Rotating Jaw Pipe Elevator with Counterweight
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current pipe handling systems on drilling rigs are inefficient and hazardous due to heavy, slow-operating elevators with swinging doors, which require significant manual effort and pose safety risks, especially when handling large pipes, leading to increased idle time and maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
A horseshoe-shaped elevator with rotatable jaws and a locking mechanism that can engage pipes of various diameters, featuring a safety pin system for secure locking and easy jaw replacement, allowing for single-pull operation and reduced operator risk, along with a method for efficient pipe handling and standbuilding using a rotatable tower and wireline system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If heavy doors are used on elevators to ensure safety and structural integrity, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to manual handling difficulty
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies counterweight principles by providing a balance line with a balancing weight that counterbalances the elevator body weight. This allows the heavy elevator to be easily positioned and removed from the pipe without requiring manual lifting of the entire heavy structure, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability (heavy construction) and ease of operation (easy positioning).
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a balancing line and counterweight as intermediary elements between the operator and the heavy elevator. This intermediary system transfers the weight management function from manual human effort to a mechanical counterbalancing system, enabling easy operation while maintaining the structural integrity and safety of the heavy elevator design.
2Ease of operation
If hinged doors are used on elevators to allow pipe insertion and removal, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases due to swinging door mechanism requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the door mechanism from the elevator body by providing a separate balance line system that operates independently. The balancing weight and line can be positioned and adjusted without requiring complex hinged door mechanisms, simplifying the overall device while maintaining operational ease for pipe insertion and removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs dynamic positioning through the balance line system, allowing the elevator to be easily positioned on or removed from the pipe through controlled lowering and lifting. This dynamic approach replaces static complex door mechanisms with a simpler dynamic balancing system that achieves the same functional goal with reduced complexity.
3Ease of operation
If clearance is provided for swinging doors on elevators, then ease of operation is improved, but loss of time increases due to additional space requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the requirement for door swinging clearance by extracting the door mechanism entirely and replacing it with a balance line system. This eliminates the need for additional clearance space around the elevator, allowing the pipe to be positioned directly underneath the elevator without requiring extra space for door operation, thus reducing idle time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional door swinging motion to a vertical one-dimensional balancing motion. The balance line system operates vertically through the pipe, eliminating the need for horizontal clearance space required by swinging doors. This dimensional change allows the elevator to be positioned directly over the pipe without requiring additional clearance, reducing the time lost to space constraints.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple elevators are used to handle different pipe sizes, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases due to multiple equipment pieces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal elevator design where a single elevator body can handle multiple pipe sizes by adjusting the balance line length and position. The balancing weight and line configuration can be modified to accommodate different pipe diameters and weights, eliminating the need for multiple specialized elevators and reducing overall device complexity while maintaining high adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs parameter changes by adjusting the balance line length, weight, and positioning to adapt the same elevator to different pipe sizes. By varying these parameters, the single elevator can effectively handle a range of pipe diameters and weights, providing versatility without requiring multiple distinct elevator designs, thus reducing device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for handling a pipe having a body, the body defining an open throat that is adapted to receive a pipe, a plurality of jaws hingedly mounted to the body that are adapted to engage a pipe while preventing the pipe from engaging the body, each of the jaws defining a concave portion that is adapted to engage the pipe, the apparatus further including respective over-center mechanisms that are arranged between and operatively coupled to the body and each one of the plurality of jaws, each respective over-center mechanism being adapted to inhibit a respective one of the plurality of jaws from closing when jaws are open and to inhibit a respective one of the plurality of jaws from opening and disengaging from a pipe when the jaws are closed on the pipe.