Wells – Receptacles
Utility Patent
1999-07-08
2001-01-02
Tsay, Frank (Department: 3672)
Wells
Receptacles
C073S864630, C166S099000
Utility Patent
active
06167962
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to bailers. More particularly, it relates to a bailer having enhanced utility in applications where liquid samples are taken at substantial distances below the surface of the earth.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bailers are hollow, cylindrical devices of elongate construction used to take samples of liquids from various locations such as wells, tanker trucks, barrels and the like. A bailer has a one-way valve at its lowermost end that admits a liquid into the hollow interior of the bailer when the bailer is lowered and that closes when the bailer is lifted so that the collected liquid does not leak out.
There are two shortcomings with the bailers heretofore known that relate to deep well applications. Deep wells typically include a plurality of twenty foot long pipes arranged end-to-end with one another, in a vertical stack. It is virtually impossible to align each pipe in precise concentric alignment with its contiguous pipe when the pipes are driven into the earth. As a result, a ridge is formed every twenty feet where two pipes meet in a slightly eccentric relation to one another.
A conventional bailer lowered down into a deep well will wobble about its longitudinal axis as it descends. Its lowermost or leading end will encounter these ridges when the wobble is at its maximum and get caught, unable to descend further until the rope or whatever device is used to lower it is jiggled or otherwise manipulated to cause the bailer to dislodge from a ridge and continue its descent. If it drops only another twenty feet and encounters another ridge, the freeing process must be repeated again. Obviously, where a bailer is being lowered hundreds or even thousands of feet, a considerable amount of time can be spent in dislodging it from the ridges it encounters during its descent.
A bailer that could be lowered great distances without becoming lodged on such ridges would have increased value over conventional bailers. It would save significant amounts of time and effort.
Unweighted bailers take a half minute or more to fully enter the liquid being sampled. This time adds up when many samples are taken.
There is a need, therefore, for a bailer that becomes fully immersed within a liquid in a shorter time than conventional bailers.
Some bailers heretofore known are equipped with a weight means to increase their rate of insertion into a liquid. However, the weight means is positioned within the hollow interior of the bailer where it may contaminate the sample and where it constricts the free flow of liquid into the hollow interior of the bailer. Such constriction increases the time required for the submersion of the bailer.
Some bailer manufacturers position a weight means at the lowermost end of the bailer, and some position a weight means at the uppermost end of the bailer. Significantly, although a top-mounted or a bottom-mounted weight means will decrease the insertion time of a bailer, it will not prevent the bailer from wobbling about its longitudinal axis during its descent and becoming lodged against the above-mentioned projecting ridges.
There is one bailer that is manufactured to have a rounded leading end to overcome the lodging problem, but it still has a relatively poor rate of insertion.
If a bailer could be designed that would enter into a sample liquid quickly, and not become lodged on pipe ridges as it is lowered into a deep well, and not collect sediment created by impact, it would greatly increase the productivity of the bailer industry.
However, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in this art how such a bailer could be provided, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The long-standing but heretofore unfulfilled need for an innovation that overcomes the limitations of the prior art is now met by a new, useful, and nonobvious invention. The bailer of this invention includes an elongate main body having a hollow interior. The elongate main body has an uppermost end and a lowermost end and a one-way valve means is positioned within the hollow interior near the lowermost end to admit liquid into the hollow interior when the bailer is lowered into a liquid. The one-way valve also prevents leakage of the liquid from the hollow interior when the bailer is lifted from the liquid.
A first weight means is secured to the uppermost end of the main body and a second weight means is secured to the lowermost end of the main body.
Accordingly, the bailer enters into a liquid at an insertion rate that is faster than insertion rates for bailers lacking top and bottom weight means. Moreover, the bailer has minimal wobble about its longitudinal axis when it is lowered so that it does not become lodged against ridges formed by misaligned pipes.
The top and bottom weight means are mounted externally of the hollow interior so that liquid collected within the hollow interior is not contaminated by the weight means and so that the weight means does not form an obstacle to the free flow of liquid into the hollow interior.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide a bailer that drops into a deep well without becoming hung up or otherwise lodged against projections formed by eccentrically aligned pipe sections.
Another object is to provide a bailer that inserts itself quickly into a liquid, thereby shortening the time required to perform a sampling.
These and other important objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent as this description proceeds.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2454740 (1948-11-01), Lehnhard, Jr.
patent: 2856005 (1958-10-01), Beck
patent: 2951538 (1960-09-01), Martin
patent: 4590810 (1986-05-01), Hunkin et al.
patent: 5454275 (1995-10-01), Kabis
patent: 5597966 (1997-01-01), Timm
patent: 5878813 (1999-03-01), Ridgeway, Jr.
Smith Ronald E.
Smith & Hopen , P.A.
Tsay Frank
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