JPH11263446A - Automatic driving method of continuous unloader and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic driving method of a continuous unloader and its device capable of efficiently scraping a bulk material in correspondence with a change of a scraping area even when the bulk material is loaded to the neighbourhood of a hatch. SOLUTION: An automatic driving method of a continuous unloader to automatically unload a bulk material by inserting a scraping part of the continuous unloader into a hold of a vessel and moving it along a specified spherical-shaped scraping locus is to memorize the spherical-shaped scraping locus previously formed by manual driving (S4), detect a relative position of the vessel against the continuous unloader at the time when the scraping part of the continuous unloader returns to a starting end position of the scraping locus (S8), computes a distance from an extended head end position of the scraping part of each point on the scraping locus to a hold wall in accordance with its positional data and a hull shape data memorized previously in the memory (S9), extend the scraping part horizontally at the time when the distance is respectively more than a specified distance (S17) and to lower the scraping part by specified height without extending the scraping part when the distance is less than the specified distance at some point (S18).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic operation of a continuous unloader for automatically unloading loose objects loaded in a hold of a ship.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art One of techniques for automatically operating a continuous unloader when unloading cargo from a ship is called teaching playback.

In this teaching playback, an operator manually prepares a scraping locus as a model by manually operating a scraping section of a continuous unloader and inputs the scraping locus to a control device. This is an automatic operation that moves the scraping unit so as to follow the tracing, and is mainly used for unloading work of large ships such as ore ships.

Generally, a large ship such as an ore ship has a large amount of loose objects loaded in a hold, and as shown in FIG. 10, it is not necessary to scrape off a narrow part near the hatch 23. Automatic driving along the trajectory was sufficient.

[0005]

However, in recent years,
The demand for automatic operation of relatively small transport vessels such as barge ships has increased, and loose objects have been loaded near the hatch 23. Therefore, in automatic operation only following the same movement trajectory, from the vicinity of the hatch 23 to the middle part of the hold 6 However, there is a problem that it is impossible to cope with the increase of the scraping area, resulting in an inefficient trajectory with a lot of residue.

In order to avoid this, the scraping locus must be manually re-created every time the scraping area increases, which is complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem and to provide an automatic unloader for a continuous unloader capable of efficiently scraping loose materials in response to a change in the scraping area even when loose materials are loaded near the hatch. An operation method and an apparatus therefor are provided.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises inserting a scraping portion of a continuous unloader into a hold of a ship and moving the scraping portion along a predetermined circumferential scraping locus to remove loose objects. In the automatic operation method of the continuous unloader that automatically unloads, the circumferential scraping locus created in advance by manual operation is stored in the memory, and the scraping unit of the continuous unloader returns to the start position of the scraping locus. At this time, the relative position of the ship with respect to the continuous unloader is detected, and the ship is held based on the position data and the hull shape data stored in the memory in advance from the extension tip position of the scraping portion at each point on the scraping locus. The distance to the wall is calculated, and when the distances are respectively equal to or longer than a predetermined distance, the scraping unit is horizontally extended, and when the distance is less than the predetermined distance at any point, the predetermined distance is set without extending the scraping unit. High It is intended to lower.

In a continuous unloader automatic operation device for inserting a scraping portion of a continuous unloader into a hold of a ship and moving the scraper to a predetermined circumferential scraping locus to automatically unload loose objects, And a storage device for storing a circumferential scraping locus created in advance in a memory, and detecting a relative position of the ship with respect to the continuous unloader when a scraping unit of the continuous unloader returns to a starting end position of the scraping locus. And a calculating device for calculating a distance from the extension tip position of the scraping portion at each point on the scraping trajectory to the holding wall of the ship based on the position data and the hull shape data stored in the memory in advance. When the distances are respectively equal to or longer than a predetermined distance, the scraping portion is extended horizontally, and when the distance is less than the predetermined distance at any point, the height is lowered without extending the scraping portion. It may be assumed to have a device that.

When the distance between the scraping section and the bottom wall of the hold becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance, the automatic operation may be terminated.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, in a continuous unloader automatic operation method 1, an input block 2 for storing a scraping locus in a memory and a control for controlling a scraping unit by checking a positional relationship between the scraping unit and a hull. It consists of block 3.

The memory storage 4 of the scraping locus is performed by the operator actually scraping loose objects in the hold by manual operation. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the movement of the scraping unit is performed in such a manner as to draw a circumferential shape along the hold wall 10 so as to be a model for the later automatic operation.

