JP3385922B2 - Container transport cart and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container carrier having a platform for mounting a container and a container guide adapted to the sizes of a plurality of types of containers, and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For loading and unloading containers at ports and the like, transfer equipment such as quayside cranes and yard cranes is installed for loading or unloading containers on ships. A container carrier truck has come to be used for a relatively short distance transfer such as lateral holding of a container between these transfer equipments.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 7-187063 proposes a self-propelled vehicle control device for container cargo handling of a ship. According to this technique, a guide plate that can be easily installed is laid along the traveling road, and a distance sensor that detects the distance from the guide plate is provided near each of the front and rear wheels of the vehicle.
From these distance detection results, the position and direction of the self-propelled vehicle (tilt angle with respect to the traveling direction) are obtained and compared with the allowable range. Based on the comparison result, at least one of the front and rear wheels, that is, the left and right wheels, is differentially moved to move the front and rear wheels within an allowable range.

With respect to the platform of the container carrier, a guide device (container guide) is provided for loading the containers at predetermined positions on the platform. 20-foot container,
It is necessary to handle 45-foot containers in addition to 40-foot containers.

A plurality of container guides are provided on the platform of the vehicle so that these various containers can be loaded. In this case, due to the length limitation of the platform of the vehicle and the like, a container guide for a short container is generally provided between the container guides for a long container.
There are several types of installation methods for these container guides, such as staircase type container guides and retractable container guides.

FIG. 7 is a view showing the appearance of a conventional staircase type container guide (herein referred to as a guide). In this form, the container guide 3c for the smallest 20 foot container is mounted directly on the platform. The guide 3b for a 40-foot container having a larger size is attached at a higher position than the guide 3c for a 20-foot container. In this way, when the 40-foot container 1b is loaded, the bottom of the container does not interfere with the guide 3c for the 20-foot container.

Similarly, the guide 3a for a 45-foot container is mounted at a higher position than the guide 3b for a 40-foot container. In this way, in this technique, it is possible to provide container guides corresponding to various container sizes without using a movable part on the platform.

The retractable container guide is a container guide of a type that can be retracted and installed at a position corresponding to a container of various sizes such as a 20-foot container and a 40-foot container. An actuator such as a hydraulic cylinder can be used as a mechanism for retracting the container guide. This type of container guide includes a vertical container guide and a rotary container guide.

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the upper and lower container guides. This method is 3, 40, 45 feet 3
Corresponding container guides 3a to 3c for the types of containers 1a to 1c respectively project from the platform 2 in the vertical direction. Where the outer four
The guide 3a for a 5-foot container is a fixed type.

This upper and lower container guide is also proposed as an auxiliary cargo handling device for a container crane, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-313300. In this technique, a gantry on which a container is loaded and traveling is used in container handling. A claw body that receives a 40-foot container and a claw body that receives a 20-foot container are provided inside the beam member that constitutes a part of the gantry. These claw bodies can be retracted from the beam member by a hydraulic device or the like.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining the rotary container guide. This figure shows an example of handling two types of containers of 20 and 40 feet. Here, 20
The guide 3c for the foot container is projected from the platform by rotating 90 degrees and stored by rotating it in the opposite direction. In this case, the outer 40-foot container guide 3b is stationary.

[0012]

In the conventional staircase type container guide, the guide for the long container must be provided at a higher position than the guide for the short container so that the long container does not interfere with the guide for the short container. is there. As a result, the heaviest 45-foot container is loaded at the highest position, and the center of gravity becomes high, which may impair the steering stability or traveling stability of the carrier. as a result,
There is a drawback in that it is not possible to increase the speed of the carrier truck, especially the speed at the time of turning at a corner.

By the way, when loading 20-foot containers, it is desirable to load two containers in terms of transportation efficiency.
In that case, the container is supported by the container guides at the center and front and rear ends of the carrier. However, as described above, in the staircase type container guide, since the central portion of the carrier truck is low and the front and rear end portions are high, the containers are slanted and two containers cannot be loaded. The carrying capacity was impaired.

