WO2016083723A1

WO2016083723A1 - Automated device for handling and transporting metal sheets between the inside and the outside of a reservoir

Info

Publication number: WO2016083723A1
Application number: PCT/FR2015/053186
Authority: WO
Inventors: Philippe LARANGE; Bruno DECROIX; Laurent Boyer
Original assignee: Cofely Endel
Priority date: 2014-11-25
Filing date: 2015-11-24
Publication date: 2016-06-02
Also published as: FR3028848B1; FR3028848A1

Abstract

Device for handling materials in the form of plates (1), comprising a spreader (17) equipped with one or more means for gripping said plates (1), and a motor-driven main chassis (9) that is movable over the ground. The main chassis (9) comprises an inlet in its bottom part and an internal volume that is open at this inlet and allows the accommodation and travel of at least a part of the spreader (17) and of at least a part of the plate (1). The spreader (17) is mounted on the main chassis (9), being movable within the internal volume of the main chassis between a top position for transporting the plate and a bottom position for picking up or setting down the plate (1). The plate (1) is housed in the internal volume of the chassis during its handling.

Description

AUTOMATED DEVICE FOR HANDLING AND TRANSPORTING SHEETS BETWEEN THE INTERIOR AND OUTSIDE OF A TANK

Technical field of the invention

The invention relates to a device for handling and transporting materials in plate form, comprising a lifter equipped with one or more gripping means of a plate, and a main chassis motorized and movable on a floor.

More particularly, the field of the invention is that of the handling and transport of metallized sheets between the inside and the outside of a tank for the replacement of used sheets with new sheets.

The device according to the invention is particularly suitable for use in the field of hydrocarbon storage tanks, for the replacement of the bottom plates of the tank.

A tank of this type conventionally comprises a bottom, a side wall, and a floating roof resting on the contents of the tank when it is full.

When it is desired to replace the plates forming the interior of the tank, it is emptied and the floating roof naturally lowered as the hydrocarbon level drops, until a lower height limit in order to allow access to the interior of the tank without unduly stressing the floating roof height positioning actuators.

If a tank of this type can have a relatively large diameter (for example 80 meters in diameter), the access entrance to the interior of the tank is relatively small in order to reduce the dimensions of the door that closes this inlet. waterproof way to for example 3 m wide. In order to limit the energy consumed during the maintenance of the floating roof to the minimum height limit by the actuators, the floating roof is to be kept as low as possible, for example between 1.80 and 2.20. m, which reduces the height of the access entrance to the inside of the tank.

State of the art and its disadvantages

It is usually manual process to replace the sheets of the bottom wall, that is to say that operators are introduced inside the emptied tank for:

raise a sheet metal plate from the bottom of the previously cut vat, with a view to its replacement,

move this plate from its initial position in the bottom of the tank, to the access port of the tank,

to pass this entry to relatively small dimensions, with the plate of sheet being nevertheless arranged on the periphery of this plate

deposit this used plate in a place of storage,

proceed again to the same operations of elevation, transport and removal with a new sheet metal plate passing the narrow entrance to fit within the tank.

This manual handling and transport solution between the location of the sheet in the bottom of the tank and the inlet thereof obviously has major drawbacks in terms of the risk of serious accidents in the tank for the tanks. operators (in particular because of the different manipulations of the sheet and the presence of live cables in the tank) and significant labor costs.

Sheet handling and transport devices involving less physical intervention of the operators exist, but their dimensions make them generally unsuitable for use for the replacement of sheets of a tank whose entrance access to the interior would be in size and in particular reduced height. Thus, the document FR 2 784 088 relates to a forklift for handling sheet metal coils from a pallet of storage to a reel and vice versa, without any manual handling of an operator whose action is then only reduced to the control of the desk of the trolley fixed to the main frame supporting the rudder bar.

The document FR 2 921 914 describes a material plate transport device from one workstation to another, regardless of the relative positions of the workstations in the workshop, using a minimum of operators.

