Spectacle blind swinging devices and related methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12287040-B2
Application number	US-202217930594-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 8, 2022
Priority date	Sep 8, 2022
Publication date	Apr 29, 2025
Grant date	Apr 29, 2025

Abstract

A swinging device and related methods; the swinging device includes a first housing mountable to a first pipe on a first side of a pipe flange joint, a second housing mountable to a second pipe on a second side of a pipe flange joint, a shaft rotatably mounted to and extending between the first and second housings, and a spectacle blind mounted to the shaft such that rotating the shaft correspondingly rotates the spectacle blind between an open position, where the spectacle blind allows flow through the pipe flange joint, and a closed positon, where the spectacle blind prevents flow through the pipe flange joint.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A swinging device, comprising:
a first housing mountable to a first pipe on a first side of a pipe flange joint;
a second housing mountable to a second pipe on a second side of a pipe flange joint;
a shaft rotatably mounted to and extending between the first and second housings;
a gear train operatively coupled to the shaft such that driving the gear train correspondingly rotates the shaft; and
a spectacle blind mounted to the shaft such that rotating the shaft correspondingly rotates the spectacle blind between an open position, whereby the spectacle blind allows flow through the pipe flange joint, and a closed position positon, whereby the spectacle blind prevents flow through the pipe flange joint.

2. The swinging device of claim 1 , wherein the gear train is housed within the second housing and includes a drive gear rotatably mounted within the second housing and a driven gear operatively coupled to the shaft.

3. The swinging device of claim 2 , further comprising a manual drive handle rotatably mounted to the second housing and operatively coupled to the gear train such that manually rotating the manual drive handle drives the gear train and correspondingly rotates the shaft and the spectacle blind.

4. The swinging device of claim 1 , wherein the spectacle blind comprises:
a closed disc;
an open disc that defines an aperture; and
a web that interconnects the closed and open discs and defines a slot that receives the shaft,
wherein rotating the spectacle blind to the open position places the open disc in the pipe flange joint, and rotating the spectacle blind to the closed position places the closed disc in the pipe flange joint.

5. The swinging device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first base plate removably attachable to the first pipe, the first housing being configured to be operatively coupled to the first base plate; and
a second base plate removably attachable to the second pipe, the second housing being configured to be operatively coupled to the second base plate.

6. The swinging device of claim 5 , wherein each base plate comprises:
a body that defines an arcuate lower surface; and
opposing arcuate extensions cooperatively defined by the body and the arcuate lower surface.

7. The swinging device of claim 6 , further comprising a wheel rotatably coupled to each arcuate extension and configured to contact an outer surface of the first pipe or the second pipe and thereby offset the base plate from the outer surface of the first pipe or the second pipe.

8. The swinging device of claim 5 , further comprising:
one or more first adjustable members that removably attach the first base plate to the first pipe; and
one or more second adjustable members that removably attach the second base plate to the second pipe,
wherein a length of each adjustable member is adjustable to be able to extend about a variety of pipe sizes.

9. The swinging device of claim 5 , further comprising:
a first intermediate structure interposing the first housing and the first base plate; and
a second intermediate structure interposing the second housing and the second base plate.

10. The swinging device of claim 1 , wherein the shaft comprises:
a first shaft portion rotatably mounted to the first housing; and
a second shaft portion rotatably mounted to the second housing and operatively coupled to the first shaft portion.

11. A method of operating a swinging device, comprising:
removing a plurality of fasteners that secure a first flange of a first pipe to a second flange of a second pipe at a pipe flange joint, wherein the swinging device includes:
a first housing mounted to the first pipe on a first side of the pipe flange joint;
a second housing mounted to the second pipe on a second side of the pipe flange joint;
a shaft rotatably mounted to and extending between the first and second housings;
a gear train operatively coupled to the shaft such that driving the gear train correspondingly rotates the shaft; and
a spectacle blind mounted to the shaft;

driving the gear train to thereby rotate the shaft and the spectacle blind to either an open position, where the spectacle blind allows flow through the pipe flange joint, or a closed position positon, where the spectacle blind prevents flow through the pipe flange joint; and
reinstalling the plurality of fasteners once the spectacle blind is moved to the open position or the closed position.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the gear train is housed within the second housing and includes a drive gear rotatably mounted within the second housing and a driven gear operatively coupled to the shaft, and wherein driving the gear train comprises driving the drive gear to correspondingly rotate the driven gear and the shaft.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the swinging device further includes a manual drive handle rotatably mounted to the second housing and operatively coupled to the gear train, and wherein driving the gear train comprises manually rotating the manual drive handle and thereby causing the gear train to drive against the shaft and rotate the spectacle blind.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the spectacle blind includes a closed disc, an open disc that defines an aperture, and a web that interconnects the closed and open discs and defines a slot that receives the shaft, the method further comprising:
rotating the spectacle blind to the open position by positioning the open disc in the pipe flange joint; and
rotating the spectacle blind to the closed position by positioning the closed disc in the pipe flange joint.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the swinging device further includes:
a first base plate removably attached to the first pipe, the first housing being operatively coupled to the first base plate; and
a second base plate removably attached to the second pipe, the second housing being operatively coupled to the second base plate.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising adjusting the first and second base plates about the first and second pipe, respectively, via one or more wheels rotatably coupled to each base plate.

17. The swinging device of claim 3 , further comprising a drive shaft interposing and operatively coupled to the manual drive handle and the drive gear.

18. The swinging device of claim 10 , wherein the first shaft portion defines a slotted end extending from the first housing, wherein the second shaft portion defines an axial extension extending from the second housing, and wherein the axial extension and slotted end are coupled via a shaft pin to form the shaft.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising mating a first shaft portion extending from the first housing to a second shaft portion extending from the second housing to form the shaft, wherein the first shaft portion defines a slotted end and the second shaft portion defines an axial extension.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein mating the first shaft portion to the second shaft portion includes inserting the axial extension into the slotted end and inserting a shaft pin to form the shaft.

Assignees

• Saudi Arabian Oil Co

Inventors

• Aliwi Ali A
• Alhassan Ridha A
• Hazmi Shadi M
• Abutalib Mohammad H

Classifications

• E21B4/006

  Mechanical motion converting means, e.g. reduction gearings (E21B4/10 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E21B34/02

  in well heads · CPC title

• F16K3/312 Primary

  Line blinds · CPC title