JP2008285247A - Intermediate connecting device for container - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To engage/disengage a container by operating a twist lock of an intermediate connecting device through the movement of the twist lock of a container holding tool without having no projection member and an external device. <P>SOLUTION: The intermediate connecting device 31 is interposed between a spreader 9 having a main driving twist lock 14 and the container 21. The intermediate connecting device 31 is provided with an intermediate engaging hole 34 where a main driving engaging piece 14b of the main driving twist lock 14 can be engaged/disengaged on the upper end part of a suspension column 33 disposed corresponding to the main driving twist lock 14, and a driven twist lock 35 which can be connected with the container engaging hole 22 of the container 21 on the lower end part of the suspension column 33. The intermediate connecting device is provided with a lock interlocking mechanism 36 which connects an inner rotation block 42c rotated by the main driving twist lock 14 fitted in the intermediate engaging hole 34 and a driven engaging piece 35b of the driven twist lock 35 through a one-way clutch 42 and a connecting shaft 41. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an intermediate coupling device for containers interposed between a container holder and a container of a cargo handling vehicle such as a transfer crane.

  Usually, a container is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose basic shape is closed on six sides, but there are other shapes such as a frame shape whose upper surface, front and rear surfaces, and left and right side surfaces are open. Among these, many containers having an open upper surface store stored articles in a state of protruding upward from the upper surface.

  On the other hand, a container holder for holding and transporting a container (hereinafter referred to as a spreader) has twist locks that engage with engagement holes at the four corners of the rectangular plate-like suspension frame corresponding to the upper surface of the container. Is provided. However, with this spreader, the spreader cannot be directly attached to the container in which the stored articles protrude upward. For this reason, an intermediate coupling device called a height adjuster is attached to the spreader, and the container is held and transported via the intermediate coupling device.

For example, the attachment means, which is an intermediate coupling device disclosed in Patent Document 1, has an upper twist lock engagement hole formed at the upper end of a column at its four corners, and an upper twist lock is formed below the engagement hole. An engagement receiving portion into which the engagement piece is fitted is provided. Further, a lower twist lock is provided at the lower end portion of the support column, and an engagement receiving portion of the upper twist lock and an engagement piece of the lower twist lock are connected via an interlocking shaft. In addition, a locking latch lever that can be freely engaged with and disengaged from the spreader is provided on the top of each column, and the latch lever can be fixed and released by rotating the interlocking shaft by the lock cam provided on the interlocking shaft. is doing.
JP 7-500308

  However, in Patent Document 1, since protruding members such as a locking latch lever are installed outside the support column, the protruding members are easily damaged by collision with other members during transportation and storage. In addition, there is a problem that an external device such as a storage frame having a biasing tool for urging the latch lever in the unclamping direction to separate the container holder from the intermediate coupling device is required.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems and eliminates the need for a projecting member or an external device, and allows the intermediate coupling device and the container to be freely engaged and disengaged by the operation of the container holder twist lock by the crane operator. An object is to provide an apparatus.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided between the container holder having a plurality of main twist twist locks on the lower surface and the container having a main engagement piece of the main twist twist lock and having a container engagement hole that can be engaged and disengaged. An intermediate coupling device for a container that is detachably attached to a plurality of suspension struts that are respectively arranged corresponding to the main drive twist locks and are connected to each other by a coupling frame, and provided at the lower ends of these suspension struts A driven twist lock that can be connected to the container and an intermediate engagement hole that is provided at the upper end of the suspension column and that is engaged with and disengaged by the main engagement piece of the main twist lock. A passive rotary member in which a passive recess is formed into which a main engagement piece inserted in a fitting hole is fitted, and a lock interlocking machine that connects the passive rotation member and a driven engagement piece of a driven twist lock. The lock interlock mechanism has a connecting shaft that connects the passive rotating member and the driven engagement piece of the driven twist lock, and transmits only one-way rotation of the passive rotating member to the driven engaging piece. A one-way clutch is interposed between the passive rotating member and the connecting shaft, an intermediate portion of the connecting shaft, and between the connecting shaft and the driven engaging piece, and the container engaging hole is driven driven The piece is configured to be able to rotate 360 ° and is formed to be engaged and disengaged every 90 °.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, a display device for displaying the engagement state of the driven twist lock in conjunction with the rotation of the connecting shaft is provided on the suspension column.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the main-engagement piece of the main-drive twist lock is reciprocally rotated by, for example, 90 ° between the unclamping position and the clamping position, so that the clamping is performed, for example, from the unclamping position via the one-way clutch. For each rotation to the position, the driven engagement pieces of the driven twist lock can be sequentially rotated, and the driven engagement pieces of the driven twist lock can be rotated between the clamp position and the unclamp position. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, no projecting member or external device is required for the suspension column, and no operation by an operator is required. By the reciprocating rotation operation of the main twist lock of the container holder only by the operation of the crane operator, By operating the driven twist lock of the connecting device, the intermediate connecting device and the container can be easily and safely engaged / disengaged.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the display device can accurately perform the operation of the driven twist lock by the main drive twist lock while confirming the engaged state of the driven twist lock, thereby enabling a safe transport operation. .