However, in these two examples, the lifter of the device extends outside the movable frame (at the front of this frame), and on a height exceeding it almost four times its own height, so that the space requirement The length of the chassis is added to that of the spreader and the supported plate, and the overall height of the lifter is added to that of the chassis.

These solutions are therefore not suitable for the handling and transport of sheets of a tank whose access entry is limited.

Presentation of the invention

The invention aims to solve this problem by proposing a material handling device in the form of a plate reducing the physical intervention of the operators in the handling of the sheets and defining a smaller footprint compared to that defined by the plate to be transported.

To this end, the invention relates to an automated device including a lifter equipped with one or more gripping means of said plates, and a main frame motorized and movable on a floor.

According to the invention, the main frame comprises an inlet 10 and an internal volume opening on this inlet and allowing the reception and the movement of at least a part of the spreader and at least a part of the plate, the rudder being mounted on the main chassis while being mobile within the chassis internal volume primary between a transport position of the plate and a position of gripping or removal of the plate, the plate and the spreader being housed at least partly in the internal volume of the frame during the handling of the plate.

The particularity of the device according to the invention resides in particular in the arrangement of the plate in the internal volume of the frame, preferably flat when the constraint related to the dimensions of the access port to the tank is due to the height of this input, the main thing is that the size of the chassis does not add too much to that defined by the rudder and the plate.

The fact that the lifter is movable height in the internal volume of the main frame allows to replace handling usually performed by operators and reduces the risk of accidents.

The device according to the invention may furthermore have one and / or the other of the following characteristics: the main frame has in cross section a U-shape whose entry is directed at the bottom part, and defining two lateral parts and an upper part for the main frame constituting the upper part of the device, the plate being transported flat in the internal volume, the device comprises remote control means of the motorization of the main frame, and the movement of the rudder in the internal volume of the main frame the means of displacement of the main frame (wheels and / or tracks) on the ground are fixed on the lateral parts of the frame the device has a height less than or equal to 1.80 m the device comprises locking means that can occupy an open position or a closed position, and not allowing in each position that is the displacement of the main frame on a floor or is the movement of the spreader vis-à-vis the main frame, so as to prevent any movement of the spreader during movement of the main frame the gripping means are electromagnets for the plates sensitive to the magnetic field, but gripping means by suction pneumatic system can also be used.

The invention also relates to a product storage tank, such as hydrocarbons, comprising a bottom, a side wall and a floating roof resting on the product stored when the tank contains it, and maintained at a minimum height by actuators when the tank is empty, and provided with an access entrance inside this tank shaped to allow the passage of the device described above, the minimum height of the floating roof (6) and the width of the entrance of the tank being chosen slightly higher of the order of 15% maximum, respectively at the height and the width of the device above.

Presentation of figures

Other data, features and advantages of the present invention will appear on reading the following nonlimited description, with reference to the appended figures which represent, respectively: FIG. 1, represents by a schematic side view, the handling device of plates according to the invention, whose rudder occupies a transport position of a sheet, shown in charge of a sheet and moving on a horizontal floor over a major part of the device path and slightly sloping

FIG. 2 illustrates the device of FIG. 1, seen from above, FIG. 3 represents the device of FIG. 1, seen from the front, whose rudder occupies a low position, and which represents in the rudder FIG. 4 schematically shows the device according to the invention within a vacuum petrochemical liquid storage tank, for the replacement of a plate of the bottom plate, FIG. 5 is a partial diagrammatic view of FIG. inlet of the tank of Figure 4 by which the device according to the invention accesses the inside of the tank.

Figures 6a to 6e show schematic side views, an alternative embodiment of the material handling device in the form of a plate for the capture, transport and removal of several plates at a time.

Detailed description of an example embodiment

The invention as shown in the figures relates to a material handling device in the form of a plate, comprising a lifter equipped with one or more gripping means of said plates.

It will be described with reference to the figures which illustrate a particular embodiment of the invention, wherein the plate is a metal sheet 1 of the bottom wall 2 of a tank 3 of hydrocarbon storage.

