Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
  • B66C—CRANES; LOAD-ENGAGING ELEMENTS OR DEVICES FOR CRANES, CAPSTANS, WINCHES, OR TACKLES
  • B66C19/00—Cranes comprising trolleys or crabs running on fixed or movable bridges or gantries
  • B66C19/002—Container cranes
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
  • B66C—CRANES; LOAD-ENGAGING ELEMENTS OR DEVICES FOR CRANES, CAPSTANS, WINCHES, OR TACKLES
  • B66C23/00—Cranes comprising essentially a beam, boom, or triangular structure acting as a cantilever and mounted for translatory of swinging movements in vertical or horizontal planes or a combination of such movements, e.g. jib-cranes, derricks, tower cranes
  • B66C23/62—Constructional features or details
  • B66C23/72—Counterweights or supports for balancing lifting couples
  • B66C23/78—Supports, e.g. outriggers, for mobile cranes
  • B66C23/80—Supports, e.g. outriggers, for mobile cranes hydraulically actuated
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
  • B66C—CRANES; LOAD-ENGAGING ELEMENTS OR DEVICES FOR CRANES, CAPSTANS, WINCHES, OR TACKLES
  • B66C9/00—Travelling gear incorporated in or fitted to trolleys or cranes
  • B66C9/10—Undercarriages or bogies, e.g. end carriages, end bogies

Definitions

• Portal crane for loading and/or unloading sea containers, combination of two such gantry cranes and use of a portal crane or such a combination.
• the present invention relates to a portal crane for loading and/or unloading sea containers onto and, respectively, rom a ship having a multiplicity of adjacent bays for said sea containers, which bays are parallel to one another and run transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the ship and, viewed in the horizontal longitudinal direction of the ship, have a bay width
• the portal crane comprises: • a gantry having support points provided with travelling gear units for supporting the gantry on a quay, • a boom supported by the gantry and provided some distance above the travelling gear units, which boom is made up of a horizontal beam and a jib that at least during loading and/or unloading is in the extension of the beam, and • at least one crab that can be driven along the jib and is provided with hoisting means for lowering or raising the sea containers, wherein the gantry, viewed in the horizontal transverse direction of the jib, has a base width at the level of the quay.
• a portal crane of this type is generally known, for example from WO 01/25131 in the name of the Applicant.
• Gantry cranes of the type mentioned in the preamble are becoming ever larger. This is a consequence of the fact that the ships to be loaded and unloaded by means of these cranes are becoming ever larger. The most recent developments in this regard are that the ships are not so much becoming longer but broader and that the load height on said ships is increasing all the time.
• gantry cranes When designing gantry cranes a number of factors must be taken into account. An important factor is that gantry cranes must not blow over in the event of a storm; in other words they must be able to withstand storm force winds. It will be clear that this problem plays an ever greater role as gantry cranes become ever higher. On the one hand, because as the cranes become higher the tilting moment starts to play a greater role and on the other hand because the wind force is usually greater the greater the distance above the ground. Furthermore, with many gantry cranes the jib is also sometimes peaked up, including in stormy weather, which causes the height of the portal crane to increase even further. The problem of the ability to withstand storm force winds can be tackled in a number of ways, on their own or in combination.
• a first approach is to make the storm crane broader at the base, that is to say on the quay, this way the tilt line can be moved further away from the centre of gravity of the portal crane.
• the base viewed in a direction parallel to that of the longitudinal direction of the boom this can usually be implemented in the sense that in this location there is a great deal of space or space can be made available by widening the quay.
• the base viewed parallel to the longitudinal direction of the ship i.e. in the direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the boom, is concerned the situation is completely different.
• this width hereinafter termed the base width
• this width of the largest bay is referred to as the (so-called) bay width.
• the bays of a ship extend in the transverse direction of said ship and the containers are stacked in a bay to form a stack with the longitudinal axes of the containers parallel to the longitudinal direction of the ship.
• the width of the bays is directly related to the standard lengths of the sea containers that are transported, hi practice, bays for 20-foot containers and for 40-foot containers can be found on a single ship.
• the width of a bay for 40-foot containers is usually approximately 13.8 metres, which is somewhat more than 40 feet so that there is still working room alongside the containers for securing the containers.
