CN112678665B

CN112678665B - Crane device

Info

Publication number: CN112678665B
Application number: CN202011502944.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吉冈伸郎
Original assignee: Sumitomo Heavy Industries Material Handling Systems Co Ltd
Current assignee: Sumitomo Heavy Industries Material Handling Systems Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-07-05
Filing date: 2018-05-16
Publication date: 2023-02-28
Anticipated expiration: 2038-05-16
Also published as: CN110799442A; CN110799442B; WO2019008914A1; JP6672530B2; CN112678665A; JPWO2019008914A1; MY196459A

Abstract

The container handling crane apparatus (1) according to the present invention is a container handling crane apparatus that can place a container on a predetermined yard position number (X, Y, Z) and transport the container on a container yard, the container handling crane apparatus including: a loading/unloading unit (21) which can clamp a container and can clamp and lift the container to load and unload the suspended container by using the container as the suspended container; an inclination angle recognition unit (42) for recognizing the inclination angle of the surface of the yard on which the yard bin number of the suspended container is to be placed; and a correcting unit (43) for controlling the position of the loading and unloading unit (21), wherein when a suspended container is placed on the upper surface of a stacked container, which is a container placed on the yard position number, the correcting unit (43) controls the position of the loading and unloading unit (21) so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container in the direction in which the height of the upper surface with respect to the horizontal plane becomes higher, based on the inclination angle recognized by the inclination angle recognizing unit (42).

Description

Crane device

The application is a divisional application of Chinese patent application with the application date of 2018, 5 and 16 months, the application number of 201880035030.2 and the name of a crane device.

Technical Field

One embodiment of the present invention relates to a crane apparatus.

Background

Conventionally, there is known a crane apparatus capable of placing a container in a predetermined area and transporting the container on a container yard. For example, patent document 1 describes a crane apparatus including: a spreader which suspends and catches a container from a crane main body via a wire rope to lift and unload the container; and a position detection unit for detecting the position of the container placed on the container yard. The crane device places a container lifted by a spreader on a container placed on a container yard based on a result detected by the position detection unit.

Generally, a spreader has: a hanger main body portion having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view; and a guide part which is arranged outside the hanger main body part and guides the hanger main body part to the target container. The guide portion enters a gap between the target container and a container adjacent to the target container and positions the spreader body portion above the target container.

Prior art documents

Patent literature

Patent document 1: international laid-open publication No. 2015/121973

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem to be solved by the invention

However, the yard surface of the container yard sometimes has a portion inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. When a container is placed on a yard surface in an area where the container is to be placed, the lower surface and the upper surface of the container placed on the yard surface are inclined with respect to a horizontal plane. The position of the container placed on the yard surface is shifted in the horizontal direction from a normal stacking position in the area where the container is to be placed.

When the crane device described in patent document 1 is used to load and unload containers when the yard surface of the area where the containers are to be placed is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the containers are stacked one after another on the container placed on the yard surface and inclined. Thus, the amount of horizontal displacement of the position of the container stacked in such an area from the normal stacking position becomes larger as the number of stacked containers increases. If the amount of horizontal offset increases, there is a possibility that the gap between the container stacked in such an area and the container stacked in an area adjacent to the container decreases. If the gap is small, the guide portion of the spreader cannot enter the gap when the container is lifted by the spreader, and the spreader body cannot be positioned above the container. As a result, it becomes difficult to lock and lift the container by the spreader.

Accordingly, an object of one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a crane apparatus capable of suppressing positional misalignment of a container with respect to a normal stacking position.

Means for solving the technical problems

In order to solve the above problem, a crane device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a crane device that can place a container in a predetermined area and transport the container on a container yard, the crane device including: a loading/unloading unit configured to clamp and lift the container, thereby loading/unloading the suspended container with the container as the suspended container; an inclination angle recognition unit which recognizes an inclination angle of a yard surface of a region where a suspended container is to be placed with respect to a horizontal plane; and a control unit for controlling the position of the loading and unloading unit, wherein when the suspended container is loaded on the upper surface of the container (namely, the stacked container) loaded in the region, the control unit controls the position of the loading and unloading unit according to the inclination angle identified by the inclination angle identification unit, so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container in the direction of increasing height of the upper surface relative to the horizontal plane.

In the crane apparatus, when the suspension container is placed on the upper surface of the stacked container, the control unit controls the position of the loading and unloading unit based on the inclination angle recognized by the inclination angle recognition unit so that the center of the lower surface of the suspension container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container in a direction in which the height of the upper surface with respect to the horizontal plane becomes higher. Thus, the center of the lower surface of the suspension container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacking container in a direction in which the height of the upper surface with respect to the horizontal plane becomes higher. Thus, the center of the lower surface of the suspension container can be brought closer to a position on a straight line passing through the center of the lower surface of the stack container and extending in the plumb direction, as compared with a case where the center of the lower surface of the suspension container coincides with the center of the upper surface of the stack container. As a result, the container can be stacked on a straight line extending in the plumb direction, and positional misalignment of the container with respect to a normal stacking position can be suppressed.

