Patent Application
20180058161
Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a tong for coupling and de-coupling threaded tubular connections during a rig operation utilized in the oil and gas industry. More specifically, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a load limiting device that limits and/or provides an indication when the amount of torque applied to the threaded tubular connection by the tong exceeds a predetermined amount.
A manual tong is a tool commonly used in the oil and gas industry to make up or break out threaded tubular connections. During a rig operation, the tong is suspended above a rotary spider that is located in the rig floor. The tong has jaws that are moved into position about a pin end of a tubular and configured to provide a desired amount of torque to rotate the tubular relative to another tubular to threadedly couple the two tubulars together. A pull-line in the form of a cable or wire rope is typically utilized to secure the tong to a winch that is utilized to rotate the tong to apply the desired amount of torque to the pin end of the tubular.
Manual tongs are rated to apply specific torque values. However, many operators utilize tongs that are not rated for the torque needed to make-up or break out threaded tubular connections. For example, a tong rated for a maximum of 10,000 foot-pounds of torque may be utilized to couple or decouple tubulars that require more than 10,000 foot-pounds of torque. This results in a safety hazard as the tong may fail, the tubulars may not be tightened to the desired torque value, and/or the tubulars may not be fully coupled during a make-up operation or fully decoupled during a break out operation.
Therefore, there exists a need for a new and improved tong that prevents the safety hazards described above.
In one embodiment, a tong for rotating a tubular comprises a lever body; a jaw assembly coupled to one end of the lever body; a load attachment device coupled to an opposite end of the lever body; and a load limiting device coupled to the load attachment device by a linkage, wherein the load limiting device is movable from a first operational state to a second operational state to limit an amount of torque applied to the tubular by the tong when the amount of torque exceeds a torque rating of the tong.
In one embodiment, a tong for rotating a tubular comprises a lever body; a jaw assembly coupled to one end of the lever body; a load attachment device coupled to an opposite end of the lever body; and a biasing member coupled to the load attachment device by a linkage, wherein the biasing member is movable from a first operational state to a second operational state to limit an amount of torque applied to the tubular by the tong when the amount of torque exceeds a torque rating of the tong.
In one embodiment, a method for rotating a tubular comprises gripping a tubular using a tong; rotating the tubular using the tong; and temporarily preventing rotation of the tubular when torque applied to the tubular by the tong exceeds a torque rating of the tong.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodiment may be beneficially utilized with other embodiments without specific recitation.
Embodiments of the disclosure include a tong for use during a rig operation in the oil and gas industry. The tong includes an integrated torque limiting device that causes the tong to limit the amount of torque applied to a tubular if a torque limit or rating of the tong is exceeded. According to one embodiment, the tong may be a manual tong that is pulled by a winch to apply torque to a tubular.
The tong 100 also includes a load limiting device 140 positioned between the jaw assembly 115 and the load attachment device 125. The load limiting device 140 may be integrated with the tong 100, such as by being disposed within the lever body 110. The load limiting device 140 may be set and/or adjusted to render the tong 100 inoperable if a torque rating of the tong 100 is exceeded. For example, if the torque rating of the tong 100 is exceeded, the load limiting device 140 device may effectively limit the amount of torque that the tong 100 applies to the tubular 120.
The movement of the linkage 210 and/or the tolling of rotation of the tubular 120 may be temporary in some embodiments as the biasing member 205 may “bottom-out” between the cap 400 and the shoulder 405 of the rod member 410. When the biasing member 205 does bottom out, movement of the tong 100 may resume by applying a torque that exceeds the torque rating of the tong 100. However, the visual and/or torque indications should alert operators that the tong 100 may not be sufficient for the torque required to make-up or break-out the tubular 120. Further, the load limiting device 140 may be reset back to the first operational state when the force pulling on the linkage 210 via that load attachment device 125 falls below the rated torque value of the tong 100, as the biasing member 205 decompresses to a relaxed state and forces that rod member 410 back into the position shown in
In some embodiments, the load limiting device 140 may include a support member 500 coupled to the rod member 410 that may be utilized as an additional biasing member and/or may be utilized as a shock absorber to prevent or minimize impact of the rod member 410 when returned back to the first operational state by the biasing member 205.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure thus may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