As shown in FIG. 4, this tank 3 comprises a bottom 2, a side wall 4 and a floating roof 6 resting on the hydrocarbons when the tank contains them, and maintained at a minimum height H by crutches (not shown) when the tank is empty.

According to FIG. 5, this tank is provided with a rectangular access entrance 7, with a height of 1.80 m corresponding to the minimum limiting height H of the floating roof 6.

The device according to the invention 8 as represented in FIGS. 1 to 3 has been developed specifically so as to be able to move a plate upwards and to move it through the restricted entry port 7 to the tank 3, without manual intervention. operators on the sheets. The sheet handling truck is designed to be maneuvered by one person, without having direct contact with the truck, the spreader or the sheet metal to be moved.

It is designed for the handling of rectangular sheets with a length of between 4 and 10 meters and a width of 2 meters maximum.

For this purpose, according to FIG. 3, the device according to the invention comprises a main frame 9 defining, in accordance with FIG. 3, in cross section a U shape, in the internal volume of which the height of the rudder can be translated and a sheet extending flat, moving the frame and the rudder in the core of the frame can be remotely controlled by an operator.

This shape is obtained by assembling sections of rectangular section organized in three planes respectively defining two side frames 11 and an upper frame 12 for the device.

According to Figure 1, each frame 11, 12 comprises main sections 13 arranged in a rectangular shape and defining its contour, and reinforcement profiles 14 extending between the main sections 13 perpendicular to two main profiles or inclined relative to these ci.

The upper frame 12 has a similar structure although not shown.

This main frame 9 is supported by two motorized track trains 16 each mounted at the rear of the lower part of a side frame 11, and two pivoting wheels 15 each mounted at the front of the lower part of a side frame. 11.

It thus defines in accordance with FIG. 3, an internal volume 25 of substantially parallelepipedal shape extending between these three frames 11, 12 and opening onto the ground and allowing reception and deflection of at least a portion of the spreader 17 and at least a part of the sheet 1. The lifter 17 is in fact movably mounted in the internal volume 25 of the main frame 9 between a high transport position of the sheet to for example 0.95 m from the ground (shown with points in FIG. 3) and a low position of grabbing or removing the sheet.

The rudder is made mobile by means of steel lifting ropes 18 driven by hydraulic lifting equipment with electric "all or nothing" (not shown).

Hydraulic locking equipment with "all or nothing" electrical control to be placed under the load for the translational movements, limits the collapse of the central part of the sheet.

Other electrically operated hydraulic locking equipment prevents movement of the rudder during movement of the main frame. Thus, in an open position, these locking means allow the movement of the rudder and prevent that of the chassis on the ground, and in a closed position allow the movement of the frame but not that of the rudder.

The movements of the chassis on the ground and the rudder in the core of the chassis are controlled remotely by the operator provided with a remote control (radio control for example) comprising a key for activating the control of the device, a button emergency stop of any current maneuver, right and left track control knobs, hydraulic lifter / chassis lock equipment control knob and sheet collapse control means, control button activation of the electromagnets 20, and a selection button of a low or a high speed.

Use of the device according to the invention

To grip a new sheet, the lifter must be lifted and the latches closed so that the translation can be possible. The trolley must be presented in line with the new sheet metal package and centered on the sheet to be taken to share the lifting forces on the gripping system (electromagnets or suction cups) and prevent its side frames 11 from rubbing on the sheets stacked.

Once the carriage has the proper alignment with the sheet pile, it comes close to stepping over it.

To lift the top plate into the stack, the latches must be open to allow movement of the lifter (which prevents movement of the frame). The descent movement of the lifter must be controlled so that the gripping system is posi- tioned on the sheet smoothly by ensuring that all the connection points of the gripping system are correctly placed on the sheet before putting them into action.

The lifter is lifted after having verified the action of the gripping system (energizing the electromagnets or vacuuming the suction cups) and verifying that the upper plate of the pack is lifted without hanging otherwise.