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Embodiment 1]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an intermediate coupling device 31 called a height adjuster according to the present invention is used in a cargo handling vehicle such as a transfer crane 1 of a container handling facility or a large forklift. As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer crane 1 is provided with a pair of left and right sill beams 3 supported via a plurality of movable bogies 2, and columns 4 are erected at front and rear positions of the sill beams 3. Yes. A girder 5 is spanned between the upper ends of the left and right columns 4, and a club carriage 7 having a cockpit 6 is disposed between the front and rear girders 5 so as to be capable of traversing along the length direction of the girder 5. ing. Further, a spreader (container holder) 9 is supported by a lift winch (not shown) provided in the club carriage 7 via a lifting rope 8 so as to be lifted and lowered. The intermediate connecting device 31 according to the present invention is mounted on the spreader 9 of the transfer crane 1, holds the container 21 from which stored articles protrude on the upper surface, and hangs and conveys the container 21.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the spreader 9 has a pair of left and right lifting sheaves 12 around which the hoisting rope 8 is wound at the front and rear positions on the upper surface of the rectangular frame main body 11, and is further attached to the four corner positions on the lower surface of the frame main body 11. A guide plate 13 that guides the fitting when the container 21 or the intermediate connector 31 is mounted, and a main twist twist lock 14 that can freely connect and fix the container 21 or the intermediate connector 31 are provided. As shown in FIG. 3, these main drive twist locks 14 have a main drive engagement piece 14b attached to a lower end portion of a main drive rotary shaft 14a protruding downward, and as shown in FIG. 4, via the main drive rotary shaft 14a. A drive portion 14c that reciprocally rotates the main drive engagement piece 14b by 90 ° is provided. Then, the main driving engagement piece 14b inserted into the container engagement hole 22 of the container 21 or the intermediate engagement hole 34 of the intermediate coupling device 21 described later is moved in the engagement direction (unclamp position → clamp position) by the drive unit 14c. By rotating 90 degrees synchronously, the spreader 9 and the container 21 or the spreader 9 and the intermediate coupling device 31 are coupled and fixed, and rotated 90 degrees in the disengagement direction (clamping position → unclamping position) by the drive unit 14c. The container 21 or the intermediate coupling device 31 is separated and separated from the spreader 9.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the drive unit 14 c of the main drive twist lock 14 is driven through an intermediate link 53 by pushing and pulling the shuttle bar 52 in the longitudinal direction in the longitudinal direction by a hydraulic fastening cylinder 51. The direction is changed by 90 °, and the intermediate bar 54 in the left-right direction is pushed and pulled in the length direction, and the main rotating shaft 14b is reciprocally rotated 90 ° by the intermediate bar 54 via the drive lever 55. ing.

  The container 21 has, for example, a box shape with at least an open top surface, and a main engagement piece 14b of the main drive twist lock 14 and a follow engagement piece 35b of a follow twist lock 35 to be described later are fitted into four corner positions on the upper surface. A container engagement hole 22 that can be engaged and disengaged is formed. These container engagement holes 22 are formed so that the main engagement piece 14b can be reciprocally rotated by 90 ° and can be engaged / removed, and the driven engagement piece 35b can be rotated and rotated continuously by 180 °. . The container 21 may have a frame shape that is open on the front, back, left, and right sides, in addition to the top surface.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the suspension coupling 33 is suspended from the four corner positions of the upper frame (coupling frame) 32 in the container coupling device 31. The upper frame 32 has a rectangular frame shape composed of a long left and right beam 32 a connected between upper ends of the front and rear suspension posts 33 and a front and rear beam 32 b connected between upper ends of the left and right suspension posts 33. Further, a plurality of reinforcing front and rear beams 32c are connected to a predetermined position between the left and right beams 32a.

