US 12,352,120 B2
Elastomer molded wheel for downhole tractor
Simon Whye Kwong Wai, Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim (SG); and Wesley Neil Ludwig, Fort Worth, TX (US)
Assigned to Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Houston, TX (US)
Appl. No. 17/628,530
Filed by Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Houston, TX (US)
PCT Filed Aug. 16, 2019, PCT No. PCT/US2019/046930
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 19, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/041147, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 27, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0259933 A1, Aug. 18, 2022
Int. Cl. E21B 23/00 (2006.01); B60C 7/00 (2006.01)
CPC E21B 23/001 (2020.05) [B60C 7/00 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A downhole tractor system comprising:
a tubular housing capable of being deployed downhole by a wireline;
a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted to the tubular housing, the wheels having at least a portion of an outer surface comprising a polymeric material, wherein each of the wheels further comprise a substrate and tread comprising the polymeric material, wherein the tread comprises a plurality of teeth distributed about a circumference of the wheel thereby creating a tread pattern, wherein an outer profile about the circumference of each substrate comprises a non-smooth profile of alternating ascending sloping ridges and descending sloping valleys, wherein an inner profile spanning a depth of each tread comprises a non-smooth profile corresponding to the outer profile of each substrate; wherein the teeth frictionally engage an inner wall of a wellbore thereby providing a compressive load between a wall of the wellbore and the teeth, wherein each of the teeth comprises a shape factor of between 0.5 to 2.0, thereby providing a contact area capable of minimizing the compressive load; wherein the shape factor of a tooth is measured in an an uncompressed state.