Lock assembly for hydraulic fracing valve
AssigneeVetco Gray Inc.
InventorsMahesha Udipi, Raymond Krolczyk, Mark Viator
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A lock open device for use with a valve in a hydraulic fracturing system, which maintains the valve in an open position. The lock open device includes a plate with beveled edges and spring loaded ball bearings strategically disposed to contact the edges and interfere with axial movement of the plate. The plate couples to a gate member in the valve, so that the interference between the plate and the ball bearings maintains the valve in a designated open or closed position. The angle of the bevel regulates how much force is required to urge the plate past the ball bearings to thereby open/close the valve.
Claims13
A valve assembly for use in a subterranean hydraulic fracturing system comprising:
- a body having a passage;
- a gate disposable in the body;
- a bore in the gate that selectively registers with the passage;
- a valve lock assembly comprising:
- a cam disk having an upper surface, a lower surface, and an outer periphery extending between the upper and lower surfaces having a mid-portion with an outer circumference greater than outer circumferences of the upper and lower surfaces, and which defines an upper beveled surface and a lower beveled surface that is at an angle with respect to an axis of the cam disk different from an angle between the upper beveled surface and the axis of the cam disk;
- a balance stem connected between the cam disk and the gate;
- a retention element urged into a path of the cam disk by a resilient member, so that when a force is applied to the gate to urge the cam disk against the retention element that is less than a designated amount, the retention element is retained in the path of the cam disk by the resilient member.
A balancing system for use with a hydraulic fracturing valve comprising:
- a generally planar cam member having upper and lower surfaces, and a beveled edge on an outer radial periphery of the cam member that depends radially inward with distance towards the upper and lower surfaces to define upper and lower beveled surfaces that are disposed at differing angles with respect to an axis of the cam member;
- a coupling for engaging the cam member with a valve gate, and which is subject to a thrust force from the valve gate in response to a force applied to the valve gate;
- and
- a latching assembly comprising a latching element that is maintained in interfering contact with the cam member by a resilient member when the thrust force produces a resultant force against the latching element that is less than a designated amount.
A valve assembly for use in a hydraulic fracing system comprising:
- a valve body having a passage;
- a gate having a bore that is in selective registration with the passage;
- an actuator coupled with the gate;
- and
- a retention system for retaining the gate in a designated position within the valve body that is unlockable from the designated position with a force applied to the gate that is greater than a force applied to lock the gate and that comprises:
- a cam disk having an upper surface, a lower surface, and an outer periphery extending between the upper and lower surfaces having a mid-portion with an outer circumference greater than outer circumferences of the upper and lower surfaces, and which defines upper and lower beveled surfaces that are at differing angles with respect to an axis of the cam disk;
- a balance stem connected between the cam disk and the gate;
- a retention element urged into a path of the cam disk by a resilient member, so that when a force is applied to the gate to urge the cam disk against the retention element that is less than a designated amount, the retention element is retained in the path of the cam disk by the resilient member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.