The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 19, 2000
Filed:
Apr. 21, 1999
Lawrence E Foley, Jr, Lafayette, LA (US);
Other;
Abstract
Manual pipe tong comprising secondary latch. The pipe tong comprises a handle and a plurality of linked jaw segments pivotally attached to the handle. Two of the segments are first and second latch segments, and are releasably engageable to form a primary latch. The primary latch may be released and the jaw segments opened to encircle a tubular for makeup of a threaded connection. The first latch segment comprises substantially parallel upper and lower surfaces, and projections on each of those surfaces. A hooking member on the second latch segment comprises a pair of spaced-apart hooks joined by a handle, and is rotably disposed on the second latch segment so that the hooks sandwich the second latch segment. The hooking member is rotatable between first and second positions, and in the second position the hooks engage the projections on the first latch segment so as to form a secondary safety latch. In the event of a tong jaw segment failure, the secondary safety latch keeps the jaw segment fragments linked to the unbroken jaw segments, preventing projectiles from being formed by the fragments. The secondary safety latch also prevents unintentional unlatching of the primary latch.