Patent Application
20240417985
The invention relates to construction, in particular to systems, devices and methods for automated erection of structures.
One of the basic human needs is the need for a home. Mankind has been developing methods of building construction for centuries, so it is quite difficult to introduce something new. Traditional construction technologies have not undergone fundamental changes for a long period of time. To simplify and speed up construction, attempts have been made at different times to create new solutions, but many of them have not been realized in practice. One of the solutions that have proved to be relatively in demand is the construction of modular houses. However, modular houses require a large factory to create modules and a large amount of human resources for production and construction.
With the development of related fields, such as additive technologies, robotics, and IT, attempts have been made to implement them in construction in search of combinations that would increase efficiency and automation of construction.
For example, solutions, such as the one from CN 217581281 U, are known, in which a manipulator is mounted on a stationary or mobile platform (in this case a tracked platform), which has a print head for a cement mixture and creates building structures (usually only walls) by 3D printing. Solutions in which the print head is moved by a tethered robot (e.g. CN 112647707 B) or a gantry robot (e.g. CN 109025256 B) are also known. Such technologies are already in practice, with the first commercial products appearing around 2020, and some forecasts predict that over 1,000 buildings will already be printed worldwide between 2022 and 2023. Nevertheless, 3D printing suffers from a number of disadvantages: the need to install working structures on a construction site, the need for a special site for an automation system, the insufficiently high speed of preparing the system for work, height and area limitations due to structure peculiarities, high cost of mortar composition. Large masses of mortar are required, meaning that mortar production is required either within the same site or outside the site-consequently, special machinery, personnel, raw materials and logistical solutions are involved to support the construction process. The global disadvantage of 3D printing is layering and other wall artifacts, which requires special wall post-processing that requires separate equipment and human resources. In addition, there is still the unresolved issue of slabs that need to be installed using traditional methods, which again requires separate equipment and human resources.
There are also known solutions in which walls are automatically built not from mortar but from building blocks. For example, RU 2754505 C1 discloses a system in which a manipulator is mounted on a mobile platform and performs the laying of small building blocks under the control of an operator. This system is suitable for the construction of small structures, but when scaled up, the problem arises of having to move the building blocks over a long distance, whereby the excessive number of movements of the manipulator impairs its accuracy and service life, as well as significantly increases the time required for construction.
In general, construction with prefabricated building blocks is preferable for mass construction because it eliminates the need to produce and deliver liquid cement mixes and raw materials, allows for storage of prefabricated building blocks, increases the time from the moment a building block is manufactured (instead of a liquid mix) to its installation, and simplifies the construction process itself.
The only solution for automated building block construction, which is known to the present authors and has reached commercialization and field testing to date, is disclosed in WO 2018/009981 A1. According to this solution, a two-arm telescopic manipulator is mounted on a truck platform, inside the arms of which is a block moving system that automatically moves the building block from an inlet located directly on the platform to an outlet at the end of the second arm, where automatic application of adhesive on the block and automatic installation of the block on the wall with the help of a gripper installed at the end of the second arm are then performed according to a pre-determined program that sets the order of installation of blocks. This solution does replace a range of equipment and personnel, but it also has disadvantages that narrow the possibilities for its widespread use. In particular, the design feature of the mechanism creates a large oscillation of the system, which the stabilization cannot cope with, making the process of installing the building block relatively long, especially in the presence of wind. For the same reasons, it is necessary to reduce the size of the building block to be able to position it acceptably. Even considering that the arms are telescopic, the truck-mounted system is limited in size and therefore does not allow for the construction of buildings larger than 2 floors. Attempts to further lengthen the arms or increase the number of arms result in a significant increase in the design complexity and a decrease in its rigidity, negating the ability to accurately position the blocks. A similar effect occurs when the arms are telescoped beyond certain limits. The presence of multiple telescopic sections in one arm reduces the internal space of the arm, which accommodates the block moving system and a piping and cabling system, causing the maximum usable size of the building block to be very small, meaning that a large number of blocks are required for construction, which reduces the speed of construction and is time-consuming. The block