US2197908A - Safety wrench - Google Patents

Description

R. B. WELLBORN ET AL April 23, I940.

' SAFETY WRENCH Filed May 17, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet 1 [NVEN L "r R a p, M- Ra1 ko 9 W. 9 g

ATTORNEY SAFETY WRENCH Filed May 17. 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ere. 4

JNVENTORS A 5. WELLBOQN J. L. DYE

BY NR Pep/av I ATTORNEY April 1940- R. B. WELLBORN ETAL 08 SAFETY WRENCH Filed May 17, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet 3 N Y INVENTORS H I P. B. WELLBORN I I n JLDYE 4 4 Na s/2w FIG. 5

ATTORNEY This invention. relates to: wrenches and par: ticularly to safety wrenches ,forunscrewing and formaking up long lengths of pump rods, tubing, I

Patented Apr. 23,1940 v 3 e 2,193,908 N S E RE 1 ,n-Roy B. Wellbbrn, James L. Dye, and Neigelltj Perry, Osage, Okla.

Atea May; 17, .1939, Serial No. 274,136 f.

pipe, and the like in-deep WGHSQ- n When pump rods, tubing or. pipe have been made up tightly inlong strings, and especially when they have been inplace in wells forlong periods of time, the screwed joints thereof become very tight or frozen and become very difiicult to unscrew. .Also very often, the pump; e which is located far down in the well, becomes stuck there and it becomes-impossible-to withdraw it so that thepump rods cannot be pulled up and unscrewed -joint-by-joint"as they are withdrawn from the well. 5 Under 1 such condi- J tions it is generally desirable to unscrew the rods as far down in the well as possible, without removing the well pipe. or tubing in which the rods are normally inserted. When an attempt isv Q Fig. 1;

made to unscrewsuch long lengths of rods by turning of the upper end. thereof, the rods will twist through a great many revolutions'andlconsiderable torque stress will beset-up therein before the threads of amr joint down inthe well begins to give way. Under suchconditions, when the upper end of the string of rods has been. turned a number of revolutions, the effect is similar to coiling a powerfulhelical spring so that if the upper end of the rod string is released or flies out of the grip of the men. turning the rods, a rapid and powerfuluncoiling of the rods 00- curs, due to the torsional stress set up therein,

and may, as frequently happens, result in in,- jury to the workers. The'same situation applies when making up long. strings. of rods, tubing, pipe and the like. I e e A principal object of this invention,- therefore, is to provide an apparatus designed topermit unscrewing or making-up of long'strings of rods,

tubing, pipe, and the like in deep; wells, while, retaining the twist of the strings underfullcon- I trol at all times, so that the. turning of the strings may be stopped at any time during the.

operation without releasing the strings and the normal back-las oi such strings maintainedunder full control of the operators at all times. Another object isto provide a safety wrench for unscrewing or making-up long strings of well rods, tubing, and pipe, whereby the normalback-lash thereof is-held under full control and controllably released to produce. a sharp jarring of the strings to efiect release or tightening of the screwed joints of the strings as may be desired.

Another important object is toprovide a safety Still .another object; is to provide a "safety wrench for unscrevvinsfiljointed.strings of wellpump rods without :removing'the-weh pipe in which, they are normally inserted. i

Additional important ob'ects of preferred modification of the invention. In the drawings;' I

section,

; Fig. 2 fis a top View or, thefa sisembled devic,

which are hinged together at oneside by-means of hinges 6+6 and provided at the oppo-sites-idesfi with registering apertured ears Sa -6a adapted 1'35 j two sections tog'ether. Casing his provided nea'r,

to receive locking pins 62 for locking the its lower end with an interior partition ghaving v an axial opening 3 ,-therethrough.. Belowpartition 2 and seated suitable recesses iminthe innerjwall of easing I are,oplwsitehrdisposed toothedjaws 4.4', which are adaptedto bead-1:

vanced and retracted radially within casing :l by;

meansof gadjusting screws 55. ;A p air wo f di-d. ametrically opposed ribs 1 -1 are formed or";

rigidly attached to the inner wall creasing I 45' above partition 2,=one :of the ribs l being in each; half- .orjthe casing and extends 5 longitudinally.

thereof above partition 2.

