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WO-2026093034-A1 - BACKUP WRENCH FOR POWER TONG

WO2026093034A1WO 2026093034 A1WO2026093034 A1WO 2026093034A1WO-2026093034-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a backup wrench for a power tong. The backup wrench comprises a wrench head jaw, a wrench body, and measuring means for measuring torque, wherein the wrench head jaw is pivotable with respect to the wrench body, and the measuring means is actuatable upon pivoting the wrench head jaw with respect to the wrench body.

Inventors

  • ABARCA ALEJANDRE, Jesús Aarón
  • PEREYRA, MATÍAS GUSTAVO

Assignees

  • METALMECANICA S.A.
  • TENARIS CONNECTIONS B.V.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251016
Priority Date
20241101

Claims (18)

  1. 1 . Backup wrench for a power tong, comprising: a wrench head jaw, a wrench body, and measuring means for measuring torque, wherein: - the wrench head jaw is pivotable with respect to the wrench body, and - the measuring means is actuatable upon pivoting the wrench head jaw with respect to the wrench body.
  2. 2. Backup wrench of claim 1 , wherein the wrench head jaw defines a sucker rod rotation axis for positioning the longitudinal axis of a sucker rod.
  3. 3. Backup wrench of claim 2, wherein the wrench head jaw is pivotable with respect to the wrench body about the sucker rod rotation axis.
  4. 4. Backup wrench of claim 2 or 3, wherein the measuring means is actuatable in tangential direction with respect to the sucker rod rotation axis.
  5. 5. Backup wrench of any previous claim, the wrench head jaw comprising an actuation arm arranged to actuate the measuring means.
  6. 6. Backup wrench of any of claims 2 to 4, and claim 5, wherein the actuation arm comprises an actuation arm contact face for contacting the measuring means, wherein the actuation arm contact face is flush to a plane containing the sucker rod rotation axis.
  7. 7. Backup wrench of any previous claim, further comprising a mounting member for mounting the backup wrench to a backup wrench mount of a power tong, wherein the measuring means is located away from the mounting member.
  8. 8. Backup wrench of any previous claim, wherein the measuring means comprises an actuation element and an actuation element housing, wherein the actuation element is actuatable upon pivoting of the wrench head jaw with respect to the wrench body. 17051835.JCP2.JCP2
  9. 9. Backup wrench of claim 8, wherein the actuation element housing comprises an actuation element housing support surface, and the wrench body comprises a wrench body support wall with a wrench body support wall surface, wherein at least 85% of the, in particular the entire, actuation element housing support surface is in contact with the wrench body support wall surface.
  10. 10. Backup wrench of any previous claim, the measuring means further comprising communication means.
  11. 11 . Backup wrench of any previous claim, wherein the wrench head jaw is releasable from the backup wrench.
  12. 12. Backup wrench assembly, comprising a backup wrench in accordance with claim 11 , the backup wrench assembly comprising a releasable further wrench head jaw.
  13. 13. Backup wrench assembly of claim 12, wherein the further wrench head jaw comprises a further actuation arm with a further actuation arm contact face arranged to actuate the measuring means.
  14. 14. Backup wrench assembly of claim 13, comprising a backup wrench in accordance with claim 6, wherein the further actuation arm contact face is flush to the plane containing the sucker rod rotation axis.
  15. 15. Backup wrench assembly of any of claims 13 or 14, wherein the wrench head jaw and the further wrench head jaw each comprise: a wrench head jaw opening having a wrench head jaw opening size for receiving a sucker rod, and a sucker rod positioning surface for positioning a sucker rod received in the wrench head jaw opening, wherein each wrench head jaw complies with: (1) A = T - - 2 B, wherein A is the longitudinal distance from the sucker rod positioning surface up to the actuation arm contact face, B is the wrench head jaw opening size, and T is the longitudinal distance from the actuation arm contact face up to the sucker rod rotation axis. 17051835.JCP2.JCP2
  16. 16. Backup wrench assembly, comprising a backup wrench in accordance with any of claims 1 to 11 , the backup wrench assembly comprising: a processing unit for processing measurement data of the measuring means, and communication means, wherein the communication means is suitable for communicatively connecting the measuring means to the processing unit, and optionally a control unit for controlling torque applied by a power tong based on measurement data processed by the processing unit.
  17. 17. Method of assembling a backup wrench with a power tong, comprising the steps of: - providing a backup wrench in accordance with any of the claims 1 to 11 , and mounting the backup wrench to a power tong.
  18. 18. Use of a backup wrench, comprising the steps of: providing a backup wrench in accordance with any of the claims 1 to 11 , and - measuring, by means of the measuring means, a torque. 17051835.JCP2.JCP2