moving system inside each arm is a double-sided gripper that grips the building block and moves along the arm along guide rails. Thus, only one block can be in the arm at a time, which reduces the construction speed. Attempting to make 2 tracks to allow the gripper to turn around and return to the entrance of the arm without occupying the track from the entrance to the exit leads to increased design complexity and an additional reduction in the allowable size of the building block. Reducing the size of the jaws of the gripper is fraught with loss of the quality of block holding and leads to the need to increase the pressure on the block, which can damage it. It is impossible to use a different gripper in such a design, because the arms are in motion for a considerable part of the working time and at the same time tilted at different angles, and all this time it is necessary to move the blocks inside the arms, so a continuous reliable block holding is required. Due to the constant movement of the arms, the design has several points where non-rectangular bends of the block movement path occur (at the joints between: a block feeding system, a manipulator rotation unit located on the platform, the first arm, the second arm and a building block installation device located at the end of the second arm), which requires the presence of complex additional block gripping devices at these points. The small size of the building block leads to the fact that to ensure an acceptable strength of a wall it is necessary to build the wall with a thickness of several blocks, which complicates the building block installation device and limits the choice of options for its design, and also creates difficulties in the docking of blocks, because of which it is necessary to leave a gap between the blocks, thereby resulting in a wall formed by several thin walls separated by the gap. In addition, due to the small size of the block, the adhesive applied on the block, after spreading, goes beyond the block and creates drips on the wall, which requires additional treatment of the wall. Accordingly, it is necessary either to apply less adhesive, which will negatively affect the strength of the joint, or to complicate the composition of the adhesive. The uneven application of the adhesive and the peculiarities of its drying with possible uneven expansion and spreading can lead to distortion of the position of the block, because it has a small size and weight and is unable to exert sufficient load, which requires manual leveling of the upper row of blocks at the final stages of adhesive drying. In addition, this system also only builds walls, whereas slabs need to be installed using traditional methods, which again requires separate equipment and human resources.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system for automated construction of buildings using building blocks, which is more efficient than the known systems.
The present invention is directed to systems, devices and methods for automated erection of structures, including construction of buildings, which allow eliminating at least some of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.
In particular, a device for erecting structures using building blocks is provided, comprising:
In one embodiment, the device further comprises:
In one embodiment, the trolley is mounted on a side portion of the boom and is configured to move laterally from the boom, and the trolley conveyor body is movably attached to a frame of the trolley and is configured to vertically move laterally from the boom.
In one embodiment, the tower crane is a foldable crane, the tower is configured to be foldable relative to a platform, the boom is configured to be foldable relative to the tower, the boom comprises two sections which are configured to be foldable relative to each other, and the boom conveyor comprises two conveyors each mounted within a respective section of the boom.
In one embodiment, the tower, the boom, and the trolley conveyor body comprise windows for transferring the building block from one conveyor to the other.
In one embodiment, the windows are located on a side of the tower facing the boom, a side of the boom facing the trolley conveyor, and a side of the trolley conveyor body facing the boom.
In one embodiment, the building block is transferred from one conveyor to the other using an L-shaped gripper.
In one embodiment, the tower is configured to rotate about its axis on a pivoting platform and/or the platform on which the tower is mounted is configured to move along a ground surface.
Furthermore, a method of erecting structures using building blocks is provided, comprising the steps of:
The present invention provides improved efficiency of building construction systems, devices and methods, including improved reliability, safety and service life of the building construction system itself, improved safety and speed of construction, improved speed and accuracy of building block installation, and provides the ability to use larger building blocks and the ability to erect larger structures, as well as multi-height buildings, decorative and protruding structures.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become clear upon reading the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the figures may be presented schematically and out of scale, and are intended primarily to enhance understanding of the present invention.
Next, with reference to
To avoid cluttering the description with unnecessary details, the focus hereinafter will be on those features which are inherent in the present invention. The details of the design, which will not be described in detail, are known to a person skilled in the art and can be implemented in many different variations.
