Modular actuator and hydraulic valve assemblies and control apparatus for oil well blow-out preventers

摘要

A modular apparatus for controlling flow of pressurized hydraulic fluid to and from opening and closing hydraulic actuator cylinders of oil and gas well blow-out preventers (BOP's), utilizes novel rotary hydraulic valve/actuator assemblies, each of which uses a pair of integral double-acting pneumatic actuator cylinders that drive a rack gear coupled to a spur gear located inside the actuator housing which is fixed to a valve rotor shaft that protrudes forward from the valve housing and protrudes through an outer wall of the housing and has a manually operable handle attached thereto, thus enabling multiple valve/actuator assemblies to be mounted in a close side-by-side arrangement to an hydraulic manifold. An air control manifold panel for remotely energizing the pneumatic actuator cylinders includes opening and closing push button control valves on an air manifold connected through air hoses to the actuator cylinders.

主权项

1. A modular oil well blow-out preventer (BOP) control apparatus for controlling flow of pressurized hydraulic fluid to hydraulic actuator cylinders of a BOP, said apparatus comprising;
a. at least a first multiple-position rotary hydraulic valve which has a rotor rotatable between a closed position and at least a first open position for controlling flow of pressurized hydraulic fluid between a source of pressurized hydraulic fluid and an hydraulic line connected to said valve and an hydraulic actuator cylinder of a BOP, said valve having protruding from a housing thereof a rotor shaft having a manually operable handle to open and close said valve, b. a linear actuator operably connected to said valve shaft for reversibly opening and closing said valve, said linear actuator including at least a first cylinder which holds therein a piston slidably movable in response to pressurization of said cylinder, c. a force coupling mechanism for converting linear motion of said piston in said cylinder into rotary motion of said valve rotor, said force coupling mechanism including in combination a curved gear fastened coaxially to said rotor shaft of said valve, said curved gear having teeth on an outer convex surface thereof, and a single linear gear which has teeth which mesh with said teeth of said curved gear, said linear gear being reciprocally translatable in response to linear motion of said piston in said first cylinder, said curved gear being a circular gear which is reversibly attached to said rotor shaft to thereby interchangeably engage opposite sides of said curved gear with said linear gear, said linear gear being a rack gear coupled at a first end to a piston rod extendible from said first cylinder, and d. said linear actuator including a second cylinder, said second cylinder having a piston rod extendible therefrom coupled to a second end of said rack gear, said first and second piston rods of said linear actuator extending outwards from first and second opposed ends of said rack gear, and co-linearly aligned along a common action axis, said linear actuator having a central block-shaped central housing section which has a rear wall that receives rotatably therethrough said rotor shaft of said valve, said rotor shaft being received fixedly through the center of said curved gear and extending through a front wall of said central housing section, said first and second pistons of said linear actuator being linearly slidably located within first and second cylinder bores located in first and second cylinder housing sections which extend perpendicularly from upper and lower sides, respectively, of said central housing section of said linear actuator, said linear actuator including a first inlet port for pressurized fluid which communicates with a head space of said first cylinder bore located adjacent to the head of said first piston, and a second inlet port for pressurized fluid which communicates with a head space of said second cylinder bore located adjacent to the head of said second piston, said linear actuator further including a first auxiliary pressurized fluid conduit which communicates with said first inlet port and a downstroke part of said second cylinder bore located adjacent to the skirt side of said second piston.