JPH01162698A - Travelling container crane - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enhance carrying efficiency of a container, and to shorten work time by separately supporting at least two beams in parallel by a gantry, and respectively separately arranging a mobile trolley and a container-lifting device. CONSTITUTION: A gantry 10 capable of traveling on a rail 14 running along a quay, mutually separately supports two beams 16, 17 in parallel, and the front side part can be raised up to an almost vertical position from a horizontal position by hinges 18, 19 so as not to hinder entry/departure of a ship. Trolleys 22, 23, 30 movable along the lengthwise directional inverse T-shaped beam 24 are arranged on the under side of the respective beams 16, 17 and between both beams, and spreaders 33 lifted by winches 32 are arranged in the respective ones so as to respectively separately perform cargo handling work of a container to thus improve carrying efficiency of the container as well as to shorten work time of cargo handling work of the container.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a traveling container crane.

Packing cargo into steel containers for land or sea transport has been common since the 1950s. The cargo container is formed to have standard dimensions within a predetermined range so that it can be easily transferred between ships, trucks, railway freight cars, etc.

That is, containers are standardized to be 8" (or 8.5ft) wide and usually 8ft high, although 4ft tall containers may also be used as "half-hide containers," and sometimes 9ft or 9ft tall. (354t, 45ft and 48rt) are used, although the majority of cargo containers used in international trade are 20ft or 40ft long.
Length containers are also used in small numbers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Special lanes known as traveling container cranes have been developed to lift cargo containers during loading and unloading operations on ships, trucks, railroad wagons, etc. The crane includes a movable gantry disposed for laterally movable movement on rails fixed to the ground, and a movable gantry supported by the gantry and extending from the gantry in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the gantry. a beam, a movable trolley supported below the beam on a rail fixed to the beam and movable back and forth along the beam on the rail, and a hoistable container lifting device suspended from the trolley; It is equipped with a so-called "spreader". The hoisting device itself can be mounted on the trolley or housed in a mechanical housing supported on the rear of the beam.

In particular, the present invention can be effectively applied to quayside cranes used for cargo handling operations between ships and land, although the invention is not necessarily limited thereto. Generally, the gantry in such a crane has an arch shape with two front legs on the sea side and two rear legs on the land side, each of which can run on fixed rails on the ground, and the beam has at least an arch shape. The arch extends under the front of the arch, that is, between the tops of the two front legs, and usually projects beyond the rear of the arch from between the two rear legs.

゛ In such a lane, the part of the beam located forward of the arch, that is, the part that protrudes into the sea from the quay, forms a derrick boom, which creates the required space from the horizontal position. It is designed to be able to be lifted to a certain position, allowing ships to dock for cargo handling operations such as loading and unloading.

The most highly specialized container ships are called lift-on-lift-off ships (LO-LO ships), to distinguish them from regular roll-on-roll-off ships. Traveling container cranes placed on the quay are mostly used for the former type of container ships, and for loading and unloading of the latter type of container ships.
For example, this is done using a forklift truck.

Cargo containers on lift-on and lift-off ships are
Since containers are normally loaded with their longitudinal axes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the ship, the axis of the container is oriented parallel to the edge of the quay when the ship is berthed. Since the running lane can be moved laterally along the quay, that is, parallel to the axis of the containers on board, the beam can be moved perpendicular to the container axis until it reaches the cargo hold where the containers are loaded. It will extend in the direction.

Generally, when loading containers onto a ship, containers of the same length (usually 20ft or 40ft) are lined up in parallel, and multiple rows of containers are aligned in the width direction of the ship, that is, along the longitudinal axis of the containers and the ship. The containers are arranged in a rectangular matrix shape so that they are adjacent to each other in a direction forming a right angle, and the container stages arranged in this manner are stacked in a plurality of stages.

When unloading a ship that has been loaded with containers as described above, move the crane on the quay side to a position where its beam is positioned over the center of a row of containers, and move the trolley directly to the center of the container to be unloaded. Move the container to the top, lower the container hoist, and fix the container with the spreader.

The container is then hoisted above other containers and obstructions and the trolley is retracted along the beam, usually on a track or Move it to just above the railway freight car, etc.

