts, the anti-friction or bearing unit and the spring 2'! to the upper end of the series stabilizing rings 24.

In the operation of the drill, the tube is set at the proper height within the well hole by coupling with the collar I a foot post 8 of the proper length to position the laterally turned end 6 of the tube at the height desired in the hole and in relation to the oil producing formation. The pipe II will be so positioned in the tube 4 that the adjusting nuts 28 will be in the upper end of the latter tube and the nose or point of the drill i! will be just inside the open end of the lower portion 82. The drill may then be extended into the oil bearing formation by forcing the pipe H downwardly while at the same time rotating it to produce the desired drilling action of the head II. Simultaneously with this operation oil is forced down through the well casing I and thiswill work its way in through the lateral bore ll formed by the drill to the inner end of this bore and at the same time some of the oil will pass through the openings l2 and by way of the apertures 2! in the stabilizing rings to and through the passages 20 of the drill head and the oil reaching the drill head along these two paths will return through'the pusages It and I! and the center of the flexible conduit It to the surface carrying with it the cuttings produced by the drill.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that the stabilizing rings serve the two-fold purpose of preventing any tendency of the flexible conduit to buckle and at the same time permitting it to be bent to pass through the curved lower end portion 8 of the drill tube 4 and they also provide, by reason of the apertures 2| therein, a means for conducting cuttings removing fluid to the drill head. l'l so that a continuous flow of fluid around the drill head can be maintained. By this action, the cuttings will be constantly removed and the drilling operation of the device will be of maximum efliciency.

The extent to which the lateral passages Il may be cut into the oil producing formation is limited only by the length of the flexible portion of the drilling unit and thus it will be seen that by employing a sufficiently long casing tube for the drilling unit, a flexible conduit of any desired length may be made use of.

After one lateral bore II has been formed, the drill can be withdrawn, the tube rotated on the foot I and a new bore formed by again extending the drill, and this procedure can be repeated any desired number of times so that the oil bearing formation can be fllled with perforations or bores extending radially from the main hole of the well. It will thus be seen that the advantages of this tool over the use of explosives to open the oil-formation are that the maximum of space may be obtained in the lower part of the well as all of the material cut away is removed whereas in the use of explosives, such material is only broken up but remains in the well hole or the costly job of cleaning out the hole after using the explosive must be carried out whereas with the present tool. the cleaning out of the hole is simultaneous with the formation of the lateral bores.

What is claimed is:

l. A drilling mechanism for wells, comprising of said pipe and forming an unbroken fluid passageway communicating with the pipe, a drill head secured to the other end of the flexible conduit and rotatable therewith, said drill head having axially extending openings therethrough certain of which are in communication with the conduit, and means forming fluid passageways extending longitudinally of the flexible conduit and communicating at one end with the well hole and having communication at the other ends with the other fluid passages of the drill head. 2. A drilling mechanism for wells, comprising a tubular body adapted to be inserted into the lower end of a well hole and having a laterally {5 turned lower end, a' rigid pipe extending downwardly into the upper end of said body, a flexible conduit connected at one end with the lower end of said pipe and forming an unbroken fluid passageway communicating with the pipe, a drill 20 head secured to the other end of the flexible conduit and rotatable therewith, said drill head having axially extending openings therethrough' certain of which are in communication with the conduit, and a plurality of concentrically ar- 25 ranged annular members encircling the flexible conduit and forming a casing thereabout, the annular members at one end of theg'roup abutting said drill head, means at the other end of the group oi annular members for maintaining 30 the members in yieldable contacting relation, and means for passing fluid from within the drill hole through the other passages of the drill head.

3. A drill mechanism of the character 'described, comprising a tube designed to be dis- 85 posed vertically in a well hole and having its lower end open and turned laterally to be directed toward the wall of the hole, a pipe having one end extending into and longitudinally of the upper end of the tube, an armored conduit formed 0 of continuous joined convolutions of material and secured at one end to the lower end of said pipe to form a tubular continuation thereof, a drill head secured to the other end of said conduit and having a central passage communicat- 5 ing with the interior of the conduit and axially extending passages outside the diameter or the conduit, and means for conducting fluid longitudinally along the conduit to and through the last-mentioned passages of said drill head for return through the first-mentioned passage and through the conduit and pipe connected therewith.

4. A drill mechanism of thecharacter 'described, comprising fa tube designed to be disposed vertically in a well hole and having its lower end open and turned laterally to be directed toward the wall of the hole, a pipe having one end extending into and longitudinally of the upper end of the tube, an armored conduit formed a of continuous joined convolutions of material and secured at one end to the lower end of said pipe to form a tubular continuation thereof, a drill head secured to the other end 01' said con duit and having a central passage communicating with the interior oi the conduit and axially extending passages outside the diameter of the conduit, a series or annular members encircling said conduit betweensaid drill head and the lower end or said pipe, said annular members being provided with axially extending apertures, the apertures 01' the annular members being aiined to form fluid passages communicating at the lower end of the series with the last-mentioned passages of said head, means for compressing the series of annular members to maintain the members in firmly contacting relation,

' one end extending into and longitudinally of the upper end of the tube, an armored conduit formed of continuous joined convolutions of material and secured at one end to the lower end of said pipe to form a tubular continuation thereof, a drill head secured to the other end of said conduit-and having a central passage communicating with the interior of the conduit and axially extending passagesoutside the diameter of the conduit, a series of annular members encircling the flexible conduit and having a diameter substantially the same as the interior diameter of said tube through which the members are moved with the flexible conduit, said series of members bearing at one end against said drill head and having apertures therethrough which are arranged to form continuous passages extending longitudinally of the flexible conduit for communication at their lower ends with the secondmentioned passages of the drill head, said tube at 1 its upper end being formed to admit fluid from the well hole, resflient means in the tube in encircling relation with the pipe and flexible condgit, and securing means for said resilient means whereby the latter means constantly maintains longitudinal pressure against the serie of annular members.

6. A drill mechanism of the character described, comprising a' tube designed to be disposed vertically in a well hole and having its lower end open and turned laterally to be directed toward the wall of the hole, a pipe having one end extending into and longitudinally of the upper end of the tube,- an armored conduit formed 01' continuous joined convolutions of material and secured at one end to the lower end 01 said pipe to form a tubular continuation thereof, a drill head secured to the other end of said conduit and having a central passage communicating with the interior of the conduit and axially extending passages outside 01' the diameter of the conduit, a series of annular members encircling the flexible conduit and having a diameter substantially the same as the interior diameter of said tube through which the mem- 66 bers are moved with the flexible conduit, said series of members bearing at one end against said drill head and having apertures therethrough which are arranged to form continuous passages extending longitudinally of the flexible conduit anti-friction bearing between said last means 10'" and the upper end of the spring.

JAMES c. Rooms. JAMES D.HALL, JR.

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