what is a power tong operator supplier

Straight Tong Die Driver: Used for die slot redressing, the straight tong die driver is the simplest of type of rig tong. Though it is also the simplest type of rig tong to use, it is also the least safe of the three. Its handle and handguard protect hammer blows from falling onto the grip. Straight tong die drivers are lightweight—under eight pounds—and measure in at around 1”.

Angled Tong Die Driver: The angled tong die driver has a grip that’s angled away from the perpendicular tong as well as brass guards for the tong tip and handle, making this rig tong safer than the straight tong die driver. While this tong is safer, however, it’s actually harder to keep the angle tong die driver in place. This driver is similar in length to the straight tong die driver, but is about two pounds heavier, weighing in at over nine pounds.

Hammerless Tong Die Driver: This variety of tong die driver is made up of a hand pipe that can be used to apply pressure to the tong’s tip without using a hammer at all. This option is the safest of the three driver types because there’s no hammer required, it’s also the slowest driver for this same reason. The hammerless tong die driver is about as long and weighs as much as the straight tong die driver.

What oilfield tools does your operation need? Keystone Energy Tools has atool to fit your bill.Contact us today to learn more about how rig tongs can make your work environment safer, and to learn more our other oil and gas industry products.

Radial Lock Door: A patented door locking system (US Patent 6,279,426) for Eckel tongs that allows for latchless locking of the tong door. The tong door swings easily open and closed and locks when torque is applied to the tong. When safety is important this locking mechanism combined with our safety door interlock provides unparalleled safety while speeding up the turn around time between connections. The Radial Door Lock is patented protected in the following countries: Canada, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Sliding Head: A type of head used in specific Eckel tongs that slides out from a pocket within the tong. This head biting system utilizes our wide angle wrap-around type dies and is considered the best choice of power tong biting systems for use on small tubular and drill pipe.

Torque Control System: A method used to monitor the torque turn values when making up tubular connections (Tubing, Casing, & Drill Pipe). Any flaws in the make-up process will be readily shown in a graph.For more information click here.

You’re the one with the power – the power tongs, that is. You control the equipment that threads sections of drill casing to form the pipe that is placed hundreds of metres into the ground. When you arrive at site, the rig crew knows it’s time to get to work. Your strength and dexterity serve you well in this occupation.

Power tong operators control the equipment that threads sections of drill casing into the wellbore. As a member of the oilfield well services team, they are responsible for operating power tongs, torque measuring equipment and tube/casing handling equipment at the well site. Casing is required to maintain an oil or gas well’s structural integrity, prevent the cross-contamination of water with other fluids and control well pressure during the drilling, production and maintenance of the well. Power tong operators must be able to transport equipment to and from the well location, safely rig in and operate the equipment, perform day-to-day inspections, servicing and maintenance of equipment, and complete all required paperwork accurately and on time.

Casing Tongs: Casing power tongs are used to make or break casing tubulars placed in the drill hole in order to maintain the opening of the well. They come in a variety of sizes that measure anywhere from 5 ½ feet to 36 feet, and are designed to deal with lightweight, or high torque casing. Casing tongs are also available in a variety of models, with torques ranging from 15,000 to 200,000 foot-pounds. Consistent operations among the different models minimize the need for employee training.

Tubing Tongs: The main purpose of tubing power tongs is to run tubulars in order to extract oil and gas from reservoirs. Ruggedly designed, they provide steady, and reliable performance, even at higher torques. Like casing tongs, they also come in a variety of models depending on your torque specifications.

Drill Pipe Tongs: Drill pipe power tongs form drill strings by screwing together drill pipe, and industrial tubular used for drilling into the ground. These tongs are effective at lowering drill time, and reducing costs. Designed for safe, and quick make-up, they come in sizes 2.36 to 10 inches, and include a variety of models.

Riser Tongs: Risers are similar to pipelines in that they are conduits that move materials from the blowout preventer, located on the seafloor, to a drilling rig or floating production structure. Like flowlines, drilling risers transfer mud during the drilling stages while production risers carry over production materials, and hydrocarbons. Manufacturers of premium pipes have created threaded risers that are sealable, fatigue-resistant, and high-pressure– ideal for deep-water drilling.

