Apparatus for extracting oil or other fluids from a well

Abstract

The present invention is directed towards a fluid extractor system that has been design to obtain fluid, such as crude oil from wells at a fraction of the cost by using a novel canister assembly lowered in a well to collect the fluid. The canister assembly includes a pump and a storage container for collecting the fluid pumped into it by the pump. When the storage container is full the canister assembly is brought to the surface and emptied. In one embodiment the canister assembly has a battery to independently power the pump. A further feature of the invention includes repeatedly raising and incrementally lowering down the canister assembly to lower levels in the well using a jogging assembly to place the canister assembly only in the top layer of the fluid in the well. The system could also be used for recovering several other types of fluids in a well such as gas or water.

In view of the discussion above I claim:  
     
         1 . An extractor for extracting fluid from a well comprising: 
 a canister assembly having a storage container for storing fluid extracted from the well and a pump for pumping fluid from the well into the storage container and    a base assembly for lowering and raising the canister assembly into and out of the well.    
     
     
         2 . The extractor of  claim 1  wherein the canister assembly further includes a battery for independently powering the pump.  
     
     
         3 . The extractor of  claim 2  wherein the base assembly further includes a battery charger that interconnects with the battery when the canister assembly is raised out of the well for recharging the battery.  
     
     
         4 . The extractor of  claim 3  wherein the base assembly further includes a timer for controlling the time for recharging the battery.  
     
     
         5 . The extractor of  claim 1  further including a timer for determining the amount of time the canister assembly is placed into the well to extract fluid.  
     
     
         6 . The extractor of  claim 1  wherein the base assembly includes means for pumping fluid from in the container of the canister to a surface storage unit.  
     
     
         7 . The extractor of  claim 1  wherein the base assembly further includes a jogging assembly for incrementally lowering the canister assembly to lower levels in the well with each recovery cycle.  
     
     
         8 . The extractor of  claim 7  wherein the jogging assembly provides a means for limiting the travel depth of the canister assembly lowered down a well.  
     
     
         9 . The extractor of  claim 1  wherein the base assembly further includes an air compressor for providing pressurized air to the canister assembly when it is raised from the well to remove fluid from the storage container.  
     
     
         10 . The extractor of  claim 1  wherein the base assembly further includes a discharge head for engaging with the canister assembly when it is raised from the well and is used as a conduit to supply pressurized air from an air compressor to the canister for removing fluid from the storage container.  
     
     
         11 . The extractor of  claim 1  wherein the canister assembly further includes a battery for independently powering the pump and the base assembly further includes a discharge head for engaging with the canister assembly when it is raised from the well to provide an electrical connection to charge the battery.  
     
     
         12 . A jogging assembly attached to a base assembly placed over a well used to raise and lower a canister into a well to recover fluid, wherein the jogging assembly causes the canister to be incrementally lowered in the well with each successive fluid recovery cycle, said jogging assembly comprising: 
 a limit switch that is used to prevent the base assembly from lowering the canister further into the well,    a lead screw having a threaded portion that is caused to rotate along its axis as the canister is lowered into the well,    a follower mounted to the lead screw so as to travel along the threaded portion of the lead screw as it rotates and to engage with the limit switch at a preset distance, and    jogging means for incrementally increasing the distance between the limit switch and the follower with each fluid recovery cycle to cause the follower to travel further distances to activate the limit switch, wherein the distance the follower travels corresponds to the depth of the canister in the well.    
     
     
         13 . The jogging assembly of  claim 12  further including means for limiting the maximum distance between he switch assembly and the follower thereby limiting the maximum depth of the canister in the well.  
     
     
         14 . The jogging assembly of  claim 12  further comprising: 
 a jogging rod for supporting the switch assembly, and  
 a cam assembly interconnecting the lead screw and the jogging rod to slide the rod a predetermined distance from the follower with each fluid recovery cycle.  
 
     
     
         15 . The jogging assembly of  claim 14  further comprising means for limiting the sliding distance of the jogging rod to a point representing the maximum desired depth level of the canister in the well.  
     
     
         16 . A canister assembly for placing down a well to collect fluid from the well comprising: 
 a storage container for storing fluid extracted from the well;    a pump for pumping fluid from the well into the storage container; and    means for powering the pump.    
     
     
         17 . The canister assembly of  claim 16  wherein the means for powering the pump is a battery for independently powering the pump.  
     
     
         18 . The canister assembly of  claim 16  further including an inlet port and a discharge port, both in fluid communication with the storage container, wherein the inlet port is used for receiving pressurized air to force fluid from the storage container and out the discharge port thereby emptying the storage container when the canister assembly is retrieved from the well.  
     
     
         19 . The canister assembly of  claim 16  further including external electrical connections for connecting the battery to a battery charger.