The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 23, 1978
Filed:
Sep. 03, 1976
Applicant:
Inventor:
Albert B Welch, Dallas, TX (US);
Assignee:
Nygaard-Welch-Rushing Partnership, Dallas, TX (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
E21B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
175 16 ; 2191 / ; 299 14 ; 350 55 ; 350 9610 ; 350179 ;
Abstract
A method and apparatus are disclosed for drilling gas, oil or geothermal wells in geological formations and for 'fracing' the pay zones of such wells to increase recovery, using a laser beam projected into the well bore along a beam guide so as to make available laser energy adequate to melt or vaporize the formation under down-hole conditions. Fluid circulation is established via the beam guide to keep the beam path adequately free of contaminants to permit drilling. A novel orifice window is provided to allow transmitting the high energy beam from the surface into a high-pressure, down-hole environment.