It should be noted that the proposed system is generally referred to herein as the building construction system, but is generally suitable for erecting other structures that can be assembled using building blocks.
As shown in
The design of the tower crane 1, including the support 2, the platform 3, the tower 4, the boom 6 and the trolley 7, is generally known to a person skilled in the art and will not be described herein in detail, except for those features which are inherent in the present invention.
For example, the tower 4 has a metal body (or frame) in the form of a vertically elongated rectangular parallelepiped (columns, trusses, etc.) and the boom 6 has a metal body (or frame) in the form of a horizontally elongated rectangular parallelepiped (cantilevers, trusses, etc.). The exact shape of the tower and boom depends on the requirements of particular applications—for example, the cross-section of the tower and boom may be square, rectangular, triangular, etc. The tower may comprise a single section or multiple interconnected sections. The boom may comprise a single section or multiple interconnected sections. The crane may be an overhead or flat-top crane. The crane may be stationary or mobile. The crane may be moved, for example, by rotating it about its axis on the pivoting platform 3 or by traveling it on rails laid on the ground.
The boom 6 may be movably or fixedly attached to the tower 4 at its top. The boom may be held by a suspension (swing), in the form of rigid rods or flexible links (rope hoists), or by other means of attachment, such as direct mounting on the top of the tower. The crane may comprise a counter boom or may not comprise a counter boom. The boom may perform a horizontal movement—for example, by rotating the tower or moving the tower on the rails.
The load trolley 7 has a frame which is mounted on the boom 6 and can be horizontally movable along the boom, for example by means of rollers, wheels or the like along guides on the boom.
The conveyor line 20 comprises at least a vertical tower conveyor 10 and a vertical trolley conveyor 14. The vertical conveyor may also be interchangeably referred to as an elevator conveyor, vertical transporter, etc. The vertical conveyor comprises horizontal platforms (e.g., shelves or cradles) on which a load is mounted and which are vertically movable along the conveyor axis. In particular, the vertical tower conveyor moves vertically along the tower and the vertical trolley conveyor moves vertically relative to the trolley. It should be understood that the term “vertical” indicates the general direction of movement, but a slight deviation from the vertical is permissible, whereby the advantages of the proposed solution are still retained. In addition, the expression “conveyor moves” implies that the supporting elements of the conveyor move, that is, in the above-mentioned example of the vertical conveyor, the shelves or cradles that are intended to carry the load move vertically (i.e., up and down).
In one embodiment, the tower conveyor 10 may be positioned within the tower 4, that is, within the body or frame of the tower 4. For example, if the tower 4 has a truss-shaped body, the conveyor 10 is positioned in the space between the truss rods, or if the tower 4 has a column-shaped body, the conveyor 10 is positioned in the space between the walls of the column. In another embodiment, the tower conveyor 10 may be positioned outside the tower 4, that is, attached to it externally as an outboard element. Similarly, the trolley conveyor 14 may be mounted so as to pass inside the frame or body of the trolley 7 (i.e., the frame of the trolley 7 completely covers the trolley conveyor 14 in cross-section), or the trolley conveyor 14 may be attached to the trolley 7 externally so that the frame of the trolley 7 has contact in cross-section with only a portion of the trolley conveyor 14.
A building block (not shown in the drawings) is used as the load in the conveyor line. Accordingly, the conveyor line 20 receives the building block at the inlet of the tower conveyor 10 at the base of the tower 4 and moves it up to the outlet of the trolley conveyor 14 at the building block installer 9.
In one embodiment, the building block is transferred from the tower conveyor 10 directly to the trolley conveyor 14, for which purpose the trolley 7 must move along the boom 6 towards the tower 4, and by means of a building block transfer device 15 (e.g., a gripper arranged in the trolley conveyor 14 or a pusher arranged in the tower conveyor 10) the building block raised to the level of the boom 6 must be transferred to the trolley conveyor 14.