Finally, the container is lowered onto the vehicle and the spreader is separated. The trolley is controlled by a worker inside the cabin,
This cabin is mounted at the rear of the trolley to provide a good view of the cargo container at all times.

The operations described above are repeated for all containers in a particular row aligned with the beam of the crane, without moving the gantry, except for minor adjustments needed to engage the containers. When unloading adjacent rows, the gantry is moved so that the beam is positioned over the center of the desired row, and the containers in each row are transported one by one in the manner described above. Of course, when loading onto a ship, the above-mentioned operation is performed in reverse.

Many constraints are inevitable in the known loading and unloading methods as described above.

To allow the largest sized containers to be moved between the front legs of the gantry on the crane, the front legs are approximately 54 ML apart from each other, allowing for a maximum container dimension of 48"L and 3.5 ft for clearance at each end. In addition to this 55ft spacing,
The gantry structure itself also occupies a certain amount of space on each side of the central space.

Additionally, as is well known, each leg of a gantry typically runs on ground rails through a rocker beam, truck and wheel assembly, and the rocker beam distributes the total vertical load of the crane evenly to each wheel. It is configured to distribute. And in a typical large container crane with eight wheels on each leg, it is the spacing between the rocker beam and the outer edge of the truck that determines the overall width of the gantry.

Despite the attempts of crane manufacturers to achieve a minimization of the overall width of the crane and to bring two or more cranes as close together as possible so that they can closely perform the required operations on °C vessels, Due to practical constraints such as double leg spacing and crane stability, in reality two cranes can only be brought close to each other up to about gorts with respect to the beam centerline of each crane.

Therefore, even when using two cranes adjacent to each other, they can only work on the fourth row of containers in the case of a 2-ort container, or the second row of containers in the case of a 40rL container, at the same time. could not.

An object of the present invention is to propose a traveling container crane that can work closely with cargo containers arranged and stacked in a matrix as described above, not only on ships but also in container yards and the like. It is.

That is, the present invention includes a movable gantry disposed so as to be laterally movable on a fixed rail on the ground; A movable trolley supported below the beam on a rail fixed to the beam and capable of reciprocating along the beam on the knoll, and a hoistable trolley suspended from the trolley. a traveling container crane having a gantry supporting at least two beams spaced apart from each other and parallel to each other, each beam carrying a separate movable trolley and an associated hoistable container lifting device; It is characterized by the fact that it has been provided.

The main advantage of the invention is that by providing two beams on a common gantry, these beams can be placed closer together than the two beams of the gantries on two separate cranes, thus By properly setting the beam spacing, one crane can handle every other row of 20ft containers, and 40ft containers.
In the case of ft containers, it is possible to simultaneously work on containers in adjacent rows.

It goes without saying that the crane with the above configuration is wider than a normal crane with a single beam; When two cranes of the invention are used next to each other, they work more closely together than when two conventional single-beam cranes are used next to each other. It is possible to do so.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the third movable trolley and associated hoistable container lifting device are
The third movable trolley is supported between the beams on another rail fixed to the book beam, and the third movable trolley is movable back and forth along the space between the beams on the other rail.

According to such an arrangement, by properly determining the beam spacing, two cranes can be used even though only a single crane is used.
For 3 mutually adjacent rows of 0ft containers or 4o
It becomes possible to simultaneously perform the required work on two mutually adjacent rows of rt containers.

Yet another advantage is that even if one trolley breaks down mechanically or becomes unusable for any reason, at least one usable trolley remains available.

In a preferred embodiment related to the configuration described above, instead of assigning one worker to each trolley as in cranes with only a single beam, the movable worker cabin is provided with two as well as a third trolley. support between the beams of the crane, the operator cabin being positioned towards the front end of the beam during operation of the crane to enable control of all three trolleys, for example during the loading and unloading of containers onto and from ships; , a second worker cabin, which may also be arranged movably supported between the beams, is positioned toward the rear of the beam to control loading and unloading on the land side of the beam, and controls each trolley. allows switching from one worker's share to another at an intermediate point along the beam.

