Patents
US 11555378 B2: Self-destructible frac ball enclosed within a destructible ball retainer
- Granted
- 2023-01-17
- Filed
- 2021-03-22 application 17207937
- Type
- Utility · 26 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
A self-destructible frac ball is described herein. The self-destructible frac ball is configured to seal a hydraulic flow path through a fluid conduit of a frac plug when engaged on a ball seat of the frac plug. The self-destructible frac ball includes an activation mechanism configured to activate a destructive medium in response to the satisfaction of at least one predetermined condition. The self-destructible frac ball also includes the destructive medium, which is configured to destroy the self-destructible frac ball and a corresponding destructible ball retainer when activated by the activation mechanism. The destruction of the self-destructible frac ball and the corresponding destructible ball retainer reestablishes the hydraulic flow path through the fluid conduit of the frac plug.
Source: PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 (ipg230117.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXXONMOBIL UPSTREAM RESEARCH COMPANY 1,118 patents | US company or organization | Spring, TX | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael C. Romer | The Woodlands, TX | 50 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Timothy J. Hall | Pinehurst, TX | 17 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| E21B | Earth or rock drilling; obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells | E21B33/1216 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
No recorded assignments or security interests on file for this patent.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.