Material or article handling – Marine loading or unloading system – Marine vessel to/from shore
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-04
2003-04-29
Brahan, Thomas J. (Department: 3652)
Material or article handling
Marine loading or unloading system
Marine vessel to/from shore
C414S141300, C414S803000, C198S483100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06554557
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to new and supplemental apparatus, and an additional method of operation, for cargo container handling operations. More particularly, it relates to an apparatus and method for improving the efficiency and safety for cargo container handling by dockside quay cranes by semi-automating a previously “by hand” performed operation. Specifically, the present invention relates to a new method and apparatus for the installation and removal of inter-box connectors during cargo container handling operations. Still more particularly, the present invention provides an apparatus and method for a semi-automated system for installing and removing IBCs when a cargo container is positioned on a buffer platform instead of installing the IBCs by hand on a suspended container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The transport of cargo has been revolutionized in recent years by the use of cargo containers to compartmentalize shipments for transport by truck, ship, or rail. The utilization of various types of large high-speed cargo container handling gantry cranes or quay cranes for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of loading and unloading of cargo containers for transport by ship is also well-established in the art.
However, despite the numerous designs, structures, and forms of apparatus disclosed by the prior art, which have been developed for the accomplishment of the specific objectives, purposes, and requirements of cargo container handling by dockside gantry type quay cranes, the devices, machines, and methods which have heretofore been devised and utilized consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious, configurations, combinations, and arrangements of well-known machinery. This will become apparent from the following consideration of the closest known and relevant prior art.
Shipping companies continually seek ways to reduce the time a ship spends in port involved in berthing operations in order to increase the efficiency of each vessel. Increasing the productivity of berthing operations allows ships to be loaded and unloaded faster thereby effectively reducing the ship's down time. Efforts are continuously being made to further this objective by improving the efficiency of the quay crane container handling operations and incrementally automating as much of the procedure as possible. The present invention is a significant advancement in these efforts.
Reference is made to
FIGS. 1 and 2
of the drawings which show, respectively, a typical dockside berthing operation for a ship and a typical quay crane in operation. The primary container handling equipment is comprised of one or more quay cranes
11
which extend outboard from the dock's edge
13
across the beam of a ship
15
. Cargo containers
17
which have been unloaded, or are to be loaded, are temporarily stored in a stacking yard
19
proximate to the ship's loading berths. The cargo container handling operations under specific consideration are involved in the transport of containers between a container ship and the adjacent dock for loading or unloading.
In ship loading operations, cargo container transporters
21
such as chassis trucks, trailer trucks, or automatically guided vehicles (AGVs) deliver the containers
17
from the stacking yard
19
to dockside. There, quay cranes
11
lift the cargo containers from the dockside container transporters and move them to the ship
15
where they are lowered into shipboard cells. In ship unloading operations, quay cranes access the shipboard cargo containers from above the ship and lift them out of the cells and move them to the ground level or onto dockside transporters which deliver the containers to the stacking yard where other vehicles or cranes
23
transfer the containers to stacks.
When the cargo containers are lowered into a ship's cell, they are locked into position therein by inter-box connectors (IBCs) which are secured to the lower corners of each container. The IBCs are installed or removed from the containers during the container loading and unloading operations while the containers are suspended by a quay crane near the ground.
There are two highly interdependent ship berthing suboperations: (1) quay crane handling; and (2) transport vehicle movements between the crane and the stacking yard. A delay in one of those suboperations causes the other to pause and idle which reduces the overall productivity of the entire system. Several factors can cause delays in the two berthing suboperations including: (1) unsteady or irregular quay crane operations; (2) the time required for effecting inter-box connector (IBC) installation and removal processes; (3) delays in stacking yard operations that delay throughput of transport vehicles; (4) the time required for quay cranes performing alignment of containers with transport chassis; (5) congestion of transport vehicles under quay cranes; and (6) various other factors such as machinery operator mistakes or inexperience.
Quay crane container handling rates are measured in cycle rates. Unsteady quay crane operations result because the cranes move containers different distances depending upon the location of the container on a ship varying the cycle rates. As a quay crane loads or unloads each column of containers spaced across the beam of the ship, the hoist travels a longer distance outboard for each successive column of containers and lowers and hoists longer distances for each container located deeper in the stack. The increased traveling distance and stationary time for the hoist, for each successive container, adds to the container handling time and the resulting cycle time. When quay crane handling rates or cycle times are slow, transport vehicles must wait. In those instances where the quay crane handles containers fast and cycle time is short, and if the number of transport vehicles is insufficient for the cycle time, the quay crane must wait.
Delays in stacking yard operations also cause delays in the throughput of container transport vehicles. The vehicles load or unload containers at the stacking yard before returning to the cranes. Disruptions in the flow of transport vehicles to and from the quay crane loading area are caused by numerous factors such as driver inexperience, and lack of familiarity with the apparatus and layout of the yard, as well as yard worker inexperience which can cause the delays in the stacking yard operations. Other delays result when quay cranes expend time aligning a suspended container with a container transport chassis during the container positioning and deposition process and when there is congestion of transport vehicles under the quay crane which slows the rate at which containers are moved to and from the container ship. However, the main cause of delay and loss of efficiency is caused by the inter-box connector (IBC) installation and removal processes which force both quay cranes and transport vehicles to idle. The IBCs are cone-shaped devices that lock stacked containers together on the ship. When quay cranes lift containers from the ship, the IBCs are still attached to the bottom of the container. During the installation and removal procedures, the quay cranes must lower the container until it is a few feet above the port terminal dock level where a worker crew can reach underneath and install or remove the IBCs. A port operator dock worker either takes an IBC from a nearby supply source and lifts it into engagement with a container IBC receptacle, and locks it therein, or he unlocks it from the receptacle and catches it as it falls out of the receptacle and deposits it in a supply depot. Each IBC weighs about 15 pounds (33 kg) and the continual lifting and lowering of the IBCs into and out of engagement with the cargo container corner receptacles, and carrying them to and from the IBC depots, is heavy work for the port operators. This time-consuming work-intensive operation is performed for each IBC receptacle at each corner of every container during both the loading and th
Huang Sun Huan
Takehara Toru
Vosskamp Hans G.
Brahan Thomas J.
Bruce & McCoy
McCoy Ernest H.
Paceco Corp.
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