The sheet must be raised to the maximum to then be able to close the locks and thus prevent a movement of the spreader while allowing that of the chassis relative to the ground.

The displacement of the carriage in translation on the ground is carried out by maintaining the gripping system active all the time that the handling of the sheet (lifting, moving, removal) and of course with the locks in the closed position (until rise in hydraulic pressure).

When moving the frame, it is preferable to partially lay the plate on hydraulic locks that limit the collapse of the central part of the sheet to limit shaking during travel.

The operator must act smoothly on the two levers of the radio control (left caterpillar control, right crawler) to advance, retreat, turn, transfer with large turning radius so that the movements are fluid and to limit the stresses on the tracks. During reversals of direction of travel, the swivel wheels generate a gap on the ideal trajectory of the truck, it must of course be taken into account.

According to the embodiment shown in Figures 6a to 10a, the rudder allows the transport of several plates (for example 5) each having them in an inclined pan.

According to FIG. 6a, the carriage is moved towards the stack of plates so that it covers by its central core an end of this stack of superposed plates. The rudder protrudes from the center core for approximately one-third of the length of the main frame so that the top plate can be gripped about half its length (Figure 6a).

For this purpose, the lifter is lowered in the low position and its gripping means are applied to the upper surface of this first plate and are activated to be fixed (Figure 7a).

The rear half of the plate is then raised by the rudder which is moved from bottom to top to reach a high position of elevation of the back of the plate. The front half of the plate bears against the remaining plates of the stack (Figure 8a).

The spreader is then moved backwards by means of horizontal displacement of the carriage, for example rollers, in the central core of the carriage behind it and protrudes at the rear of the carriage about one-third of its length ( 5 meters offset, Figure 9a).

When raising the rear half of the plate and during the horizontal movement of this plate towards the rear of the carriage, the different gripping means placed along the spreader have decreasing heights towards the rear of the carriage so that arranging the plate according to a predetermined inclined plane (inclined for example between 5 and 15 degrees with respect to a plane horizontal) and this plate is retained at the rear of the carriage at a low point by a removable stop. These gripping means can thus be telescopic type with lengths that can be controlled automatically, depending on the desired inclination plane.

This first plate gripped and arranged in an inclined plane being held by the removable stops, defines an inclined pan which will serve to support the following plates along the same inclined plane (Figure 10a).

The lifter is then actuated so that its gripping means release the plate to its inclined storage position at the rear of the carriage, and is moved by the rollers at the front of the carriage to grasp the next plate, as shown here. above, that is to say by applying gripping means on the top of the plate, to move the plate towards the rear of the carriage and deposit it on the previous plate in its storage position.

This is done right away until the loading of several sheets, for example five.

The truck loaded with several sheets, can be moved to the place of removal of the sheets.

The lifter will be actuated to grip by its gripping means the upper plate of the stack of plates in their storage positions, and move it to the front of the carriage in its inclined position by resting on the place of its removal (by example the bottom of the tank), the front part of the plate. For this purpose, the rudder is positioned in line with the lower half of the plates and moved towards the front of the carriage to deposit the lower part of the plate on the ground. The gripping means are then deactivated and the carriage moved back to slide the remainder of the sheet to the ground.

We can then move the carriage to the place of removal of the next plate and proceed in the same way for all the stored plates. The storage of the plates in an inclined plane in the core of the carriage is not mandatory but reduces the lateral size of the carriage carrying the plates. It will be preferred for transporting particularly long plates, for example more than 10 meters long, while horizontal storage plates with a lifter with gripping means of constant length will be preferred for shorter plates.

