Quick-change wear sleeve for a high-pressure fluid conduit

1. A quick-change wear sleeve for a high-pressure fluid conduit having an axial passage with an inner wall for receiving the quick-change wear sleeve, the quick-change wear sleeve comprising:

an elongated hollow cylindrical hardened sleeve having an inner wall and an outer wall an inner end received first in the axial passage and an outer end that is substantially flush with a bottom end of the axial passage when the elongated hollow cylinder is fully inserted therein, the outer wall including a rectangular groove; and

a retainer ring received in the rectangular groove and compressible within the rectangular groove to an extent that the retainer ring can be received within the axial passage, the retainer ring releasably engaging a complementary groove in the inner wall of the fluid conduit when the quick-change wear sleeve is fully inserted into the axial passage of the fluid conduit, the retainer ring being generally rectangular in cross-section with an outer side having a top corner and a bottom corner, the top corner preventing insertion of the retainer ring into the axial passage unless the retainer ring is compressed within the rectangular groove using a ring compression tool, the entire bottom corner being angled and the complementary groove having a bottom edge that is inclined at a same angle as the angled bottom corner of the retainer ring to release the quick-change wear sleeve from the axial passage when an axial force is applied to the elongated hollow cylindrical sleeve to urge the cylindrical sleeve out of the fluid conduit.

2. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inner wall of the quick-change wear sleeve comprises case-hardened steel.

3. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rectangular groove is formed near one end of the outer wall of the quick-change wear sleeve, and the outer wall of the quick-change wear sleeve further comprises an O-ring groove located between the one end and the rectangular groove, the O-ring groove receiving an O-ring for providing a fluid seal between the quick-change wear sleeve and the fluid conduit.

4. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 3 wherein the one end of the outer wall of the quick-change wear sleeve comprises the outer end of the quick-change wear sleeve.

5. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inner wall of the quick-change wear sleeve is contoured to reduce turbulence in a fluid flow pumped through the fluid conduit.

6. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 1 wherein the one angled bottom corner is upwardly inclined at an angle of 30°-60°.

7. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 6 wherein the one angled bottom corner is upwardly inclined at an angle of about 45°.

8. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 1 wherein the quick-change wear sleeve extends a full length of the inner wall of the axial passage through the fluid conduit.

9. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 8 wherein the quick-change wear sleeve further comprises a side port between the inner and outer ends.

10. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 9 further comprising a second quick-change wear sleeve, the second quick-change wear sleeve being received in a radial passage of the fluid conduit with an inner end received in the side port.

11. A quick-change wear sleeve for a high-pressure fluid conduit having an axial passage with an inner wall for receiving the quick-change wear sleeve, the quick-change wear sleeve comprising:

an elongated hollow cylindrical hardened sleeve having a top end, a bottom end, an inner wall and an outer wall, the outer wall including a compression ring groove; and

a compression ring received in the compression ring groove and compressible within the compression ring groove to an extent that the compression ring can be received within the axial passage until the quick-change wear sleeve is inserted in a first direction into the axial passage to an extent that the compression ring expands into a complementary groove in the inner wall of the axial passage to retain the quick-change wear sleeve within the axial passage of the fluid conduit, the compression ring being generally rectangular in cross-section with an outer side having a top corner oriented in the first direction and a bottom corner opposite the top corner, the top corner preventing insertion of the compression ring into the axial passage until the compression ring is compressed within the compression ring groove using a ring compression tool, the entire bottom corner being inclined in the first direction, and the complementary groove having an edge opposite the first direction that is also inclined in the first direction at a same angle as the bottom corner of the compression ring so that the hardened sleeve is released from the fluid conduit when an axial force is applied to the hardened sleeve to urge the hardened sleeve out of the fluid conduit.

12. The quick change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 11 wherein the bottom corner of the compression ring is inclined in the first direction at an angle of 30°-60°.

13. The quick change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 12 wherein the bottom corner of the compression ring is inclined in the first direction at an angle of about 45°.

14. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 11 wherein the inner wall of the quick-change wear sleeve is contoured to reduce flow turbulence in a fluid flow pumped through the high-pressure fluid conduit.

15. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 11 wherein the inner wall of the quick-change wear sleeve is case hardened.

16. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 11 wherein the compression ring groove is formed near one end of the outer wall of the quick-change wear sleeve, and the outer wall of the quick-change wear sleeve further comprises an O-ring groove located between the one end and the compression ring groove, the O-ring groove receiving an O-ring for providing a fluid seal between the quick-change wear sleeve and the fluid conduit.

17. A quick-change wear sleeve for a frac head having an axial passage with a cavity for receiving the quick-change wear sleeve, the cavity having an inner wall, the quick-change wear sleeve comprising:

an elongated hollow cylindrical hardened sleeve having a top end received first in the cavity, a bottom end, an inner wall and an outer wall, the outer wall including a compression ring groove near the bottom end; and

a compression ring received in the compression ring groove and compressible within the compression ring groove to an extent that the compression ring can be received within the cavity until the top end of the quick-change wear sleeve is inserted into the cavity to an extent that the compression ring expands into a complementary groove in the inner wall of the cavity to retain the quick-change wear sleeve within the cavity, the compression ring having an outer side with a top corner and a bottom corner, the compression ring being generally rectangular in cross-section and having a top side oriented toward the top end and a bottom side oriented toward bottom end, the entire top corner being square and preventing insertion of the compression ring into the compression ring groove until the compression ring is compressed into the compression ring groove using a ring compression tool, and the entire bottom corner being inclined toward the top side at an angle of 30°-60° to release the quick-change wear sleeve from the cavity when axial force is applied to the hardened sleeve to remove the hardened sleeve from the axial passage.

18. The quick-change wear sleeve as claimed in claim 17 wherein the inner wall of the quick-change wear sleeve is contoured to reduce turbulence in a fluid flow pumped through the fluid conduit.