Patent ID: 6315053
Filing Date: 2001-11-13
Classification: E21B

Abstract:
An apparatus for resisting swabbing of an inflatable packer mounted externally to a tubing string, comprising:a mandrel having an internal flowpath with connections on both ends for securing to the tubing string;the inflatable packer mounted mounted to the outside of said mandrel and actuable from said flowpath, further comprising an inflatable element and a movable collar assembly adjacent one end thereof, said movable collar assembly movable in a first direction to facilitate inflation and in an opposite second direction to facilitate deflation of said inflatable element;a sleeve supported by said collar assembly and defining at least in part a sealed chamber outside said mandrel;said mandrel formed having a passage to said chamber such that applied pressure from said flowpath, after said inflatable element has been deflated, creates an unbalanced force in said second direction on said sleeve connected to said movable collar to hold said inflatable element in a deflated condition thereby resisting swabbing by said element responsive to fluid movement outside said element.