Foldable Walking Beam for Sucker Rod Pumping Systems

A sucker rod pumping system with a two-piece coupling separable and foldable walking beam for increasing the oil flowing rate during oil production. The system is comprised of a plunger pump submerged in the production liquid in the well and a pumping unit at the ground surface which can be a conventional unit, or a Lufkin Mark II unit, or an air-balanced unit with a foldable walking beam.

• This pumping unit is configured differently with a foldable walking beam. The foldable walking beam has two pieces which are connected by a pin plate and a fastening plate and/or strengthening plate(s).
• The pin plate in claim (1) has two parts which are jointed through a pin bolt, washers, and screw(s). The two parts of the plate are fastened using fasteners or permanently welded or joined using adhesive to the left piece and right piece of the two-piece foldable walking beam, respectively.
• The fastening plate in claim (1) has a structure of either one full piece of plate or two parts which are connected using bolts. For the structure of one full piece fastening plate, half of the plate is connected using fasteners or permanently welded or joined using adhesive to the left piece of the beam without a horsehead and the other half of the plate is connected using bolts to the right piece of the beam with a horsehead. For the structure of two parts of a fastening plate, they are connected using fasteners or permanently welded or joined using adhesive to the left and right piece of the beam, respectively. The two parts of the fastening plate are connected using bolts during operation. When system servicing is required, the section of the one full piece fastening plate is unfastened from the right piece with a horsehead of the beam or alternatively the two parts of a fastening plate are separated. The piece with a horsehead of the beam is folded and attached to the other piece without a horsehead of the beam during system servicing.
• The strengthening plate or plates in claim (1) are optionally added to the connection between the two pieces of a foldable walking beam. The foldable walking beam connection has no strengthening plate, one strengthening plate, or two strengthening plates. Either one of the strengthening plates or both plates are fastened using fasteners or permanently welded or joined via adhesive to the piece of the beam without a horsehead. The other end(s) of the corresponding strengthening plate(s) is (or are) fastened to the other piece of the beam with a horsehead using bolts during production. When system servicing is required, the strengthening plate(s) are unfastened from the piece of the beam with a horsehead. The two parts of the fastening plate are also unfastened or half of a one full piece fastening plate is detached from the beam. The piece with a horsehead of the beam is folded and attached to the other piece of the beam without a horsehead during system servicing.