HU231401B1 - Railway container transhipment apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Railway container loading equipment

The subject of the invention is a railway container loading device, which contains two chassis units moved on a track, a lifting mechanism mounted on the chassis unit and container fixing elements. The lifting structure is made up of two mirror-symmetrically arranged crane units that can cooperate with each other. The crane unit includes a swivel stool, lower boom, upper boom, lower moving member, upper moving member and lifting beam. The angle formed by the top-view longitudinal axis of the crane units lifting the container and the longitudinal axis of the container loading equipment are changed depending on the distance between the chassis units. Between the chassis units, support units with support wheels that rest on the track are placed for temporary support of the container. The equipment is equipped with dynamic counterweights that can be moved perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the track.

Diverting a part of road freight traffic to railway tracks is the primary environmental protection goal of European countries. One of the obstacles to this is that it is currently rather difficult to transfer containers from truck to freight wagon and back. Overhead cranes or side loaders with rubber wheels are most often used to transfer containers. These transshipment devices usually lift the container from above, which - in areas with electric traction - cannot be used. Since these lifting devices cannot be used on an electrified track, in this case the wagons are towed with a diesel locomotive onto a track without overhead wires for container transshipment, which consumes considerable time and energy unnecessarily. Various transshipment devices with low lifting height, which can also be used under the railway overhead line, are known, the stability of which is ensured by a supporting structure. Their disadvantage is that a pair of supporting rails must be built for the stability resulting from their own structure and the weight of the container, which significantly increases the costs of installation. Another disadvantage of forklifts with rubber wheels and the known horizontal loaders is that they are difficult to move between the railway tracks and can only work on one side.

Several technical solutions are known in the literature, the purpose of which is to ensure the stability of a lifting device with a robotic arm, crane or boom by using a so-called dynamic counterweight with variable position.

Patent description CN 105830755 describes a dynamic counterweight applicable to a relatively small robot arm. The counterweight placed on the frame, on the opposite side of the robot arm's extension, is moved by an electromechanical structure. Since the robot can rotate around the vertical axis, the solution is similar to cranes with rotating platforms. The disadvantage of the solution is that it does not provide sufficient stability for the lifting equipment to move loads weighing more than 10 tons.

The patent descriptions EP 0 779 235, EP 3 075 701 and EP 3 448 796 describe a dynamic counterweight that can be used on rubber-wheeled or tracked cranes, the position of which changes proportionally to the lifted load. Both the crane's boom structure and the counterweight rotate around the crane's vertical axis of rotation. The counterweight can be suspended or moved horizontally on a slider. The solution can ensure the stability of cranes similar to jib mobile cranes. The disadvantage is that it cannot be used to ensure the stability of horizontal container transshipment equipment in the narrow space between tracks with railway traffic.

Patent description EP 2 436 639 describes a dynamic counterweight placed on a frame structure and moved by telescopic hydraulic cylinders, which is mounted on the rotating platform. The disadvantage of the solution is that the counterweight requires a large displacement distance, which is not available between the railway tracks, for the horizontal container transfer and the lifting of the 34-ton payload in the space between the railway tracks in use.

EP 2 497 740 describes a movable counterweight that can be disassembled and assembled at the site of application. The solution is suitable for reaching the maximum load of heavy-duty cranes that are not installed but are assembled at the site of the lifting task. The mentioned solution is not suitable for use on installed equipment. Furthermore, the transshipment of containers is usually carried out at permanent locations, it is unnecessary and expensive in all cases to send the heavy-duty cranes to the location and make them suitable for the task with additional operations.

