US2329196A - Pipe tong - Google Patents

Description

Sept- 1 9 A. E. HAMBLY 2,329,196

PIPE TONG Filed July 15, 1940 I LJJZA/ EL. MBL j v V v 4 INVENTOR y ATTORN EY a Patented Sept. 14, 1943 "11,529,196 PIPE Tene l Allen: E. Hambl-y, Montebello, Cali fa, assignor to Byron Jackson 00., Vernon, Calif a corporation of Delaware Application July'15','1940, Serial No; 345,574 I Thisinvention' relates generally; to pipe tongs,

and particularly to tongssuch asareused making 'up'or breakingout jointsin drill pipe, I

well casing, or welltiibing'.

Pip'e' tongs of the; aforementioned type are usually suspended-in thewell derrick in position tobe swung, laterally onto the pipe and latched about the pipe joint, In" order to possess the necessary strength, such tongs' are unusually heavy andfl thei'r' repeatedmanipulation while making up or breaking outthe' joints in a string of pipe involves considerable manual effort. ,In addition to the manna-1 effort involved, the time; consumed in" applying? thetong to thepipe is alsoan' important factor, inasmuch as it is mul- V tiplied by' the number of jointstobe made up a or broken out. For theabove reasons, the ease with which the tong may be applied to and removed from, the pipe is as important av factor in the success of the tong asis its ability to proper- 1y grip the pipe:

geous, features and involving a minimum number.

' of parts, thereby simplifying:- the construction o and reducing the'manufacturing cost;

in one I fer'enti'sizeso'f pipe; and

Closely associated withthe'easeof manipulation of'the tong is the problem of balance.

order to maintain the tong'is properly balanced condition while su spendedat asiiigle point from" .awi're line, as is customary fit is essential that the center of gravity of the 'suspendedmassbe, as nearly'as possible, dire'ctly below the point: oi suspension. It -is' impossible-to maintain the center of gravity ,directlybelow the suspension point atall times because, of 'therelative movement between the tongjaws when opening. and

closing them about the pipe. It is possible, however, to 'maintain janapproximatdy balanced 1 1 condition by so constructing the tong thatthe; shifting of the center of gravity resulting from opening and closing movements; of the jaws is reducedfto a practical minimum. V In addition to the foregoing Ieaturesfessential to the success of a we'll pipe tong 'it is also desirable that thetong be capable of accommodating several differentsizes of. pipe, and that it properly grip all sizes of pipe orpipe joints within'its range o adjustment.

A: generalobject of this a pipe tong which is capable of being applied to a wide variety of sizes'oi" pipe, and which: easily applied to and removed from the'pipe;

-A further object istoiprovidea pipe tong of the type adapted'to be suspended from a single point, and in which the shiftin'g of the center of gravity-of the suspended mass during opening and closing movements of thejaws is minimized A sw mmer object of the invention is'to' provide a tongembodying the foregoing. advanta invention is to provide v Other objects and advantages willbe apparent from the: following detailed description of one embodiment"; of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawing wherein:

- Fig.- l'is a plan'view'of 'a' tong'embodying the I invention; showing'the jaws in open positiorrto receive a pipe} Fig; 2 is a plan view showing' th e tonglatched position to grip any one ofsev eral dif Fig.3 is a View similar 2" butshowing the tong latchedin another position to gri'p'a as "the description proceeds, however, that the essential features are ,equally well adapted to being embodied in a casing tongor a tubing Referring to thedrawing, the tong comprises generally a pair; of pipe-gripping: jaws lfland' H pivotallyinterconnected atone end by apivotpin l2, the opposite end of the. jaw--I0-b'eing pivotally connected to alever-l 3asbya pivot pin I41. Formed onthe'free out'erend ofthe jaw ll are 'apluralityi of stepped'latching surfacesoli and l6, whi-ch are adapted. to be. selectively engaged by an oppositely directed latching surface l'l fcr med on a latch I81pivotally connected to o the jaw I0, As shown herein, the latch 1 .8 o. is

connected to the'jaw I!) by the pivot pin l4 which als connects'the jaw. to the lever l3, but this a is solely for'thepu'rpose of reducing the number of parts andfth'ej. munber of, machining operations. From a functional standpointjthelatch I could as well'be connectedlto the jaw ill on a, separated pivot, For reasons set} forth below,

the es sential feature ofthis connection that the latch be pivotally connected to the jaw; Ill

- fo r pivotalmovefnent' relative thereto independf- 1 entlyof pivotal movement of the level I3 rela-' tiv'eto thejaw'; .whenthe latchengages onefoi thelatching surfaces I5'or It a closed" pipe recessis definedf'by the two jaws l0 and l l and the latch I8 ,1the size ofllthe recess being determine'd by whichjlatching' surface 15 orit is engagedby the latch l8.

