PISTON PUMP MANUAL ROLLING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE

Abstract

An improved pump manual rolling system and method of use. The improved pump manual rolling system can include a pump manual rolling device that has a torque wheel that is bolted to and remains on the pump crankshaft; a torque wheel cover that bolts to, and remains on, a non-rotating part of the pump, pump component (such as a the belt guard cover), or an independent stand, and a detached handle with or without a key to both activate and select ratchet operation direction.

Claims

1. A system for manually rotating a pump, wherein the system comprises: (a) a torque wheel having one or more handle receptacles for receiving a handle for rotating the torque wheel, wherein (i) the torque wheel is operably connected to a crankshaft of the pump such that rotation of the torque wheel can rotate the crankshaft; and (b) a torque wheel cover, wherein (i) the torque wheel cover is positioned over the torque wheel, (ii) the torque wheel cover has a window that provides access to at least one of the one or more handle receptacles of the torque wheel, and (iii) the window is positioned to face in a downward direction such that gravity will cause the handle, when positioned in one or more of the handle receptacles of the torque wheel through the window, to drop from the one or more handle receptacles due to gravity.

2. The system of claims 1 further comprising the handle.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the torque wheel is permanently mounted to the crankshaft of the pump and remains in place during operations of the pump.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the torque wheel has one or more of the following features: (a) the one or more handle receptacles are a plurality of handle receptacles; (b) the one or more handle receptacles are in combination with a planetary gear; (c) the torque wheel comprises a unidirectional ratchet; (d) the torque wheel comprises the unidirectional ratchet combined with a planetary gear; (e) the torque wheel comprises a bidirectional ratchet; and the torque wheel comprises the bidirectional ratchet combined with the planetary gear.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein (a) the torque wheel cover is mounted to a non-rotating part of the pump, pump component, or an independent stand; and (b) the torque wheel cover is operable to remain in place during pump operations.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein (a) the torque wheel cover is mounted to the pump component; and (b) the pump component is a belt guard cover.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises the handle and the handle comprises an integrated key.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein (a) the torque wheel has a ratchet pawl; and (b) the integrated key is operable to engage the ratchet pawl, move the ratchet pawl into place, and determine the direction of rotation.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the integrated key is further operable to change direction of rotation by removing, reorienting, and reinstalling the handle.

10. A method of manually rotating a pump, wherein the method comprises: (a) inserting a handle into a handle receptacle for a torque wheel, wherein (i) the handle is inserted into the handle receptacle through a window in a torque wheel cover, and (ii) the window is positioned such that if the handle is not held in place, it will drop from the handle receptacle due to gravity; (b) rotating the torque wheel to rotate the crankshaft to manually rotate the pump; and (c) removing the handle from the handle receptacle by either manually moving the handle or by releasing the handle and allowing it to drop due to gravity.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the torque wheel has a plurality of handle receptacles.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the torque wheel cover is positioned over the torque wheel.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the torque wheel is permanently mounted to the crankshaft of the pump and remains in place during operations of the pump.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the torque wheel has one or more of the following features: (a) a plurality of handle receptacles; (b) the plurality of handle receptacles are in combination with a planetary gear; (c) the torque wheel comprises a unidirectional ratchet; (d) the torque wheel comprises the unidirectional ratchet combined with a planetary gear; (e) the torque wheel comprises a bidirectional ratchet; and (f) the torque wheel comprises the bidirectional ratchet combined with the planetary gear.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein (a) the torque wheel cover is mounted to a non-rotating part of the pump, pump component, or an independent stand; and (b) the torque wheel cover remains in place during pump operations.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein (a) the torque wheel cover is mounted to the pump component; and (b) the pump component is a belt guard cover.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the handle comprises an integrated key.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein (a) the torque wheel has a ratchet pawl; and (b) the integrated key is used to engage the ratchet pawl, move the ratchet pawl into place, and determine the direction of rotation.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising changing direction of rotation by removing, reorienting, and reinstalling the handle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] FIG. 1 is a photograph of a piston pump known in the prior art.

[0043] FIG. 2 is a photograph of a fully unitized triplex piston pump known in the prior art.

[0044] FIG. 3 is an illustration (perspective view) of a piston pump known in the prior art.

[0045] FIG. 4 is an illustration (overhead view) view of the piston pump shown in FIG. 3.

[0046] FIG. 5 is an illustration (exploded view) of a plate with welded nut that can be bolted to the end of a crankshaft of a piston pump, which is used for rolling the piston pump by hand in the prior art.

[0047] FIGS. 6A-6B are photographs of a ratchet being used to roll a piston pump in the prior art.

[0048] FIGS. 7A-7B are photographs of a T-bar and a cheater pipe, respectively, that can be used to roll a piston pump in the prior art.

[0049] FIG. 8 is an illustration of a pump manual rolling device of the present invention.

[0050] FIG. 9 is an illustration of a torque wheel that is used in the pump manual rolling device shown in FIG. 8.

[0051] FIG. 10 is an illustration of an alternative pump manual rolling device of the present invention having an integrated ratchet.