The European and Hungarian patent description EP 1 401 693/HU 223 759 describes a railway container transfer device whose stability is ensured by a wheeled support structure and a pair of supporting rails. This solution can be used in cases where there is enough space for the installation of a pair of support rails, but at the same time, the support structure and the rail on the road side do not hinder the service of the truck. The disadvantage of this solution is that the costs required for the application are increased by the installation of a pair of support rails. Furthermore, the right and left lifting units are connected by a connecting element. One end of this is connected to a fixed length support unit. The disadvantage of the solution is that, despite the change in the distance between the right and left chassis units, the length of the machine does not change (approx. 26 m), and due to the deformation and track subsidence caused by the 34 tons of payload, it is difficult to move the chassis units relative to each other. Furthermore, the cited patent mentions a hinged element, the operation of which is not detailed, that is, how the lifting beam can be rotated (ensuring a position perpendicular to the track axis) and tilted (ensuring parallelism with the ground). In the solution according to our invention, the rotation of the lifting beam is ensured by the electromechanical or hydraulic rotation unit that is part of the hinged element, and parallelism with the ground is ensured by the tilting cylinder. In the referenced patent, the cross support unit ensures the stability of the equipment, while in the case of the solution according to our invention, the dynamic counterweights and their positioning ensure stability. Furthermore, in the solution according to the cited patent, support wheels that can be extended or retracted ensure the stability of the structure, which require the laying of an auxiliary track for their operation. The solution according to our invention can be operated without an auxiliary track, which is a significant work and cost-saving solution. Furthermore, in the referenced document, the fixing point of the structure (longitudinal support unit) is formed at one end of the equipment, i.e. the intermediate crane is moved between the fixing point and the farthest crane unit among the crane units. Furthermore, the intermediate crane is "strung" to the connecting element placed between the anchoring point and the more distant crane unit. The support unit is fixed to one of the telescopic elements, so only the support wheels roll on the pair of rails, in contrast to the solution according to our invention. Furthermore, the axial movement unit is not telescopic. The reference to a telescopic solution in the description is incorrect, because such a design is not described in any way in the cited patent, not even at the level of a specific reference.

British patent document No. GB 2015970 describes a container transfer device that is not able to handle containers that are next to each other but of different heights. It cannot ensure the stacking of containers on the unloading side. It describes a forced mechanical connection in which a gear, lever, mechanism is used, which under certain conditions can ensure the position of the lifting beam perpendicular to the track axis. This movement does not have an independent drive or control, so it can be used when the lifting equipment rotates in a limited angular range. The moving design of the beam according to the invention is not suitable in cases where the container is not parallel to the transshipment equipment.

The other end of the lift arm is a spherical pivot support to which a transverse support beam is attached. At both ends of the beam, it is equipped with a screw-operated closing mechanism to cooperate with the upper corner elements at one end of the container. In order to keep the beam in the correct position relative to the longitudinal axis of the assembly, and thereby align the turning device with the corner elements of the container, a bevel wheel is mounted on the shaft fixed in the frame.

Another insufficiency of the construction described in the patent is that the parallelism of the beam with the ground cannot be ensured with the container placed at different heights. The patent uses a spherical surface to provide the displacement required for this, but the motion has no control. In other words, in order to grasp the container on the ground, the tilted lifting structure deflects the beam from the horizontal plane. This makes the exact orientation of the grip difficult, since the proper position of the beam can only be adjusted when it is in contact with the corner element of the container. The solution we use provides significantly wider movement for the container gripping structure. British Patent No. GB 1163241 describes a container handling device that has a dynamic counterweight. The described construction is not suitable for lifting a nominally loaded 40-foot container (34 tons). Not only because the range of movement of the counterweight cannot ensure the stability of the vehicle, but also because the weight of the road vehicle assembly can be no more than 45 tons in the case of intermodal goods transport. If 34 tons of this is the container weight, there is not enough weight left to ensure stability according to the described operation. Figure 3 of the patent illustrates the counterweight movement mechanics from which the range of motion can be estimated. Due to its height, the container transfer according to the described technical solution is not suitable for operation under railway overhead lines or for handling containers of different heights that are close to each other. Furthermore, it does not describe the operation and design of the telescope. The operation/operation of the connecting element between the front and rear axles (marked with item number 26 in the description) is not described in any appreciable way, i.e. its operation is not revealed even to a specialist.

Our invention does not apply to road, but to fixed-track container transshipment equipment, with a maximum load of 20 tons per axle. The total weight of the 2 counterweights used on each side of the machine is more than 34 tons, and it has a large enough movement range to ensure stability.

Although the use of counterweights has been part of lifting machine technology for many decades. At the same time, determining the weight of the counterweight required for the required lifting load, the number of counterweights, and the method and range of their movement is a complex and complex task.