It will be observed from a comparison of Figs. I

closing movement between the jaws about the Inasmuch as the reduction in the size of any size of pipe between the minimum size 2I and the maximum size 26'.

It will be understoodthat the range of take-up of the cam 25 is not limited to that shown in the drawing, but, on the contrary, the cam may be as long as desired. However, the practical limiting factor governing the length of the cam and pivot pin I2, unaccompanied by'a corresponding pivotal closing movement between the jaw l0 and the latch I8, it follows thatfthe center P of the maximum size pipe which can be accommo-' dated in the smaller pipe opening, as indicated in Fig. 3, is located at a greater distance from the pivot pin !2 than is the center Prof the largest size pipe receivable in the larger pipe= openingshown in Fig.2, The construction issuch that the centers P and P are as close; to a line extending between the pivot pins I2 and I 4 a it is practical to dispose themg'thereby locating the center P of Fig. 3 closer to the pivot pin I4 than is the center P. ofpFig. 2. j 'This is an important consideration, for reasons'which will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In order to enable the tong to grip a wide range of sizes of pipe in each of the'two latched p0sitions,;an adjustablepipe-engaging mean is provided for gripping the pip'ecn the side thereof opposite the pivot pin I2, and'at varying distances-from the pivot pin- I4; In the present instance this means comprises a cam member formed integral with the lever" I3 and provided with a spiral cam surface so as to present a wedging surface to the pipe at progressively increasing distances from the pivot I4 as the lever is swung-in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2 By forming the cam surface as a spiral, the wedge angle'between the cam and the surface of the pipe i constant, irrespective "of the location of the 'line of contact between the cam and the plpa I 7 large diameter pipe'indicated by the full line circle 26, and it will be observed that the point of tangency between the 'pip e'and the cam isf adjacent theinner, small radius end of the cam.

When the le'veifis swung to the dotted line posi-.

the consequent range of takerup is the extent of angular movement of the lever about the pivot pin I4. It is not desirable'to' swing the lever through too great an angle, and that shown in the drawing is'considered tobe a practical maximum. In this connection, it should be noted that by the provision of a two-step latch and the resulting angular adjustmentof the jaw III "and I I, the range of adjustment of the tong is twice that obtainable by swinging the lever throughia given angle.

If rdesired the frictional engagement of the pipe by the jaws I!) and II and the cam 25 may be relied on to prevent slipping 5' of the tone around the pipe wh'ena pull is exerted on the lever. Howeven lf prefer to provide positive gripping engagement of the ,pipe-iby at leastone of the pipe-engaging surfaces, and thereby preclude thepossibility:of the tong slipping around the pipe. In the illustrative embodiment I have shown a .die mounted; in the jawJ I." Inasmuch as the different sizesof pipe engage the jaws :at, different spaced points'along their inner surfaces,

the die "30:is elongatedand iSPIOVidedwith a series of gripping teeth; The corresponding pipecontacting surfaceof the jawI0-;is indicated at Referring to Fig. 2, thelever and the cam are shown in'full' lines in a position to engage a tion, the larger radius, end of'the camfprojects substantial distance into the pipe opening to engage a' re latively small diameter pipe indicated I by thed-otted circle 2.5e, having its center at P It will be understood, of course, that any intermediate size of pipe between, thejtwo extreme, sizes 26 and, 25% will be gripped at an interme-' diate point onftlie cam.', In. a similar manner when ;the1tong is latched on the second latching step as shown-in Fig 3., the lever may be moved into either extreme position to cause the cam 25 to engageteitherra, relatively large pipe. 21' or a small pipe Zia-or any. intermediate size.