[0052] FIG. 11 is an illustration of a torque wheel that is used in the pump manual rolling device shown in FIG. 10.

[0053] FIG. 12 is an illustration of an alternative pump manual rolling device of the present invention having an integrated ratchet and planetary gear. Note that while the planetary gear is shown between the detached handle and the ratchet, it may be also located between the ratchet and the crankshaft.

[0054] FIG. 13 is an illustration of a torque wheel cover that can be used in embodiments of the present invention.

[0055] FIG. 14A is an illustration of a detached handle that can be used in embodiments of the present invention.

[0056] FIG. 14B is an illustration of the detached handle shown in FIG. 14A that provides an example of dimensions of the detached handle.

[0057] FIG. 15 is a photograph of a pump manual rolling device and torque wheel cover installed on a mud pump.

[0058] FIG. 16 is a photograph of the pump manual rolling device shown in FIG. 15 looking up into the torque wheel cover.

[0059] FIG. 17 is a photograph of the pump manual rolling device shown in FIG. 15 with the torque wheel cover removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0060] The present invention relates to manually rolling or rotating pumps such that routine maintenance and repairs can be completed in a more safe manner. The improved pump manual rolling system includes the following components: [0061] (1) A pump manual rolling device that has a torque wheel with or without a ratchet and/or planetary gear that is bolted to and remains on the pump crankshaft. [0062] (2) A torque wheel cover that bolts to, and remains on a non-rotating part of the pump, pump component (such as the belt guard cover), or an independent stand. [0063] (3) A detached handle with or without a key to both activate and select ratchet operation direction.

[0064] The combination of these components allows the pump to rolled or rotated by a person but mitigates the potential of the handle being inadvertently left in place when the pump is energized and activated thus mitigating the scenario which has resulted in historical high potential incidents and serious personnel injuries. It also provides for a system that can be used over an extended period to compensate for fatigue that could occur over time.

[0065] FIGS. 8, 10, and 12 are illustrations of, respectively, pump manual rolling devices 800, 1000, and 1200. FIG. 15 is a photograph of a pump manual rolling device 1500 and torque wheel cover 1501 installed on a mud pump (with FIG. 17 having the torque wheel cover 1501 removed to further show the torque wheel 1700). The installation of a pump manual rolling devices (such as any of pump manual rolling device 800, 1000, 1200, and 1500) result in a system that requires the handle (such as handle 1400 shown in FIG. 14A), to be manually inserted into the device from the bottom. A person of ordinary skill in the art of the present invention can adjust the size of handle 1400 depending upon the various features of the pump manual rolling device and as otherwise desired. FIG. 14B provides an example of dimensions for the handle 1400m with numerical values being inch measurements.

[0066] For the pump manual rolling devices of the present invention, the handle must be held up in place vertically while being used to manually rotate the pump. FIG. 16 is a photograph of the pump manual rolling device 1500 looking up into the torque wheel cover 1501, which shows that the handle can only be placed into the pump manual rolling device 1500 in a limited portion around the circumference of the pump manual rolling device 1500 (which is the portion facing downward).

[0067] As shown in FIG. 13, the torque wheel cover 1300 has a window 1301 that is positioned to face downward (and expose only a limited circumference) when covering the pump manual rolling devices (such as any of pump manual rolling device 800, 1000, 1200, and 1500).

[0068] If and when the handle 1400 is released, the handle 1400 will simply fall to the ground due to a combination of the guard design of the torque wheel cover (such as torque wheel cover 1300), and gravity. Since the handle 1400 will not stay in place when released, handle 1400 cannot be inadvertently left in place when the pump is restarted thus mitigating the high potential incident and potential for personnel injury.

Torque Wheel

[0069] FIGS. 9 and 11 respectfully illustrate torque wheels 900 and 1100 that are in pump manual rolling devices 800 and 1000. The torque wheel (such as any of torque wheels 900 and 1100) is the component that converts the force from the handle being pushed/pulled into a rotational force and transmits this force to the pump crankshaft.

[0070] The torque wheel is permanently mounted to the pump crankshaft and is designed to remain in place during pump operations for an extended period of time.

[0071] The configuration of the torque wheel may be of varying degree from very simple to very complex.

[0072] In a more simple and straightforward form, the torque wheel can be torque wheels 900 and 1700, which are shown in FIGS. 9 and 17, respectively. Such torque wheels can have of a plurality of handle receptacles arranged in a circular pattern, such as shown torque wheels 900 and 1700. In this form the handle must be inserted into a receptacle, pushed or pulled to rotate the torque wheel/pump crankshaft, removed, reinserted into a different receptacle at the starting position, pushed/pulled, removed, and repeated until the pump has been rotated to the desired position.