A sleeve type wrench-generally tubular in con I 50 I als'q forrne'd half fsectionsfand; has a. central-'5 bore '9 therethroug'h adapted to enclose a well* structionand designated bythe numeral 8, is;

rod R..- The wrench may-be employedon'tubing or-pipe equally as well'asqrod R. The. outerldi-; ameterfof. the lowerportion :l 0. of wrench fill-i this invention'loi will be readily apparent from the f'ollowing detailed description, whenread in conjunction with r the accompanying drawings'which illustrate ,a,

v .v Q Fig lis an assembly of the ,device mountedon a well pipe and shown partly in longitudinal h no 20i Fig. 3 is; a vlongitu nal sectionthrough the wrench proper. H

is a vplan viewtaken along line ll- 4 .o f zy Fig. 5 is a longitudinal-section of the Wrench l assembly placeon top 8 of'a cylindrical casing I. made, in. two half sections;-'

such that the lower portion ID will pass freely through the opening 3 and act as a guide for insertion of the wrench into casing I. 'The bore l at the upper end of wrench 8 is enlarged and re- 13 cessed at 9a to receive a fixed toothed die II and an oppositely disposed movable die I2 which is provided with a shank I3 which extends through an opening 9?) in the wall of the wrench. The shank I-3 is threaded andnprovided with an ll adjusting nut' I4. By adjustment of movable die I2 by means of nut M, the movable die: I2 will co-act with fixed die I I to enclosed by the wrench (Figs. v1 and 2). A pair of oppositely disposed handles I -I5 extend l5 laterally from opposite sides of? the upper end of.

1 wrench 8, and are used to turn the wrench and the rod being gripped thereby.

A ratchet wheelv I6 is also' made in'half secprojecting apertured ears I'I-I l registering with each other and adapted to' be joined together by means of pins ITa. Wheel 16 is provided with a central bore adapted to receive therein a reduced intermediate portion of the wrench, whereby wrench 8 and wheel I6 will be: rotatable relative to each other. The diameter of "wheel I6 is less than the diametric distance between ribs -'I-'-'I and the ears |II"I project sufiiciently from the periphery of wheel l6 to engage ribs I, which lthus form-stops for limiting the rotation of the v ratchet wheel. p i a The upper face of ratchet wheel I6 is provided with two concentric circular rowsof ratchet teeth, the teeth of the outer row being designated I 8, and those of the inner row I9, I

which face in the opposite direction to teeth I8.

, A pair of pawls-2l320' engage the teeth 18 on opposite sides of wrench 8 and are pivoted" on oppositely disposed shafts 2I-2I which extend 4 laterally from opposite sides of wrench 8. A

second pair of pawls 22-22 similarly engage the teeth I 9 and are similarly pivoted onshafts 2 I 2! but face opposite directions to pawls 20-20.

Chains 2323 attached to opposite sides of do wrench 8 are adapted to be: attached to eyes 24 24 mounted on pawls 20 and 22 when it is desired to lift any orall of the pawls out of their normal engagement with teeth I8 and [9 respectively. I

The operation of the device may be exemplified by describing the removal of well pump rods from a well'where the tubing or well pipe P is to bekept in place. It will be understood that the operation-is similarly applicable to the removal of fifi' tubing or the inner strings of wellpipe, where an outer string of in the well. g

The two halves of casing I are placed about the upper end of well pipe P from which the rods fiu are' to be withdrawn and when the sections of the casing have been locked together by means of pins 6b, the jaws 44 are advanced by means of screws 5-5 to securely grip the upper end of pipe P. The two half sections'of wrench 8 in- '-cluding ratchet wheel I6, are then placed about the-upper end of rod R projecting above the top of casing l and are locked together by looking together the half sections of wheel I6 by insertion of pins Ila into the registering aperture of ears II--I'l. The upper end of rod R passes between diesl I and I2, the latter being in the open or nongripping position at this time. The assembled wrenchisthen'slipped down rod R until the lower portion lil'passes through opening 3 and isin- 75% serted into" the annular spacebe'tween rodR and pipe or' casing remains in place grip rod Rwhioh is. -'torunscrew' the rod sections.

tio-ns, each of which is provided with laterally the inner wall of pipe P, being advanced therein until the lower face of ratchet wheel I6 comes to rest on the upper face of partition 2. Movable die I2 is then adjusted by means of nut I4 until the rod R is tightly gripped between the dies II and I2.

If the rods are to be unscrewed, the usual case, pawls 2222 are lifted and held out of engagement with the teeth I9 by hooking chains 23 to eyes 24..

