Wireline coupler
A wireline coupler, for use in oil wells and gas wells to connect a perforating gun to the wireline from which the perforating gun is suspended, is designed to eliminate jamming of the wireline between the casing and the perforating gun when the perforating gun is propelled upward by the gases from the explosion of the perforating gun or by the natural gas, oil, or other fluids released through the new perforations.
1. A coupler for connecting a wireline to a perforating gun used in oil wells and natural gas wells that contain a casing of the well hole, comprising
(a) a first hollow cylindrical body shaped as a fishing neck at the uphole end and having connection means at the downhole end for connecting to a sub, and having a first external shoulder marking a transition in the downhole direction from a larger external diameter to a smaller external diameter;
(b) a bypass belt that is a second hollow cylindrical body mounted coaxially over said smaller external diameter of said first hollow cylindrical body, containing channels through which gas and liquid may flow from the downhole side of the coupler to the uphole side of the coupler, having an outer diameter that is larger than said larger external diameter of said first hollow cylindrical body;
(c) a sub that is a third cylindrical body having
(i) means for connecting to said first hollow cylindrical body,
(ii) means for connecting to a wireline in the uphole direction,
(iii) means for connecting to a perforating gun in the downhole direction, and
(iv) a second external shoulder in the uphole direction that holds said bypass belt between said second external shoulder and said first external shoulder on said first hollow cylindrical body.
2. The coupler of claim 1 , in which said channels are longitudinal grooves on the outer circumference of said bypass belt running from the downhole side of the coupler to the uphole side of the coupler.
3. The coupler of claim 1 , in which said channels are holes passing through said bypass belt from its downhole side to its uphole side.
4. The coupler of claim 1 , in which said means for connecting to a perforating gun comprise an internal threaded connection.
5. The coupler of claim 1 , in which said means for connecting to a perforating gun comprise an internal threaded connection to which is connected any oilwell device interposed between said internal threaded connection and said perforating gun.
6. The coupler of claim 1 , in which said bypass belt may have any one of a number of outside diameters in order to fit a particular size of casing, while having one size of inside diameter to fit said first hollow cylindrical body, such that said bypass belts can be replaced when worn or damaged.
7. The coupler of claim 1 , in which the difference between said outer diameter of said bypass belt and the inside diameter of the casing of the well hole is less than the diameter of said wireline.