The purpose of the invention is to eliminate the errors of the previous solutions and to develop a railway container loading device that can also work next to an electrified track, the installation cost is low, and it can be implemented with standard technical solutions. It can hold ISO containers from above and can also be used for other types of unit loads (swap cabinets). Furthermore, it does not require special preparation of the area for its placement.

The basis of the invention is the realization that if space-saving crane units working together are equipped with dynamic counterweights that move perpendicular to the track, and the chassis units are telescopically connected to each other, and the relative fixed point of the movements is placed in the center of the equipment, then a more favorable solution than before we get.

The invention is a railway container loading device that contains two chassis units moved on a track, a lifting mechanism mounted on the chassis units and container fixing elements. The lifting structure is made up of two mirror-symmetrically arranged crane units that can cooperate with each other. The crane unit includes a swivel stool, lower boom, upper boom, lower moving member, upper moving member and lifting beam. Depending on the distance between the chassis units, the angle formed by the top-view longitudinal axes of the crane units lifting the container and the longitudinal axis of the container loading equipment is changed. Between the chassis units, support units with support wheels that rest on the track are placed for temporary support of the container. The chassis units are connected to each other by a pair of connecting elements consisting of telescopic elements that slide coaxially into each other, parallel to each other, parallel to the direction of movement of the chassis units. The external elements of the telescopic elements are formed in the chassis units. Its internal elements are connected to a fixing unit. The connecting elements are equipped with hydraulic cylinders. The fixing unit is equipped with wheels and fixing devices that fit on the track. The equipment is equipped with dynamic counterweights that can be moved perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the track.

The invention will be described below based on the drawings.

Figure 1 is a side view of the equipment.

Figure 2 is a top view of the equipment, where the container is fitted to the support unit. Figure 3 is a top view of the equipment, where the container is in the inverted state of the crane unit on the lifting beam, after being lifted from the transport unit or before being placed on the transport unit.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the equipment when the crane units are fully spaced apart, i.e. the connecting element is extended substantially along its entire length.

Figure 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the part of the fastening structure in the circle marked V in Figure 4.

The railway container loading device 1 according to the invention is placed on the track 2. It consists of two chassis units 3 and additional elements ensuring the movement of the crane units 6 placed on the chassis units 1 along the longitudinal axis 15 of the equipment 1 (Figures 1 - 4). The additional elements of the chassis unit 3 are the carriage wheels 29, the supporting wheels 18 and the wheels 28, which enable the movement of the equipment 1 and the chassis units 3 on the track 2.

The lifting structure 4 consists of the two crane units 6, which consist of the container fixing elements 5, the swivel stools 7, the lower booms 8, the upper booms 9, the lower moving members 10, the upper moving members 11 and the lifting beams 12.

The swivel stool 7 enables the crane unit 6 to rotate around the vertical axis line 30 (Figure 1) with the angle 16 enclosed by the longitudinal axis 15 and the longitudinal axis 14 in the top view (Figure 3). This angle 16 is essentially between 0° and 90°, in the direction of both sides of the device 1 (Figure 3). The 21 static counterweights are also located on the 6 crane units. The distance 17 of the vertical axis lines 30 depends on the size of the container 13. In the case when the container 13 is on the support unit 19 of the equipment 1, the distance 17 is the largest. In this case, the biggest difference is between the distance 17 and the distance of the lifting beam 33 (Figure 2). If container 13 is farthest from device 1 when transferring container 13, the lifting beam 12 attached to the hinged element 32 is fixed with the container fixing element 5 in the axis line of the corner element 31, then the smallest distance is 17, which is also equal to the distance of the lifting beam 33 (Figure 3). The articulated element 32 is operated by the tilting cylinder 35. The rotation unit 37 ensures the rotation of the lifting beam 12 (ensuring a position perpendicular to the track axis), its tilting (its parallelism with the ground) is ensured by the tilting cylinder 35.

