US 11,851,987 B2
Obstruction relief in subterranean wellbores
Patrick James Zimmerman, Sr., Houston, TX (US); Robert Sword Avent, Houston, TX (US); and Harold Gordon Riordan, Houston, TX (US)
Assigned to CHEVRON U.S.A. INC., San Ramon, CA (US)
Filed by Chevron U.S.A. Inc., San Ramon, CA (US)
Filed on Dec. 10, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/547,846.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/123,964, filed on Dec. 10, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0186586 A1, Jun. 16, 2022
Int. Cl. E21B 34/14 (2006.01); E21B 34/06 (2006.01)
CPC E21B 34/14 (2013.01) [E21B 34/063 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An obstruction relief tool comprising:
a plurality of walls comprising an inner wall, wherein the inner wall of the plurality of walls forms a cavity along a length of the inner wall;
a chamber disposed between the plurality of walls, wherein the chamber has a proximal end and a distal end; and
an actuation device that is configured to actuate when an obstruction is within the cavity, wherein the actuation device fills a first aperture in the inner wall that leads to the proximal end of the chamber when the actuation device is in an unactuated state, wherein the actuation device, when actuated, is configured to open the first aperture in the inner wall that leads to the proximal end of the chamber, wherein the distal end of the chamber leads to a second aperture in the inner wall, wherein the first aperture is adjacent to the cavity above the obstruction, and wherein the second aperture in the inner wall is adjacent to the cavity below the obstruction.