Integrated balanced wire rope reeving system for cargo...

Details Integrated balanced wire rope reeving system for cargo... Integrated balanced wire rope reeving system for cargo...

1999-09-13

2001-06-26

Brahan, Thomas J. (Department: 3652)

Traversing hoists

Traveling bridge

Bridge mounted motor for trolley traversal via cable means

C212S323000, C212S087000, C212S089000, C212S270000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06250486

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cargo container handling gantry cranes and, more particularly, it relates to an improvement in the wire rope reeving for the main cargo container handling trolley of such cranes. Specifically, it relates to an integrated wire rope reeving system for gantry cranes in which the same ropes perform both load hoist and trolley traversing operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cargo container handling gantry cranes are arranged in the operating configuration to extend over a longitudinal expanse to transfer cargo containers horizontally from one deposition area to another. The heaviest of such gantry cranes are usually located in railroad yards and dockside in shipping ports around the world. Dockside cranes generally have either a horizontal sliding boom or a cantilever boom, the latter of which can usually be raised by rotating it around its inboard end. An example of this type of crane is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,981 developed by the assignee of the present invention. Long span yard cranes are typically supported by vertical structures located inboard from the ends of the crane gantry on rail- mounted wheels. The present invention can be utilized on any of these basic types of crane designs.
Reference is made to
FIG. 1
of the drawings for a representation of the '981 type of crane having a cantilevered rotatable boom
11
for which the present invention can be utilized. The crane superstructure
13
is supported on crane truck wheels
15
which are mounted on dock rails which run parallel to the edge of the harbor dock. The superstructure supports a horizontal gantry
17
disposed generally mid-height thereon at an elevated location above the cargo container pickup and deposition areas
19
. The gantry is supported from below by the main legs of the superstructure. In the cantilevered rotatable boom design, sheaves are disposed at the pinnacle
21
of the superstructure of the crane to guide wire rope reeving
23
which is used to rotate the outboard or cantilevered end of the boom to the upright raised stowed position. The outboard end or end and middle of the boom are also supported from the pinnacle by mechanical links
25
when the boom is lowered to level and the wire rope reeving
23
is slack. The load supporting links for the retractable gantry are collapsible. The wire rope reeving which raises the boom takes the load off the links which collapse when the cantilevered boom is rotated to its stowed position about its hinge point
27
at its inboard end proximate the superstructure.
While, in most typical dockside applications, the gantry of a cargo container handling crane is a slidable or raisable cantilever boom extending from a crane superstructure, other types of large gantry yard cranes supported at both ends are located in large cargo container storage or transfer areas. All of these cranes are similar to the '981 gantry type crane in that they employ a movable trolley
29
, usually with a suspended operator's cab
31
, which shuttles along the gantry
17
and boom
11
suspending a cargo container lifting spreader
33
. The spreader can be raised or lowered from the crane gantry by the operator and engages the cargo containers
35
which are on the dock or shipboard to permit them to be lifted by the trolley for transport along the gantry to the deposition area
19
in a cargo container transport ship. The trolley is reciprocated along the gantry by a continuous wire rope system which is driven by wire rope drums located in the machinery house
37
.
The cargo container lift trolley
29
mounted on rails on the crane gantry sections
11
,
17
,
41
can traverse from one end of the gantry to the other. The trolley suspends the cargo container lifting spreader
33
from fleet-through wire rope reeving by means of a detachable headblock which carries the wire rope suspension sheaves. Different length spreaders can be secured to the headblock to accommodate correspondingly different size containers.
There are essentially three types of wire rope reeving utilized in the prior art relating to the area of the present invention. They are each disclosed in the accompanying drawings which illustrate the apparatus and method by which the wire rope reeving for the main cargo transport trolley of a shoreside cargo container handling crane is employed. The wire rope reeving causes the traversing of the trolley on the gantry and hoisting and lowering of the cargo container lifting spreader.
Reference is made to
FIGS. 2 and 3
for an illustration of the first type of basic wire rope reeving. For present purposes, it will be called a rope trolley container handling crane. There are two independent systems in this type of crane, and they are shown independently in the drawings for clarity.
FIG. 2
shows the main trolley traversing drive of these gantry cranes. In the normal configuration of wire rope reeving, a pair of continuous traversing or drive wire ropes
43
, driven by one or a pair of trolley drive drums
45
, are secured to opposite ends of the cargo transport trolley
29
. The term “continuous” generally means the wire rope is a continuous loop. Portions of the rope are either towing or slack depending on the direction of movement of the trolley, and the rope is always active and continuously in motion when the trolley moves.
For the rope trolley crane of
FIG. 2
, the drive drums
45
for the two pairs of main trolley drive ropes
43
are usually located somewhere mid-span on the gantry
17
in a machinery house
37
(FIG.
1
). The pairs of drive ropes are oppositely wound and extend from the drums to reversing sheaves
47
disposed at opposite ends of the gantry through hydraulic rope tensioners
49
. The pairs of ropes reverse direction and extend from the reversing sheaves to opposite ends of the cargo container transport trolley
29
movably located anywhere along the gantry. Operation of the drive drums moves the trolley in one direction along the gantry while reverse rotation of the drive drums reverses the tension and slack forces in the drive ropes and the movement of the trolley.
Reference is made to FIG.
3
. In addition to the trolley drive ropes in a rope trolley crane, a separate system of hoist or lift ropes
51
for the lifting spreader
33
are integrated into the wire rope reeving system. They are very similar in orientation, operation, and location to the trolley drive ropes in the sense that they are also driven by drive drums
53
and run through reversing sheaves
47
at one end of the crane gantry
17
. They differ, however, in that the two pairs of hoist ropes are not secured to the main trolley
29
but are reeved through fleet-through sheaves
55
mounted thereon whereby they travel downward to the lifting spreader and back up to the trolley and are dead-ended
57
at the opposite end of the gantry from the reversing sheaves. The hoist ropes operate independent of the trolley drive ropes and can be static or moving as the trolley moves along the gantry depending on whether the lifting spreader for the containers is being lifted or lowered while the trolley moves.
A second type of wire rope reeving for a crane will be called a machine trolley container crane, and it is shown in FIG.
4
. The hoisting machinery
59
and the trolley traversing machinery
61
are both mounted on the trolley
29
. The wire ropes
53
from the drums
63
of the hoist machinery mounted on the trolley go down to reversing sheaves on the lifting spreader headblock
33
and then go back up to the trolley and are dead-ended
65
to it. The ropes may be multiply-reeved between the headblock and the trolley sheaves to obtain a greater mechanical advantage. The trolley traversing machinery drives the trolley wheels
67
to move the trolley along the rails on the girder or boom of the gantry crane.
A third type of wire rope reeving will be called a semi-rope trolley container crane, and it is shown in FIG.
5
. It is a combination of the first two types. The l

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