Flush joint connections are used in numerous cases when running gravel pack screens. This makes it possible to shorten the length of the tong gripping portions between the screens. This change causes an increase in the productive area of the screens across the production zones in which long screen sections are run.

Expandable casing presents several issues for its make-up and running. Due to the deformity of the pipe from its original size, cautious and careful handling is required. Special tongs with jaws that can grip nonconventional diameters should be used for expandable casing. These tongs include false rotary tables and bowls, and slips for managing the inner strings.

Since power tongs are subject to heavy-duty use, and the maintenance requires a specialized workshop, your maintenance and repair provider should be able to assist you wherever, and whenever you need. Regular and consistent routines for maintenance, and spare parts are a must, and should be available as soon as possible to avoid downtime. Modern power tongs are high-end, sophisticated pieces of equipment that require a high level of expertise to operate, and repair. If you’re ever in need of patented Premiere casing, tubing, orcementing tools, contact the professionals at Premiere Inc. They have the services and products you’re looking for, as well as the expertise you need.

DrillingParts.com is in no way affiliated with the companies referenced in this website. References and/or mention of company names or the accompanying computer code are for ID purposes only and are not Trade Marks or Trade Names used by or affiliated with DrillingParts.com. Although under affiliate program agreements, DrillingParts.com may earn on qualifying purchases completed through third party associates such as Amazon, eBay and our marketplace vendors.

Texas International Oilfield Tools (TIOT) offers a free standing test stand for testing of hydraulic casing and tubing power tongs. The test stand is designed to resist torque applied by a power tong through a test mandrel.

The test stand is an air operated device that utilizes a hydraulic active dual spring disc brake chamber in order to apply friction force (“brake” action) to the rotating (or stationary) test mandrel mechanism. The power tong is tested by applying torque to the test stand’s mandrel. The test stand’s brake is activated by pushing and twisting clockwise the red control box button on the control box. A brake foot pedal is supplied as backup for the mini power unit. Using the control box mounted on the test stand, the black knob regulates pressure.

The terms VARCO, VARCO-BJ, and BJ are trademarks of Varco I/P, Inc., National Oilwell Varco, L.P., or their affiliates. Texas International Oilfield Tools is not an authorized distributor of any Varco I/P or NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO product. Texas International Oilfield Tools is not affiliated with Varco I/P, Inc., National Oilwell Varco, L.P., or their affiliates. Varco I/P, Inc., National Oilwell Varco, L.P., and their affiliates do not endorse any Texas International Oilfield Tools’ products or replacement parts.

Don"t make a too shallow decision based solely on the cost of investment. The following key factors should be taken into considertion when deciding whether to rent or own the casing tongs / power tongs.

Modern power tongs are very sophisticated high-end equipment. The remotely operated tongs can be specially designed for your rig. The tongs are easy to rig up, as long as you know what you are doing. The casing crews operating the tongs should be experts with long experience operating the tongs.

The power tongs comes with a computer based reading system. This is a delicate system capable of assisting the casing personnel in interpreting and approving the make-up. This reading requires trained and experienced personnel.

The power tongs are subject to heavy use and the maintenance demands a specialized workshop. Your supplier should be able to help you whenever the need, wherever you are. Spare parts or new tongs must be available within hours, and you need predictable routines for regular service on the tongs. This might be a costly, time-consuming effort if the rig owns the tongs.

Given today’s high level of specialization required to operate much of the equipment, it is hard to keep up with the rapid development on the technical side of oil and gas production. The benefits of renting the tools means less need for expensive training of crews, less logistical challenges in keeping gear functioning and available and a limited liability that makes you able to focus on the primary target: Getting to TD on time.

K&S Power Tongs offers inspection services to ensure that the manufacturers’ running procedures are followed and that every connection is visually and/or mechanically inspected prior to makeup.

K&S Power Tongs offers a complete self-contained power thread washing unit to professionally clean the thread and seal areas of both the box and pin ends on any API, Premium Connection and Drill Pipe. All connections, prior to make-up should be free of all foreign material to ensure proper thread engagement and seal integrity. Thread washing can prevent costly connection leaks and/or recuts, while extending the life of the threads and seal areas of the box and pin end. This unit can be used on the rig floor or at the pipe racks. Catch basins and drain hoses enable all solvents to be disposed of properly.

