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:
Apr. 05, 1994
Filed:
Jun. 10, 1992
Frank E Lowther, Plano, TX (US);
Atlantic Richfield Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and gelatin pig is provided for scraping and cleaning tubulars. The gelled, cleaning pig has a body comprised of gelled technical gelatin which has a hardened outer layer. The pig is molded in a size sufficient for the periphery of the body to contact the interior wall of the tubular to be cleaned. The outer surface of the gelatin is hardened by merely exposing the outer surface of the gelatin to the atmosphere (i.e. air) or by applying a hardener (e.g. aldehyde) to the outer surface. In operation, the gelatin pig is inserted into and passed through the pipeline to scrap and clean same. The pig is bio-degradable which can be accelerated by adding a bio-reactive agent, e.g. yeast, to the gelatin.