Method of providing an internal circumferential shoulder in a cylindrical passageway
AssigneeERC Industries, Inc.
InventorJerry D. Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of providing an internal circumferential shoulder in a cylindrical passageway including the steps of forming an enlarged internal diameter groove in the passageway, machining an integral unitary circumferential shoulder blank of external dimensions conforming to the groove, cutting the shoulder blank into at least segments, each segment having opposed end surfaces that match the end surfaces of adjacent segments, the opposed end surfaces of one segment being defined by parallel, spaced-apart planes forming a key segment, positioning the shoulder segments into the groove, the key segment being inserted last and securing the key segment within the groove.
Claims13
A method of manufacturing an installable segmented shoulder for use in a body having a cylindrical opening therein, the cylindrical opening having an enlarged internal diameter circumferential groove providing an internal circumferential cylindrical wall surface and an upwardly facing circumferential bottom support surface, comprising the steps of:
- (a) machining an integral unitary toroidal shoulder blank having an external cylindrical wall surface substantially equal to said body circumferential groove wall surface and a toroidal bottom support surface substantially matching said body groove bottom support surface;
- (b) drilling a plurality of holes through said shoulder blank, each said hole having an axis parallel to a toroidal axis of said shoulder blank;
- and
- (c) cutting said shoulder blank into a plurality of at least three segments, at least one cut through one of said holes drilled, each segment having opposed end surfaces that match the end surfaces of adjacent segments, the opposed end surfaces of at least one segment being defined by paralleled spaced apart planes.
A method of manufacturing a wellhead comprising:
- (a) making a metal wellhead structure;
- (b) completing a first vertical passageway of a first internal diameter through said wellhead structure;
- (c) completing an enlarged internal diameter upper portion of said vertical passageway;
- (d) forming an enlarged internal diameter circumferential groove in said wellhead structure at a transition between said internal diameters, the groove providing an internal circumferential cylindrical wall surface and an upwardly facing circumferential bottom support surface;
- (e) machining an integral unitary load shoulder blank having an external cylindrical wall surface substantially equal to said wellhead circumferential groove wall surface and a circumferential bottom support surface substantially matching said wellhead groove upwardly facing circumferential bottom support surface and having a circumferential frusto-conical load bearing surface;
- (f) cutting said load shoulder blank into a plurality of at least three segments, each segment having opposed end surfaces that match the end surfaces of adjacent segments, the opposed end surfaces of one segment being defined by parallel, spaced apart planes forming a key segment;
- (g) installing at least one spacer between a pair of adjacent segment end surfaces, said spacer in the same circumferential path as said segments;
- and
- (h) positioning said load shoulder segments into said load shoulder groove in said wellhead structure, said key segment having paralleled end surfaces being inserted last to thereby provide a circumferential load bearing frusto-conical surface within said wellhead structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.