Description

Backup wrench for power tong The present invention relates to a backup wrench for a power tong, a backup wrench assembly for a power tong, a method of assembling a backup wrench, and the use of a backup wrench. In mature oil fields, it may be necessary to promote the production of a hydrocarbon well. A common way of promoting this production is to introduce to the well a positive displacement pump, such as a reciprocating pump, downhole that is connected to driving means, such as a pump jack, at the surface level of the well. The reciprocating pump is connected to the driving means via a string of sucker rods. The string is formed by a multitude of sucker rods that are connected to each other by means of threaded connections. The threaded connections comprise a first threaded connection member that is provided at a first longitudinal end of a sucker rod, and a second threaded connection member that is provided at a second longitudinal end of another sucker rod. In some cases, the first threaded connection member has a first thread on its outer circumferential surface, and the second threaded connection member has a second thread on its inner circumferential surface, wherein the first and second threads correspond to facilitate rotational engagement with each other. In other cases, the threaded connection further comprises a coupling with at a first longitudinal coupling end a first threaded coupling member with a first coupling thread, and at a second longitudinal coupling end opposite to the first longitudinal coupling end a second threaded coupling member with a second coupling thread. In this case, the first threaded connection member has a first thread that corresponds with the first coupling thread to facilitate rotational engagement, and the second threaded connection member has a second thread that corresponds with the second coupling thread to facilitate rotational engagement. The first and second coupling thread may be provided on the inner circumferential surface of the first and second threaded coupling members of the coupling, wherein the first and second thread of the first and second threaded connection members are provided on the outer circumferential surface of the first and second threaded connection members. To connect (or make-up) the sucker rods with each other, a power tong in combination with a backup wrench may be used. A first sucker rod is lowered into the well and held in place with the first threaded connection member pointing upwards, wherein rotational movement 17051835.JCP2.JCP2 of this lower sucker rod is prevented by means of the backup wrench. A second sucker rod is positioned above the lower sucker rod with the second threaded connection member pointing downwards, wherein this upper sucker rod is held in place with a jaw of the power tong. A coupling may be provided on either of the lower and upper sucker rods. The sucker rods are then brought towards each other, wherein the jaw of the power tong is actuated to rotate the upper sucker rod with respect to the lower sucker rod wherein a threaded connection between the sucker rods is formed. When making up the sucker rods, it is important that the correct amount of torque is applied. Too much torque may yield the threads, causing permanent deformations at the threads, whereas too little torque might result in inadvertent disengagement of the sucker rods during operation. To determine whether the sucker rods have been made up correctly, the sucker rods and/or coupling may have on the outer circumferential surface thereof a make-up mark. The marks are used to obtain an indication about whether or not the sucker rods have been made up correctly. For example, if the mark of the lower sucker rod is within a certain allowable distance from the mark of the upper sucker rod, the sucker rods have been made up correctly. This way of determining whether the sucker rods have been made up correctly is, however, inefficient. In particular, dedicated measuring tools are required that are fitted to the specifications (e.g. diameter, allowable deviation between the marks, etc.) of the sucker rods, and the act of measuring takes up time that could have been spent differently. Moreover, the accuracy of the resulting measurements may differ from operator to operator. To meet demands of the high-end market, more sophisticated power tongs are available. These sophisticated power tongs are outfitted with measuring equipment to measure the amount of torque applied by the power tong. Although these power tongs take away the need to measure manually, they generally come with many features and functionalities to meet higher market demands. As such, these power tongs tend to be relatively expensive, and less abundantly available. Moreover, these power tongs tend to have a complex structure with many interconnected parts. As 17051835.JCP2.JCP2 such, it can be difficult to replace broken or worn parts, wherein a considerable amount of skill is needed t