Patent ID: 8499501

Claim:
A method of handling the removal and installation of a manway cover to a manway flange, the manway flange having a planar face parallel to a manway opening and a plurality of transverse bolt openings, and the manway cover having a peripheral manway portion containing a plurality of bolt openings corresponding to the bolt openings of the manway flange, the method comprising: removing a plurality of manway cover bolts from a portion of the manway cover and the manway flange, the plurality of manway cover bolts being transverse to the plane of and through the manway cover; assembling a portable manway cover hinge device having a pair of hinge plates, each hinge plate defining a longitudinal plane, wherein each hinge plate has a support member parallel to the longitudinal plane with a hinge aperture adapted to align with an existing bolt opening of a manway cover and a bolt opening of a manway flange or a user formed bolt opening in at least one of the manway cover and the manway flange, a linkage member adjacent a first end of each hinge plate and extending transversely out of the longitudinal plane of the hinge plate, and a pivotal connection coupling overlapping pairs of the linkage member of the pair of hinge plates; forming one or more bolt openings in a peripheral portion of one of the manway cover and the manway flange; aligning a hinge aperture of the support member of one of the pair of hinge plates with the one or more bolt openings formed in the peripheral portion of the one of the manway cover and the manway flange and aligning a hinge aperture of the support member of the other of the pair of hinge plates with one of the plurality of bolt openings of the portion of the other of the one of the manway cover and manway flange from which the bolts were removed; inserting a pin into each hinge aperture of one of the pair of hinge plates and corresponding one or more bolt openings formed in the one of the manway cover and the manway flange and a pin into each hinge aperture of the other of the pair of hinge plates and corresponding manway bolt openings of the other of the manway cover and manway flange; securing each pin within the corresponding cover and flange bolt openings; and removing the remaining manway cover bolts from the manway cover.