摘要:
Tong apparatus operated oleopneumatically for lifting a submerged pipeline either directly by a frogman or by an operator on a pontoon or vessel. The apparatus includes a pair of jaws controlled by a double acting cylinder with two pistons. The cylinder has a body pivotally connected to the upper end of one jaw and has an active chamber wherein a first piston with a wide cross-section slides, while a second piston having a small crosssection is pivotally connected to the upper end of the other jaw and slides coaxially as to the first piston in a second active chamber provided by the wide cross-section of the said first piston. With the present invention small quantities of oil are used in causing the jaws to approach and to grasp and lift the pipeline. The relatively wide shifting required for approaching the jaws to the pipeline to be grasped and lifted is obtained by acting oleopneumatically into the said second active chamber against the piston having a small cross-section, which involves the use of a small quantity of oil. The pipeline grasping operation, which requires a relatively small shifting and small oil consumption, is then carried out by acting oleopneumatically into the first said active chamber against the said first piston having a wide cross-section.