Abstract: Fluid pumping apparatus for pumping fluids from a well comprising a downhole pump disposed near the lower end of a production string and including a tubular pump barrel and a tubular pump plunger concentrically disposed in the pump barrel in a sliding and sealing fit therewith, one of the pump barrel and the pump plunger being fixed to the production string, the other being attached to the lower end of a string of rods for reciprocal movement. A standing valve is provided in the fixed one of the pump barrel and the pump plunger. A traveling valve is provided in the other. A cylindrical polished rod, the lower end of which is connected to the string of rods, extends upwardly through a sealing assembly for sliding and sealing reciprocation therethrough, the diameter of the polished rod being at least as great as the outside diameter of the pump plunger.

Abstract: A valve having a tubular valve body, an inlet, an outlet and a flow passage therebetween. A valve seat is carried by the valve body at the inlet. A cylindrical cage with flow ports through its walls is carried by the valve body, the interior of which defines a cylindrical enclosure open at the end nearest the inlet and partially closed by an end wall at the opposite end. A ball closure member is carried within the cage for limited axial movement between a seated terminal portion, blocking reverse flow through the valve, and an unseated terminal position unblocking flow through the valve.