In the crane apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the container yard may have a plurality of areas, the crane apparatus may further include a storage unit that stores a previously measured inclination angle of the yard surface of each area, and the inclination angle recognition unit may read the inclination angle corresponding to the area where the suspended container is to be placed from the storage unit, thereby recognizing the inclination angle corresponding to the area where the suspended container is to be placed. At this time, the inclination angle recognition unit reads the inclination angle of the yard surface of each area measured in advance from the storage unit, thereby recognizing the inclination angle corresponding to the area where the suspended container is to be placed. Thus, the position of the attaching/detaching unit can be controlled by the control unit based on the inclination angle read from the storage unit without measuring the inclination angle of the yard surface with respect to the horizontal plane each time.

In the crane apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the loading/unloading unit may include an inclination angle measuring unit that measures an inclination angle of the loading/unloading unit itself with respect to a horizontal plane corresponding to the inclination angle recognized by the inclination angle recognizing unit, and the control unit may control: the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container in a direction in which the height of the upper surface of the suspended container with respect to the horizontal plane becomes higher. At this time, the control unit places the suspension container on the stack container so that the center of the lower surface of the suspension container coincides with the center of the stack container. Then, the inclination angle measuring unit measures the inclination angle of the detachable unit with respect to the horizontal plane, which corresponds to the inclination angle recognized by the inclination angle recognizing unit. The control unit controls the position of the loading and unloading unit based on the inclination angle of the loading and unloading unit with respect to the horizontal plane measured by the inclination angle measuring unit so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container in a direction in which the height of the upper surface with respect to the horizontal plane becomes higher. In this case, the position of the loading and unloading section can be controlled by the control section based on the inclination angle of the loading and unloading section with respect to the horizontal plane measured by the inclination angle measuring section without measuring the inclination angle of the surface of the yard with respect to the horizontal plane.

In the crane apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the control unit may shift the center of the lower surface of the suspension container by a horizontal distance Δ represented by the following equation (1) with respect to the center of the upper surface of the stacking container.

[ numerical formula 1]

Δ＝L×tanθ……(1)

(where L represents the height of the container and θ represents the angle of inclination of the yard surface).

When the height of the stacked container is L and the inclination angle of the yard surface is θ, the amount of horizontal offset of the center of the lower surface of the suspension container from a straight line passing through the center of the lower surface of the stacked container and extending in the plumb direction is expressed by the above equation (1). Thus, by offsetting the center of the lower surface of the suspended container by the amount represented by the above expression (1), the center of the lower surface of the suspended container can be positioned on a straight line extending in the plumb direction through the center of the lower surface of the stacked container. As a result, the containers can be stacked on a straight line extending in the plumb direction, and positional misalignment of the containers with respect to the normal stacking position can be suppressed.

Further, a crane device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a crane device that can place a container in a predetermined area and transport the container on a container yard, the crane device including: a loading/unloading unit configured to clamp and lift the container, thereby loading/unloading the suspended container with the container as the suspended container; an inclination angle recognition unit which recognizes an inclination angle of a yard surface of a region where a suspended container is to be placed with respect to a horizontal plane; and a control unit for controlling the position of the loading and unloading unit, when the suspended container is loaded on the upper surface of the container (namely, the stacked container) loaded in the region, if the inclination angle identified by the inclination angle identification unit is larger than a preset allowable angle, the control unit controls the position of the loading and unloading unit so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is positioned on a straight line passing through the center of the lower surface of the stacked container and extending along the plumb direction, and the suspended container is loaded on the upper surface of the stacked container.

In the crane apparatus, when the suspended container is placed on the upper surface of the stacked container, if the inclination angle recognized by the inclination angle recognition unit is larger than a predetermined allowable angle, the position of the loading/unloading unit is controlled by the control unit so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is positioned on a straight line passing through the center of the lower surface of the stacked container and extending in the plumb direction, and the suspended container is placed on the upper surface of the stacked container, assuming that the stacked container is deviated in the horizontal direction by more than or equal to the allowable range. Thus, the suspension container is placed on the upper surface of the stacking container so that the center of the lower surface of the suspension container is positioned on a straight line extending in the plumb direction through the center of the lower surface of the stacking container. As a result, the container can be stacked on a straight line extending in the plumb direction, and positional misalignment of the container with respect to a normal stacking position can be suppressed.

Effects of the invention

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a crane apparatus capable of suppressing a positional misalignment of a container with respect to a normal stacking position.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a container handling crane apparatus according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a view of the container handling crane apparatus as viewed from the traveling direction.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a container yard.

Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the structure of the container handling crane apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the spreader.

Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining the automatic stack target correction value calculated by the correction unit.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a container stacking operation by the container handling crane apparatus.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart next to fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining the operation and effect of the present embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a diagram for explaining a case where a gap between adjacent containers is narrowed in the conventional case.