In another embodiment, the conveyor line 20 further comprises a horizontal boom conveyor 11 connected to the boom 6. By way of example, but without limitation, the horizontal conveyor 11 may be in the form of a belt conveyor, roller conveyor, slat conveyor, scraper conveyor, or the like. In such an embodiment, the building block is moved by the tower conveyor to the boom, the building block is transferred using the building block transfer device (e.g., a gripper) to the boom conveyor, then the building block is moved by the boom conveyor to the trolley conveyor, and the building block is moved from the boom conveyor to the trolley conveyor using the building block transfer device (e.g., a gripper in the trolley conveyor).
In other embodiments, the conveyor line 20 may further comprise other conveyors necessary for the automatic transfer of the building block—for example, a receiving horizontal conveyor by means of which the building blocks are loaded into the tower conveyor.
The building block installer 9 is attached to the trolley conveyor 14. The building block installer 9 comprises a gripper, by means of which it can grip the building block at the outlet of the conveyor line 20 (i.e., from the trolley conveyor 14) and install it on the structure to be erected. The building block installer may be an arm-like manipulator or an industrial robot having any other design suitable for moving the building block from the trolley conveyor to a point where the building block is installed on the structure to be erected in a desired position. The gripper may be a vacuum, clamping (mechanical) or other gripper suitable for securely holding and moving the building block.
Various solutions may be used to enable building blocks to be stacked at different heights. In one embodiment, the boom 6 can move vertically along the tower 4, in which case the trolley conveyor 14 and the building block installer 9 move together with it to different heights. In another embodiment, the body 8 of the trolley conveyor can move vertically relative to the trolley 7, thereby moving the building block installer 9 to different heights. An embodiment combining both of these solutions is also possible.
A building block is made of a material necessary to erect a required structure—e.g. concrete, foam concrete, aerated concrete, bricks, etc. As used herein, the building block may also be referred to interchangeably in some instances simply as a “block”, but it should not be confused with a block of a rope-block system, which is typically an axially rotating wheel with a chute. The specific meaning of the word “block” used in any particular part of this document follows from the context and should be understood by a skilled person. The shape of the building block is selected according to the requirements of its particular application and may be, for example, a parallelepiped, a cube, a triangular prism, and the like. Various solutions may be used to ensure that the building blocks are held together in the structure to be erected: for example, vertical reinforcement may be installed on which the building blocks may be attached through holes made therein; or the building blocks may have reciprocal protrusions, recesses and other structural elements which, when mated, prevent the building blocks from shifting relative to each other; or the building blocks may be bonded to each other with mortar/adhesive; or any combination of these solutions may be used.
In an embodiment in which mortar is used to bond the building blocks, the proposed crane 1 further comprises a mortar delivery system 30 (not shown in the drawings) comprising pipelines 31 installed along the path of delivery of the building block to the building block installer 9, i.e. approximately where the conveyor line system 20 runs, namely along the tower 4, the boom 6 and the trolley conveyor 14. Pumps 32 of the mortar delivery system 30 may be installed, for example, at the base of the crane 1. The crane 1 also comprises a mortar applicator 16 connected to the trolley conveyor body 8 and designed to apply mortar received via the mortar delivery system 30 to the building block prior to its installation on the structure to be erected. Which sides of the building block to apply mortar to, as well as the method of mortar application, depends on particular applications. In yet another embodiment, the mortar applicator 16 may not apply mortar to the building block, but rather to a surface where the building block is to be installed. It is also possible to use both of these embodiments simultaneously, where mortar is applied to both the building block and the location where the building block is to be installed.
Accordingly, the device for erecting building blocks is provided, which is in the form of the tower crane with a number of modifications made therein. The building block is fed to the inlet of the conveyor line 20 at the base of the tower 4, moved by means of the tower conveyor 10 to the level of the boom 6, where it is transferred to the trolley conveyor 14 directly or by passing through the boom conveyor 11, then moved by means of the trolley conveyor 14 to the outlet of the conveyor line 20, where it is gripped by the building block installer 9 and installed in a required position on the building structure to be erected. This covers a large space within which automatic erection of structures is possible, since, as indicated above, the proposed device 110 provides for the boom and trolley conveyor to move both horizontally and vertically, thereby enabling the delivery of the building block installer, as well as the building block itself, to any point within this space.