The'tong is preferably designed'sothattherange of sizes of pipe accommodated in the two latching positions overlap each other-or in other words, so that the largest size'' 'pip'ev 21, that can be accommodatedin the latching position shown in Fig 3 is equalto or slightlylarger than the smallest size ZG capable of being gripped by the tong in the latching position showniin Fig.2;-

In this manner, the tong is capable of gripping 3|, and is shown as a-plane surface. It willbe understood, however, that thesurface 3] and the points of theteeth of the die 30 may; if de sired, lie in-either -convex -or concave surfaces.-. It will also be understoodthat the die 30 or other toothed gripping surfacemaybe-provided either. on the-jaw I0 or on; the; oam- -Z5,; I O

any two or all three surfaces. I prefer to mount it on the jaw I I, however,- because in that case it is locatedin a protected position when the tong is open and hence is not subject to being struck and possibly..damaged by forcible contact with the pipe wheniapplying the tong, to the pipe.

It will be observed that thetwo jaws andthe cam;,25 engage the pipe at three substantially equidistantly spaced points, in order to evenely distribute the pressure on thepipe and thus avoid the possibility of crushing it. 'It is "not possible to contact all .siz'es of pipeat three exactly equidistantly spaced points, for two rea-- sons.' .First, as the cam 25 is rotated to contact progressivelysmaller sizes of pipe, the point of tangency shifts with respect tofia line through the center of the pipe and the axis of the pivot pin I2; and secondly, as the jaws I0 and II are adjusted angularly with respect to eachother to shift the latch from one of the steps I5 or Iii to the other, the angular relation between the pipe-contacting surfaces on the jaws changes. It is considered desirable that thisangle be as near,- ly 60 as possible, inorder to cause-the jaws to engage the pipe at pointswhich arespaced-apart 1 approximately 12 0? on the circumference of thep'ipe. 'In the illustrated, embodiment th'eangle between the pipe-contacting surfaces in the latchingrposition shown in Fig. 2 is slightly greater than 60, and in the latching position shown in Fig. 3 it is slightly less than 60 As stated in theintroductory remarks, it is of paramount importancethat. a drill pipe tong:

be capable of; being applied to and removed from the pipe witha minimum of manipulation, and

. that its balance be maintained both when the laws are opened and when closedabout'a pipe. To vth'i' end, suitable means are provided in the instant 'case to limit the'relatives'angul ar movemerit between the pivotally connected elements cally close.- about the pipe when the latter is I inserted in .the pipe opening betweenthe jaws.

- ders permit the latch to swinginwardlyslightly beyond the position it assumes when engaging the-second latching surface It ,on the jaw, .I I.

A stop it is provided onthejawloand engages the lever l3 to limit the counterclockwise pivotal movement of the lever relative to thejaw. As shown by a comparison of Figs. 1 and 3,

a slight amount of free movement of the lever is permissible between its fully retracted position and that in which it engages the maximum size of pipe which the tong is intended to grip in each latching position, It will be understood that the lever is freely swingable relative to the tong head as a unit.

of the-tong, and: tocause the jaws toxautomati- 7 of simple construction consisting of relatively few parts. In spite of its simplicity it is adaptable to a wide range of pipe sizes, and may be quickly and easily'tapplied to and removed from the pipe.

It will lee-understood that theinvention is not limited to the details of the embodimen't-disclosedherein', but may be modified in various respectswithout departing-from the spirit of the invention. :Forxexample; while I have shown-two latching steps, it is within the scope of themvention to. provide a different number as; for instance, three steps arranged to dispose the pipe-contactingsurfaces of the jaws at angles .v of 50, 60 and '70", respectively, with respect to each-other. Such anarrangement would have the advantage of reducingthe extentof angular movement of the lever since a narrower range of pipe; sizes would be accommodated by each latching position. Other modifications within the ,s'copeof the invention will occur to those skilled in this. art.

*Iclaim: I

1. In a pipe tong adapted to grip pipe of different diameters, the combination of: an operating handle; a first jaw member pivotally connected to the handle adjacent one end thereof; a latch member, and means pivotally connecting the The jaw u is also may swingable about the pivot pin I 2, but its outward movement is limited by engagement of a stop shoulder 42 with the outer surface of the jaw l0, as shown" most clearly in Fig. 1. It will be observed that when same to the pivotally connected end of the first jaw member, the first jaw member andlatch member defining a pipe-receiving recess having a pipe passageway at one side thereof; a second jaw member pivotally connected to the free end of the first jaw member and being of a length to bridge said pipe passageway and being swin able about its pivotal axis into engagement with the free end of the latch member to close said the jaw H is moved to its extreme open position it provides, in conjunction with the free outer end of the latch [8, a flared channel for guiding the pipe into the pipe opening.