In other words, the multi-beat structure according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention not only allows operations to be performed closely, but also allows operations to be performed in close proximity compared to using multiple cranes with a single beam. , which has the advantage of being performed by fewer workers.

Needless to say, since there is little gap between adjacent rows of containers carrying out operations simultaneously, the containers are moved during transport along the beam to avoid collisions due to lateral sway.
It is necessary to lift them to different height positions. This can be controlled automatically or by the operator, and automatic safety devices are provided to monitor and correlate the container height and position along the beam to ensure that sufficient mutual spacing of containers or trolleys is not maintained. It may be configured to stop the operation or issue an alarm at certain times.

A further development of the above principles is to provide the crane with three or more beams supported by gantries, each supporting a trolley under each beam, and each trolley moving within the space between each adjacent pair of beams. Needless to say, it is possible.

As mentioned above, the present invention can be particularly effectively applied to cranes placed on the quay side.

In this case, the gantry has a substantially arch shape having two front legs and two rear legs that can each run on fixed rails on the ground, and the beam extends at least under the front of the arch. A derrick boom is formed by the portion located forward of the arch of each beam, and the boom can be lifted from its horizontal position to a position where the required space is created, allowing vessels carrying out cargo handling work to berth. It is advantageous to have a configuration in which:

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to illustrated embodiments.

Although the drive and control mechanism of the crane is not shown in the drawing, it is possible to use a normal structure for these, and a person skilled in the art will be able to combine them with the illustrated example without any particular difficulty. is possible. Typically, an electromechanical device having a semiconductor speed control element or Ward Leonard type speed control means is used as the drive and control mechanism for the crane. The power source for the crane can be a diesel generator or a power supply rail, or the crane can be supplied with power from the power supply equipment at the port via a flexible cable that can be wound onto a cable drum on the crane. Also good. Power is distributed to the individual trolleys by separate flexible cables arranged to move in a concertina fashion along the length of the beam.

The crane shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 includes a substantially arch-shaped movable gantry 10, each of which has two
It has a front leg part 11 and a rear leg part 12 of the book, and various supports and cross members 13. The gantry 10 is connected to the quay 15 (
The rail 14 is movable laterally on a pair of rails fixed to the ground parallel to the ground (see Figure 2), and only the rail 14 on the side away from the quay 15 is shown in the drawing. Note that the front leg 11 of the gantry is connected to the rail (not shown) on the side close to the quay 15.
It is assumed that the rear leg section 12 runs on the rail on the side remote from the quay 15.

As mentioned above, the front and rear legs of the gantry IO 11゜1
2 runs on rails using an assembly of a rocker beam, a truck, and wheels. However, since such an assembly can be of a general configuration, illustration is omitted for the sake of brevity. However, to be able to support the additional weight, an arrangement of 10 to 16 wheels would typically be required instead of the usual 8 wheels.

Two parallel beams 16,17 are supported by the gantry 10 and extend from the gantry 10 in a horizontal direction perpendicular to its direction of lateral movement. In particular, the beam 16.17 passes completely through the arched gantry IO via the underside of the crosspiece 13°, which interconnects the tops of the front legs R11, and crosspieces 13", which interconnect the tops of the rear legs 12.
It is arranged so that it protrudes from the bottom of the gantry toward the rear of the arch.

Each beam 16. Arched gantry 1 in 17
The forward part of the 0 constitutes a derrick boom, and these booms are designed to allow ships to perform cargo handling operations to berth and ships that have completed cargo handling operations to depart from the berth (and to avoid interference with the ship's mast, etc.). It can be held from the horizontal position shown in the figure to a substantially vertical position for the purpose of

The forward portions of the derrick booms or beams 16,17 pivot upwardly about hinges 18, 19, respectively, during derrick operation. However, the derrick boom
During normal operation, the holding arm 2 attached to the Δ frame 21
G keeps it horizontal. In this example, the beam is
They are approximately 6 m (20 ft) wide and spaced approximately 6 m apart from each other. However, to allow for the lateral displacement described below with respect to FIG. 6, the width of the beam must be increased by a length corresponding to the required amount of lateral displacement. Each beam 16
．． Two rails extending in the longitudinal direction are fixed to the lower side of the trolley 17 to form a running path for the movable trolleys 22 and 23.