In an embodiment in which the advantages of the present invention provided by the individual features are combined to achieve a synergistic effect, the device 110 for erecting structures using building blocks comprises the tower crane 1 comprising the tower 4, the boom 6 mounted on the tower 4, and the trolley 7 mounted on the boom 6. The trolley conveyor body 8 is coupled to the trolley 7. The conveyor system 20 comprises a vertical tower conveyor 10 mounted inside the tower 4, the horizontal boom conveyor 11 mounted inside the boom 6, and the vertical trolley conveyor 14 mounted inside the trolley conveyor body 8. The building block installer 9 is connected to a lower portion of the trolley conveyor body 8. The boom 6 is configured to perform a vertical movement along the tower 4. The trolley 7 is configured to perform a horizontal movement along the boom 6. The trolley conveyor body 8 is configured to perform a vertical movement relative to the trolley 7. The conveyor line system 20 is configured to move the building block from the inlet at the base of the tower 4 to the outlet at the building block installer 9. The building block installer 9 is configured to grip the building block at the outlet of the conveyor line system 20 and install it on the structure to be erected.
Compared to the known solutions based on multi-arm manipulators, the present invention is a tower crane with increased structural rigidity, which provides increased reliability, safety and service life of the device for erecting structures.
The elimination of non-rectangular conveyor bends in the path of movement of the building block from the inlet to the outlet provides simplification of the design of transitions, elimination of “bottle necks” (places with slow movement of the building block, significantly affecting the overall flow rate), increasing the capacity of the conveyor line system, increasing the speed of movement of building blocks through the conveyor line system, preventing damage and loss of building blocks at the transition and the associated construction delay.
The minimization of the number and length of arms of the manipulator (building block installer) provides increased rigidity of the design, decreased probability of deviation of the building block position during its gripping, moving and installation, increased accuracy of the building block installation.
In general, an increase in the speed of installation of the building block is provided, since the dependence on weather conditions, on the design of transitions, and on the swaying of the arms is reduced.
Also, the present invention achieves an increase in the permissible maximum size and weight of a building block to values inaccessible for effective long-term work by one person, i.e., if one entrusts a builder to lay the same building blocks, he will tire very quickly and will need to rest or be replaced, whereas the proposed device 110 is capable of continuously performing the required actions. The larger the building block, the faster the structure is built. This level of automation increases productivity and speed of construction.
Due to the presence of the trolley conveyor, the boom does not overhang directly in the vicinity of the structure under construction, which provides the possibility for personnel to be in the area under the boom, the admissibility of some sagging of the boom without adversely affecting the structure under construction, the personnel and the course of construction, as well as the possibility of construction of multi-height, decorative and protruding structures.
The combination of the boom and trolley conveyor moving in height provides the possibility of uneven height order of installation of building blocks and an increase in the speed of construction.
Although the boom can move vertically, moving the boom is a relatively resource-intensive process, so the presence of the trolley conveyor reduces the number of boom movements in height, which provides an increase in the speed of construction and an increase in the service life of the proposed device.
Actuating mechanisms (e.g., mechanisms that drive certain elements of the device for erecting structures proposed in the present invention or perform any actions—in particular, a mechanism for turning the tower, a mechanism for moving the boom, a mechanism for moving the trolley, a mechanism for moving the trolley conveyor body, the mortar applicator, the device for transferring the building block, the building block installer, etc.) need power supply and control, so the device also comprises a cable network 40 (not shown in the drawings). Power cables 41 and control cables 42 may be laid outside or inside the tower, the boom, the trolley conveyor body. The cables 41, 42 may be laid in flexible or rigid cable conduits 43, bus ducts, cable chains, cable stackers, power chains, cable tracks, etc.
