Patent ID: 8528585

Claim:
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.