Fig. 11 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the container handling crane apparatus according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing a container stacking operation by the container handling crane apparatus.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart next to fig. 12.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart next to fig. 13.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a crane apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof is omitted.

(embodiment 1)

First, an outline of a crane apparatus according to embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 3. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a container handling crane apparatus according to embodiment 1, fig. 2 is a view of the container handling crane apparatus as viewed from a traveling direction, and fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a container yard. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the container handling crane apparatus 1 shown in fig. 1 and 2 is arranged in a container yard CY for loading and unloading the containers C to and from a container carrier S on the shore.

The container C is a container such as an ISO standard container. The container C has a rectangular parallelepiped shape with a long dimension, and has a predetermined length such as 20 feet or 40 feet in the longitudinal direction thereof. The container C has a predetermined height of, for example, 8.5 inches or 9.5 inches in the height direction.

As shown in fig. 2, the containers C are stacked in one or more layers at a container yard CY to form a plurality of ROWs (ROWs) 12. Each row 12 is arranged in a vertical and horizontal manner such that the longitudinal direction of the container C constituting the row 12 (i.e., the container C placed on the row 12) is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the containers C constituting the other rows 12. Each of the rows 12 adjacent to each other is arranged so that the distance between the 1 st-tier containers C becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined minimum inter-container distance (threshold value). The predetermined minimum distance between the containers is, for example, a distance that the guide 17 of the spreader 10 described later can enter.

Fig. 3 shows an XYZ rectangular coordinate system in which the longitudinal direction of the container C is the X direction, the width direction of the container C is the Y direction, and the height direction of the container C is the Z direction. As shown in fig. 3, the container yard CY extends on an XY plane on which the containers C are stacked in the Z direction, for example, at a certain position. In the container yard CY, the position where the container C is stacked is set as a virtual three-dimensional space, and the virtual stacking position of the container C is defined as a yard position number (X, Y, Z). That is, the container yard CY has a plurality of yard bin numbers (X, Y, Z) set in advance as areas where the containers C can be placed. In the field bin number (X, Y, Z), "X" denotes a column number, "Y" denotes a row number, and "Z" denotes the number of stacked layers. The container handling crane apparatus 1 transports the containers C in the container yard CY having such a plurality of yard position numbers (X, Y, Z).

As shown in fig. 2, a travel path 14 on which a transport Vehicle 13 such as a trailer or an AGV (automated guided Vehicle) travels is laid in the container yard CY. The container handling crane apparatus 1 acquires a container C conveyed by the conveyance carriage 13, and places the container C at a position indicated by a predetermined station level number (X, Y, Z) of the container yard CY. The container handling crane apparatus 1 acquires the container C placed in the container yard CY, transfers the container C to the transfer carriage 13, and carries out the container C to the outside by the transfer carriage 13.

Next, the structure of the container handling crane apparatus 1 will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 4. Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the structure of the container handling crane apparatus 1. As shown in fig. 1 to 4, the container handling crane apparatus 1 includes a main body 2, a spreader 10 (handling unit 21), a control unit 40, and a storage unit 37.

The main body 2 can travel by a traveling device 4 having wheels with tires. The traveling motor drives the traveling device 4 to travel. The main body 2 is formed in a substantially portal shape including two pairs of

leg portions

5, 5 erected on the traveling device 4 and including

crane girders

6, 6 connecting upper end portions of the

leg portions

5, 5. The main body 2 is provided with a carriage 7 that can traverse in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction on the crane girder 6. The carriage 7 is driven to traverse by a traverse motor. The carriage 7 includes a drum 8 that is rotated forward and backward by a drum driving motor, and a hanger 10 is suspended via a wire rope 9. The travel motor, traverse motor, and drum drive motor function as the drive unit 20, and their operations are controlled by the control unit 40.

The spreader 10 is a lifting device for lifting the container C. The spreader 10 can grasp the container C from the upper surface side and lift the container C by grasping it, thereby loading and unloading the container C. The hoist 10 is suspended via a rope pulley 18 around which the wire rope 9 from the drum 8 is wound, and can be lifted and lowered by the forward and reverse rotation of the drum 8. The spreader 10 functions as a loading and unloading unit 21 for loading and unloading the container C, and the operation and position thereof are controlled by the control unit 40.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the spreader 10. The inclination angle measuring unit 30 shown by a two-dot chain line in fig. 5 is a structure provided in the hanger 10 according to embodiment 2 described later, and the hanger 10 according to the present embodiment does not include the inclination angle measuring unit. As shown in fig. 5, the spreader 10 includes a spreader body 15, a guide (guide portion) 17, lock pins 16, and a position detection portion 22.

The spreader body 15 has substantially the same shape as the shape of the upper surface of the container C in plan view. The hanger main body 15 has a rope sheave 18 on which the wire rope 9 is wound, above a central portion in the longitudinal direction. When the container C is gripped by the hanger 10, the hanger main body 15 is positioned above the container C.