[0073] Complexity of the torque wheel may be layered on in many forms to simplify operations such as but not limited to: [0074] (a) A torque wheel having an integrated unidirectional ratchet. The integrated ratchet allows the handle to be only inserted once. The handle is inserted, pushed to transmit load, pulled back without transmitting load, pushed to transmit load, and repeated until the pump has been rotated to the desired position. [0075] (b) A torque wheel having an integrated bidirectional ratchet, such as shown in torque wheel 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11. The integrated bidirectional ratchet employs all of the benefits of the unidirectional ratchet but also has a selector mechanism that allows the load transmitting push and free return pull to be reversed to a load transmitting pull and free return push. The reversing of functions allow the pump crankshaft to be rotated in either the clockwise or counter clockwise directions. Optionally, the selector mechanism can be built such that the detached handle itself has a key that engages the ratchet pawl, moves the ratchet pawl into place, and determines the direction of rotation. [0076] (c) A torque wheel having a planetary gear with an integrated ratchet, such as shown in torque wheel 1201 illustrated in FIG. 12. The planetary gear simply provides a mechanical advantage that reduces load required to push or pull the handle to rotate the pump crankshaft. The planetary gear may installed with or without a ratchet and be placed before or after the ratchet when coupled with a ratchet.

Torque Wheel Cover

[0077] FIG. 13 is an illustration of torque wheel cover 1300, which has a window 1301. FIG. 16 is a photograph of the pump manual rolling device 1500 looking up into the torque wheel cover 1501, which shows that the handle can only be placed into the pump manual rolling device 1500 in a limited portion around the circumference of the pump manual rolling device 1500 (which is the portion facing downward). The torque wheel cover is permanently mounted to a non-rotating portion of the pump, pump component, or independent stand.

[0078] The torque wheel cover has multiple purposes, including a safety guard to protect or shield personnel from the rotating torque wheel and to restrict or limit the area in which the handle can be moved. This restriction limits the handle's location to an area in which gravity will cause the handle to fall out unless it is manually held in place.

Detached Handle

[0079] FIG. 14 shows detached handle 1400 that can be used with pump manual rolling devices of the present invention. The handle is simply inserted into the torque wheel receptacle and pushed or pulled manually to introduce load into the system.

[0080] The handle is designed such that it will fall out due to gravity when it is within the operating limits of the torque wheel cover.

[0081] In some embodiments, the handle may be keyed such that when it is installed it will engage the ratchet pawl, move the ratchet pawl into place, and determine the direction of rotation. To change directions, the detached handle simply has to be removed, reoriented, and reinstalled.

[0082] Because the handle will automatically fall out when not held in place, it cannot be installed when the pump is activated and will mitigate this high potential incident scenario.

[0083] Moreover, as the handle can be replaced from time to time, this alleviates issues of fatigue to the handle over time. As for the pump manual rolling device and its torque wheels, this arrangement has been tested over time, and can withstand long periods of use before having to be replaced. Moreover, as the stress would be on the torque wheel (and the place where the handle is inserted), the torque wheel can be replaced from time to time as the need arises.

[0084] While embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, modifications thereof can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and teachings of the invention. The embodiments described and the examples provided herein are exemplary only, and are not intended to be limiting. Many variations and modifications of the invention disclosed herein are possible and are within the scope of the invention. The scope of protection is not limited by the description set out above, but is only limited by the claims which follow, that scope including all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims.

[0085] The disclosures of all patents, patent applications, and publications cited herein are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, to the extent that they provide exemplary, procedural, or other details supplementary to those set forth herein.

[0086] Amounts and other numerical data may be presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. For example, a numerical range of approximately 1 to approximately 4.5 should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited limits of 1 to approximately 4.5, but also to include individual numerals such as 2, 3, 4, and sub-ranges such as 1 to 3, 2 to 4, etc. The same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value, such as less than approximately 4.5, which should be interpreted to include all of the above-recited values and ranges. Further, such an interpretation should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristic being described.

[0087] Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which the presently disclosed subject matter belongs. Although any methods, devices, and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the presently disclosed subject matter, representative methods, devices, and materials are now described.

[0088] Following long-standing patent law convention, the terms a and an mean one or more when used in this application, including the claims.

[0089] Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, reaction conditions, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term about. Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in this specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the presently disclosed subject matter.

[0090] As used herein, the term about and substantially when referring to a value or to an amount of mass, weight, time, volume, concentration or percentage is meant to encompass variations of in some embodiments 20%, in some embodiments 10%, in some embodiments 5%, in some embodiments 1%, in some embodiments 0.5%, and in some embodiments 0.1% from the specified amount, as such variations are appropriate to perform the disclosed method.

[0091] As used herein, the term substantially perpendicular and substantially parallel is meant to encompass variations of in some embodiments within 10 of the perpendicular and parallel directions, respectively, in some embodiments within 5 of the perpendicular and parallel directions, respectively, in some embodiments within 1 of the perpendicular and parallel directions, respectively, and in some embodiments within 0.5 of the perpendicular and parallel directions, respectively.

[0092] As used herein, the term and/or when used in the context of a listing of entities, refers to the entities being present singly or in combination. Thus, for example, the phrase A, B, C, and/or D includes A, B, C, and D individually, but also includes any and all combinations and subcombinations of A, B, C, and D.