Abstract: Plural pipe-based well screen segments can be assembled more quickly and easily and with no chance of damage to the screen jacket by welding a boss ring to the center pipe of each segment intermediate the upper pipe end and the screen jacket and then using a slip to support the boss ring. The slip is designed to be supported by holes normally present in the master bushing of a rotary drilling table or platform and is of sufficient height that the screen sections can be joined without the operator having to bend over. A pair of relatively light weight, hinged cantilevered plates can be easily lifted to provide clearance for the screen jacket to be lowered through the table and are then moved to their horizontal position just before the boss ring portion of the screen is lowered so as to engage them. A vertical bar on the slip acts as a wrench stop to permit the upper end of the pipe to be held stationary as the succeeding segment of screen is threaded to it.

Abstract: End fitting assembly for a spiral wire wound well screen includes a fitting portion which is internally threaded at one end to threadedly engage with a plurality of external wire wraps of the well screen which are wound around a plurality of longitudinal support rods at a greater pitch than the main body of the screen. Preferably, the longitudinal support rods are welded at their tips to the interior surface of the fitting. The assembly technique greatly increases the tensile strength of the joint between the screen and fitting and can be equal to a combination of the individual strengths of a conventional welded fitting and a threaded fitting. Where utmost joint strength is not necessary and welding would not be desirable for reasons such as corrosion prevention, the wire wrap threads can provide all of the joint strength.

Abstract: Plural pipe-based well screen segments can be assembled more quickly and easily and with no chance of damage to the screen jacket by welding a boss ring to the center pipe of each segment intermediate the upper pipe end and the screen jacket and then using a slip to support the boss ring. The slip is designed to be supported by holes normally present in the master bushing of a rotary drilling table or platform and is of sufficient height that the screen sections can be joined without the operator having to bend over. A pair of relatively light weight, hinged cantilevered plates can be easily lifted to provide clearance for the screen jacket to be lowered through the table and are then moved to their horizontal position just before the boss ring portion of the screen is lowered so as to engage them. A vertical bar on the slip acts as a wrench stop to permit the upper end of the pipe to be held stationary as the succeeding segment of screen is threaded to it.