More specifically, the mast 5 of the continuous unloader is located at the center of the hold 6, the tip of the scraper 7 is directed toward the outer hold wall 10, and the tip of the scraper 7 is held by the hold wall. It is moved so as to be spaced apart from H by a predetermined distance H or more.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 8 and 9, in the control block 3, first, the relative position of the ship 13 with respect to the continuous unloader 12 is detected 8 by a relative position detecting sensor 11, which is a detecting device, and this hull position is detected. The distance H from the tip of the scraping section 7 to the hold wall 10 is calculated 9 from the data 14 and the hull shape data 15 stored in memory as a storage device in advance.

Then, from the tip of the scraping section 7 to the hold wall 10
A determination 16 is made as to whether or not the distance H is equal to or greater than a predetermined collision monitoring safety distance. The collision monitoring safety distance is such that even if the ship 13 shakes or tilts, at least the scraping unit 7 holds the hold wall 1.
It is set to a safe distance that will not collide with zero.

If the result of the determination is that the distance is equal to or longer than the collision safe distance, the scraping portion 7 is extended as shown in FIGS.

If the collision safety distance is not reached,
The scraper 7 is lowered and cut, and the same locus as the front circumference is scraped circumferentially 18.

At this time, the extension of the scraping section 7 is performed by a telescopic drive device (not shown) including a hydraulic cylinder provided in the scraping section 7, and the lowering of the scraping section 7 is performed by raising and lowering the boom 40. This is performed by a driving device (not shown).

The relative position detecting sensor 11 is composed of two automatic tracking type optical wave distance meters 1 provided on the main body of the continuous unloader 12.
9 and two prisms 20 provided on the hull. The automatic tracking type optical wave distance meter 19 searches for the prism 20 by itself and emits a laser beam 21 to the prism 20, and receives the laser beam 22 reflected by the prism 20 and returns to the prism 20. And measure the angle.

The hull shape data 15 is obtained by inputting in advance the hull shape of the ship 13 which may be unloaded.
In particular, the three-dimensional position of the prism 20 on the hull and the hatch 23
And the three-dimensional shape of the hold 6 including the numerical value is quantified in detail. In detail, the virtual origin 2 on the hull
4, the three-dimensional position of the prism 20 and the shape of the holder 6 are quantified as three-dimensional coordinate data with reference to the origin 24.

The control block will be described in more detail.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 6, 7 and 9, in the control block 3, the scraping section 7 is moved 29 circumferentially along the scraping locus 25 while the scraping section 7 is moved. It is determined 30 whether or not 7 has reached the cutting point 26 which is the starting position of the scraping locus 25. The data used at this time is the scraping locus data 27 stored in the memory.
The arrival 30 of the cutting point 26 is recognized by comparing the starting end position of the cutting point 7 with the position of the scraping unit 7 by the arithmetic unit 28 as a calculating unit.

When the scraping section 7 reaches the cutting point 26, the height at which the scraping operation is currently performed is determined, and the scraping locus when the same scraping locus 25 is scraped at the scraping height. The distance from the extension end of the scraping section 7 to the hold wall 10 at each position on the top 25 is calculated 31. The current scraping height and the distance H from the tip of the extension of the scraping section 7 to the hold wall 10 are determined by the relative position detection sensor 11 at each time.
The distance from the ship 2 to the ship 13 and the hull attitude with respect to the continuous unloader 12 are measured, and the measured values and the hull shape data 15 are calculated and obtained by the arithmetic unit 28.

Then, it is determined whether or not the scraping surface height, which is the height of the scraping section 7 from the bottom wall of the hold 6, is equal to or less than a predetermined height (automatic operation end height) 32.

When the height of the scraping surface is equal to or less than the automatic operation end height, the automatic operation is ended 33 to switch to the normally flat bottom operation.

When the scraping surface height is higher than the automatic operation end height, the scraping locus is extended even if the scraping portion 7 is extended by a predetermined extension length based on the distance from the extension end of the scraping portion 7 to the hold wall 10. 2
5 It is determined whether or not the distance H from the scraper 7 at each point to the hold wall 10 can be maintained at or above a predetermined collision monitoring safety distance. The extension length of the scraping section 7 is set such that an excessive load is not applied to the continuous unloader 12 with the increasing scraping amount, and the scraping section 7 is stretched while pushing loose pieces in the hold 6. It is set so as not to apply an excessive load to the telescopic drive device (not shown) of the take-out portion 7.