K&S Power Tongs offers inspection services to ensure that the manufacturers’ running procedures are followed and that every connection is visually and/or mechanically inspected prior to makeup.

K&S Power Tongs offers a complete self-contained power thread washing unit to professionally clean the thread and seal areas of both the box and pin ends on any API, Premium Connection and Drill Pipe. All connections, prior to make-up should be free of all foreign material to ensure proper thread engagement and seal integrity. Thread washing can prevent costly connection leaks and/or recuts, while extending the life of the threads and seal areas of the box and pin end. This unit can be used on the rig floor or at the pipe racks. Catch basins and drain hoses enable all solvents to be disposed of properly.

The present invention relates to open-head power tongs used in drilling operations, and more particularly, is directed to an improved means of actuating and deactuating the operation of the power tong drive means in response to the opened and closed positions of an access door.

As well known in the drilling industry, power tongs are employed in making-up and breaking-out operations of casings, tubings, rods, pipes and the like. More particularly, power tongs are used to grip and rotate lengths of drill pipe or the like to connect or join several lengths of pipe together to thereby form a drill string in a make-up operation, and in the alternative, to grip and rotate a length of drill pipe to disconnect it from the drill string in a break-out operation.

One type of power tong commonly used today is the open-head tong, such as the one shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,014. The open-head tong has a bifrucated frame defining a central opening and a side opening communicating with the central opening for the passing therethrough of a drill pipe or the like. Due to the extreme costs of drilling, open-head tongs have become very popular, in that, they can easily and readily be moved into and out of an operative position when they are needed in the making up and breaking out of drill strings.

In operation, the open-head power tong exerts large rotational torques on the drill pipes, usually the larger the tong, the larger the torque output. Due to these large torque outputs and the resulting forces generated therefrom, the open-head tongs have been provided with an access door that bridges the gap between the bifrucated ends of the tong. The primary purpose of such an access door is to strengthen the tong structure so as to prevent, during the operation of the tong, the bifrucated ends from separating or springing apart, which not only results in damage to the tong, but could also inflict injury to the operating personnel. The access door, in addition to providing structural rigidity to the tong, also provides the operator with safety in bodily protecting him from the rotating pipe gripping and engaging jaws.

Such access doors perform very satisfactorily in providing structural rigidity to the tong and do provide protection to the operators from the rotating components of the tong when the door is properly latched in position during the make-up and break-out operations; however, in an effort to save time, operators have been known to operate the tong with the access door open, and in some instances, the operators have even removed the access door from the tong. Such operator"s carelessness not only causes costly structural damage to the tong, but also results in personal injury to the operator.

In U.S. Pat. No. 2,705,614 there is shown an open-head power tong having an automatic hydraulically powered access door, operably interconnected to the hydraulic cylinders that actuate the jaw gripping mechanism, which must be closed before the jaws can be actuated so as to rotate a drill pipe. Such door interlock mechanism has been specifically designed for the type of tong disclosed and is not readily adaptable to other types of power tongs, such as the one shown in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,014. Further, the hydraulic circuitry that is involved with such a powered access door is not only complicated, having expensive components, but is also, costly to maintain and repair. Still further, such door interlock mechanism does not provide adequate safety to an operator, in that, although the operator is protected from the pipe gripping and engaging mechanism when the door is closed, he is also subjected to the risk of having the power operated door being automatically swung into him as it is being closed, thus, creating a potentially dangerous and unsafe condition under which the operator must work.

The present invention obviates the problems experienced with access doors and disadvantages associated with the prior art door-interlock mechanisms by providing, as one of its principle objects, an improved door-interlock mechanism for an open-head power tong that ensures the access door is in a closed position before the tong can be operated, thereby preventing possible structural damage to the tong from operating the tong with the door open, as well as, preventing personal injury to the operators by protecting them from the various rotating components of the tong.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a door-interlock mechanism for an open-head power tong that is simple in structure and adaptable to all types of open-head power tongs.

