US PATENT SUBCLASS 166 / 285
.~ Cementing, plugging or consolidating

Current as of: June, 1999
Click HD for Main Headings
Click for All Classes

Internet Version by PATENTEC © 1999      Terms of Use


166 /   HD   WELLS

244.1  DF  PROCESSES {39}
285.~ Cementing, plugging or consolidating {7}
286  DF  .~.~> Tamping, vibrating, exploding or using receptacle
287  DF  .~.~> Removable molding or forming means
288  DF  .~.~> Including heating
289  DF  .~.~> Discharging cement from casing at different levels
290  DF  .~.~> By tubing which is subsequently lifted
291  DF  .~.~> With piston separator
292  DF  .~.~> Using specific materials {2}

DEFINITION

Classification: 166/285

(under subclass 244.1) A process comprising (1) causing fluent material to flow into position in prepositioned well conduit substantially to stop flow of a fluid by forming a blocking means in situ, said material being plastic or hardenable after being so placed, (2) placing small particles in a prepositioned well conduit to cause them to form a mass of particles in situ substantially to stop flow of a fluid, (3) placing or forming solid or plastic material in the pores of or spaces in a formation to block them and thereby impede flow of an earth fluid, (4) treating a formation with an introduced material so as to prevent it from shifting or breaking down, i.e., consolidating the formation, or (5) treating a formation (e.g., by heating, etc.) to cause the formation to coalesce into an impermeable or consolidated mass.

(1) Note. Patents with claims in which there is only a broad mention by name only of a cementing, plugging or consolidating process with no detail of the steps of the process or the material used, are classified on the basis of the other steps recited. In the case, however, of a drilling process in which drilling is interrupted for cementing, classification may be in subclasses 285+ even if the cementing step is only nominally or inferentially claimed. See section III of the class definition. However, if any other steps are set forth in a claim affording a basis for classification in a subclass below subclasses 285+ then the patent is classified in the appropriate subclass, the nominal cementing step being disregarded.

(2) Note. Processes which include forming a coating or lining on the bore hole wall or plugging the pores of the formation by drilling fluid while the earth in being cut or disintegrated to form the bore, are not classified as cementing, plugging or consolidating processes for this class. See section III of the class definition of Class 166 for the line with Class 175, Boring or Penetrating the Earth, and the search notes below.

(3) Note. Merely forming a plug or the like by lowering a quantity of plastic material in a container and permitting it to harden in the container is not included. See subclass 315 for such processes.

(4) Note. Under this definition material deposited in the openings of a formation may block one fluid and not another, or may form a permeable mass.

(5) Note. Material deposited in the formation to form a film or thin coating on the formation material, or to form a foam, is not considered to come within this definition. See subclasses 305+ and the subclasses there noted for processes for so treating the formation. (6) Note. Material deposited in a fracture to form discrete props for the fracture is not considered to come within this definition. See subclass 280 for processes involving a specific propping feature and see (3) Note in said subclass for the distinction between propping and cementing or plugging.

SEE OR SEARCH THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS:

244.1, for a miscellaneous process involving forming a film or coating on a member.

276, for a process for providing a porous cementitious filter in a bore hole.

279, for a process for placing material in the pores of a formation to treat resident fluid flowing into the well.

280, for a process including a specific feature relating to propping a fracture.

281, for a process involving separate steps of (1) cementing, plugging or consolidating and (2) fracturing or attacking the formation.

283, for a process for fracturing a formation by forcing cement or plugging material into the formation.

284, for a process for causing a pellet to block an opening in the wall of a well conduit by flowing a fluid carrying said pellet, a single pellet being large enough to block an opening.

305+, and subclasses there noted for a process for placing material other than cementing, plugging or consolidating material in the openings of a formation.

SEE OR SEARCH CLASS

52, Static Structures (e.g., Buildings), 741.11+, for a process of construction or assembling of a building, e.g., cistern or well, made by workmen operating on an exposed face of such a structure.

106, Compositions: Coating or Plastic, appropriate subclasses for plastic compositions which may be used in well cementing, plugging or consolidating processes.

118, Coating Apparatus,

25+, and the subclasses there noted for apparatus of general utility for applying a coating.

156, Adhesive Bonding and Miscellaneous Chemical Manufacture, appropriate subclasses for processes and apparatus for laminating in general and see especially

293+, and 423+ for inserting a core within a tube.

175, Boring or Penetrating the Earth,

65+, for processes of boring with a fluid and especially subclass 72 for such processes which include prevention of lost circulation or caving while drilling. See section III of the class definition of Class 166 for the line between Class 166 and Class 175.

260, Chemistry of Carbon Compounds, appropriate subclasses for compounds which may be used in cementing, plugging or consolidating processes.

264, Plastic and Nonmetallic Article Shaping or Treating: Processes, appropriate subclasses, for processes of working, shaping or molding plastic materials, within the class definition.

405, Hydraulic and Earth Engineering, 57, for processes of cementing fluid reservoirs in the earth by means operated from the earth surface; subclasses 130+ for processes of applying heat to or removing heat from an earth formation; subclasses 233+ for casting a pile in situ from hardenable fluent material; and subclasses 263+ for applying a chemical substance to an earth formation to condition the same, especially subclasses 266+ for cementitious substances, except that patents disclosing or claiming treatment of a well or treatment of the earth around a well are classified in Class 166.

507, Earth Boring, Well Treating, and Oil Field Chemistry,

100+, for the composition of well drilling mud and processes which involve no more than the mere use of such compositions or a compound.

520, Synthetic Resins or Natural Rubbers, appropriate subclasses, particularly Class 523,

130+, for a composition having utility in consolidating a formation in a well or in cementing a well or to processes of preparing said composition.