When the distance from the scraping section 7 to the hold wall 10 at each point on the scraping locus 25 can be maintained to be equal to or longer than the collision monitoring safety distance, the circuit is the first round at which the scraping surface height is extended. Only in the case where the scraping operation is temporarily stopped, and waits until the operator presses a confirmation button (not shown).
5 Then, the scraping section 7 is extended by the above-described extension length 3.
6. Return to the process of moving the scraping section 7 circumferentially along the scraping locus 25.

If the distance from the scraping section 7 to the hold wall 10 at each point on the scraping locus 25 cannot be maintained to be equal to or longer than the collision monitoring safe distance, the scraping section 7 is lowered to a predetermined height without being extended, The cutting is started 37, and the scraping section 7 is moved along the scraping locus 2
The process returns to the process of moving 29 circumferentially along 5.

Next, the operation will be described.

When unloading loose items 38 loaded in the hold 6 from the berthed ship 13, first, the scraping section 7 of the continuous unloader 12 is positioned on the loose objects 38 by manual operation.
After the operation mode is switched to the manual operation mode, the scraping unit 7 is actually moved one circumference by an operator's operation to scrape loose objects 38 in the hold 6. The scraping locus 25 of the scraping unit 7 is stored 4 in the memory as scraping locus data 27.

Thereafter, when the operation is switched to the automatic operation mode and the operation is started, the arithmetic unit 28 drives the drive unit 39 of each part of the continuous unloader 12 to move the scraping unit 7 along the scraping locus 25 stored in the memory 29 Let it. In addition, while moving the scraping unit 7, the arithmetic unit 28 always determines 30 whether or not the scraping unit 7 has reached the cutting point 26.

When the scraping unit 7 reaches the cutting point 26, the arithmetic unit 28 obtains the hull position data 14 of the ship 13 from the relative position detection sensor 11 and obtains the hull shape data 15 from the memory to obtain the current scraping data. When the scraping unit 7 is moved along the scraping locus 25 on the front circumference with the removing height (the height of the scraping unit 7 from the bottom wall of the hold 6), the scraping unit 7 at each position on the scraping locus 25 Is calculated 31 from the distance to the hold wall 10.

The arithmetic unit 28 determines whether or not the current scraping height is equal to or less than the automatic operation end height stored in the memory in advance 32. The automatic operation ends 33.

When the height is higher than the automatic operation height, the predetermined extension length of the scraping unit 7 stored in the memory from each of the intervals H from the scraping unit 7 at each position on the scraping locus 25 to the holding wall 10. Then, it is determined whether or not each of the subtraction values is equal to or longer than the collision monitoring safe distance.

If the distance is equal to or longer than the collision monitoring safe distance, the arithmetic unit 28 temporarily stops the scraping operation of the scraping unit 7 and waits 35 until the confirmation button is pressed. When the confirmation button is pressed,
The arithmetic unit 28 activates a driving device (extension / contraction driving device) that extends the scraping unit 7, and the scraping unit 7 extends the predetermined extension length 3
6 is done.

When the scraping section 7 is extended in this manner,
The scraping unit 7 starts scraping in a circumferential shape without cutting, and returns to the state of waiting for the reaching of the cutting point 30 of the scraping unit.
Then, the scraping unit 7 reaches the cut point 30 again and returns to the process of making this determination. If it is determined that the collision monitoring safety distance is again equal to or longer than the collision monitoring safe distance, the scraping operation is not suspended and the scraping operation is not suspended. The part is extended 36, and the same operation is performed thereafter.

If the distance is less than the collision monitoring safety distance, the arithmetic unit 28 activates a driving device (elevation driving device) for elevating the boom and starts cutting 37 for lowering the scraping unit 7 to a predetermined height. .

When the cutting is completed in this way, the scraping section 7 starts scraping circumferentially as it is without extending, and returns to the state of waiting for the cutting section reaching the cutting point 30 described above.