Further, the intervals between the container guides are the actual container dimensions (standard dimensions), the container transfer position accuracy (crane positioning accuracy + steady rest accuracy) by a transfer machine (quayside crane, yard crane), It is necessary to add the stop positioning accuracy of the transport vehicle and the interval. The clearance of the container guide (clearance) is
The larger one controls the crane or carrier (positioning control)
However, it is better to be narrow from the standpoint of fixing the container.

Therefore, it is conceivable that the upper part of the container guide is inclined (tapered) to widen the interval between the container guides. In this case, the height of the guide is increased only in the inclined part. Get higher Therefore, as in the case described above, the position of the center of gravity of the long container becomes high, which may impair the steering stability of the truck.

Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the positioning accuracy in order to make the height of the container guide as low as possible. Generally, it is necessary to align the position of the carriage with the position of the container guide, and the smaller the positioning accuracy, the longer the positioning time. Therefore, there are disadvantages that the positioning time of the carrier vehicle and the transfer time are increased, the carrying capacity of the entire carrier system is lowered, and the cost of the entire system is increased.

With the retractable container guide, since the container can be loaded on the platform regardless of the size,
The heaviest 45-foot container can be loaded at the same height as the short container. However, it is necessary to attach actuators to the individual container guides, which necessitates those devices and control devices, which is costly.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and a container can be fixed to a carrier truck without requiring high positioning accuracy for the carrier truck and a crane. It is an object of the present invention to provide a carrier vehicle and a control method thereof that maximize the utilization of the carrier capacity of the carrier vehicle without affecting the motion performance of the carrier vehicle.

[0019]

A first aspect of the present invention is a container carrier having a platform for mounting a container and a container guide adapted to the dimensions of a plurality of types of containers, wherein the container guide in the longitudinal direction of the container is the platform. A rotary claw rotatably attached to the rotary claw, torque adding means for constantly applying a torque in the direction in which the rotary claw exits from the platform, and a rotation angle sensor for detecting a rotation angle of the rotary claw. A container carrier is characterized in that the claws are formed with concave portions for fixing the container at a plurality of positions having different distances from the center of rotation.

According to the present invention, the rotary claws are installed on the platform of the carrier truck for loading one or a plurality of various containers corresponding to the loading position of the containers. Torque is constantly applied to these rotary pawls by the torque applying means, and when the containers are not loaded, they are in a state of being ejected from the platform. Here, since the torque adding means may keep applying the torque at all times,
It is not necessary to use an active mechanism such as an actuator, and it is sufficient to use a passive mechanism such as a spring.

The condition of the rotary claw is that there is no contact with the container,
It is in one of three states: contact with the bottom of the container and contact with the end of the container. If the rotating pawl is not in contact with the container, the rotating pawl remains out of the platform.

When the rotary claw comes into contact with the bottom of the container, the tip of the rotary claw comes into contact with the bottom of the container, and due to the weight of the container, a torque in the direction opposite to that of the torque applying means is applied to rotate the claw. Finally, the rotary claw is in a state of being stored inside the platform. Therefore, even when containers of different sizes are loaded, the rotary claws are pushed into the platform and stored, so that there is no hindrance, and containers of various sizes can be loaded directly on the platform.

When the rotary claw comes into contact with the end of the container, the end of the container comes into contact with any one of a plurality of container fixing recesses formed in the rotary claw. The positions of these recesses are different from the center of rotation of the rotary pawl, and therefore the corresponding positions on the platform are also different.
Therefore, even if the position of the end of the container is deviated on the platform, the container can be loaded as long as it is within the range of the positions corresponding to the plurality of concave portions of the rotary claw.

As described above, according to the present invention, the positioning when loading the containers is facilitated, and the time required for the positioning can be greatly shortened. Also, the position of the rotary claw may be attached to the approximate container loading position.

