Material or article handling – Marine loading or unloading system – Marine vessel to/from shore
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-16
2004-04-06
Hess, Douglas (Department: 3651)
Material or article handling
Marine loading or unloading system
Marine vessel to/from shore
C414S139900, C414S140300, C414S803000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06715977
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a loading device for ISO containers in a container terminal for loading and unloading ships with a container bridge, a boom which extends at the gantry frame of the container bridge over its supporting construction on the water side and on the land side, and running rails for a crane trolley with container load-carrying means provided at the boom for transporting the container from ship to pier, and vice versa, wherein the loading device is arranged below the land-side boom in the rear area of the container bridge and cooperates with container transport vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
German Utility Model 279 19 466 discloses a loading and unloading system for containers which uses a container bridge formed by a gantry frame. The gantry frame is supported on a traveling mechanism which is movable along the rails parallel to the pier at which the ship is docked. The gantry frame has a boom extending over the supporting construction on the water side as well as on the land side and running rails are arranged at the boom for a crane trolley which transports containers from ship to pier, and vice versa, by means of a spreader. The spreader is designed in such a way that the crane operator can make the spreader engage with or disengage from the container with automatic locking.
The productivity-determining factor in a loading and unloading device of the kind mentioned above is the time period needed by the crane trolley to alternate loads, namely, the time required for conveying the containers from one location to another and for loosening or tightening the twistlock. As is well known, these twistlocks are used for preventing slippage of the containers which are stacked one above the other when transported, particularly when transported on ships. The containers are locked together in that the twistlocks engage in openings of the fittings and the parts arranged inside the fittings are twisted. Usually, semiautomatic twistlocks which are connected to the lower fittings of a container in a forward position during loading are used. When setting the container on another container, the twistlock is automatically locked with the fitting of the lower container, so that the two containers are fixedly connected to one another.
When unloading the containers from their present location, the container is first unlocked from the container below it or from the container vehicle by personnel and the upper container is transported from ship to shore with the twistlock still located on it. However, the twistlocks must be removed before the container is placed on the surface of the pier, which is likewise carried out manually in that the personnel charged with this task reaches under the suspended container and detaches the twistlock manually. Conversely, when loading, the container is initially lifted far enough so that the twistlocks can initially be inserted manually into the lower fittings before the container is transported to its new location.
German Utility Model 297 19 466 describes the unloading and loading of the containers in two overlapping phases, in which two crane trolleys are used, the first of which transports the container from the ship to a handling platform, while the second crane trolley transports the container from the platform to the desired track on the pier surface. A vehicle stands by at the pier surface to receive the container. The two crane trolleys transporting the containers at overlapping times reduces the productive work cycle time because it has been determined that less time is required for transporting a container between the ship and platform than for transporting the container to the loading track on the pier surface, including the removal or tightening of the twistlock.
However, the known solution is disadvantageous because although the use of the second crane trolley in the container bridge increases handling capacity, it results in additional relatively high investment, servicing and maintenance costs. Further, the platform for mounting and removing the twistlocks is not suitable for the handling of tank containers or other special containers (e.g., refrigerated containers or containers for shipping automobiles). While the support surfaces for the container shown in the reference allow free access to the corner fittings, a closed container base is mandatory for this technology. However, this is not always guaranteed in the case of special containers. As a result, these containers are sorted out and must be handled separately on the pier by additional personnel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Based on the prior art, it is the object of the present invention to increase the total loading and unloading capacity of the container bridge through economical steps and, in so doing, also to ensure safe assembly and disassembly of the twistlocks at the corner fittings.
According to the invention, the loading device comprises at least two bridge members which are movable on the ground independent from one another transverse to the longitudinal axis of the boom, and are oriented parallel to one another and to the boom. Each bridge member forms a loading station for a container and carries in the area of its longitudinal center a receiving platform for an ISO container which can be set down and picked up by load-carrying means, this receiving platform being swivelable about a vertical axis.
The proposed loading device appreciably increases the loading and unloading capacity of the container bridge. It replaces the second trolley traveling mechanism in the container bridge and makes it possible to rotate the containers by at least 90° so that they arrive from the transporting position in the ship to the unloading position in the transporting vehicle. The at least two loading stations which are provided constitute an intermediate storage for the containers which is movable on traveling mechanisms from the loading area to the off-loading or on-loading area of the transporting vehicle.
The loading station is movable by at least one traveling mechanism on a runway or rail extending on the ground transverse to its bridge member. The rail which is preferably common to both loading stations allows an exact positioning of the loading station relative to the load receiving means of the container bridge on the one hand and relative to the traveling track of the transporting vehicle on the other hand. In this connection, the transport vehicle can be an automated driverless transport vehicle (FTV) or an automated guided vehicle (AGV). Alternatively, containers can also be transported for loading and unloading manually by straddle carriers.
According to a special feature of the invention, it is provided that every bridge member of every loading station is angled upward in an L-shaped manner and, by means of a rail traveling mechanism arranged at its upward angled end, is movable on a horizontal running rail which is arranged at a longitudinal member fastened to the supporting construction of the container bridge transverse to the boom. In this construction, the loading stations are connected in a positive engagement with the container bridge, wherein the construction allows the container bridge to move relative to the loading stations and the loading stations to move relative to the container bridge.
According to a further feature of the invention, another running rail extending parallel to the horizontal running rail is arranged at the underside of the longitudinal member and another rail traveling mechanism fastened to a tilting moment support of the loading station rolls on this running rail. This tilting moment support at the water-side rail traveling mechanism protects the loading station against tilting moments which can occur, for example, in the event of asymmetric loading of the receiving platform.
Since the relative horizontal movements between the container bridge and the loading stations must always be adapted to the different process sequences in the devices and to the respective load
Dobner Mathias
Franzen Hermann
Kröll Joachim
Cohen & Pontani, Lieberman & Pavane
Gottwald Port Technology GmbH
Hess Douglas
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