• the width of 13.8 metres is still sufficient to allow a 45-foot container to be placed in the bay as top cover load.
• the 45-foot container is currently the largest, frequently used standard length for sea containers. Since nowadays the large, sea-going transport ships have usually been designed at least with this width for the bays, the base width of the gantry cranes to be designed nowadays is related to this bay width of 13.8 metres, which implies that the maximum base width for a portal crane is approximately 27.6 m.
• the maximum base width of a portal crane is taken as twice the bay width is that it is desirable that a ship can be unloaded as quickly as possible. This means that the aim will be to use as many gantry cranes as possible at the same time.
• the corollary of this is that it is desirable to position the gantry cranes with their sides against one another. So as then to be able to unload as many bays as possible simultaneously, the base width of each portal crane must be at most twice the bay width, so that in each case two, for example even-numbered, bays located alongside one another can be unloaded by means of two cranes, whilst the sides of those two cranes facing one another are in front of the intermediate odd-numbered bay.
• a second method of approach for withstanding storm force winds which second method is also employed in practice, is that additional ballast is provided in the portal crane, usually in the legs of the gantry.
• the disadvantage of this is, however, that this causes a further increase in the load exerted on the quay. Since the maximum load to be exerted on the quay is usually restricted, the consequence of the increase in the load on the quay is usually in turn that the width of the travelling gear units, viewed in the horizontal transverse direction of the boom, again increases.
• the travelling gear units are fixed underneath the portal crane by means of a triangular balance beam system, the consequence of the increase in the width of the travelling gear is in turn that the tilt axis of the portal crane, which tilt axis is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the boom, comes closer to the centre of gravity of the portal crane because the maximum base width of the portal crane is restricted to twice the bay width.
• a third method of approach for withstanding storm force winds which is also employed in practice, is the provision of so-called guy wire constructions, hi this case the crane is anchored to the quay by means of guy wires or guy rods from a specific wind force, usually wind force 7 to 9 on the Beaufort scale.
• guy wire constructions in turn demand very substantial facilities in the quay; after all the guy wires must be secured very firmly to the quay.
• the aim of the present invention is, now, to provide a portal crane of the type mentioned in the preamble that is better able to withstand storm force winds without the abovementioned disadvantages arising or at least having to arise.
• B base base width in m.
• the Applicant has gained the insight that the standard design rule that the base width must be at most twice the bay width can be disregarded if the hoisting means are constructed such that they are able to move back and forth along the crab, in the horizontal transverse direction of the jib.
• the maximum achievable gain for the base width here is the distance, termed the traversing distance, over which the hoisting means can move back and forth in the horizontal transverse direction of the jib. hi this way a few metres can easily be added to the maximum base width that previously applied. If the width of the travelling gear units of the portal crane is then left unchanged, this is pure gain as far as the resistance to storm force winds is concerned.
• the weight thereof will usually increase, which usually, at least according to the state of the art, will also lead to an increase in the width of the travelling gear units, which, as previously stated, causes the tilt axes parallel to the boom direction to move towards the centre of gravity.
• some of the base width gained will be lost, or at least will not amount to a gain in the distance from the tilt axis to the centre of gravity.
• the base width is at least twice the bay width plus 2 m, preferably if the base width is at least twice the bay width plus 4 m and even more preferentially if the base width is at least twice the bay width plus
• the present invention envisages base widths of twice the bay width plus 10 metres or even more than twice the bay width plus 10 metres.
• this will preferably be greater than 13 m and in particular will be greater than approximately 13.8 m, which, as explained, is a suitable length for 40-foot containers.
• the portal crane no longer has to be driven along the quay during loading and/or unloading of a bay of the ship in order to compensate for small deviations in the longitudinal direction of the ship between crane and ship, it is possible in accordance with an advantageous embodiment to provide one or more of the travelling gear units, at least the travelling gear units located on the jib side and preferably all travelling gear units, of the portal crane according to the invention with outrigger means for supporting the gantry on the quay during unloading or loading.
• outrigger means then constitute a highly delaying factor since these in each case first have to be taken out of the blocked position before the portal crane can be moved.