In the equipment 1, the support units 19, which rest on the track 2 with the support wheels 18, serve to support the container 13 properly, i.e. to avoid deformation of the connecting element 20. If appropriate, the support units 19 can be designed with two support wheels 18 on each side (not shown). The connecting element 20 consists of telescopic elements that slide coaxially into one another, parallel to each other and to the track 2, parallel to the direction of movement of the chassis units 3. The telescopic element consists of the 22 outer elements placed in the chassis unit 3, the 34 intermediate elements inserted into the 22 outer elements, and the 23 inner elements (Figure 1). Among the support units 19 for the temporary support of the containers 13 is the fixing unit 24 placed against the wheels 28, which can be attached to the track 2 when the container 13 is unloaded to the right or to the left, relative to which the chassis units 3 move. The fastening of the equipment 1 to the track 2 is carried out by the fastening structures 26 of the fastening unit 24 (Figure 5). If appropriate, the fixing unit 24 can be provided with two wheels 28 on each side (not shown). The fixing structure 26 of the device 1 has a fixing role, not a braking one. The purpose of the fixing structure 26 is not to slow down or brake the entire equipment 1 at a stop, but to provide a fixed reference/fixation point for controlling movements in the axis of the track 2 (approaching and moving away from each other of the undercarriages).

The ends of the inner elements 23 farthest from the chassis unit 3 are attached to the fixing unit 24, while the ends of the intermediate element 34 farthest from the chassis unit 3 are attached to the support units 19. The support units 19 and chassis units 3 are equipped with hydraulic cylinders 25 in order to ensure that the correct distance of the support units 19 from the chassis unit 3 is always ensured. Furthermore, the outer elements 22 and the intermediate elements 34 of the telescopic connecting elements 20 can be retracted into each other and into the chassis unit 3 with the hydraulic cylinders 25. The inner elements 23 and the intermediate elements 34 can be pushed together and pulled apart by driving the chassis units 3. Proper balancing of the 6 crane units is ensured by the dynamic counterweights 27 located on the 3 chassis units. According to a possible solution for their design, they can be moved electromechanically or hydraulically in a suitable track, equipped with wheels, in the opposite direction to the rotation of the 6 crane units (Figure 3).

The adjustment of the appropriate length of the lower boom 8 is carried out by the moving structure 36, which is located inside the lower boom 8 in the embodiment according to Figure 1. In the embodiment according to Figure 4, the 8 is attached to the lower boom from the outside. The moving structure 36 can be a hydraulic cylinder or a screw spindle, but any conventional structure can be used to adjust the length of the lower boom 8 formed in a telescopic manner from two or more parts.

The lifting beam 12 is connected via the joint element 32 to the upper boom 9, on which the container fixing elements 5 are connected. The movement of the hinged elements 32 is carried out by the tilting cylinders 35 and the rotation units 37.

The operation of the device 1 is described on the basis of figures 1 - 3. The side view of the device 1 is shown in figure 1, and its top view is shown in figure 2. The figures show the operational phase when the lifting beams 12 on the crane units 6 are connected to the container 13 with the container fixing element 5. The parts of the telescope-like connecting element 20 -- the outer element 22, the intermediate element 34 and the inner element 23 -- are pulled apart from each other so that the crane units 6 are sufficiently far from each other and the lifting beams of the 12 can be connected to the corresponding connection points of the container 13 connect as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The stability of the equipment 1 is ensured by the support units 19 holding the container 13 and the static counterweights 21 and the dynamic counterweights 27. The dynamic counterweights 27 are placed symmetrically (in the middle) with respect to the longitudinal axis 15 in this work phase.

In Fig. 3, we can observe the equipment 1 during operation, in a top view. Equipment 1 is located on (railway) track 2. The container 13 can be moved between arbitrary actors, for example between a wagon on an adjacent track 2 and/or between the equipment 1 and/or a truck on the road next to the track 2 or another wagon. The movement direction and destination of the 13 containers is arbitrary, where the destination is the onward transport vehicle for loading, and the delivery vehicle for unloading. The equipment 1 can be equipped with a switching element that allows it to be moved on the track 2 between transshipment locations that are far apart (more than 10 kilometers) with a suitable towing device. The chassis units 3 are equipped with independent drives, which also move the crane units 6 along the track. These embodiments are not shown, their implementation is obvious to a person skilled in the art.

The 13 containers are held by the 6 crane units by means of the 12 lifting beams. Before this, the chassis units 3 had to move away from the fixing unit 24, according to the size of the length of the container 13. During this process, during the lifting of the container 13 onto the support unit 19 of the equipment 1, the crane units 6 on the swivel stool 7 turn in opposite directions, ideally mirror symmetrically, both chassis units 3 move away from the fixing unit 24 in opposite directions due to the geometric constraint path. The chassis units 3 are moved by the engines driving the carriage wheels 29. The same engines enable the entire equipment 1 to be moved on rails within the transshipment area.