Technical characteristics of the embodiment shown:

The cart is equipped with:

- 2 electro-hydraulic units connected in parallel

- 1 electrically operated hydraulic translation equipment

proportional

- 1 electric hydraulic lifting equipment "all or nothing"

- 1 electric hydraulic locking equipment "all or nothing"

- 1 extendable beam, supported by 4 steel hoisting ropes

- 10 electromagnets 24V - 425 daN suspended from the lifter or 10 suckers actuated by a pneumatic vacuum system

- 1 radio control

- 4 LED work lights (2 AV and 2 AR)

- 4 orange lights: lifting or locking or moving

- 1 green flashing light: electromagnets undervoltage

- 1 movement beep: lifting or locking or moving

The plate-carrying trolley is designed to move on a "hard" ground, horizontal or with a slope (for example 10%) and preferably smooth: concrete, tarmac, metal walkway, but a circulation on soft ground or irregular sometimes encountered on site is made possible by the presence of caterpillars.

The truck is powered by 2 batteries of 24V pure lead, with a capacity of 375 Ah.

The autonomy of the system under normal conditions of use is lOh is about 4 km. A three-phase battery charger, specific to the battery, is arranged on an independent mobile carriage. It can be powered by a generator or by the LV network (three-phase voltage of 400 VAC - 50 Hz).

Braking is provided by the hydrostatic transmission.

Dimensions and characteristics equipment

Maximum payload 1600 kg.

..Overall width in operation 2900 mm.

the overall author of the trolley: 1650mm.

Overall length in transport position 5400mm.

Overall length in working position (roll bars in 10400 mm.

) Lace)

Maximum passable: 10%.

obstacle hurdle 3 cm.

, at 850 mm high clearance height.

traveling speed Low speed 1 km / h

High speed 2 km / h

empty oids 3,5 tons

at the height of the device of 1,650 m and its width of 2,900 m are slightly lower than a height and the width of the entrance of the tank respectively of 1,800 m and 3,000 m.

However, other dimensions are possible for the device as long as its height and its argon are compatible with those of the entrance of the tank considered (deviation of at least

;%).

Illustrated example relates to the replacement of bottom wall panels of a tank, but the device can be adapted for the replacement of side wall plates. In this case, the input of the internal volume of the main frame will be a side entrance and the internal volume will extend vertically within the frame. The dimensions of this chassis ^■ location sidewall plates will be suitable for introduction into the reservoir ^■.

Similarly, the device has been shown in use in a tank having a floating bed, but can of course be used in a tank having a fixed roof.

Claims

An automated material handling device in plate form, comprising a lifter equipped with one or more gripping means of said plates, and a main chassis motorized and movable on a floor, characterized in that the main frame (9) comprises an inlet (10) and an internal volume (25) opening onto this inlet (10) and allowing reception and deflection of at least a part of the spreader (17) and at least a part of the plate ( 1),

the spreader bar (17) being mounted on the main frame (9) movably within the internal volume (25) of the main frame (9) between a transport position of the plate (1) and a gripping or depositing position of the plate (1), the plate (1) being housed in the internal volume of the chassis (9) during its handling and its handling means settling on the plate,

the device comprising means for remote control of the motorization of the main frame and the movement of the rudder in the internal volume (25) of the main frame (9).

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the main frame (9) has in cross section a U-shaped whose inlet (10) is directed at the bottom, and defining two side portions (11) and a portion upper (12) for the main frame constituting the upper part of the device.

3. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means of movement of the main frame (9) on the ground are fixed on the side portions of the frame (9).

4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the means of movement of the main frame on the ground comprise crawlers (16).

5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises locking means which can occupy an open position or a closed position, and allowing in each position only the displacement of the main frame on a ground or the movement of the rudder vis-à-vis the main frame, so as to prevent any movement of the rudder (17) during movement of the main frame (9).

6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has a height less than or equal to 1.80 m.

7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gripping means of the lifter are electromagnets (20) or suction cups.

8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lifter and / or its gripping means are shaped to allow storage of the plate along an inclined plane.

9. Product storage tank, such as hydrocarbons, comprising a bottom (2), a side wall (3) and a floating roof (6) resting on the product when the tank is in operation, and maintained at a minimum height when the tank is being repaired, the minimum height of the floating roof (6) and the width of the inlet of the tank being chosen slightly greater by at least 5%, for example, respectively at the height and the width of the device according to one of claims 1 to 7.