When the spreader 10 is lowered to pick up a target container C (hereinafter, referred to as a "target container") to be picked up by the spreader 10, the guide 17 guides the spreader body 15 onto the target container. The guides 17 are provided near both ends in the longitudinal direction of one end portion and the other end portion in the width direction of the hanger main body portion 15 in the horizontal direction, respectively. That is, the guides 17 are provided at the four corners of the hanger body 15 and outside the hanger body 15 in the width direction.

The guide 17 has a tapered surface 17b at its front end 17 a. When the guide 17 is inserted into a gap between the target container and another container C loaded adjacent to the target container in the horizontal direction, the tapered surface 17b abuts against an edge portion of the upper surface of the target container, and a reaction force (guided) from the edge portion is received, whereby the spreader body 15 is guided directly above the target container.

The locking pin 16 is a mechanism for locking the container C. The lock pin 16 is provided on the lower surface side of the hanger main body 15 and protrudes downward from the hanger main body 15. The lock pins 16 are provided at positions corresponding to holes (not shown) of the container C when the spreader 10 catches the container C and at positions closer to the center of the spreader body 15 in the horizontal direction than the positions of the guides 17. The lock pin 16 is, for example, a twist needle, and includes a locking piece (not shown) at a lower end thereof, the locking piece being rotatable about an axis extending in the vertical direction. The lock pin 16 can enter through holes formed at four corners of the upper surface of the container C, and can be coupled to the container C by rotating the locking piece.

The position detection unit 22 is a device capable of acquiring three-dimensional coordinate data of the measurement target. In the present embodiment, a laser sensor is used as the position detection unit 22. More specifically, the position detection unit 22 calculates the distance to the measurement target based on the time taken for the laser light to return after reflecting off the measurement target. The position detection unit 22 obtains coordinates of the spot from the distance to the measurement target and the irradiation angle of the laser beam, and outputs the information to the control unit 40.

The position detection unit 22 is provided on a side surface of the hanger main body 15. Specifically, the position detection unit 22 is provided near both ends in the longitudinal direction of one end and the other end in the width direction of the hanger main body 15 in the horizontal direction. Therefore, each position detection portion 22 is provided at a position corresponding to one of the guides 17. The position detector 22 detects the container C located below the spreader body 15 and measures the position of the container C. The position detection unit 22 transmits the measurement result to the control unit 40. In the present embodiment, the position detection unit 22 is provided in the spreader 10, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the position detection unit 22 may be provided in the carriage 7, for example. The position detection unit 22 is not limited to the laser sensor as long as it can acquire three-dimensional coordinate data of the measurement target, and other types of devices (for example, an optical camera or the like) may be used. Further, the position detection unit 22 may use a plurality of types of devices at the same time (for example, use a laser sensor and an optical camera at the same time).

The control unit 40 controls the operations of the drive unit 20 and the attaching/detaching unit 21 based on the detection result from the position detecting unit 22. Specifically, the control unit 40 controls the operations of the travel motor, the traverse motor, the drum driving motor, and the like, and controls the operations of the guide 17, the lock pin 16, and the like of the attaching and detaching unit 21, based on the detection result from the position detecting unit 22.

The control unit 40 controls the operation of the driving unit 20 based on an automatic command from the higher-level system 35, thereby controlling the position of the attaching/detaching unit 21. The yard surface is a surface on which the containers C are placed in the container yard CY. The upper-level system 35 is, for example, a management room that is installed in the container yard CY and controls the entire container yard CY. The automatic command from the higher-level system is, for example, a command specifying the destination yard bin number (X, Y, Z) of the stacked container C. Also, the automatic instruction may contain, for example, information indicating the height (8.5 inches or 9.5 inches) of the container C.

The control unit 40 includes a receiving unit 41, a tilt angle recognizing unit 42, and a correcting unit 43. The receiving unit 41 receives, as an automatic command from the higher-level system 35, a destination station number (X, Y, Z) on which the container C is to be placed and information indicating the height of the container C. The receiving unit 41 acquires a field bin number (X, Y) from which only the column number and the row number are extracted from the received field bin numbers (X, Y, Z). Hereinafter, the yard box number (X, Y) is referred to as "stacking destination yard box number (X, Y)".

The inclination angle recognition unit 42 recognizes an inclination angle of a yard surface on which a yard bin number (X, Y) of a container C (hereinafter, referred to as a "suspended container") lifted by the loading/unloading unit 21 is to be placed with respect to a horizontal plane. Hereinafter, the tilt angle with respect to the horizontal plane is simply referred to as "tilt angle". Specifically, the inclination angle recognition unit 42 reads the inclination angle corresponding to the destination stack bin number (X, Y) acquired by the reception unit 41 with reference to the inclination angle data table stored in the storage unit 37, thereby recognizing the inclination angle of the surface of the stack of the destination stack bin number (X, Y).

