Reciprocating pumps and closures therefore

A fluid end apparatus for a reciprocating pump comprising:

• a fluid end body having one or more bores which extend inwardly into a face of the fluid end body;
• a sealing element for each of the one or more bores;
• a closure slot which extends within the face of the fluid end body over an outer end of each of the one or more bores;
• the closure slot having a longitudinal length which extends between a first side of the face of the fluid end body and a second side of the face which is opposite the first side and the closure slot having an end opening in one or both of the first and the second sides of the face;
• an outer access opening for the closure slot which extends inwardly to the closure slot from an outer surface of the face of the fluid end body and extends longitudinally with the closure slot between the first side of the face and the second side of the face, the outer access opening having a lateral width which is the same as or greater than a diameter of the one or more bores such that the sealing element for each of the one or more bores can be placed in or removed from the outer end of each of the one or more bores via the access opening;
• the lateral width of the outer access opening is less than a lateral width of the closure slot such that the outer access opening divides the closure slot into a longitudinally extending open central portion, a first longitudinally extending slot channel running adjacent to a first lateral side of the open central portion, and a second longitudinally extending slot channel running adjacent to a second lateral side of the open central portion which is opposite the first lateral side of the open central channel;
• a first elongate bar which is slideably received in the first longitudinally extending slot channel over and in contact with a first outer edge portion of the sealing element;
• and
• a second elongate bar which is slideably received in the second longitudinally extending slot channel over and in contact with a second outer edge portion of the sealing element.

A fluid end apparatus for a reciprocating pump comprising:

• a fluid end body having a bore which extends inwardly into a face of the fluid end body;
• a closure slot which extends within the face of the fluid end body over an outer end of the bore;
• the closure slot having a width dimension;
• an outer access opening for the closure slot which extends inwardly to the closure slot from an outer surface of the face of the fluid end body, the outer access opening having a width dimension which is (i) less than the width dimension of the closure slot but (ii) the same as or greater than a diameter of the bore;
• a closure plate structure having a first width dimension that is less than the width dimension of the access opening so that the closure plate structure can be placed in the closure slot through the access opening;
• and
• the closure plate structure having a second width dimension which is greater than the width dimension of the access opening but less than the width dimension of closure slot so that, after placing the closure plate structure in the closure slot through the access opening, the closure plate structure can be retained in the closure slot over the outer end of the bore by turning the closure plate structure less than a full turn in the closure slot.