• the hoisting means can move back and forth along the crab in the horizontal transverse direction, the portal crane no longer has to be moved, but the hoisting means can be moved in the horizontal transverse direction of the jib (corresponding to the horizontal longitudinal direction of the ship).
• Such outrigger means afford a large number of advantages.
• One of the major advantages is that the portal crane, in particular the travelling gear units, can be of much more lightweight construction.
• the travelling gear units only have to be designed to support an unloaded portal crane, that is to say a portal crane from which no containers are suspended or on which there are no containers, and where the jib is not loaded by the weight of the bascule.
• the travelling gear can be of much shorter design, which, in turn, has the consequence that the tilt axes parallel to the longitudinal direction of the boom can be moved further away from the centre of gravity of the portal crane.
• Such outrigger means can be constructed per se in a wide variety of ways that can be found in the state of the art.
• the outrigger means and/or travelling gear units are equipped such that during loading and/or unloading the portal crane is essentially supported on the quay via the outrigger means, the wheels of the travelling gear unit preferably not being loaded or not being loaded above a specific maximum.
• a portal crane where the jib comprises two jibs parallel to one another and located alongside one another a horizontal distance apart is characterised in that, viewed in the horizontal transverse direction of the jib, the distance between the jib beams is greater than the bay width, such that sea containers can be lifted freely in between them.
• the maximum achievable traversing distance is increased, at least compared with conventional gantry cranes where the jib beams are usually a distance apart that is much less than the bay width.
• a further advantage, that is at least as significant, is that by this means the structural height of the crane can be reduced.
• the jib beams themselves can be closer to the top of the ship to be loaded and/or unloaded. After all, there is no longer any space required below the jib for moving containers to be loaded or unloaded in the longitudinal direction of the jib.
• the various features also offer the possibility of providing one or two sets of rails between the jib beams for moving wagons in the longitudinal direction along the jib beams for delivering and removing containers, hi this context reference is also made in particular to WO 01/25131 in the name of the Applicant, which for this purpose provides an auxiliary frame 14, now unnecessary, with an upper set of rails 15 and lower set of rails 16 along which container wagons 20 can be moved back and forth.
• the same principle can be applied in the case of the portal crane according to the invention, except that the auxiliary frame is then omitted, in the sense that here the jib can assume the function of the auxiliary frame directly.
• WO 01/25131 must be regarded as incorporated in the present application by reference.
• the hoisting means comprise right-hand and left- hand hoist components that interact to manipulate a single container and are located horizontally alongside one another viewed transversely to the longitudinal direction of the jib and if the right-hand and left-hand hoist components are provided on the crab, in particular are provided at a fixed height with respect to the crab and can each individually, viewed in the horizontal transverse direction of the jib, move back and forth along the crab, preferably independently of one another, such that the distance between the right-hand and left-hand hoist component is adjustable.
• the telescopic lifting beam also makes it possible to make the telescopic lifting beam to be positioned just above the container to be manipulated, which is conventionally of heavyweight construction because it also has to be able to stand flexural stresses, of much more lightweight construction.
• the engagement points of the lifting blocks on said lifting beam can be situated at the end of the lifting beam, as a result of which the lifting beam only has to fulfil the function of a jib and does not have to be able to withstand flexural stresses, or at least only has to be able to withstand lower flexural stresses.
• the present invention relates to a combination comprising two gantry cranes according to the invention and to the use of two gantry cranes according to the invention that are positioned with the sides adjoining one another.
• the present invention relates to a combination comprising one or more lifting cranes according to the invention, a quay and a ship with bays moored alongside the quay.
• the present invention very particularly also relates to the use of a portal crane according to the invention or the use of a combination according to the invention for loading and or unloading a ship.
• the present invention furthermore also relates to the use of a portal crane according to the invention or of a combination according to the invention where the portal crane is positioned in front of a bay and where the hoisting means are positioned with respect to the bay by moving the hoisting means along the crab, viewed in the horizontal transverse direction of the jib, the various features being such that the hoisting means are approximately centred with respect to the vertical central longitudinal plane of the bay.
