US2638252A - Mixing machine - Google Patents

Description

5 Sheets-Sheet l ELMER ZAHN gvwwwfom ATTORNEY E ZAHN MIXING MACHINE May 12, 1953 Flled May 19, 1948 May 12, 1953 E. ZAHN 2,638,252

' MIXING MACHINE Filed May 19, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 EL MER ZA HN INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY E. ZAHN MIXING MACHINE May 12, 1953 5 Sheets-Sh'eet 5 Filed May 19, 1948 FIG. 7

ELMER ZAHN INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented May 12, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MIXING MACHINE Elmer zahn, Falfurrias, Tex. v Application.May 19, 1948, Serial No. 27,943

3 Claims. (01. 222-439) This invention relates to a mixing machine.

An object of the invention is to provide a machine of the character described specially designed fer mixing drilling fluid commonly knownas drilling mud and for properly proportioning the ingredients of the drilling mud so "that it will have the proper weight and viscosity.

It is well known to those familiar with the art of drilling wells, particularly deep wells, by the rotary process that a drilling fluid, commonly known as drilling mud, must be circulated down through, and back up around, the drill stem. This drilling fluid must have the proper weight to maintain the walls of the well bore as well as the proper viscosity and it is also necessary that.

the weight material in the fluid remain in sus pension.

This drilling fluid is maintained in a mud :pit adjacent the well from which it is taken by a pump and forced down into the well through the drill stem and returned to the mud pit so that the earth formation will be carried, by the drilling fluid, from the drill to the pit and, in, order to efliciently function, the drilling fluid in the pit must be maintained properly proportioned.

This drilling fluid, or drilling mud, includes a. weight material to give the fluid the proper weight to maintain. the walls of the well bore and also includes a viscous substance" commonly known as gel and these two: elements must be properly proportioned and uniformly distributed throughout the-drilling fluid so as to give it the proper consistency.

The machine herein described has been particularly designed for mixing these elements of the drilling mud before they are mixed with the drilling fluid in the slush pit.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following specification which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine, partly broken away.

Figure. 2 is a fragmentary, plan view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, with the weight breaker removed.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the. line 3-3. of Figures 1 and 2,

Figure 4.- is an enlarged, fragmentary, crosssectional view.

Figure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, longitudinal, sectional view.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary, longitudinal; sectional view of a delivery pipe for delivering the drilling fluid to the slush pit.

Figure 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view of one end of the machine, and

Figure 8 is an enlarged, longitudinal, sectional View taken on the line 8-8 of Figure l.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals of reference designate the same parts in each of the figures, the numerals l, l designate the side members of the base structure on which the machine is supported and these side members may be-connected by suitable cross beams 2 which also supports the flooring 3.

Upstanding from the side members, on each side, are the vertical side supports, such as' 4, which are spaced apart longitudinally, as shown in Figure 1.

Mounted on the, upper ends of these side supports there is a rectangular frame 5.

The construction .hereinabove described is preferably formed of metal welded together although it may be of any other selected construction.

Within the framework above described and extending from end to end thereof there is a hopper 5 for receiving the weighting material and the jell.

As will be noted from an inspection of Figures I and 5 the hopper is divided by a transverse partition 1 thus forming two compartments one of which is designated by the numeral 8 and is provided to receive the gel and the other of which is indicated by the numeral 9 and is provided to receive the weighting material.

The bottom of the hopper is formed into a semicircular trough l0 which extends from end to end of the hopper, as best shown in Figure 2, and in this trough there are two conveyors II and I2, one beneath each of the compartments 8 and 9, as in" dicated in Figure 5. These conveyors are of the screw type and include the respective shafts l3 and M. The outer ends of these shafts are mounted to rotate in a common bearing l'5 which is secured to the lower margin of the partition I.

The direction of rotation of the conveyors II and I2 is such that the gel and weight material will be forced inwardly and discharged through a common discharge nozzle 16 which is secured to and which depends from the trough Hi.

Fixed to the outer ends of the shafts i3 and [4 there are the respective sprocket wheels ii and I8 and aligned with the sprocket wheels I! and H! are the driving sprocket wheels ['9, 20 which are fixed on shafts 2| and 22 which are'mounted to rotate in suitable bearings supported on the flooring 3 The sprocket wheel fl is driven from the. sprocket wheel I9 by means of the sprocket chain 23 which operates thereover and the sprocket Wheel I8 is driven from the sprocket wheel 20 by means. of a sprocket chain 24 which operates thereover;

The shafts 2| and 22 are equipped with suitable clutches, as 25 and 26 of conventional construction and which may be engaged and disengaged in any selected manner and associated with these shafts 2| and 22 there are the conventional type of transmission mechanism 21, 21, respectively, whereby the speed of the shafts may be controlled.

These transmission mechanisms may be driven from a common intermediate shaft 28 which has a sprocket wheel 29 fixed thereon and this sprocket wheel is aligned with a corresponding sprocket wheel 30 which is fixed on the driving shaft 3| of any selected type of motor 32 which may be mounted on the floor 3.

With the clutches 25, 26 both engaged both conveyors II and I2 may be simultaneously operated and their speed controlled in the conventional manner by the transmissions.

The hopper is provided with a suitable cover 33 which has a door or shutter 34 which may be opened to fill the compartments 8 and 9.

