Subsea valve actuator
AssigneeOneSubsea IP UK Limited
InventorsParth PATHAK, Samuvel VELLINGIRI, Nghia T. TRAN, Loc HOANG, Andrew HENCH
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system includes an actuator having an actuation stem, a screw assembly, an electric drive, and a lock. The screw assembly is coupled to the actuation stem, wherein the screw assembly includes a male screw portion coupled to a female screw portion. The electric drive is coupled to the screw assembly, wherein the electric drive is configured to move the screw assembly to move the actuation stem. The lock is configured to hold a position of the actuation stem when not driving movement of the actuation stem.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- an actuator, comprising:
- an actuation stem;
- a screw assembly coupled to the actuation stem, wherein the screw assembly comprises a rotating screw portion coupled to a translating screw portion;
- a self-lock clutch coupled to the screw assembly, wherein the self-lock clutch comprises a locked position that blocks rotation of the rotating screw portion and an unlocked position that enables rotation of the rotating screw portion;
- and
- a drive section coupled to the self-lock clutch, wherein the self-lock clutch is configured to move from the locked position to the unlocked position in response to a torque applied by the drive section to the self-lock clutch.
A method, comprising:
- blocking rotation of a rotating screw portion of a screw assembly coupled to an actuation stem of an actuator via a locked position of a self-lock clutch, wherein the screw assembly comprises a translating screw portion coupled to the rotating screw portion;
- and
- enabling rotation of the rotating screw portion via an unlocked position of the self-lock clutch, wherein enabling rotation comprises moving the self-lock clutch from the locked position to the unlocked position in response to a torque applied by a drive section to the self-lock clutch.
A system, comprising:
- a valve assembly having a valve disposed in a valve body;
- and
- an actuator coupled to the valve assembly, comprising:
- an actuation stem;
- a screw assembly coupled to the actuation stem, wherein the screw assembly comprises a rotating screw portion coupled to a translating screw portion;
- a gear assembly coupled to the screw assembly;
- a self-lock clutch coupled to the gear assembly, wherein the self-lock clutch comprises a locked position that blocks rotation of the rotating screw portion and an unlocked position that enables rotation of the rotating screw portion;
- and
- a drive section coupled to the self-lock clutch, wherein the self-lock clutch is configured to move from the locked position to the unlocked position in response to a torque applied by the drive section to the self-lock clutch, wherein the drive section comprises an electric drive, a drive interface, or a combination thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.