When a suspension container is placed on the upper surface of a container C (hereinafter referred to as a "stacking container") placed on the destination yard bin number (X, Y), the correcting unit 43 (control unit) controls the position of the loading/unloading unit 21 so that the center of the lower surface of the suspension container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacking container C in a direction in which the height of the upper surface with respect to the horizontal plane becomes higher, based on the inclination angle of the yard surface recognized by the inclination angle recognizing unit 42. Specifically, the correction unit 43 controls the position of the attachment/detachment unit 21 by controlling the operation of the drive unit 20. That is, the position of the attaching/detaching portion 21 is controlled by controlling the operations of the traveling motor, the traverse motor, the drum driving motor, and the like.

The correction unit 43 calculates the automatic stacking target correction value as a distance by which the center of the lower surface of the suspension container is shifted. Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining the automatic stack target correction value calculated by the correction unit 43. As shown in fig. 6, when the height of the container C is L and the yard surface YA is inclined by θ Y in the Y direction, for example, the correcting unit 43 calculates the automatic stacking target correction value based on the inclination angle θ Y in the Y direction. That is, the horizontal distance Δ represented by the following equation (1) is calculated as the automatic stacking target value, for example, with the inclination angle θ as the inclination angle θ Y along the Y direction.

[ numerical formula 1]

Δ＝L×tanθ……(1)

The automatic stacking target correction value is not limited to the horizontal distance Δ represented by the above expression (1), and may be a value close to the direction in which the height of the upper surface of the stacking container with respect to the horizontal plane increases.

The correcting unit 43 calculates the horizontal distance Δ represented by the above equation (1) from the inclination angle θ y of the yard surface YA recognized by the inclination angle recognizing unit 42 and the information indicating the height L of the container C received by the receiving unit 41. The correction unit 43 shifts the center of the lower surface of the suspension container in the Y direction with respect to the center of the upper surface of the stack container by the horizontal distance Δ expressed by the above equation (1).

In the case where the yard surface YA is inclined in the X direction, the correcting unit 43 calculates the automatic stacking target correction value from the inclination angle θ X in the X direction, and shifts the center of the lower surface of the suspension container by the automatic stacking target correction value in the X direction with respect to the center of the upper surface of the stacking container, as in the case where the yard surface YA is inclined in the Y direction. When the yard surface YA is inclined in both the X direction and the Y direction, the automatic stacking target correction values are calculated from the inclination angles θ X and θ Y in the respective directions, and the center of the lower surface of the suspension container is shifted by the automatic stacking target correction values in the respective directions from the center of the upper surface of the suspension container.

By shifting the center of the lower surface of the suspension container by the horizontal distance Δ represented by the above expression (1) with respect to the center of the upper surface of the stacked container, the center of the lower surface of the suspension container is located on a straight line a (refer to fig. 6, hereinafter, simply referred to as "straight line a") passing through the center of the lower surface of the stacked container and extending in the plumb direction. That is, the correction unit 43 controls the position of the handling unit 21 so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is positioned on the straight line a and the suspended container is placed on the upper surface of the stacked container. The correction unit 43 is not limited to controlling the position of the handling unit 21 so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is positioned on the line a, and may control the position of the handling unit 21 so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is positioned near the line a or so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is positioned close to the line a.

The storage unit 37 is a part for storing various information, and is configured by a memory or the like. The storage unit 37 stores, as a data table, the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA of each yard bin number (X, Y) measured in advance. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 37 is provided outside the control unit 40, but may be integrated with the control unit 40.

Next, the stacking operation of the containers C by the container handling crane apparatus 1 will be described with reference to fig. 7 and 8.

Fig. 7 and 8 are flowcharts showing the stacking operation of the container C by the container handling crane apparatus 1. As shown in fig. 7, first, the receiving unit 41 receives the destination yard position number (X, Y, Z) on which the container C is to be placed and information indicating the height of the container C as an automatic command from the higher-level system 35 (step S1). The receiving unit 41 acquires the stacking target yard bin number (X, Y) from the received yard bin number (X, Y, Z) (step S2). Next, the inclination angle recognition section 42 reads and acquires the inclination angle θ corresponding to the yard bin number (X, Y) of the stack target obtained by the reception section 41 with reference to the data table of inclination angles θ in the storage section 37 (step S3). Next, the correction unit 43 calculates the horizontal distance Δ represented by the above equation (1) as an automatic stacking target correction value based on the information indicating the height L of the container C received by the reception unit 41 and the inclination angle θ acquired by the inclination angle recognition unit 42 (step S4).

Next, as shown in fig. 8, the controller 40 controls the operation of the driver 20 to automatically transport the suspended container to the vicinity of the destination yard bin number (X, Y) (step S5). Next, the position detecting section 22 measures the position of the container C which is located at the lower position of the suspended container and which has been placed on the yard surface YA of the yard bin number (X, Y) of the destination yard (step S6). Next, the correcting unit 43 automatically stacks the suspension container on the upper surface of the stacking container with the automatic stacking target correction value calculated in step S4 as a target (step S7). That is, the correction unit 43 stacks the suspension container with the center of the lower surface of the suspension container shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stack container by the horizontal distance Δ represented by the above equation (1).

