Multifunction well plug dual locking elements |
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申请号 | US13670098 | 申请日 | 2012-11-06 | 公开(公告)号 | US09121243B1 | 公开(公告)日 | 2015-09-01 |
申请人 | Ross Headifen; | 发明人 | Ross Headifen; | ||||
摘要 | A well plug having an elastomeric seal ring between a top and a bottom cap with a shaft disposed in the throughbore. Rotation of the shaft compresses the ring between the caps forming a hermetic seal with the well pipe walls. The shaft contains an axial bore with a transverse aperture proximate its base to allow for sampling and/or instrumentation to be introduced into the pipe. An O-ring seal between the shaft and the top cap receptacle forms a seal preventing the bore contents leaking out or the ambient environment leaking in. The plug has two rotational locks to prevent unauthorized removal. One is a platform with an aperture extending from the upper portion of the shaft receiving a threaded fastener preventing rotation through radially extending vertical top cap structures. The other is a cantilevered platform, with an aperture for a padlock preventing rotation by the shafts side wing members. | ||||||
权利要求 | What is claimed is new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims: |
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说明书全文 | 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to well plugs and, more specifically, to a multifunction well plug comprising a top cap, shaft, elastomeric seal ring and bottom cap. The top cap and bottom cap matingly engage the elastomeric seal ring with the shaft seated within a top cap receptacle and then extending through the elastomeric seal ring to threadingly engage the bottom cap so that when the multifunction well plug is placed inside of a pipe and the shaft rotated, typically by the provided shaft wings, the bottom cap axially moves up the shaft compressing the elastomeric seal ring causing it to circumferentially extend until frictionally engaging the interior pipe wall thereby forming a watertight seal. To prevent tampering with the seated well cap, the top cap provides an integral cantilevered platform having an aperture for placement of a lock, such as a padlock. The shackle of the padlock protruding above the top-cap platform forms a shaft-wing rotation abutment limiting rotation to no more than half a turn. Furthermore, the shaft provides an integral cantilevered platform having a threaded aperture for placement of a tamperproof fastener comprising a threaded fastener having a hemispherical head with a centrally disposed cavity forming a socket for an internal drive that can only be driven by a correspondingly shaped driver. The hemispherical head eliminates any vertical surfaces that a pair of pliers or similar tool can grip to remove the tamperproof fastener. 2. Description of the Prior Art There are other well plugs designed for pipe bores While these well plugs may be suitable for the purposes for which they where designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described. It is thus desirable to provide a multi-function well plug having a pair of apertured cantilevered platforms with one having a smooth bore accommodating the shackle of a padlock and the other having a threaded bore accommodating a tamperproof threaded fastener thereby providing a locking system that can employ either or both locking methods. It is further desirable to provide a threaded fastener having a hemispherical head with a shaped cavity so that the fastener can only be removed through a driver having a correspondingly shaped contour. A primary object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug comprising a top cap, shaft, elastomeric seal ring and bottom cap. Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein said top cap has a top side and a bottom side with the top side having a cavity with the cavity forming support for the shaft. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein said top-cap top side has a cantilevered horizontally extending platform with an aperture extending through the platform serving as receptacle for a locking member, such as the shackle of a padlock. Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein said top-cap top side has multiple radially extending ribs forming blocking elements/lock stops to prevent rotation of the shaft when a locking member is employed. An additional object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein said top-cap bottom side has a raised lip forming a locating seat for the flanged top end of the elastomeric seal ring. A further object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein said top-cap has a raised step subjacent to its apertured horizontal platform so that when a padlock is used as the locking member a shackle portion is supported on said raised step. A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein said elastomeric seal ring comprises a top side annular flange mateable to the bottom lip of the top cap to locate the elastomeric ring and hold it in place. A still yet further object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein said bottom cap has a top side and a bottom side with a threaded bore extending therebetween for matingly engaging the shaft threads so that rotation of the shaft will compress the elastomeric seal ring axially causing it to protrude outwardly engaging the interior wall of the well pipe. Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein said shaft has a top portion and a bottom portion with the top portion having a pair of spaced apart wings to aid in manual rotation of the shaft without the use of tools. Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug having a flange on the shaft below the wings whose diameter exceeds the diameter of the cavity in the top side of the top cap, which avoids any falling water, such as in rain, from running down inside the top cap potentially leaking inside the well. Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein said shaft has a horizontally extending cantilevered platform with a threaded aperture extending through the platform serving as receptacle for a threaded locking member. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein each of said wings has opposing side depressions to aid in gripping the wings during manual rotation of the shaft. A further object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein said shaft bottom end further provide at least one horizontal transverse aperture for attachment of a connector that can be used to attach well bore instrumentation. An additional object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug wherein said shaft can have a centrally disposed cavity extending from the shaft horizontal aperture up through the top of the shaft. A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function well plug incorporating a pair of selective locking means consisting of the top-cap platform aperture receiving the shank of a pad lock so that when placed therein the shaft rotation is limited to a half turn before further rotation is prevented by the shaft wings encountering the padlock shackle. The second locking means consists of a shaft platform threaded aperture receiving the threaded fastener that when placed therein limits the shaft rotation to approximately a sixth turn before engaging the top-cap's top side vertical ribs. A still yet further object of the present invention is to provide an additional element for the well plug by providing a shaft having a through bore with the top end aperture optionally providing for the use of threads where valves and/or instrumentation can be fixedly attached for sampling/measuring well characteristics without removing the well cap. A still yet further object of the present invention is to provide an annular seal around the shaft to the top cap. This seal prevents any gas leakage out of the bore along the thread path and allows the user to then monitor bore gas pressure. A still yet further object of the present invention for when using a vented cap for down hole instrumentation use, the vented fitting on top of the cap has a push in connection to simply allow flexible tubing to be inserted and the other end of the tubing raised up and out of any possible surface water collection to prevent said water from draining back through the vent and down into the well. Another object of the present invention is to provide an O-ring seal between the shaft and the top cap top receptacle that forms a gas and water tight seal to prevent the bore contents leaking out or the ambient environment leaking in. Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds. The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a multifunction well plug comprising a top cap, shaft, elastomeric seal ring and bottom cap, where the shaft has an upper end with wings converging into a partially threaded shaft that is seated within the top cap receptacle and extends through the base of the top cap, elastomeric seal ring then threadingly engages the bottom-cap threads wherein rotation of the wings and thus the shaft causes the elastomeric ring to compress and expand outwardly until engaging the well shaft wall creating a hermetic seal of the well shaft. The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which forms a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the accompanying drawings, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims. In order that the invention may be more fully understood, it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, the Figures illustrate the Multifunction Well Plug Dual Locking Elements of the present invention. With regard to the reference numerals used, the following numbering is used throughout the various drawing figures.
The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention (and several variations of that embodiment). This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments, practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well. For definition of the complete scope of the invention, the reader is directed to appended claims. Referring to Referring to Referring to Referring to Referring to The top cap 12 has a top side 48 and a bottom side 50 with the top side having a receptacle 52 forming support for the shaft. Also shown is the top cap's cantilevered platform 38 having an aperture 40 extending through the platform serving as receptacle for a locking member, such as a padlock shackle. Further illustrated is the top-cap bottom side 50 having a downwardly depending annular flange 54 spaced interiorly from the bottom-side rim forming a seat for the flanged top end 56 of the elastomeric seal ring 16. The bottom cap 18 has a top side 58 and a bottom side 60 with a threaded bore 62 extending therebetween for threadedly engaging the shaft threads 22. Also shown is the top side 58 of the bottom cap 18 having an annular ridge 64 dimensioned to fit within the base of the elastomeric ring 16. Referring to Referring to Referring to Referring to |