On opposite sides of the partition I and diverging downwardly therefrom are the deflectors la, 1a which extend across the hopper 6, to prevent congestion of the material against said partition and above the conveyors and extending from said respective deflectors to the outer ends of compartments 8 and 9 there are the angle irons 35, 35a with their apexes upwardly. These angle irons are supported on spaced transverse plates 36-which are spaced apart longitudinally, as shown in Figure 5, and whose ends are anchored to the opposing sides of said hopper, as more clearly shown in Figure 4. The margins of the angle irons 35, 3521 are spaced from the downwardly converging walls of the hopper so as to allow the material to feed down to the conveyors when the machine is in operation; .but when the machine is not operating angle irons 35, 35a will act as a weight breaker so as to guard and protect the conveyors.

The transverse plates 36 serve to distribute the material evenly in the compartments in the con veyors, whereby the material is delivered in a regular and uniform manner to the discharge nozzle IS.

The discharge nozzle [6 is provided with a slidable closure plate 31 which may be opened and closed by means of a shift rod 38 which is connected thereto.

The numeral 39 designates a conveyor pipe through which the liquid from the well may be delivered to the slush pit and this conveyor pipe is equipped with a hopper 40 spaced the required distance beneath, and aligned with thenozzle I6 and as required the valve 31 may be opened to allow the discharge of the material into the pipe 39 so as to deliver the mixture from the compart-v ments 8, 9 into the drilling mud in the slush pit.

This pipe 39 may be equipped, if desired, with a nozzle 4| connected to a source of water, air or. steam pressure for facilitating such delivery.

The mixing machine as above described may be satisfactorily operated to mix the weighting material and the gel material in the desired proportions and for delivering the mixture into the slush pit so as to maintain a proper consistency in the drilling fluid that is pumped from the slush pit down into the well and returned to the slush pit.

However, in the present illustration there is shown an additional hopper designated generally by the numeral 42. This hopper 42 is preferably located alongside the front of the machine adjacent the discharge nozzle [6. Its bottom is formed into a semi-circular trough 43 andits front wall is provided with an inlet opening which may be closed by the shutter 44. In the trough 43 there is located a screw conveyor 45 which is fixed on the shaft 46 mounted in suitable bearings in the ends of the hopper 42. This trough has an outlet pipe 41 which enters the nozzle 56 above the valve 31 and through which additional, selected, material may be added to the drilling mud in order to change its consistency.

One end of the shaft 46 has a sprocket wheel 53 fixed thereon and in alignment with a corresponding sprocket Wheel 49 on the shaft 23 and a sprocket wheel 50 operates over these aligned sprocket wheels and transmits rotation from the shaft 23 to the shaft 46 and to the conveyor 45.

The shaft 46 may be provided, if desired, with a clutch 5| of any conventional construction which may be disengaged to stop the operation of the conveyor 45.

The hopper or compartment 42 is provided to contain any selected type of material which it may be found desirable to add to the drilling fluid.

The drawings and description are illustrative merely while the broad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A mixing machine comprising, a hopper, a partition dividing the hopper into compartments, the compartments having a common discharge outlet at the bottom below said partitions, independently operable conveyors at the bottom of the compartments adapted to discharge the contents thereoi through said outlet, transverse plates spaced apart longitudinall along the hopper above theconveyors and whose ends are anchored to opposing sides of the hopper, deflectorplates diverging downwardly from opposite sides of the partition and extending across the hopper above said conveyors, a supplemental hopper having a discharge passageway into said outlet, a conveyor in the supplemental hopper adapted to discharge the contents thereof through said passageway, and means for driving said conveyors from a common source.

2. A mixing machine comprising, a hopper, a partition extending transversely of the hopper and dividing the hopper into compartments which are in longitudinal alignment, a semi-circular trough at the bottom of the hopper which extends from end to end of the hopper, a sp-iralled conveyer in each of the compartments in said veyor in each of the compartments in said trough,

trough, a common discharge nozzle leading from the trough through which the material in the compartments is discharged by said conveyors, means for rotating the conveyors independently in directions to convey the material in the compartments to said nozzle, a valve controlling said nozzle, transverse plates spaced apart longitudinally along the hopper and whose ends are anchored to opposing sides of the hopper, angle irons in the respective compartments supported by said partition extending transversely of the hopper and dividing the hopper into compartments which are in longitudinal alignment, a semi-circular trough at the bottom of the hopper which extends from end to end of the hopper, a spiralled consaid conveyors being oppositely threaded means for rotating the conveyors in the'same' direction to convey the material in the compartments 5 6 zle leading from the trough below said partition References Cited in the file of this patent and through which the material in the compart- UNITED STATES PATENTS ments is discharged by said conveyors, a valve controlling said. nozzle, transverse plates spaced Number Name a apart longitudinally along the hopper above the 5 4231346 Mueller May 97 trough and whose ends are anchored to opposing 742,591 Clark 2 1 sides of the hopper, and deflector plates diverging 772,941 Kefauver 00V 25, 904 downwardly from opposite sides of said partition 999397 calfter 1911 and extending transversely across the hopper li gl ry above said trough. m

FOREIGN PATENTS ELMER ZAHN' Number Country Date 219,950 Germany Mar. 12, 1910

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