As described above, the circumferential scraping locus 25 created in advance by the manual operation is stored in the memory 4 and the scraping portion 7 of the continuous unloader 12 is moved to the cutting point 26 (the starting end position of the scraping locus 25). Return to the ship 1 for the continuous unloader 12.
3 is detected, and based on the hull position data 14 and the hull shape data 15 stored in the memory in advance, the hold wall of the ship 13 is determined from the extension tip position of the scraping portion at each point on the scraping locus 25. The distance H to 10 is calculated 9 and the distance H
Is longer than a predetermined distance, the scraping unit 7 is horizontally extended 17; and if the distance is less than a predetermined distance at any point, the scraping unit 7 is lowered 18 without a predetermined height.
Therefore, the scraping locus 2 does not need to be recreated in the middle layer of the hold 6 where the scraping area is increased.
5 can be safely expanded, it is possible to cope with a change in the scraping area, and it is possible to improve the scraping efficiency by reducing the residue near the hold wall 10.

When the distance between the scraping section 7 and the bottom wall of the hold 6 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance, the automatic operation is terminated 33. Can drive.

When the scraping section 7 is extended, no cut is made, but another round is taken at the same scraping height, and a cut is made only when not extended. Can be prevented from being excessively increased, and the overload of the continuous unloader 12 can be prevented.

Further, since the scraping section 7 is extended by a predetermined extension length, the scraping amount is not excessively increased, and the continuous unloader 12 can be prevented from being overloaded.

The ship 13 with respect to the continuous unloader 12
The means for detecting the relative position of the object is an automatic tracking type lightwave distance meter 1
The present invention is not limited to the relative position detection sensor 11 including the prism 9 and the prism 20, but may be any other sensor capable of detecting the relative position of each other to some extent accurately.

[0045]

In summary, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects can be obtained.

(1) It is possible to efficiently scrape loose objects in response to a change in the scraping area.

(2) The automatic operation of the continuous unloader can be continued even if the scraping area increases.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of an automatic operation method of a continuous unloader showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for automatically operating a continuous unloader.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of a process of automatically operating a continuous unloader.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a hold showing a scraping state of a scraping section of a continuous unloader.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a hold showing a scraping state of a scraping section of the continuous unloader.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a scraping locus of a scraping unit.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a scraping locus of a scraping unit having an enlarged scraping area.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a relative positional relationship between a continuous unloader and a ship.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram showing the flow of various data.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a hold showing a conventional method of scraping a continuous unloader.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Store the scraping locus in the memory 7 Scraping section 8 Detect the position of the ship relative to the continuous unloader 9 Calculate the distance from the tip of the scraping section to the hold wall 10 Hold wall 12 Continuous unloader 13 Ship 15 Hull shape data 17 Scrape Extend the part and scrape it circumferentially 18 Lower the scraping part and scrape it circumferentially 25 Scrape locus 26 Cut point

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a method of automatically operating a continuous unloader, a scraping portion of a continuous unloader is inserted into a hold of a ship and moved to a predetermined circumferential scraping locus to automatically unload loose objects. The circumferential scraping locus created in advance is stored in the memory, and when the scraping unit of the continuous unloader returns to the starting end position of the scraping locus, the relative position of the ship with respect to the continuous unloader is detected. Based on the position data and the hull shape data stored in the memory in advance, the distance from the extension tip position of the scraping portion at each point on the scraping trajectory to the hold wall of the ship is calculated, and those distances are respectively predetermined distances. The automatic unloader of a continuous unloader is characterized in that the scraping section is extended horizontally when the above is the case, and when the scraping section is less than a predetermined distance at any point, the scraping section is lowered without extending the predetermined height. Conversion method. 2. An automatic operation device for a continuous unloader which inserts a scraping portion of a continuous unloader into a hold of a ship, moves the scraper to a predetermined circumferential scraping locus, and automatically unloads loose objects. And a storage device for storing a circumferential scraping locus created in advance in a memory, and detecting a relative position of the ship with respect to the continuous unloader when a scraping unit of the continuous unloader returns to a starting end position of the scraping locus. And a calculating device for calculating a distance from the extension tip position of the scraping portion at each point on the scraping trajectory to the holding wall of the ship based on the position data and the hull shape data stored in the memory in advance. When the distances are respectively equal to or longer than a predetermined distance, the scraping unit is extended horizontally, and when the distance is less than a predetermined distance at any point, the scraping unit is lowered to a predetermined height without extending. An automatic operation device for a continuous unloader, comprising: 3. The automatic operation is terminated when the distance between the scraping unit and the bottom wall of the hold becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance.
And a device for automatically operating a continuous unloader according to any one of claims 1 and 2.