In one embodiment, the cable network 40 comprises the flexible cable conduits 43 and is installed adjacent to the mortar delivery system 30 comprising the flexible conduits 31 along the delivery path of the building block to the building block installer 9 within the tower 4, the boom 6 and the trolley conveyor body 8. Thereby, the space required is reduced, maintenance is simplified, and increased protection of the cables and pipelines is provided. Moreover, to enhance this effect, the cables 41, 42 and pipelines 31 may be laid in the same cable conduit 43, while further simplifying the design and assembly of the device 110.
An embodiment, in which the movement of the building blocks takes place within the tower, the boom and the trolley conveyor body, protects them from accidental falls and provides an additional increase in construction safety.
To enable the transfer of building blocks along the conveyor line system (from one conveyor to another), to it (e.g., from outside to the tower conveyor) and from it (e.g., from the trolley conveyor to the building block installer), the present invention proposes that the tower, the boom and the trolley conveyor body comprise the windows 12. The window 12 is an opening having a size and shape sufficient to allow a building block to be transferred therethrough. For example, the window 12 may be a rectangular opening in the wall of the tower. Also, the role of the windows 12 may be played by empty spaces between the rods in the side portions of the truss.
The transfer of the building block from one conveyor to another may be performed, for example, by means of a simple L-shaped gripper. Such a design may be quite sufficient, since there is no inclination of the conveyors, and the building block is almost always on the way of its movement substantially parallel to the ground.
The windows 12 may be arranged on the side of the tower facing the boom, on the side of the boom facing the trolley conveyor, and on the side of the trolley conveyor body facing the boom. The boom, when moved along the tower, then assumes a position whereby the window on the tower is matched, depending on the design, with the window on the side of the boom facing the tower or with the window on the end of the boom facing the tower, and the building block is freely moved from the tower window into the boom. Similarly, the movement of the trolley along the boom and the trolley conveyor body relative to the trolley is accomplished so as to dock the window on the boom and the window on the trolley conveyor body with each other.
The present invention provides the possibility of adjusting the size of the windows on the tower and the boom and the distance between them at the design stage of the crane, depending on the size and shape of the building block, on the design features of the devices for transferring building blocks between the conveyors, on the size, shape and design features of the tower itself, the boom, the trolley, the trolley conveyor body, etc. The windows may be equally spaced apart or differently spaced apart. For example, as shown in
It should be noted that the boom has a limitation on the minimum lifting height due to both the tower structure and the high probability of obstacles near the ground, but the presence of the vertical trolley conveyor compensates for this disadvantage; therefore, there is no need to lower the boom too low (see examples in
If necessary, several cranes can be placed side by side to work together in such a way that they overlap each other in the working area but do not interfere with each other, as their booms and trolley conveyors are height-adjustable.
Foldable Crane with an Automatically Vertically Movable Boom
In the following, the aspects of the present invention will be disclosed in more detail, which relate to the ability to fold the crane and move the boom vertically.
In high-rise construction, much of the lifting and transportation work is performed using tower cranes. The tower cranes are used to move loads to heights at construction sites and large-scale storage facilities. To achieve the greatest efficiency from the tower crane, developers around the world are continuously searching for optimal designs for various tasks. One area of focus is to speed up all stages of the construction process, which requires a crane that can be transported, assembled and disassembled quickly. Another area focuses on increasing automation by creating a construction robot that can erect high-rise structures on its own or with minimal operator involvement—for example, by using an automation unit suspended from a boom, such as a manipulator for installing building blocks or a print head for 3D printing. The authors of the present invention have attempted to combine the above-mentioned directions to create a crane that combines automation both in terms of mounting and transportation as well as direct operation. However, during the development process, it became apparent that no such off-the-shelf solutions existed in the prior art.
In particular, folding tower cranes are known in the prior art (see, for example, CN 101962156 B), but in their designs a boom is fixed on the tower, and depending on the chosen dimensions, either a large crane with a high mounted boom is obtained, because of which the automation unit suspended on the boom in its lower positions is subjected to strong swaying, which leads to a decrease in the accuracy of its work up to the impossibility of its use, or vice versa, a small crane with a relatively low mounted boom is obtained, the capabilities of which are not enough for the use of the automation unit.