In the present invention, the rotation angle sensor for detecting the rotation angle of the rotary claw is provided, and the detection result indicates the state of the rotary claw (for example, the presence or absence of contact with the container), the type of the container and the number of loaded containers. Can be asked. Further, the loading position of the container on the platform can be known from the rotation angle of the rotary claw that is in contact with the end of the container, as described later.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when a container is transferred by using the container carrier of claim 1, the rotation angle of each rotary claw is detected by a rotation angle sensor, and the loading angle is detected based on the detected rotation angle. It is a method of controlling a container carrier, which is characterized by calculating the types of containers, the number of containers, and the loading position of the containers.

In the present invention, the state of the rotary claw can be determined by the rotation angle sensor. The rotation angle of the rotating claw is 0
If it is (not rotating), there is no contact with the container, if the rotation angle is maximum, it contacts the bottom of the container,
It is stored in the platform. When the rotation angle of the rotary pawl is other than these, that is, between 0 and the maximum, the state of the rotary pawl is in contact with the end of the container.

From the state of the rotating claw, the type of container and the number of loaded containers can be obtained. First, the type of container can be known from the installation position of the rotary claw that is in contact with the end of the container. The number of loaded containers can be calculated from the number of rotary claws that are in contact with the end of the container. For example, if one rotating claw is placed at each of the four corners of the container,
The number of loaded containers can be calculated as 1/4 of the number of rotary claws that are in contact with the end of the container.

If the long container and the short container share the rotary claw, the type of the container can be known from the state of the rotary claw (for the short container) in the middle of the carrier. If the state of the rotary claw in the middle part is in contact with the bottom part of the container, it is a long container, and if it is in contact with the end part of the container, it is a short container.

The loading position of the container is obtained from the rotation angle of the rotary claw that is in contact with the end of the container. From the rotation angle of the rotary pawl that comes into contact with the end of the container, it is possible to know which of the plurality of concaves of the rotary pawl is in contact with the end of the container. If the concave portion of the rotary pawl can be specified, the distance from the rotation center of the rotary pawl at the end of the container can be known, and the loading position of the container on the platform can be calculated.

As described above, by using the container carrier truck of the present invention, it is possible to recognize the container position and type on the platform when the container is loaded, and to correct the stop position when transferring the container. It becomes possible to control.

[0032]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In carrying out the present invention, a shaft for rotating a rotating pawl in a front-rear direction (longitudinal direction of a container) is installed inside a platform of a carriage. A claw-shaped component (rotary claw main body) having a stepped recess is attached to the rotary shaft so that the rotary claw main body can pop out of the platform by a reaction force of a coil spring or an air damper. A plurality of these devices (rotary claws) are arranged corresponding to the container loading position. It is desirable to mount two or more carriages in the width direction, and the rotations thereof may be independent or may be connected in the width direction.

The rotating claw is applied with a torque by a spring in a direction of popping out from the platform, but when the container is loaded by a crane or the like, it is pushed back by the lower end of the container. At that time, the lower end of the container comes into contact with any one of the recesses formed in the rotary claw body. If the shape of the concave part of the rotary claw is in contact with the lower end of the container and is a horizontal surface (same surface as the platform) and a surface perpendicular to it, the vertical surface will move the container forward and backward. Is prevented. In this way, the transfer of the container can be realized without the need for highly accurate alignment between the container and the carriage.

In this case, when the lower end of the container moves and hits the vertical surface of the concave portion of the rotary claw, the claw is locked by the part, that is, the state close to self-locking, and further movement is prevented. Be blocked. The effect of preventing the movement of the container is more effective as the distance between the rotary shaft of the rotary pawl and the bottom of the container, that is, the distance from the surface of the platform is shorter. Therefore, it is desirable to install the rotary shaft of the rotary pawl just below the surface of the platform.

Various sea shipping containers (20 feet,
In a container terminal handling 40 feet or 45 feet), if a detector for detecting the rotation angle of each rotary claw is installed on the carrier, the type of container, the loading position and the number of loaded containers can be controlled by the controller mounted on the carrier. Can be recognized by. By correcting the stop position when the container is unloaded at the transport destination based on this loading information, it is possible to reliably carry out the transfer, and further it is possible to save the time required for the transfer.