The angle 16 enclosed by the top-view longitudinal axis 14 of the crane unit 6 lifting the container 13 and the longitudinal axis 15 of the equipment 1 is proportional to the distance 17 between the chassis units 3. Figure 2 shows the completely turned state of the 13 containers. The distance 17 of the 3 chassis units from each other is the greatest in this case. In this case, the longitudinal axis 15 and the longitudinal axis 14 in the top view are parallel to each other.

When the container 13 is completely turned out of the equipment 1 as shown in Figure 3 in order to transfer it to the onward transport vehicle, the top view longitudinal axes 14 of the crane units 6 are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 15 of the equipment 1. In this case, the distance 17 and the lifting beam distance 33 are the same. In this operation, the dynamic counterweights 27 are moved out with the lifting beams 12 of the equipment 1 and to the opposite side of the container 13 with a known moving mechanism. This driving mechanism is not described in detail, its implementation is known. The dynamic counterweights 27 are moved in proportion to the weight of the load lifted by the 6 crane units. That is, the displacement of the dynamic counterweights 27 is proportional to the angle 16 between the longitudinal axis 14 and the longitudinal axis 15 of the crane unit 6, which can rotate around the vertical axis line 30.

The railway container loading device according to the invention has many advantages. It allows rail freight to spread more quickly as a result of lower installation costs. It can also operate on tracks with electric overhead wires. The low lifting height of the containers reduces the general risk of accidents associated with lifting. Its production is cheaper than that of known container handling equipment. Its operation is also more favorable, because container handling can be automated to a large extent. It is also particularly advantageous that there is no need for a special transshipment area, the construction of a supporting rail, the construction of a container terminal, and the use of a diesel locomotive can be avoided. The rail container handling equipment according to the invention can be used to lift any container, usually 612 m (20-40 feet) in length. If the equipment needs to put down the container for some reason, e.g. as a vehicle, it needs to move it further along the railway track, it can be placed on the support unit by tilting the upper boom. The lifting beam is primarily suitable for holding ISO standard containers through upper corner elements. The railway container loading device according to the invention can be implemented in many versions in addition to the protection circle.

Claims (4)

1. Railway container loading equipment (1), which includes two chassis units (3) moved on a track (2), a lifting mechanism (4) placed on the chassis units (3) and container fixing elements (5), the lifting mechanism (4) is made up of two mirror-symmetrically located, cooperating with each other consists of a suitable crane unit (6), the crane unit (6) contains a swivel stool (7), lower boom (8), upper boom (9), lower moving member (10), upper moving member (11) and lifting beam (12), the chassis units ( 3) according to the distance (17) between them, the top-view longitudinal axes (14) of the crane units (6) lifting the container (13) and the longitudinal axis (15) of the container loading equipment (1) are connected in a way that can change the angle (16), the chassis units ( 3) for the temporary support of the container (13), supporting units (19) with support wheels (18) are placed, also resting on the track (2), and the equipment (1) with dynamic counterweights that can be moved perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis (15) of the track (2) (27) is provided, characterized by the fact that the chassis units (3) are connected to each other by a pair of connecting elements (20) consisting of telescopic elements that slide coaxially into each other, parallel to each other, parallel to the direction of movement of the chassis units (3), where the telescopic elements are made of an external element ( 22), consist of an intermediate element (34) inserted into the outer element (22) and an inner element (23) inserted into the intermediate element (34), and the outer elements (22) of the telescopic elements are formed in the chassis units (3), the inner elements (23) are connected to the fixing unit (24), the intermediate elements (34) are connected to the inner elements (23) and the chassis unit (3), and the intermediate elements (34) are connected to the chassis unit (3) with hydraulic cylinders (25) connected and the fixing unit (24) is equipped with wheels (28) and fixing devices (26) that fit on the track (2). 2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the fixing structures (26) of the fixing unit (24) are connected to the track (2) with a hydraulically or pneumatically operated gripping unit. 3. The device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the support unit (19) is equipped with two support wheels (18). 4. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the fixing unit (24) is equipped with two wheels (28).