  Intermediate engagement holes 34 are formed in the upper end plates 33a of the suspension struts 33 so that the main engagement pieces 14b of the main twist twist lock 14 can be engaged and disengaged. Further, a driven twist lock 35 is provided at the lower end of the suspension column 33. As shown in FIG. 3, the driven twist lock 35 is attached with a driven engagement piece 35b at the lower end of the driven rotating shaft 35a. ing. In addition, a lock interlock mechanism 36 that transmits the rotational force of the main engagement piece 14 b fitted in the intermediate engagement hole 34 to the driven engagement piece 35 b is provided in the suspension post 33. In addition, a display device 37 for displaying the engagement / disengagement state between the driven engagement piece 35b and the container engagement hole 22 is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the lock interlocking mechanism 36 includes a connecting shaft 41 that transmits the rotation of the main engagement piece 14b to the driven engagement piece 35b, and an engagement direction (unclamp) that is one direction of the main engagement piece 14b. The one-way clutch 42 transmits only the rotation from the position to the clamp position) to the connecting shaft 41. The one-way clutch 42 is disposed in a lower portion of the upper end plate 33a in the suspension column 33, and is an inner rotating block 42c (passive recess) 43c in which a passive recess (passive recess) 43 is formed that is inserted to stop rotation of the main engagement piece 14b. A passive rotating member), an outer casing 42a that rotatably accommodates the inner rotating block 42c, and a transmission member that is interposed between the inner rotating block 42c and the outer casing 42a and transmits the rotational force only in the engaging direction. 42b. In this embodiment, the inner rotating block 42c, which is a passive rotating member, and the one-way clutch 42 are integrally formed. In the outer casing 42a, an output shaft 42d projecting from the lower portion is rotatably supported via a bearing in a hole portion of the upper support plate 33b in the suspension column 33. The transmission member 42b is generally employed as a one-way clutch. Although not shown in the figure, for example, a ring-shaped support member and a plurality of cams formed on the inner peripheral surface of the outer casing 42a can be freely engaged and disengaged. In addition to providing rollers, springs for urging the rollers in a predetermined direction are provided so as to transmit rotational force only in one direction. The passive recess 43 of the inner rotary block 42c is formed on the upper surface so as to face the intermediate engagement hole 34, and the main engagement piece 14b is formed so as to be fitted and detached from above and to prevent rotation. The output shaft 42d of the outer casing 42a is connected to the connecting shaft 41 through a joint 41a.

  The lower part of the connecting shaft 41 is rotatably supported in the hole of the lower support plate 33d through a bearing, and is connected and fixed to the driven rotating shaft 35a of the driven twist lock 35 through a joint 41b. Reference numeral 44 denotes a reaction force receiver of a driven twist lock 35 that is suspended from the lower end of the suspension column 33.

  In the above-described configuration, when the lock interlock mechanism 36 is rotated in the engagement direction (unclamp position → clamp position) of the main engagement piece 14b, the connecting shaft is connected from the inner rotation block 42c via the transmission member 42b and the outer casing 42a. 41, the driven engagement piece 35b of the driven twist lock 35 is rotated in the engagement direction. Further, when the main drive engagement piece 14b is rotated in the disengagement direction (clamping position → unclamping position), only the inner rotation block 42c is rotated by the transmission member 42b, and the outer casing 42a, the connecting shaft 41, and the driven twist lock 35 are driven. The engagement piece 35b is not rotated. Therefore, by repeating the reciprocating rotation of the main engagement piece 14b between the unclamping position and the clamping position, the driven engagement piece 35b is rotated by 90 ° only during rotation in the engagement direction, and the unclamping position → clamping position or clamping The position can be sequentially switched from the unclamping position.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the display device 37 provided at a predetermined portion of the suspension column 33 has a cam 61 fixed to the connecting shaft 41 and corresponds to the outer plate 33 c of the suspension column 33. The display pin 63 is detachably disposed in the hole 62 formed as described above, and a coil spring 64 that urges the display pin 63 toward the cam 61 is provided on the shaft portion of the display pin 63 with the proximal end plate 63a. It is externally fitted between the plate 33c. The cam 61 is formed in a shape that allows the display pin 63 to be withdrawn and retracted between the unclamping position and the clamping position every 90 °, and the pilot twist lock 35 is locked by the withdrawal of the display pin 63. Or an unclamped state. Needless to say, the display pins 63 can be arranged at symmetrical positions as indicated by virtual lines.

Next, the usage method of the intermediate | middle coupling device 31 of the said structure is demonstrated.
1) The transfer operator 1 moves the transfer crane 1 to a designated place and lowers the spreader 9 on the intermediate coupling device 31 arranged at the designated place. At this time,
・ Main drive twist lock 14 of spreader 9 ... unclamping position,
The driven twist lock 35 of the intermediate coupling device 31 is the unclamping position.
Then, the main drive engagement piece 14 b of the main drive twist lock 14 is inserted into the intermediate engagement hole 34.