• the present invention also relates to the use of a portal crane according to the invention or of a combination according to the invention where, during loading and/or unloading of containers, the portal crane has been supported on outriggers on the quay, preferably has been supported on outriggers in such a way that the wheels of the travelling gear units are essentially not loaded or are not loaded above a specific maximum.
• Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic, perspective view of a combination according to the invention, comprising portal crane according to the invention, a quay and a ship - partially shown diagrammatically;
• Figure 2 shows, as a detail of Figure 1, a diagrammatic and perspective view of part of a jib with a crab thereon;
• Figure 3 shows a highly diagrammatic plan view of a ship, part of which is shown, a quay and two gantry cranes;
• Figure 4 shows, highly diagrammatically, a support beam with travelling gear units
• Figure 5 shows, highly diagrammatically, a set of wheels according to the invention for the travelling gear of a portal crane according to the invention
• Figure 6 shows a highly diagrammatic front view according to arrow VI in Figure 2 of the jib and crab;
• Figure 7 shows a view corresponding to Figure 6 of an alternative embodiment.
• Figure 1 shows part of a ship 11.
• This part of the ship contains 3 bays each filled with a multiplicity of sea containers 10.
• the length of this part of the ship 11, viewed in the longitudinal direction L of the ship, is approximately 3 bay widths B bay , i.e. approximately 42 metres for a bay width B ay of 13.8 m.
• the ship is in the water alongside a quay 13.
• a so-called portal crane 1 has been positioned on the quay for loading and/or unloading the ship. The practice is that in such situations several portal cranes positioned alongside one another on the quay are used in order to be able to load and/or unload a larger number of containers per unit time.
• the portal crane 1 comprises a gantry 2, which supports a boom 3 some distance above the quay at a height that is higher than the highest point of the cargo of the ship 11.
• the boom 3 is sub-divided into a section that essentially is located above the quay, termed the beam 6, and a section that at least during use is located above the ship and is termed the jib 7. h the use position, the jib 7 is essentially in the extension of the beam 6, although some vertical offset is certainly not precluded. So that the ship 11, in particular the wheelhouse protruding above the cargo, is able to move along the quay unhindered without the portal crane being of unnecessarily high construction, the jib can usually be peaked up.
• the jib 7 is pivoted upwards about the hinges 8, the axis of rotation of which is parallel to the longitudinal direction L of the ship. It is also known, and possible according to the invention, to construct the jib such that it can be slid in/out so that it can be retracted to above the quay 13 by a sliding in movement.
• each travelling gear 5 is made up of a number of sets of wheels 29, also termed bogies, with a number of balance beams 30, 31 arranged in layers above these.
• the bogies 29 are fixed to the balance beams 30 by means of joints 32
• the balance beams 30 are fixed to the balance beams 31 by means of joints [lacuna]
• the balance beams 31 are fixed to the support beam 27 by means of joints 34.
• the joint axes of the joints 32, 33 and 34 are all perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. If the weight of the portal crane increases and the maximum load on the quay is exceeded, the number of bogies will then be increased, which necessitates an increase in the number of balance beam layers.
• the greatest width of the portal crane in the longitudinal direction L of the ship is determined by the distance between the outsides of the outermost bogies of the travelling gear units. This distance is indicated as B base .
• B base the distance between the outsides of the outermost bogies of the travelling gear units.
• Figure 3 shows a plan view of part of a ship 11 with bays 12a with a bay 12b between them in each case.
• the bays 12a and 12b are identical to one another per se and have the same bay width B bay .
• the gantry cranes 1 are preferably positioned with their sides adjoining one another.
• Figure 3 shows, highly diagrammatically, two of these gantry cranes; in practice it could be more.
• the boom 3 is provided with two crabs 9 that can be moved along the jib and with a double-width crab 19 that can be moved along the beam 6.
• the present invention lies in the fact that, on the one hand, the hoisting means 20 are constructed such that they can move along the crab 9 to the left and the right over a total traversing distance T in the longitudinal direction L of the ship, i.e. in the horizontal transverse direction of the jib and, on the other hand, at the same time the base width B base of the portal crane is increased by at most half the traversing distance T.
• the stability of the portal crane is increased and the resistance to storm force winds is increased, but without this giving rise to the disadvantage from the state of the art, i.e. reduced loading/unloadmg capacity.
