US 4,320,915 AGranted

Internal elevator

AssigneeVarco International, Inc.

InventorsRoderick K. Abbott, Padmasiri D. Seneviratne, Daniel P. Juhasz

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Abstract

An internal elevator to be received within and internally grip and support a tubular member such as a well platform supporting pile, and including slips preferably mounted within openings in an outer body and actuable radially outwardly into gripping engagement with the tubular member by powered axial movement of an inner camming body. The elevator is desirably suspended in horizontal position by a hanger in a manner enabling the elevator to be stabbed into an end of a horizontal tubular pile or member, with the elevator having additional connector means attachable to a suspending line in a relation then swinging the elevator and pile to vertical positions. In one form of the invention, the elevator may be formed as part of an elongated structure adapted to be lowered through vertically spaced pile guides, with the elongated structure acting to bridge the space between the guides and thereby assure proper alignment of the elevator with the guides and with a pile centered with respect thereto.

Claims16

Dependent claims

The combination comprising:

an internal elevator for lifting a tubular member;
and
an offset hanger for suspending the elevator from a suppporting line in a horizontal position in which the elevator can be stabbed horizontally into an end of said tubular member when the tubular member is in a horizontal position;
said elevator comprising:
an outer body adapted to be received within said tubular member and having an essentially tubular sidewall containing openings;
a plurality of slips mounted within said openings in said body and guided thereby for only radially inward and outward movement within said openings and relative to said body and having radially outer gripping faces engageable outwardly against said tubular member to grip and support it;
an essentially tubular inner body within said outer body having an essentially annular flaring portion and having a connection adapted to be attached to a supporting element in a manner suspending said inner body therefrom;
said flaring portion of said inner body and said slips having engaging camming surfaces acting upon axial movement of said inner body relative to the slips to cam said slips radially outwardly against the tubular member;
power actuated means for moving said inner body axially relative to said outer body and slips;
said power actuated means including a piston and cylinder mechanism extending essentially axially within said inner body and having its piston and cylinder connected to said two bodies respectively to power actuate the inner body axially relative to the outer body;
a tapering stabbing projection carried by said outer body at an axially inner end thereof;
and
connector means attached to the outer body at an outer end thereof and centered with respect to the elevator in a relation to suspend the elevator and a carried tubular member in a vertical position from a suspending line.

10 more elements

An internal elevator for lifting a tubular member comprising:

an outer body adapted to be received within said tubular member and having an essentially tubular side wall containing openings;
a plurality of slips mounted within openings in said sidewall of said body for movement radially inwardly and outwardly relative thereto and having radially outer gripping faces engageable outwardly against said tubular member to grip and support it;
an inner essentially tubular body within said outer body and movable axially relative thereto and having a connection adapted to be attached to a supporting element in a manner suspending said inner body therefrom;
said inner body having flaring radially outer camming surface areas engaging radially inner camming surfaces of said slips and acting upon axial movement of said inner body relative to the outer body and slips to cam said slips radially outwardly against the tubular member;
and
a piston and cylinder mechanism contained within said inner body and having its piston and cylinder connected at axially spaced locations to said outer body and said inner body respectively in a relation to actuate the inner body axially relative to the outer body and relative to said slips and to cam the slips radially outwardly against said tubular member.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.