Accordingly, the present invention, sets forth in an open-head power tong having an access door mounted on the tong and moveable between opened and closed positions, an improved door-interlock mechanism that includes means for controlling the operation of the tong in response to the opened and closed position of the door. More particularly, the control means preferably includes a pneumatic contact valve interconnected with a pneumatically piloted diverter valve operably associated with the power means of the tong such that the power means is placed in either an operative or inoperative condition in response to respective closed and opened positions of the door. Specifically, the pneumatic contact valve is so positioned in the vicinity of the side opening that the door, in its closed position, engages the contact valve thereby actuating the diverter valve to permit operation of the power means, and when, the door is moved from its closed position out of engagement with the contact valve, the contact valve causes the diverter valve to deactuate the power means, thus stopping the operation thereof.

These and other advantages and attainments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an open-head power tong incorporating the improved door-interlock mechanism of the present invention with the access door being in its closed position in engagement with the contact valve which actuates the diverter valve.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic fragmentary view of the power tong showing the side edge portion of the access door with the door latch removed and with the contact valve being in disengagement with the door which is partly open.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly, to FIG. 1, there is shown, for illustration purposes only, an open-head power tong, being generally indicated by the numeral 10, incorporating the principles of the present invention. The tong illustrated in FIG. 1 is of the type shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,014, and thus, for the sake of brevity, since the tong itself forms no part of this invention, only a brief description of the tong will follow.

Briefly, as best seen in FIG. 1, the power tong 10 is comprised of a bifrucated frame structure 12 defining a central drill pipe receiving opening, and a side opening that communicates to the central opening for laterally passing a drill pipe therewithin. Rotatably supported within the frame structure 12 is a pipe engaging and gripping means that includes jaws 14 that swing into and out of the central opening for gripping and rotating a drill pipe disposed within the central opening during make-up and break-out operations of a drill string. The pipe engaging and gripping means with its associated jaws 14 are rotatably driven through a suitable drive train (not shown) by power means such as the hydraulic motor 16 which receives fluid under pressure from a suitable hydraulic pump (not shown) and through a hydraulic control valve 17. The valve 17 is conventional, being moveable between three spool positions; one position being such that the fluid drives the motor in a forward clockwise direction, another position being such that the hydraulic fluid drives the motor in a reverse counterclockwise direction, and the third position being a neutral position wherein fluid passes through the valve to the return line that returns the fluid to a reservoir (not shown) for recirculation thereof.

Also supported on the frame structure 12 is an access door 18, adapted to span or bridge the access opening defined between the bifrucated end portions so as to provide structural rigidity to the power tong 10, as well as, to protect the operator from the various moving components, such as the jaws 14. One end of the access door 18 is hinged to an end of one of the frame bifrucations by a pivot pin 20 whereas the free end of the door is provided with a self-latching arm 22 that engages a latch member 24 mounted on the other bifrucation so as to positively latch the door when it is closed. The door and the door latching mechanism are of the type shown and described in a pending U.S. application, bearing U.S. Ser. No. 791,752; filed Apr. 28, 1977; and entitled TONG LOCKING MECHANISM. The door and the latching mechanism forms no part of this invention and thus a further description will not be given.

To ensure that the tong 10 is only operated when the door 18 is closed, closing the access opening, the tong 10 is provided with an interlock mechanism which basically includes a contact valve 26, engageable by the door 18, and a hydraulic diverter valve 28, operably associated with the hydraulic motor 16 so as to permit flow of hydraulic fluid to the motor, or, in the alternative position, to bypass the flow of hydraulic fluid around the motor.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, in particularly FIG. 2, the contact valve 26 is mounted on the front side of the frame structure 12, in proximity to the access opening, and is so positioned to be engaged by the door 18 when the door is closed and disengaged when the door is opened. The contact valve 26 has an internal spring that biases the valve to its disengaged position. A suitable source for generating pneumatic pressure, such as a compressor (not shown) is provided to supply pressure to the valve 26 through inlet line 30 and therethrough, when valve 26 is in its engaged position, via line 62 to one end of the pneumatic piloted hydraulic diverter valve 28. When pressure is so applied on the diverter valve 28, the valve is so positioned to permit hydraulic fluid to flow to the motor 16 and thereby its operation. However, when pressure is relieved from the diverter valve 28, which is caused when the door 18 is disengaged from the contact valve 26, an internal biasing spring forces the valve to a position which diverts the flow of hydraulic flow around the motor 16, and thus, stoppage thereof.

