Method and apparatus for retrieving wear bushings of various diameters

A wear bushing retrieving tool for retrieving wear bushings having various different diameters an including access slots communicating with a retrieving groove, said retrieving tool comprising:

• an elongated member having first and second ends;
• an annular collar fixedly arranged intermediate the first and second ends, said collar having a generally cylindrical outer peripheral surface which is parallel to a longitudinal axis of the elongated member;
• a plurality of openings in the outer peripheral surface, said openings lying in a single plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the elongated member and extending along radii of the cylindrical outer peripheral surface;
• and
• a plurality of bolts adapted for engaging a retrieving groove of a wear bushing, said plurality of bolts being selectively variable in quantity, each of said bolts being arranged in an appropriate one of the plurality of openings, a head of each of said bolts having an adjustable outward extension from the outer peripheral surface of the collar along an extension of the radius of the respective opening, the outward extension of each of said bolts being adjustable prior to a single use of the tool between a location closely adjacent the cylindrical portion and a location spaced from the cylindrical portion such that the effective diameter of the plurality of bolts corresponds to the diameter of the retrieving groove of the wear bushing to be retrieved, said outward extension of the bolts being greater than an outward extension of any portion of the tool cooperating with the wear bushing and being a predetermined fixed distance which is substantially invariable during the single use of the retrieving tool.

A method of adjusting a single retrieving tool for retrieving wear bushings having various inside diameters, the wear bushings being of the type having a plurality of access slots parallel to a longitudinal axis of the wear bushing which slots communicate with an annular retrieving groove perpendicular to the access slots on an inside surface of the wear bushing, comprising the steps of:

• selecting a quantity of adjustable members, which quantity corresponds in number with the quantity of access slots in a wear bushing to be retrieved;
• inserting an end of each of the selected quantity of adjustable members into an appropriate one of a plurality of openings in a first cylindrical outer peripheral surface of the single retrieving tool;
• permitting adjustment of the outward extension of said adjustable members prior to a single use of the tool between a first location closely adjacent the first cylindrical surface and a second location spaced from the first cylindrical portion;
• and
• fixedly adjusting each of the selected quantity of adjustable members within the appropriate one of the openings prior to the single use of the retrieving tool such that the effective diameter of the adjustable members is fixed at a value slightly less than an inside diameter of the retrieving groove in the wear bushing to be retrieved, said outward extension being greater than an outward extension of any portion of the tool cooperating with the wear bushing and being substantially invariable during the single use of the retrieving tool.