2) Operate the driving device 14c to rotate the main-motion engagement piece 14b of the main-motion twist lock 14 by 90 ° in the engagement direction. Accordingly, the driven engagement piece 35b of the driven twist lock 35 is rotated by 90 ° via the one-way clutch 42 and the connecting shaft 41.
・ Main drive twist lock 14: Unclamping position → Clamping position.
・ Driven twist lock 35: Unclamping position → Clamping position.

3) The main driving engagement piece 14b of the main driving twist lock 14 is rotated 90 ° in the disengagement direction by the driving device 14c. At this time, the coupling shaft 41 and the driven engagement piece 35 b of the driven twist lock 35 are not rotated by the action of the one-way clutch 42.
・ Main drive twist lock 14: Clamping position → Unclamping position.
・ Driven twist lock 35: Clamp position.

4) The main driving engagement piece 14b of the main driving twist lock 14 is again rotated by 90 ° in the engaging direction by the driving device 14c. Accordingly, the driven engagement piece 35b of the driven twist lock 35 is rotated by 90 ° via the one-way clutch 42 and the connecting shaft 41.
・ Main drive twist lock 14: Unclamping position → Clamping position.
・ Twisted twist lock 35 ... Clamping position → Unclamping position.

5) The spreader 9 is lifted by the transfer crane 1 to lift the intermediate coupling device 31 and move onto the target container 21. Then, the position is adjusted and the intermediate coupling device 3 is lowered onto the container 21. Then, the driven engagement piece 35 b of the driven twist lock 35 is inserted into the intermediate engagement hole 34. Then, the driving device 14c rotates the main driving engagement piece 14b of the main driving twist lock 14 by 90 ° in the disengagement direction. At this time, the driven engagement piece 35 b of the driven twist lock 35 is not rotated by the action of the one-way clutch 42.
・ Main drive twist lock 14: Clamping position → Unclamping position.
・ Twisted twist lock 35: Unclamping position.

6) The main driving engagement piece 14b of the main driving twist lock 14 is rotated by 90 ° in the engaging direction by the driving device 14c. Accordingly, the driven engagement piece 35b of the driven twist lock 35 is rotated by 90 ° via the one-way clutch 42 and the connecting shaft 41.
・ Main drive twist lock 14: Unclamping position → Clamping position.
・ Driven twist lock 35: Unclamping position → Clamping position.

7) The spreader 9 is lifted by the transfer crane 1 and the container 21 is lifted via the intermediate coupling device 31 (container conveyance is started). After moving to the destination, the container 21 is lowered to a predetermined position. Then, the main drive engagement piece 14b of the main drive twist lock 14 is rotated by 90 ° in the disengagement direction by the drive device 14c. At this time, the driven engagement piece 35 b of the driven twist lock 35 is not rotated by the action of the one-way clutch 42.
・ Main drive twist lock 14: Clamping position → Unclamping position.
・ Driven twist lock 35: Clamp position.

8) The main drive engagement piece 14b of the main drive twist lock 14 is rotated in the 90 ° engagement direction by the driving device 14c. Accordingly, the driven engagement piece 35b of the driven twist lock 35 is rotated by 90 ° via the one-way clutch 42 and the connecting shaft 41.
・ Main drive twist lock 14: Unclamping position → Clamping position.
・ Twisted twist lock 35 ... Clamping position → Unclamping position.

9) The spreader 9 is lifted by the transfer crane 1 to lift the intermediate coupling device 31 and disengage from the container 21 (container conveyance is completed).
Thereafter, the container 21 is transported by repeating 5) to 9).

10) After the conveyance of the container 21 is completed, the transfer crane 1 is moved to the designated place to lower the spreader 9 and land on the designated place. At this time,
・ Main drive twist lock 14: Clamp position,
-Driven twist lock 35 ... It is an unclamping position.
Then, the main driving engagement piece 14b of the main driving twist lock 14 is rotated in the anti-90 ° disengagement direction by the driving device 14c. At this time, the driven engagement piece 35 b of the driven twist lock 35 is not rotated by the action of the one-way clutch 42.
・ Main drive twist lock 14: Clamping position → Unclamping position.
・ Twisted twist lock 35: Unclamping position.

  The spreader 9 is raised by the transfer crane 1 to disengage the main engagement piece 14 b of the main twist twist lock 14 from the intermediate engagement hole 34, and the spreader 9 is disengaged from the intermediate coupling device 31.

