Power tong with improved door latch
AssigneeEckel Manufacturing Company, Inc.
InventorBilly W. Neves
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An open throat power tong 10 for making up and/or breaking apart an oilfield tubular connection includes an open throat in the tong body 15. Motors 18, 20 rotate a partial ring member 12 and a pair of heads 16 with respect to the tong body. A door 40, 140 may be opened to expose the open throat of the power tong, and has a planar latch surface formed from arcuate groove 58 for receiving an arcuate boss 90. The door latch mechanism reduces the effort required to safely latch the door in the closed position before operating the tong, and provides a highly reliable mechanism to minimize spreading of the tong body under a relatively high torque.
Claims20
An open throat power tong for making up and/or breaking apart an oilfield tubular connection, comprising:
- a tong body having an open throat therein;
- a partial ring member rotatably supported by the tong body for rotating a tubular during a makeup and/or break out operation;
- at least two heads rotatable with the partial ring for gripping engagement with the oilfield tubular connection;
- a drive motor for powering rotation of the partial ring;
- a door pivotally connected to the tong body adjacent a side of the open throat to extend at least partially across the open throat when in the closed position and to expose the open throat of the power tong when in the opened position to enable the power tong to be moved laterally on or off a tubular string;
- the door rotatable about a door pivot axis with respect to the tong body and having a planar latch surface, the planar latch surface having a latch center positioned substantially along the door pivot axis;
- and
- a boss secured to the tong body, the boss having an arcuate planar boss surface for planar engagement with the planar latch surface, the boss surface having a boss center positioned substantially along the door pivot axis.
A door mechanism for a power tong having a tong body with an open throat therein, the door mechanism, comprising:
- a door pivotally connected to the tong body adjacent a side of the opened throat to extend at least partially across the open throat when in the closed position and to expose the open throat of the power tong when in the opened position to enable the power tong to be moved laterally on or off a tubular string;
- the door rotatable about a door pivot axis with respect to the tong body and having planar latch surface, the planar latch surface having a latch center positioned substantially along the door pivot axis;
- and
- a boss secured to the tong body, the boss having an arcuate planar boss surface for planar engagement with the planar latch surface, the boss surface having a boss center positioned substantially along the door pivot axis.
An open throat power tong for making up and/or breaking apart an oilfield tubular connection, comprising:
- a tong body having an open throat therein;
- a partial ring member rotatably supported by the tong body for rotating a tubular during a makeup and/or break out operation;
- at least two heads rotatable with the partial ring for gripping engagement with the oilfield tubular connection;
- a drive motor for powering rotation of the partial ring;
- a door pivotally connected to the tong body adjacent a side of the open throat to extend at least partially across the open throat when in the closed position and to expose the open throat of the power tong when in the opened position to enable the power tong to be moved laterally on or off a tubular string;
- the door rotatable about a door pivot axis with respect to the tong body and having an arcuate groove therein defining a planar latch surface substantially parallel to the door pivot axis and a latch center positioned substantially along the door pivot axis;
- and
- a boss secured to the tong body, the boss having an arcuate planar boss surface for planar engagement with the planar latch surface, the planar boss surface being substantially parallel to the door pivot axis and having a boss center positioned substantially along the door pivot axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.