Pawls 20-20 are left in-.engagement with the teeth IS. The handles l5-I5 are then turned As the turning progresses, ears l'I-I I engage ribs 1-1 and brings ratchet wheel IE to a stop, while rotation of the wrench 8 and rod R continues, pawls 202U slipping over'teeth I8 during this movement. Reerse rotation of the rods under the torsion developed thereiniseifectively prevented by the engagement of pawls 20 with teeth l3 when such movement occurs and by the limiting action resulting from the engagement of ears I! with ribs 7 when a half-turn of the wheel l6 takes place. Thisreverse rotation may be held back by the men at the handles I5 to allow ears IT to come to rest easily against ribs Ii However, it is frequently' desirable to jar the string of rods when they have been twisted to a suitable extent, as it is found that such a jar'will usually start the unscrewing of the rod joints where a steady pull is ineffective. Under theseconditions the handles i5 may be released suddenly with the result that the following reverse half-rotation of the wrench,

between ribs 1-! takes place under the full force of the torsional stress in the rods and the resulting contact of ears I I--I'I with ribs 'Il takes place with considerable force and produces a sharpblow'or jar which is'transmitted to the rod string and is very effective'to start the unscreW- ing ofthe rod joints generally at the lowest joint which is subjected tothe twist'of the rods. At

the same time the amount of back-lash thus permitted is positively limited, and is under safe control at all times.

The device may be similarly used to make up and break-out tubing and pipe. When makingup rods or pipe, pawls'Zil are held out of engagement with teeth teeth I9'.

IBand pawls 22-22 engage with It will be understood that all of the parts of the described device are preferably constructed of steel or other strong metals suitable for withbe-made in the size, form and details of the parts of the-structure of this invention without departing from the scope'of the appended'claims.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is;

l. A wrench for unscrewing or making up a screw-jointed string of rods or tubing within an outer pipe comprising, a cylindrical casing adapted to be fixedly attachedt'o the upper end of said outer pipe andsurrounding said' string, a sleeve member insertable axially of said casing and having a hollow bore adapted to enclose said rods or tubing, gripping means positioned in the bore of said sleeve member and adapted to grip said rods or tubing, means for rotating said sleeve member relative to said casing, and latch means operativebet'ween-said sleeve member and said cassleeve member induced by torsional stress developed insaid rods or tubing by rotation of said sleeve member.

2. A wrench for unscrewing or making-up a screw-jointed string of rods'or tubing within an outer pipe comprising, a cylindrical casing adapted to be fixedly attached to the upper end of said outer pipe and surrounding said string, longitudinal stop members positioned on the inner wall of said casing, a sleeve member insertable in said casing and having a hollow bore adapted to enclose said rods or tubing, gripping means positioned in the bore of said'sleeve and adapted to grip said rods or tubing, means for rotating said sleeve member relative to said casing, and latch means carried by said sleeve member cooperating with said stop members to positively limit reverse rotation of said sleeve member induced by torsional stress developed in said rods or tubing by the forward rotation of said sleeve member. 7

3. A wrench for unscrewing or making up a screw-jointed string of rods or tubing within an outer pipe comprising, a cylindrical casing adapted to be fixedly attached to the upper end of said outer pipe and surrounding said string, longitudinal stop members positioned on the inner wall of said casing, a sleeve member insertable in said casing and having a hollow bore adapted to enclose said rods or tubing, adjustable gripping means positioned in the bore of said sleeve member and adapted to grip said rods or tubing, means for rotating said sleeve member relative tosaid ing to positively limit reverse rotation of-"said member cooperating with said stop members to positively limit reverse rotation of said sleeve 3 casing, and latch means carried by said sleeve memberinduced by torsional stress developed in said rods or tubing by the forward rotation of said sleeve member, said latch means comprising an annular ratchet surrounding said sleeve member, and rotatable relative thereto, projections extending laterally fromthe periphery-of said ratchet, and pawls carried by said sleevemember and cooperating with said ratchet to force said ratchet to rotate with said sleeve member.

4. ,A Wrench of the class described comprising, a hollow cylindrical casing; toothed jaws adjustably mounted in the lower end thereof, radial projections extending longitudinally along the inner wall of said casing,'a hollow sleeve member insertable axially of said casing and rotatable relative thereto, gripping means positionedin the bore of said sleeve member, means for rotating said sleeve member relative to said casing, a horizontally positioned annular disk carried by said sleeve member and rotatable; relative thereto, spaced projections extending laterally from the periphery of said disk into engagement with said radial projections in the casing, ratchet teeth carried by said disk, and cooperating pawls carried by said sleeve member whereby said sleeve member and said disk will rotate together in one direction. v l ROY B. WElL-LBORN.

JAMES LL DYE. NEIGEL R. PERRY.

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