• the boom is approximately aligned with the boundary between two bays it becomes possible successively to unload/load a bay 12a and adjoining bay 12b without interim movement of the portal crane - which takes a relatively long time.
• the portal crane no longer has to be moved in the interim for position corrections when loading/unloading a specific bay - these corrections can, after all, be made according to the invention by moving the hoisting means along the crab - the portal crane according to the invention can be provided with outriggers for support on the quay.
• These outriggers can, on the one hand, be utilised directly to increase the stability and, on the other hand, make it possible to reduce the number of wheels on the travelling gear units, which, in turn, results in an increase in the distance Z ( Figure 4) and thus indirectly in an increase in the stability. With this construction it will be possible for the travelling gear units to be made much more lightweight.
• the travelling gear units have to be designed only for the weight of the portal crane itself, without having to take account of the weight of containers manipulated by the latter. Furthermore, the use of outriggers provides a simple possibility for distributing the crane weight over a larger surface area and thus for reducing the load on the quay, which can lead to less substantial quay constructions.
• the outriggers 24 on transverse arms such as are also used with lorries provided with a cherry picker, can be seen in Figure 1.
• Figure 5 shows a modified bogie 29 with integral outrigger 25.
• the outrigger 25 is of fixed construction and the wheels 26 are constructed such that they can be raised and lowered by means of lever arms 37 and dual- acting cylinder/piston unit 36.
• FIG 2 shows, as a detail, in particular a crab 9 with hoisting means 20.
• Figure 6 shows approximately the same more diagrammatically.
• the basic principle of the hoisting means does not differ very much per se from that known from the state of the art.
• the hoisting means 20 have four pulleys 40 supporting the lifting beam, not shown in Figure 2.
• Eight pulleys 42 are provided on the crab 9. hi accordance with the invention these eight pulleys 42 are on a traversing trolley 43 - optionally on two traversing trolleys 44 - see Figure 7 - that can move back and forth along the crab 9 in the direction L.
• the crab 9 is furthermore provided with further guide pulleys 45 - see Figure 2 - via which the lines running over the pulleys 40, 42 are guided to the jib beams 21.
• the lines are secured at one end to the end of the jib 7 facing away from the shore and at the other end to a drum via which the lines used for hoisting can be paid out or hauled in.
• pulleys 46 for guiding the hoist line are also provided on the traversing trolley.
• the traversing trolley can also be operated and driven electrically, via gear racks or in some other way to provide controlled back and forth movement along the crab 9.
• the crab can also be designed as a mechanical crab, where the gear for the hoisting movement is installed on the crab itself.
• the lifting beam 41 is of telescopic construction at both ends so as be able to grip containers of various dimensions by means of the gripper claws 47.
• the gripper claws 47 can engage underneath the jib beams to beyond the jib. This even makes it possible to load/unload a bay should part of tins not be below the jib.
• the embodiment according to Figure 7 differs from that according to Figure 6 in that here the traversing trolley is of divided construction in the form of two traversing trolleys 44 that can move back and forth relative to one another, independently of one another.
• the advantage of this is that the lifting beam 48 can be made more lightweight.
• the lifting beam 48 can be of single telescopic construction with the pulleys 40 close to the ends. The lifting beam now no longer has to be able to absorb high flexural stresses and functions mainly only as a spacer.
• Figures 2, 6 and 7 all show top 51 and bottom 50 sets of rails also provided in the jib beams 21 for circulating the delivery/removal trolleys 53, by means of which the containers can be transferred from crab 9 to crab 19 or vice versa, in a loop, comparable to an endless conveyor belt.
• WO 01/25131 in the name of the Applicant, which as far as this aspect is concerned must be regarded as incorporated in the present application.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ship Loading And Unloading (AREA)
• Leg Units, Guards, And Driving Tracks Of Cranes (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

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• 2002
  • 2002-05-24 NL NL1020675A patent/NL1020675C2/nl not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2003
  • 2003-05-26 EP EP03738780A patent/EP1507736A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2003-05-26 AU AU2003246181A patent/AU2003246181A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-05-26 WO PCT/NL2003/000390 patent/WO2003099700A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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