Now turning to FIG. 3 which schematically represents the various operating components as well as the hydraulic and pneumatic circuitry associated therewith, the operation of the door interlock will be further described. First, it should be noted that both the hydraulic source and the pneumatic source are fully operating with respective fluids being under pressure in inlet lines, the access door 18 being closed, engaged with the actuating arm of the contact valve 26, the piloted diverter valve 28 being detented so as to pass the flow of hydraulic fluid around the motor 16, and with the hydraulic spool control valve 17 being in its neutral position such that fluid passes directly therethrough to the reservoir tank via inlet line 34, passageway 36, return line 38. Thus, as the spool valve 17 is shifted to its forward drive position, hydraulic fluid passes from the inlet line 34, through passageway 40, to line 42, through passageway 44 (of diverter valve 28), to line 46 which directs fluid into the left-hand side of the motor 16, and then via lines 48,49 to passageway 50 of valve 18 which is internally connected to the hydraulic return line 38. If the spool valve 17 is shifted in an opposite direction so as to reverse the direction of the motor 16, fluid flows via line 34, through passageway 52 to line 49 and line 48 to the right side of the motor 16, and then returns via lines 46, passageway 44, line 42 to passageway 54 which is internally connected to return line 38. It can be thus seen that when pressure is applied on the diverter valve 28, it is so positioned to pass hydraulic fluid either to one or the other sides of the motor 16 to thereby drive the rotating components of the tong 10 in either forward or reverse directions depending on the forward or reverse positions of the control valve 17. However, when the pneumatic pressure is relieved from the diverter valve 28, the internal spring forces the valve to the right, thus changing the flow path of the hydraulic fluid so as to bypass the motor 16. In such pressure relief position of the diverter valve 28, the fluid flow path is via lines 49,58, passageway 56 and line 42, thereby bypassing the flow of fluid to the motor 16. Since the flow of fluid through line 46 is blocked, no fluid passes to the motor 16, thus rendering it inoperative.

Thus, it can be readily appreciated from the above, that hydraulic fluid is either directed to the motor 16 for operation thereof, or bypassed therearound, preventing its operation, depending on the position of diverter valve 28. The diverter valve 28 is caused to move between its respective positions in response to the engaged and disengaged positions of the contact valve 26. In its engaged position, air under pressure passes from inlet line 30 through passageway 60 to line 62 for applying pressure to the diverter valve 28 to thereby maintain it in its retracted position wherein hydraulic fluid is permitted to pass to the motor 16. However, when the access door 18 is opened, disengaged from the contact arm of the contact valve 26, the internal spring in the contact valve 26 moves the valve to the left, thereby relieving the pressure in line 62 by venting it to the atmosphere through passageway 64, causing the internal spring to shift the position of the diverter valve 28 such that hydraulic fluid flow is bypassed around the motor 16, thus non-operation thereof.

It can be understood from the foregoing that the described interlock-mechanism controls the operation of the hydraulic motor 16, and thus the operation of the tong 10, in response to the open and closed positions of the access door 18, such that the tong 10 can only be operated with the access door 18 in its closed position, and thereby eliminating the possibility of structural damage to the tong from operating same with the door open, as well as, providing safety to the operator from exposure to the various operating components of the tong.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in form, construction, and arrangement of the improved door interlock mechanism without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinabove described being merely a preferred or exemplary embodiment thereof.

K&S Power Tongs committs to providing quality casing services in a safe, reliable, cost efficient and timely manner. Safety is everyone’s full time job and we are committed to the prevention and elimination of all safety nad health hazards. All operators are specially trained and industry safety certified. Safety is never compromised. Unsafe acts are never tolerated and our employees are held accountable to work safe.

K&S Power Tongs offers coventional and integral power tong services, volant casing running tools, computer torque-turn systems, power thread washing, thread inspection, handling equipment rentals and light oilfield hauling.

Our company offers quality services and competitive rates with strict guidelines to minimize impact on the environment and maximize utilization of safety skills. We offer a level of professionalism that builds solid relationships in this industry, growing to advance our equipment to meet the technology advancement in the oilfield.

These units are some of the more common makes & models we distribute but please do not hesitate to contact us with any enquiries you might have in regards to alternative manufacturers or styles.

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On the 10-5/8 in model and larger the backup system incorporates a dual jaw position, which makes the backup capable of biting the casing and the coupling with the same jaws.