Patent ID: 6951251

Claim:
A junk basket for positioning in a wellbore to collect debris from a wellbore cleaning operation, the junk basket comprising: a central mandrel for connection at an upper end with an upper tubular string, and having a throughbore for passing fluids downward from the upper tubular string, through the central mandrel, and through an exit port at a lower end of the central mandrel; an outer shell surrounding the central mandrel and defining a generally annular junk space between the central mandrel and the outer shell for collecting debris, the generally annular junk space substantially closed at a lower end of the outer shell between the outer shell and the central mandrel, and generally open to the wellbore at an upper end of the outer shell; a plurality of flow holes in the outer shell extending from the generally annular junk space into an annulus between the outer shell and the wellbore, such that fluid passing through the exit port of the central mandrel circulates upward through the annulus and past the holes; a radially outward portion of the outer shell below the flow holes, the radially outward portion defining a reduced cross-sectional annulus flow area for increasing fluid velocity in the annulus past the flow holes; and a radially inward portion of the outer shell below the radially outward portion and defining an enlarged cross-sectional annulus flow area for reducing fluid velocity and thus fluid drag losses.