US Patent 9115564 Loading system

A loading apparatus features a hollow barrel that can be threaded to one end of the stuffing box of a pump. A plunger having an enlarged piston can axially push the contents of the barrel into the stuffing box. The apparatus can be used to install replacement packing elements, such as seals, into the stuffing box. The barrel and the stuffing box can be coaxially engaged by mating threads. A retrieval apparatus is formed from a body have an internally threaded axial bore at one end and a transverse bore at the other. The retrieval apparatus can be used to recover a pump rod that has been retracted while packing elements are being replaced.