Next, the control unit 40 determines the stacking accuracy of the suspended containers stacked in step S7 (step S8). For example, the control unit 40 determines whether or not the stacking of the suspension container is within the allowable range. That is, it is determined whether or not the position of the stacked suspension container is appropriately corrected with respect to the correction amount indicated by the automatic stacking target value calculated by the correction unit 43. If the stacking in step S7 is not within the allowable range (no in S8), the control unit 40 re-winds the stacked suspension container, then proceeds to step S6, and re-tries the stacking of the suspension container (step S9). If the stacking of the suspension container falls within the allowable range (S8; yes), the processing of the flowcharts shown in fig. 7 and 8 is ended.

Next, the operation and effect of the container handling crane apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described in comparison with a conventional container handling crane.

Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining the operation and effect of the present embodiment. Fig. 9 (a) shows a container C stacked by a conventional container handling crane apparatus, and fig. 9 (b) shows a container C stacked by a container handling crane apparatus according to the present embodiment.

As shown in fig. 9 (a), when the containers C are stacked by the conventional container handling crane apparatus in a case where the yard surface YA of the container yard CY is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the stacked containers C are sequentially placed on the containers C which are placed on the yard surface YA and inclined. The suspension containers are stacked one after the other, for example, in such a way that the centers of their lower surfaces coincide with the center of the upper surface of the stacked containers. Thus, the larger the number of stacked containers C, the larger the amount of horizontal displacement D of the position of the stacked containers C from the normal stacking position. Since the amount of displacement in the horizontal direction becomes large, there is a possibility that a gap between a container C stacked on a yard level number (X, Y, Z) where the yard surface YA is inclined and a container C stacked on a yard level number (X, Y, Z) adjacent to the container C (hereinafter, referred to as "gap between adjacent containers") becomes small.

Fig. 10 is a diagram for explaining a case where a gap between adjacent containers is narrowed in the conventional case. As shown in fig. 10, for example, in the case where the yard surfaces YAV of adjacent yard slot numbers (X, Y, Z) are inclined like a letter, the larger the number of stacked containers C, the narrower the gap G between the adjacent containers C, C becomes. If the gap G becomes narrow, the guide 17 of the spreader 10 cannot enter the gap G when the container C is lifted by the spreader 10, and the spreader body 15 cannot be positioned above the stacked container. As a result, it becomes difficult to catch and lift the stacked container by the spreader 10.

In contrast, according to the container handling crane apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when the suspended container is placed on the upper surface of the stacked container, the correction unit 43 controls the position of the handling unit 21 so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container in the direction in which the height of the upper surface with respect to the horizontal plane becomes higher, based on the inclination angle θ recognized by the inclination angle recognition unit 42. Thus, the center of the lower surface of the suspension container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacking container in a direction in which the height of the upper surface with respect to the horizontal plane becomes higher. As a result, as compared with the conventional case, as shown in fig. 9 (b), the center of the lower surface of the suspended container can be positioned closer to the straight line a. As a result, the containers C can be stacked along the straight line a, and positional misalignment of the containers C with respect to the normal stacking position can be suppressed.

As a result, even if the number of stacked containers C increases, the gap G between adjacent containers C, C can be made equal to or greater than the predetermined minimum inter-container distance. This allows the guide 17 of the spreader 10 to enter the gap G when the container C is lifted by the spreader 10, and the spreader body 15 to be positioned above the stacked container. As a result, the stacked container C can be gripped and lifted by the spreader 10.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the inclination angle recognition unit 42 reads the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA of each yard bin number (X, Y) measured in advance from the storage unit 37, thereby recognizing the inclination angle θ corresponding to the yard bin number (X, Y). Thus, the position of the removable unit 21 by the correcting unit 43 can be controlled based on the inclination angle θ read from the storage unit 37 without measuring the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA every time.

When the height of the stacked container is L and the inclination angle of the yard surface YA is θ, the amount of horizontal deviation of the center of the lower surface of the suspended container from the line a is expressed by the above equation (1). Thus, according to the present embodiment, the center of the lower surface of the suspension container can be positioned on the straight line a by shifting the center of the lower surface of the suspension container by the amount represented by the above expression (1). As a result, the containers C can be stacked along the straight line a, and positional misalignment of the containers C with respect to the normal stacking position can be suppressed.

When the inclination angle θ recognized by the inclination angle recognition unit 42 is larger than a predetermined allowable angle when the suspended container is placed on the upper surface of the stacked container, the position of the handling unit 21 may be controlled by the control unit 40 such that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is positioned on the straight line a and the suspended container is placed on the upper surface of the stacked container, assuming that the stacked container is deviated in the horizontal direction by the allowable range or more. Thus, the suspension container is placed on the upper surface of the stacking container so that the center of the lower surface of the suspension container is positioned on the straight line a. As a result, the containers C can be stacked along the straight line a, and positional misalignment of the containers C with respect to the normal stacking position can be suppressed.

