Patent ID: 7832487

Claim:
A well casing assembly, comprising: a housing having a longitudinal axis, a lower portion with a cylindrical interior and an upper portion with a conical interior; a plurality of external longitudinally extending channels formed in an exterior of the housing, the channels being circumferentially spaced apart from each other around a circumference of the housing; upper and lower shoulders in the cylindrical interior, defining an annular recess between the shoulders, each of the shoulders having an inner diameter selected to be smaller than an outer diameter of a casing collar, the annular recess having an inner diameter selected to be larger than an outer diameter of the casing collar; the housing being formed in two separate housing segments; an annular band with a cylindrical exterior extending around the housing over at least part of the channels, the band being formed in two separate band segments, each band segment being attached to one of the housing segments; a hinge connected between the band segments to allow the housing to be moved between open and closed positions; and a clamp secured to the annular band for clamping the housing segments together around the collar.