  According to the above-described embodiment, the main engagement piece 14b of the main twist twist lock 14 fitted in the intermediate engagement hole 34 at the upper end portion of the suspension column 33 disposed at the four corner positions is connected to the unclamp position and the clamp. For example, the driven twist lock 35 is driven from the passive recess 43 via the one-way clutch 42 every rotation in the engaging direction from the unclamping position to the clamping position by rotating back and forth within a range of 90 ° to the position. By rotating the engagement piece 32b, the driven engagement piece 32b of the driven twist lock 35 can be engaged and disengaged. Therefore, unlike the prior art, no projecting members or external devices are required for the suspension column 33, and the main twist twist lock 14 of the spreader 9 can be engaged and disengaged only by the operation of the crane operator without the operator's operation. By the reciprocating rotation performed, the driven twist lock 35 can be operated to easily and reliably engage and disengage the intermediate coupling device 31 and the container 21.

  Further, the display device 37 can accurately operate the driven twist lock 35 by the main drive twist lock 14 while confirming the engagement state of the driven twist lock 35 by moving the display pin 63 by the rotation of the cam 61. Safe transfer work is possible.

  In the first embodiment, the one-way clutch 42 is provided between the inner rotary block 42c having the passive recess 43 and the connecting shaft 41. However, the one-way clutch 42 is arranged at an intermediate position of the connecting shaft 41 or the connecting shaft 41. And the driven engagement piece 35b of the driven twist lock 35 may be interposed.

Moreover, although the intermediate | middle coupling device 31 was comprised by hanging the suspension support | pillar 33 from the four corners of the upper frame 32, it is not restricted to this shape.
Furthermore, the display device 37 uses the cam 61 to move the display pin 63 back and forth. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a warning drum colored in a notification color every 90 ° is attached to the connecting shaft 41. Further, a viewing window for exposing the colored portion and the non-colored portion of the notification color of the warning drum may be formed on the outer plate 33c of the suspension column 33, or a rotation switch is attached to the connecting shaft 41 to notify the lamp at the clamp position. The notification lamp can be turned off at the unclamping position.

It is a perspective view which shows embodiment of the container handling equipment which uses the intermediate | middle connection apparatus for containers which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view of the disassembled state which shows the spreader, intermediate | middle coupling device, and container of a transfer crane of a container handling equipment. (A)-(c) shows the suspension support | pillar of an intermediate | middle coupling device, (a) is sectional drawing of front view, (b) is sectional drawing of side view, (c) is a top view. It is a top view explaining the drive device of a main drive twist lock. It is sectional drawing of planar view which shows a display apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

9 Spreader 14 Main drive twist lock 14b Main drive engagement piece 14c Drive device 21 Container 22 Container engagement hole 31 Intermediate coupling device 32 Upper frame 33 Suspension column 34 Intermediate engagement hole 35 Drive twist lock 35b Drive engagement piece 36 Lock interlocking mechanism 37 Display device 41 Connecting shaft 42 One-way clutch 42a Outer casing 42b Transmission member 42c Inner rotating block 43 Passive recess 61 Cam 62 Hole 63 Display pin 64 Coil spring

Claims (2)

A container that is detachably interposed between a container holder having a plurality of main twist locks on the lower surface and a container having a main engagement piece of the main twist twist lock and a container engagement hole that can be engaged and disengaged. Intermediate coupling device for
A plurality of suspension posts arranged corresponding to the main drive twist locks and connected to each other by a connection frame, a driven twist lock provided at the lower end of these suspension posts and connectable to the container, and An intermediate engagement hole that is provided at each of the upper end portions and is engaged with and disengaged by the main engagement piece of the main drive twist lock, and the passive engagement piece that is inserted into the intermediate engagement hole is fitted. A passive rotating member having a recess, and a lock interlocking mechanism for connecting the passive rotating member and the driven engagement piece of the driven twist lock;
The lock interlocking mechanism has a connecting shaft that connects the passive rotating member and a driven engagement piece of a driven twist lock, and a one-way clutch that transmits only one-way rotation of the passive rotating member to the driven engaging piece. Interposed between the passive rotating member and the connecting shaft, between the connecting shaft and between the connecting shaft and the driven engagement piece,
The container engagement hole is configured so that the driven engagement piece is configured to be rotatable by 360 °, and is formed to be engaged and disengaged every 90 °. The intermediate coupling device for containers according to claim 1, wherein a display device for displaying an engaged state of the driven twist lock in conjunction with rotation of the coupling shaft is provided on the suspension column.

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