A movable trolley 22 supported on these rails
．． 23 is movable back and forth over substantially the entire length of the beam 16.17.

That is, each beam 16, 17 has an inverted i at its outer edge.
The figure 7 beams 24 are fixedly suspended and the wheels 25 on each side of each trolley 22,23 are able to run on rails 26, which are connected to the associated beam 1.
6.17 by an inverted web 27 of an inverted T-beam 24 supported by its outer edge. Such an arrangement is generally shown at the top of FIG.

Further rails 28 are fixed along the outward webs 29 of the inverted T-beam 24 at the opposite edges of the two beams 16 , 17 , with these rails 28 forming a running path for a third movable trolley 30 . do. Trolley 30 is on rail 2
It is assumed that the vehicle has wheels 31 corresponding to No.8.

The trolley 30 is therefore supported between both hems 16.17, and the trolley 22.23 is supported over almost the entire length of the space between the beams, just as the trolleys 22.23 are each supported under the beams 16.17. It moves back and forth parallel to the path of movement.

- As an alternative means of achieving a support function similar to that of the above-mentioned inverted T-beam 24, for example, each trolley support beam may be constituted by two vertically arranged I-beams, and the upper part thereof may be constructed with a lattice structure. The bottom of each I-beam can support two rails.

Each trolley 22, 23, 30 is associated with a corresponding container hoist. These hoists have a normal configuration in which a lobe winch 32 raises and lowers a boley frame and a spreader 33. As is well known, the spreader serves to lift a frame which can be attached by means of twist locks to the four corners of the top surface of the container. Spreaders are known to have fixed dimensions that need to be replaced in accordance with different container dimensions, and spreaders that are expandable and retractable to accommodate container dimensions within a predetermined range.

In order to control the crane, a first mobile worker cabin 39 (see FIG. 3), like a third trolley 30, is supported movably between the beams 16,17 along the beams. This cabin 39 is located towards the forward end of the beam during crane operation and controls all three trolleys engaged in loading and unloading containers onto ships. If required for operational reasons, this cabin may be laterally displaceable to allow the operator to more clearly monitor a particular "hold" from the vertical direction. The worker inside the first cabin 39
Since it is not possible to accurately control the movement of the trolley on its approach from the working position, a second operator cabin (not shown) may be fixed to the gantry structure or attached to the beam in the same way as the trolley 30. movably supported between. This second
The operator's cabin is located towards the rear of the beam to control cargo handling operations on the quay side of the beam. The control of each trolley shall be changed from one worker to another at an intermediate point along each beam.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which three 20 ft cargo containers are continuously handled using the above-described arrangement having two beams and three trolleys. In Figure 4, the gap between the two beams 16.17 is 20ft.
Assume that it is located over the center of row A of containers, and the two beams 16, 17 on each side are located over the center of rows B and C of 20ft containers, each adjacent to the row.

Container 35 from column C, container 34 from column B
．． When lifted to a different height than 36, the container can be freely reciprocated along the beam in the same or opposite direction, allowing for a combination of loading and unloading and thus transporting the container in both directions. Needless to say. However, since there is not enough space to raise and lower all three containers at the same time, it is necessary to move the central trolley 30 to the sea side and the outer trolleys 22 and 23 to the land side, respectively, to ensure safety. It is desirable to improve This also makes it possible to reduce the maximum load at the ends of the beam.

FIG. 5 shows an aspect of cargo handling work for a 40ft container. In this case, the central trolley 30 is not used and is kept on standby on the land side of the beams 16 and 17.

Beams 16.17 are adjacent rows of 40ft containers, E
The containers 37 from row E can be transported landward simultaneously or alternately with containers 38 from row E. In this case as well, the container shall be lifted to different heights, and loading and unloading may be combined.

Less common 38ft, 45rt and 4
In the case of an 8ft container, trolleys 22, 23 are on standby and only the central trolley 30 is used. However, by providing the lateral displacement function described below, the crane can be used to transport two 384t containers using the outer trolleys 22 and 23, similar to when transporting the two 40rt containers mentioned above.
, can be configured to transport 45ft or 48ft containers.