The rotation angle of the rotary claw is detected by detecting the position of a component such as a rotary lever attached to the rotary shaft with a limit switch, or by attaching an angle detection device such as a potentiometer or a pulse encoder to the rotary shaft. You can As for the angle at this time, it is sufficient to obtain data that can recognize the position of the rotary claw, and the degree of accuracy is sufficient.

The type and number of loaded containers and the loading position of the containers can be detected by a rotation angle sensor attached to the rotary claw. In this case, the state of the rotary claw is in a state of no contact with the container if the rotation angle of the rotary claw is 0 (not rotating), and in a state of being in contact with the bottom of the container if the rotation angle is maximum. is there. If the rotation angle of the rotary claw is neither 0 nor maximum but in the middle thereof, it is in contact with the end of the container. From the state of the rotary claws, the type of container and the number of loaded containers are obtained as described above.

When the long container and the short container share the rotary claw, the type of the container can be known from the state of the rotary claw (for the short container) in the middle of the carrier. If the state of the rotary claw in the middle is in contact with the bottom of the container, it is a long container, and if it is in contact with the end of the container, it is a short container.

Regarding the guide in the width direction of the carrier, since each container has the same width, a fixed guide may be used, and this guide is installed at a required position.

[0040]

EXAMPLES Examples of the platform of the present invention,
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

FIG. 1 is a bird's-eye view showing the appearance of the platform of the carrier truck. The frame 2 constituting the platform has an upper surface on which a container is loaded and a plurality of rotary claws 4 are installed. The rotary claws 4 are arranged in eight rows in the front and rear according to the container loading position. Two widthwise guides 3s are attached in the widthwise direction of the carrier as shown in FIG. The widthwise guide 3s of the carrier may be a fixed guide since each container has the same width dimension.

FIG. 2 is a bird's eye view showing the appearance of the rotary nail.
A rotary claw 4 and a rotary lever 7 each having a stepped concave portion that rotates in the front-rear direction (longitudinal direction of the container) of the carrier are attached to a rotary shaft 6. A torque applying means (here, a coil spring) 5 is attached between the frame 2 and the rotating lever 7, and the rotating claw 4 is installed so as to project from the upper surface (platform) of the frame 2 by the reaction force of the coil spring 5. .

FIG. 3 is a view showing a contact state between the rotary claw and the lower end of the container. Since the container 1 is loaded from above by the crane, the rotary claw 4 rotates according to the loading position of the container 1, and the container position is fixed as shown in FIGS.

Here, the rotating claw 4 under no load is shown in FIG.
It can be stopped by the stopper 9 like a. Therefore, FIG.
Then, the rotation angle of the rotary claw 4 is the same (0 degree) when there is no load and when the container is loaded. When the state of one of the rotating claws in the container longitudinal direction is as shown in Fig. 3a, it is indistinguishable from the case of no load only by the rotation angle, but in that case, the other rotating claw facing the other contact with the lower end of the container. The type of container can be identified.

The shape of the rotary claw 4 is designed so that the container does not shift in the front-rear direction during transportation, and the surface that contacts the container even when rotated is perpendicular to the platform as shown in FIG. There is. The rotation angle of the rotary claw 4 is detected by the three proximity switches 8a, 8b, 8c.
The rotation angle is detected by directly detecting the rotation lever 7. In this case, the rotation angle sensor is composed of three proximity switches, and detects not the angle but the range of the rotation angle of the rotary claw 4, that is, the rotation state.

Next, the state of the rotary claw 4 installed on the platform will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4a shows the unloaded condition, with all rotary pawls 4 protruding from the frame 2 (platform). FIG. 4b shows a state in which one 45-foot container 1a is loaded, and in this case, none of the rotating claws 4 is in contact with the lower end or the bottom of the container, and there is no unloaded state.

