Patent ID: 7503388

Claim:
An overshot tool for retrieving an object in a well, the tool comprising: a housing having an upper end for attaching to a string for lowering the tool into a well, a housing bore defined by an inner wall surface, the inner wall surface having a recess disposed therein; and a slip carried within the recess, the slip having an upper slip end, a length, a width, and a gripping wall surface facing toward the housing bore, the gripping wall surface having a gripping profile to engage and facilitate securing an object within the housing bore, and the slip being movable relative to the recess from an unset position to a set position wherein the gripping wall surface protrudes into the bore, a lower portion of the housing being open at a lower end of the housing for sliding over the object in the well while the slip is held in the recess, so that subsequent actuation of the slip toward the set position causes the gripping profile of the gripping wall surface to engage and secure the object for retrieval, and the slip and the recess having mating loading surfaces that provide a circumferential force component in the set position, wherein the housing has a sidewall with a thicker portion and a thinner portion opposite the thicker portion, and wherein the recess and the slip are located in the thicker portion opposite from a smooth portion of the housing bore.