(embodiment 2)

Next, a container handling crane apparatus according to embodiment 2 will be described with reference to fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a container handling crane apparatus 1A according to embodiment 2. In the following description, redundant description with respect to embodiment 1 will be appropriately omitted.

The container handling crane device 1A according to embodiment 2 is different from the container handling crane device 1 according to embodiment 1 in that it does not include the storage unit 37 and includes the inclination angle measuring unit 30.

The inclination angle measuring unit 30 is provided at, for example, a substantially central position of the hanger main body 15 in a plan view (see fig. 5). That is, the hanger 10 includes an inclination angle measuring unit 30 provided in the hanger main body 15. The tilt angle measuring unit 30 is, for example, a tilt angle sensor. The inclination angle measuring unit 30 measures the inclination angle of the hanger 10 itself.

Specifically, the inclination angle measuring unit 30 measures the inclination angle of the spreader 10 in a state where the suspended container is placed on the stacked container. The inclination angle of the upper surface of the stacking container corresponds to the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA. Therefore, the inclination angle of the upper surface of the suspended container placed on the upper surface of the stacked container and the spreader 10 itself gripping the suspended container also corresponds to the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA. Thus, the inclination angle of the hoist 10 itself measured by the inclination angle measuring unit 30 corresponds to the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA recognized by the inclination angle recognizing unit 42. The tilt angle measuring unit 30 outputs the measurement result to the tilt angle recognition unit 42.

The inclination angle recognition unit 42 recognizes the inclination angle of the spreader 10 measured by the inclination angle measurement unit 30 as the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA of the yard bin number (X, Y) to be stacked.

When the suspension container is stacked on the stacking container, the correction unit 43 first places the suspension container on the stacking container so that the center of the lower surface of the suspension container coincides with the center of the stacking container. Here, the fact that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container coincides with the center of the stacked container includes not only the case where the centers thereof completely coincide but also the case where the deviation between the centers thereof is within a range of a predetermined tolerance, measurement error, or the like.

The correcting unit 43 causes the inclination angle measuring unit 30 to measure the inclination angle of the spreader 10. The correcting unit 43 controls the position of the cargo handling unit 21 so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container in a direction in which the height of the upper surface from the horizontal plane becomes higher, in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment 1, based on the inclination angle of the spreader 10 measured by the inclination angle measuring unit 30 (that is, the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA recognized by the inclination angle recognizing unit 42).

Next, the operation of stacking the containers C by the container handling crane apparatus 1A will be described with reference to fig. 12 to 14.

Fig. 12 to 14 are flowcharts showing the stacking operation of the containers C by the container handling crane apparatus 1A. As shown in fig. 12, first, the receiving unit 41 receives, as an automatic command from the higher-level system 35, the destination bin number (X, Y, Z) on which the container C is to be placed and information indicating the height L of the container C (step S11). The receiving unit 41 acquires the stacking target yard bin number (X, Y) from the received yard bin number (X, Y, Z) (step S12). Next, the control unit 40 controls the operation of the driving unit 20 so that the suspended container is automatically transported to the vicinity of the destination yard bin number (X, Y) (step S13).

Next, as shown in fig. 13, the position detection unit 22 measures the position of the container C located at the lower portion of the suspended container (step S14). Next, the correcting section 43 first regards the influence of the inclination of the yard surface YA as zero (unknown) at the time of the first stacking, and automatically stacks the suspension container on the upper surface of the stacking container with the stacking deviation as zero (step S15). That is, the correcting unit 43 stacks the suspension container so that the center of the lower surface of the suspension container coincides with the center of the upper surface of the suspension container with the target of the automatic stacking target correction value being zero.

Next, the correction unit 43 measures the inclination angle of the spreader 10 by causing the inclination angle measurement unit 30 to measure the inclination angle θ of the container placement surface (i.e., the yard surface YA) (step S16). Specifically, the correction unit 43 causes the inclination angle measurement unit 30 to measure the inclination angle of the spreader 10 in a state where the suspended container is placed on the stacked container. The inclination angle recognition unit 42 recognizes the inclination angle of the spreader 10 measured by the inclination angle measurement unit 30 as the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA of the yard bin number (X, Y) to be stacked. Next, the correcting unit 43 calculates the horizontal distance Δ represented by the above equation (1) as an automatic stacking target correction value based on the information indicating the height L of the container C received by the receiving unit 41 and the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA measured by the inclination angle measuring unit 30 (step S17).

Next, as shown in fig. 14, the control unit 40 determines the stacking accuracy of the suspended containers stacked in step S15 (S18). That is, it is determined whether or not the position of the suspended container to be stacked is appropriate for the correction amount indicated by the automatic stacking target value calculated by the correction unit 43. If the stacking of the suspension container is not within the allowable range (no in S18), the control unit 40 re-hoists the stacked suspension container (S19) and proceeds to step S20. In step S20, the position detector 22 measures the position of the container C located at the lower portion of the suspended container, and the process proceeds to step S21. In step S21, the correcting unit 43 automatically stacks the suspension container on the upper surface of the stacking container with the automatic stacking target correction value calculated in step S17 as a target, and the process proceeds to step S18. If the stacking of the suspension container is within the allowable range (yes in S18), the processing of the flowcharts shown in fig. 7 and 8 is ended.

