Patent ID: 7866721

Claim:
An oilfield elevator comprising: a first body segment including a first end and an outboard end; a second body segment including a first end and an outboard end, the first body segment being pivotally connected through a hinge at its first end to the first end of the second body segment and the first and second body segments being releasably connectable at their outboard ends to form a pipe-receiving opening therebetween, a locking mechanism operable by axial movement of the first body segment relative to the second body segment to control pivotal rotation about the hinge; an actuation lever positioned between the first body segment and the second body segment, the actuation lever including a protrusion thereon and being moveable to drive the protrusion against the first body segment to drive the first body segment axially relative to the second body segment; and wherein the locking mechanism includes abutting shoulders on the first and second body segments at the hinge and the abutting shoulders can be moved out of abutment to permit the first segment to rotate about the hinge.