Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
  • B66C—CRANES; LOAD-ENGAGING ELEMENTS OR DEVICES FOR CRANES, CAPSTANS, WINCHES, OR TACKLES
  • B66C13/00—Other constructional features or details
  • B66C13/18—Control systems or devices
  • B66C13/46—Position indicators for suspended loads or for crane elements
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
  • G01S17/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. lidar systems
  • G01S17/88—Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
  • G01S5/00—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations
  • G01S5/16—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves

Definitions

• the invention relates to a method for determining the position of a vehicle according to the preamble of the first claim.
• the invention can be used wherever vehicles, preferably straddle carriers, have to be brought into a precise position relative to a container crane so that the container crane does not have to be repositioned.
• Container cranes are special container cranes for unloading ships as well as stacking cranes in a container warehouse. So far, container handling with container cranes or gantry trucks has only been carried out manually.
• the driver of the transport vehicle has the task of placing the container approximately centrally under the container crane.
• the container crane is usually repositioned to take up the load.
• the task now is to always position the transport vehicle exactly in the middle under the container crane so that no load repositioning is required to lift the load from the container crane. This presupposes that the transport vehicle is oriented so precisely on the container crane that it is possible to set the container down exactly.
• a device for determining the position of a vehicle relative to a container lifting device in which at least two sensors operating on the basis of ultrasound with axes aligned in parallel assume an unchanged position with respect to a frame of the lifting device, the transport vehicle having reflectors , Evaluation devices are coupled to a recognition device and stop marks are required to carry out the positioning.
• a disadvantage of this method is u. a. That means that orientation, such as stop marks, reflectors or the like, must be attached in order to detect the position of the transport vehicle or the container.
• the object of the prior art is therefore to develop a method with which a transport vehicle, preferably a portal forklift, is oriented towards a container crane without the need for markings, so that automatic operation of the vehicle is ensured, in which the position of the vehicle in relation to the container crane is always known exactly.
• a transport vehicle preferably a portal forklift
• the method according to the invention for determining the position of a vehicle relative to a container crane is based on the fact that container cranes have a distinctive contour in the area of the supports through the supports up to a certain height.
• the vehicle for example a gantry truck
• the portal stacker has a scanning device.
• This scanner for example a laser scanner
• the gantry crane supports are detected by the laser scanner as positioning aids. This can be done by the scanner capturing the angle and spacing of the gantry crane supports and forwarding them to an evaluation computer.
• the software of the evaluation computer contains data about the contour of the supports of the container crane and thus determines the exact position of the transport vehicle relative to the supports of the container crane.
• a comparison is made with the target position into which a container is to be brought.
• the vehicle travels with the container to the desired position until the data of the target position and the actual position match. Orientation takes place continuously via the data recorded by the scanner of the supports of the container crane.
• laser scanners are arranged on the vehicle. These can be arranged vertically or horizontally. It is crucial that their position is balanced against the vehicle. However, it is advantageous to mount the laser scanners horizontally on the vehicle at a height at which clear orientation on the container crane supports is possible.
• FIG. 1 Schematic representation of a container bridge and a gantry truck with laser scanner when approaching a container bridge in three views;
• 2 shows a schematic representation of a container bridge and a portal stacker with laser scanner in three views when positioned under a container bridge;
• Fig. 3 shows a schematic representation of the function of the evaluation computer.
• FIG. 1 shows in three views a portal stacker 2 on which a laser scanner 3 is arranged, in the search field of which the supports of a container crane 1 are located, the portal stacker standing in front of the container crane 1.
• the laser beam 4 detects two supports of the portal crane 1 at the level of the upper edge of the portal stacker 2.
• the front supports of the portal crane 1 are first detected and stored.
• the gantry truck 2 moves into the position which is shown in FIG. 2.
• the gantry truck can work continuously via the data that is sent to the evaluation computer via the laser scanner to the position of the container crane jacks.
• 3 shows the schematic representation of the function of the evaluation computer.
• the laser scanner 3 reads in five continuous data 6 which relate to the front support 7 and the rear support 8, respectively. These data 9 are stored, from which the position of the vehicle 10 is determined. Furthermore, the distance of the vehicle 11 to the destination is determined.
• the actual position 12 obtained in this way is compared with a predetermined target position 13.
• a positioning controller 14 continuously compares the acquired data with the specified data.
• the positioning controller 14 acts on the drive control 15 or the travel drive 16 until the data of the target position 13 match the data of the actual position 12. Then the portal stacker 2 has reached its destination and can place the container in the desired position.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Remote Sensing (AREA)
• Electromagnetism (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Control And Safety Of Cranes (AREA)
• Control Of Position, Course, Altitude, Or Attitude Of Moving Bodies (AREA)
• Electric Propulsion And Braking For Vehicles (AREA)
• Warehouses Or Storage Devices (AREA)
• Vehicle Body Suspensions (AREA)
• Character Spaces And Line Spaces In Printers (AREA)
• Devices For Checking Fares Or Tickets At Control Points (AREA)
• Iron Core Of Rotating Electric Machines (AREA)

Priority Applications (6)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=7904646

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

Families Citing this family (13)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (10)

• 1999
  • 1999-04-15 DE DE19916999A patent/DE19916999A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2000
  • 2000-03-03 ES ES00916799T patent/ES2203442T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-03-03 JP JP2000612806A patent/JP3665743B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-03-03 EP EP00916799A patent/EP1169673B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-03-03 WO PCT/DE2000/000687 patent/WO2000063755A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 2000-03-03 DE DE50002841T patent/DE50002841D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-03-03 US US09/937,833 patent/US6571172B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-03-03 PT PT00916799T patent/PT1169673E/pt unknown
  • 2000-03-03 DK DK00916799T patent/DK1169673T3/da active
  • 2000-03-03 AT AT00916799T patent/ATE244905T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (4)

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