FIG. 4c shows one 40 foot container 1b
FIG. 4d shows a state in which one 20-foot container 1c is loaded. The rotary claws outside the rotary claws (in the front-rear direction of the carrier) that come into contact with the lower ends of the containers 1b or 1c are in an unloaded state. On the other hand, FIG.
Indicates a state in which two 20-foot containers 1c are loaded. In this case, all the rotating claws 4 come into contact with the container. However, in Fig. 4b (for a 45-foot container), all of the contacting parts are in contact with the bottom of the container except the rotating claws at the front and rear ends, whereas in Fig. 4d, the rotating claw 4 at the center of the platform is connected to the lower end part of the container. The point of contact is different.

Next, a method of detecting the container loading position will be described with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 5D shows a state in which the containers 1 are loaded in the regular position. On the other hand, FIGS. 5 (b) and 5 (f) show the case where the container position is deviated by 100 mm to the left and right, and the intermediate state is shown in (c).
And (e). The states from (b) to (f) of FIG. 5 are the transportable container loading states, and if the range is exceeded, the lower end of the container rotates as shown in (a) or (g) of the figure. It is in a state of protruding from the nail 4.

As can be seen from the states shown in FIGS. 5 (b) to 5 (f) (transportable container loading state), the combinations of the rotation angles of the left and right rotary claws are different in all cases. Therefore, it is understood that the loading position of the container can be detected by detecting the angle of the rotary claw.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control device for the carrier vehicle. In FIG. 6, the rotation angles of the rotary claws installed at the respective loading positions of the transport carriage are detected by the respective rotation angle sensors, and the steering, vehicle speed, brake, etc. of the transport carriage are controlled by the steering control device and the vehicle speed control. This is done by the device and the brake control device. In this way, by inputting the position of each rotary pawl to the carrier control device, it is possible to detect the container type and loading position by the method described above, and based on this information, stop the carrier at the container carrier. The position can be modified.

As described above, the effects obtained by the apparatus and method of the present invention can be summarized as follows. It is possible to transfer the container in a short time without requiring highly accurate alignment between the container and the carrier truck. Various containers can be loaded directly on the platform, and the kinematic performance of the carrier can be maximized. By correcting the stop position when the container is unloaded at the transport destination based on the loading information, it is possible to reliably carry out the transfer, and further it is possible to save the time required for the transfer.

[0052]

According to the present invention, since a long container is also placed directly on the platform, traveling stability is high. Further, since it is not necessary to attach an actuator to the container guide, the vehicle height can be lowered and traveling can be stabilized.

Further, since the relative position of the container on the platform is calculated from the rotation angle of the rotary claw to correct the stop position of the container carrier, it is not necessary to align the altitude of the container and the carrier. , The positioning time is shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a bird's-eye view showing the appearance of a platform of a carrier vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a bird's-eye view showing the appearance of a rotary nail.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a contact state between a rotary claw and a lower end portion of the container.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state of rotary pawls installed on the platform.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method for detecting a container loading position.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control device of a carrier vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an appearance of a staircase type container guide.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a conventional technique (upper and lower container guide).

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a conventional technique (rotary container guide).

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1a-1c container 2 frames 3a-3c container guide 3s width direction guide 4 rotating claws 5 Torque adding means 6 rotation axes 7 Rotating lever 8 Rotation angle sensor 9 stopper

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Sadao Nomura 1-2 1-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Nippon Kokan Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-1-313300 (JP, A) JP-A-7 -187063 (JP, A) Actually open 56-25634 (JP, U) Actually open 61-199466 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60P 7/13

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. In a container carrier having a platform for mounting a container and a container guide adapted to the dimensions of a plurality of types of containers, the container guide in the longitudinal direction of the container includes a rotary pawl rotatably mounted on the platform. A rotary angle sensor for detecting a rotation angle of the rotary claw, and the rotary claw has a different distance from the center of rotation. The container carrier is characterized in that concave portions for fixing the container are formed at a plurality of positions. 2. When transferring a container using the container carrier of claim 1, the rotation angle of each rotary claw is detected by a rotation angle sensor, and the loaded container is detected from the detected rotation angle. And a number of containers and a loading position of the containers are calculated.