A potential problem associated with providing a crane with multiple beam and trolley support structures is that of so-called "lateral displacement." Although containers are not normally stacked end-to-end on the deck, this is theoretically possible and should be taken into account in the design. That is, the spacing between the ends of adjacent containers may vary from a minimum value of Ort to a maximum value of 6 ft, with the container compartments being isolated from each other by the ship's bulkhead or hatch cover mechanism. Become.

Therefore, the spreader 33 supported by the two outer trolleys 22, 23 is provided with a lateral displacement function.
It is advantageous to be able to operate the trolley on containers spaced apart up to or even further apart on one side of the central container. As an example of a lateral displacement mechanism for this purpose, the two outer trolleys 22.23 can each be provided with a separate mechanical housing 40 in which a hoist drum 41 and associated gearing can be accommodated (6th (see figure). Such a configuration is conventional in conventional container cranes. This machine housing can be laterally displaced from side to side on the trolley and is therefore provided with wheels 42 which run on rails (not shown) mounted on the trolley itself.

The overall width of the beams 16,17 increases away from the 20 ft center gap so that each hoist centerline 43 is separated by a distance L (e.g., at least 6 ft).

(preferably up to 1 ift). This allows for greater flexibility in the operability of the container crane. Central trolley 3
If a lateral displacement function is required for 0, the lateral displacement mechanism can be provided on the trolley itself or placed between the pulley block (bed block) and the spreader.

The machine housing 40 and drum 41 are shown in FIGS.
Although not shown in the figure, instead of being individually movable as shown in FIG. 17 of 17Fj or can be fixed to each trolley 22.23.30.

The main advantage of the invention is that it provides a crane that is highly efficient in transporting containers, reducing costs and reducing operating time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a traveling container crane according to an embodiment of the present invention installed on a quay as having two parallel beams, FIG. 2 is a side view of the crane shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the crane shown in FIG. A plan view of the IIF side portion of the crane shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a partial front view for explaining cargo handling work for a 20" L container using the crane shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5
FIG. 6 is a partial front view for explaining cargo handling work for a 40ft container using the crane shown in the figure, and FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic front view showing a modification of the crane shown in FIG. 1. 10... Gantry, II... Front leg, 1
2... Hind leg. 14...Rail, 15...Wharf+16+1
7...Beam. 22, 23.30...trolley, 26.28...
rail. 32...Winch, 33...Spreader. 34, 35. 36... Container, 39... Worker cabin. 40... Machine housing, 41... Hoist drum.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A movable gantry disposed on a fixed rail on the ground so as to be able to move laterally; An extending beam, a movable trolley supported below the beam on a rail fixed to the beam and movable back and forth along the beam on the rail, and a hoistable container suspended from the trolley. a traveling container crane having a lifting device, in which at least two beams are supported in parallel and spaced from each other by a gantry, each beam being provided with a separate movable trolley and an associated hoistable container lifting device; A traveling container crane characterized by: 2. A traveling container crane according to claim 1, wherein a third movable trolley and an associated hoistable container lifting device are supported between said two beams on another rail fixed to said two beams; A traveling container crane, characterized in that the movable trolley is capable of reciprocating along the space between the beams on the separate rail. 3. The traveling container crane according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first movable worker cabin is supported by the two beams so as to be movable back and forth along the space between the beams, and is arranged toward the front side of the beams. A traveling container crane, characterized in that the second movable worker cabin is arranged toward the rear side of the beam. 4. The traveling container crane according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gantry has a substantially arch shape having two front legs and two rear legs each capable of traveling on fixed rails on the ground, and the beam has at least The lower front part of the arch is extended to form a derrick boom by the portion of each beam located forward of the arch, and the boom is capable of being lifted from its horizontal position to a position where the required space is created. A traveling container crane characterized by having a configuration that allows ships performing cargo handling work to berth. 5. The traveling container crane according to claim 1, wherein a hoistable container lifting device associated with at least one movable trolley is laterally displaceable. 6. The traveling container crane according to claim 5, wherein the movable trolley is provided with a housing that can be displaced laterally and that houses a hoisting device of the container lifting device.