When the pipe ha been inserted in the opening between the jaws, the jaw ll may be swung to closed position manually, if desired. However, I prefer to provide means for causing the jaw to be closed automatically by the movement of the pipe into the opening. For this purpose, a closing finger 44 is formed on the jaw in a position to extend partially across the opening in the, path of the inwardly moving pipe. Thus, as thepipe moves into the opening it engages the finger and swings the jaw closed behind it. The finger moves into a recess 45 formed in the jaw l0. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the-clearance between the finger and the pipe when the jaw is closed varies with different sizes of pipe,,and hence the finger will not in all instances positively close the jaw into latching position. However, the momentum of the jaw will be such as to cause it to cam the latch I8 in a counterclockwise direction against the action of the spring, and the latch will then snap into latching position.

It will be observed that in opening and closing the jaws the relatively large and heavy jaw I0 does not move relative to the lever l3, and the only appreciable shifting of mass is that involved in the pivotal movement of the relativelysmall jaw I l. Inasmuch as the latter jaw is short, its center of gravity moves through an arc of short radius, and, since the weight of the jaw constitutes only a small proportion of the total suspassageway; the latch member, and the second jaw member having cooperating latching surfaces thereon selectively engageable to releasably secure said jaw members in any one of a plurality of angularly related positions to selectively define different sized pipe-receiving recesses; and cam. means on said handle projecting into said pipe-receiving recess and movable into gripping engagement with a pipe disposed in said recess. 2. In a pipe tong adapted to grip pipe of different diameters, the combinationof: an operating handle; a first jaw pivotally connected to the handle adjacent one end thereof; a latch member pivotally connected at one end to said first jaw onan aXis coinciding with the axis of pivotal connection of said handle and first jaw; spring means yieldably maintaining said first jaw and said latch member in fixed relative positions deotally connected to theother end of said first fining a pipe-receiving recess having a pipe passageway atone side thereof; a second jaw pivjawand being of a length to bridge said passageway and being swingable about its pivotal axis into engagement with the free end of said latch member to close said passageway; operating latching surfaces on said latch member and'said second jaw for releasably securing said jaws in any one of a plurality of angularly related positions; and cam means on said handle movable, upon'pivotal movement of said handle in one direction, into gripping engagement with pended weight, this movement has no appreciable effect on the balance of the tong as a whole.

From the foregoing detailed description, it will be apparent that I' have provided a tong any one of a plurality of pipes of different diameters received in said recess in any one of said angularly related positions of said jaws.

3. A pipe tong as set forth in claim 2, in which said second jaw includes closing means projecting intosaid pipe passageway when said jaw is in open position, said closing means being engageable by a pipe entering said passageway to ceiving recess therebetween and-the free-ends thereof being spaced apart, when said last' named stop means are in engagement, .to provide apipe passageway leading to said recess; a second jaw member, of a length to bridge said passageway, pivotally connected at one end to the free end of said first jaw member and swingable about its pivotalconnection into engagement with said latch member; said secondjaw member and latch member having one of a plurality of stepped latching surfaces and the otheraclatching surface adapted .toselectively engage any one of said stepped latching surfaces to secure said jaw members in any one of a plurality of angularly related positions; and cam means on said operating lever movable into said recess, on swinging movement of said lever, to engagepipe of diiferent'diameters selectively :disposed (in said pipe recess.

5. A'pipe tong as set forth in claim 4, and including stop means on said first jaw member engaging said lever to limit the relative pivotal movement therebetween in one direction, said pipe passageway being disposed on the opposite side of said pipe-receiving recess and substantially in alignment with the longitudinal axis of said lever-when said last-named stop means are in engagement, whereby said tong may be applied to a pipe by bodily movement thereof in a direction substantially parallel to the'longitudinal axis of said lever.

ALLEN E. HAMBLY.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. I Patent No. 2,529,196. September lL 191g. ALLEN- E. HAMBLY.

It is hereby certified that error appears in-the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows; Page 14., first column, line 22, claim 1.1., strike out the word "of" after "one"; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 2nd day of November, A. D.- 19% Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents

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