Mcevoy Oilfield Equipment Co.

Exxon Production Research Company

John W McCaskill

David P Herd

Thomas W Childers

Robert D Barnett

First and second pipes supported substantially vertically in a subsea location with a breech block connector connecting the pipes together, the said breech block connector comprising male and female elements, one of which has longitudinally extending circumferentially spaced lugs thereon and the other of which has at least one longitudinally extending stop positioned to engage one of the lugs to limit relative rotation of the members when making up the connection, a longitudinally movable latch member on the other breech block element resiliently biased in a position to engage one of said lugs on the side opposite the stop to prevent relative rotation of the breech block elements in a direction to disconnect them, and a hydraulic cylinder having a piston and piston rod therein connected to the latch member, with biasing means applied to the piston to bias the latch into engagement with the lug and means for applying hydraulic fluid under pressure to both ends of said hydraulic cylinder.

Pipe joint with remotely operable latch

A valve comprising a housing with an inlet and outlet and a chamber in between, a reciprocating gate mounted in a gate seat disposed within the chamber for opening and closing the valve, an upper bonnet for closing the chamber at one end and a lower bonnet for closing the chamber at the other end, the gate being disposed between upper and lower stems which extend into the upper and lower bonnets respectively. Metal-to-metal seals are provided at all junctures between the above members in the lower gate position with back-up seals at the junctures of all moving members. A double edged seal ring integral with the upper stem self-contained within the upper bonnet provides a metal-to-metal seal with the upper bonnet in the upper and lower gate positions of the valve. A metal gasket arrangement is provided between the upper bonnet and valve body whereby the assemblage of all points of contact between the gasket and body form an annular ring. A combination seal ring of metal and plastic is disposed between the gate seat and valve body at the outlet whereby the metal prevents the plastic from extruding between the seat and body and into the outlet. A removable backseat may be used to simultaneously seal the upper bonnet and upper stem upon moving the valve to one of its positions.

High pressure valve

A balanced stem fail-safe valve controls flow of fluids through a submerged pipeline. A closed subsea hydraulic pressure system operates or powers the valve. In the fail-safe mode the operating or reservoir pressure equals ambient sea pressure. A valve housing is arranged on the pipeline and a valve chamber is formed in the valve housing. A valve element is movable in the valve chamber between open and closed positions to control the flow of fluids through the pipeline. A first fluid pressure operable means is connected to the valve element to move the valve element to open position upon application of pump pressure to the first fluid pressure operable means. Electrically operated valves are used to direct the flow of power fluid to and from the valve. A spring is arranged in the valve housing to urge the valve element to its closed position in the event of power failure. A second fluid pressure operable means detached from the valve element engages the valve element upon application of operating or reservoir pressure to the second fluid pressure operable means to balance any unwanted force which might occur when the ambient pressure is greater than the internal valve pressure and permit the spring to close the valve element. The valve operator may be removable by means of a remotely operated manipulator for repair or replacement of the valve system or portions thereof.

Growing community of inventors

Houston, TX, United States of America

John W McCaskill