As described above, according to the container handling crane apparatus 1A according to the present embodiment, the correction unit 43 places the suspended container on the stacked container so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container coincides with the center of the stacked container. Next, the inclination angle of the spreader 10 is measured by the inclination angle measuring unit 30. The correcting unit 34 controls the position of the cargo handling unit 21 so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container in a direction in which the height of the upper surface from the horizontal plane becomes higher, based on the inclination angle of the spreader 10 measured by the inclination angle measuring unit 30. In this case, the position of the cargo-handling unit 21 by the correction unit 43 can be controlled based on the inclination angle of the spreader 10 measured by the inclination angle measurement unit 30 without measuring the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA.

While various embodiments of the present embodiment have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may be modified or applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention described in the claims.

For example, when the yard surface YA is inclined in both the X direction and the Y direction, the center of the lower surface of the suspended container may be shifted in both the X direction and the Y direction with respect to the center of the upper surface of the stacked container, or may be shifted in either the X direction or the Y direction.

In the above-described embodiment 2, a storage unit that stores the inclination angle of the spreader 10 measured by the inclination angle measuring unit 30 may be provided. In this case, it is not necessary to measure the inclination angle of the spreader 10 every time the suspended container is stacked at a certain bin number. The inclination angle recognition unit 42 may recognize the angle of the spreader 10 stored in the storage unit as the inclination angle θ of the yard surface YA.

The present invention is not limited to the gantry crane apparatus, and can be applied to a bridge crane apparatus and the like.

Description of the symbols

1. 1A-crane device for loading and unloading containers, 10-spreader, 21-loading and unloading part, 30-inclination angle measuring part, 37-storage part, 42-inclination angle identification part, 40-control part, 43-correction part, C-container, CY-container yard and YA-yard surface.

Claims

1. A crane device capable of placing a container in a predetermined area and transporting the container on a container yard, the crane device comprising:

a running gear having a wheel with a tire and capable of running;

a loading/unloading unit configured to clamp the container and lift the container by clamping the container, thereby loading/unloading the suspended container with the container as the suspended container;

an inclination angle recognition unit that recognizes an inclination angle of a yard surface of the area where the suspended container is to be placed with respect to a horizontal plane; and

a control unit for controlling the position of the attaching/detaching unit,

when the suspended container is placed on the upper surface of a stacked container that is the container placed in the area, the control unit controls the position of the loading/unloading unit so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container in a direction in which the height of the upper surface with respect to the horizontal plane becomes higher, based on the inclination angle recognized by the inclination angle recognition unit.

2. The crane arrangement of claim 1,

the container yard has a plurality of the regions,

the crane device further includes a storage unit that stores the inclination angles of the yard surface of the respective areas measured in advance,

the inclination angle identification unit reads the inclination angle corresponding to the area where the suspension container is to be placed from the storage unit, and identifies the inclination angle corresponding to the area where the suspension container is to be placed.

3. The crane arrangement of claim 1,

the attaching and detaching portion has an inclination angle measuring portion that measures an inclination angle of the attaching and detaching portion itself with respect to a horizontal plane corresponding to the inclination angle recognized by the inclination angle recognizing portion,

the control unit performs the following control:

placing the suspension container on the stacking container so that the center of the lower surface of the suspension container coincides with the center of the stacking container,

the inclination angle measuring unit measures the inclination angle of the loading and unloading unit with respect to the horizontal plane,

the position of the handling unit is controlled so that the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is shifted from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container in a direction in which the height of the upper surface from the horizontal plane becomes higher, based on the inclination angle of the handling unit itself with respect to the horizontal plane measured by the inclination angle measuring unit.

4. A crane arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3,

the control part offsets the center of the lower surface of the suspended container from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container, and the offset amount of the center of the lower surface of the suspended container from the center of the upper surface of the stacked container is represented by a horizontal distance delta of the following equation (1),

[ numerical formula 1]

Δ＝L×tanθ-(1)

Wherein L represents the height of the container and θ represents the inclination angle of the yard surface.

5. A crane device capable of placing a container in a predetermined area and transporting the container on a container yard, the crane device comprising:

a running gear having a wheel with a tire and capable of running;

a control unit for controlling the position of the attaching/detaching unit,

when the suspended container is placed on the upper surface of a stacked container that is the container placed in the area, if the inclination angle recognized by the inclination angle recognition unit is greater than a predetermined allowable angle, the control unit controls the position of the loading/unloading unit so that the suspended container is placed on the upper surface of the stacked container and the center of the lower surface of the suspended container is positioned on a straight line that passes through the center of the lower surface of the stacked container and extends in the plumb direction.