One of the solutions to this problem is to ensure the mobility of the boom in the vertical direction, through which it would be possible to move the automation unit together with the boom and thereby increase the rigidity of the structure and the accuracy of the automation unit.
Tower cranes with a boom moving vertically are known in the prior art (see, for example, SU 1230972 A1, SU 179445 A1), but they do not have the possibility of automatic folding.
Accordingly, there is a need for an automatically folding tower crane with an automatically vertically moving boom.
The main element of the system 100 is represented by the device 100 for erecting structures, which is a tower crane with a number of modifications made therein. The tower crane is shown in
The crane is a foldable crane, and it should be noted that hereinafter in this document, the description of its design will be made primarily with respect to the unfolded crane in the operating position, as shown in
The tower has a body (or frame) made of metal or other suitable material in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped (column, truss, etc.) arranged vertically in the operating condition. The exact shape of the tower depends on the requirements of particular applications—for example, the cross-section of the tower may be square, rectangular, triangular, etc. The tower may comprise a single section or several sections fixedly connected to each other.
The tower is designed to be foldable relative to the platform, so that the tower is positioned horizontally when the crane is transported. A tower folding mechanism will be described in more detail later in this document.
The boom has a body (or frame) made of metal or other suitable material in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped (cantilever, truss, etc.) arranged horizontally in the operating condition. The exact shape of the boom depends on the requirements of particular applications—for example, the cross-section of the tower and boom may be square, rectangular, triangular, etc.
The boom can perform a horizontal movement—for example, by turning the tower or moving the tower on rails.
As mentioned above, the crane must be foldable, so the boom is folded relative to the tower. To increase the working space around the crane, it is advantageous to perform folding of the boom relative to an edge of the tower—for example, relative to the tower cathead.
In one embodiment, the boom comprises one single section or is assembled from several sub-sections which are fixedly connected to each other. This embodiment is applicable where the height of the tower and the corresponding boom length meet the height and area requirements of a structure to be erected within the available working space around the crane.
In another embodiment, the boom comprises front 205a and rear 205b sections (beams) that are hingedly connected to each other and folded relative to each other. In this way, it is possible to increase the length of the boom to almost 2 times the height of the tower. This embodiment is applicable when it is necessary to provide an increased working space around the crane without increasing the height of the tower, or conversely, to reduce the height of the tower without losing the available working space around the crane. For example, when there are tower height and boom length limitations due to the size of the folded structure during transportation, this embodiment allows one to meet those limitations while maximizing the available crane height and working space around the crane. Each boom section can be a single structure or assembled from a few fixedly connected sub-sections.
The tower-mounted cage 204 is designed to allow vertical movement of the boom along the tower. The cage comprises a frame made of metal or other suitable material—for example, in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped. The exact shape of the cage frame is selected according to the requirements of particular applications. The cage frame covers the tower and may be horizontally movable along the tower—for example, by means of rollers, wheels, or the like along guides on the tower. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, rollers mounted on the inside of the cage are used.
The boom is hingedly connected to the cage at one end so as to allow its folding, i.e., the hinge connection is in the area of the lower wall of the boom at or below the end face of the boom facing the cage. In addition, the cage comprises, on the boom side, lateral projections 208a and 208b, one side fixedly attached to the cage frame and the other side abutting the side walls of the bottom face-to-face. The cage may be hingedly connected to the boom at or below the lower portion of the lateral protrusion. The lateral projections of the cage may be made in the form of a plate, pipe, profile, etc., and may be shaped as a triangle or have any other suitable shape which allows the boom to lower freely on hinges, but prevents it from scuffing upward above the horizontal. The side walls of the boom are correspondingly shaped to mate with the lateral projections of the cage. In another embodiment, the lateral projections of the cage may partially engage the side walls of the boom so that the boom end is at least partially between the projections, thereby limiting the swing of the boom in the horizontal plane. In another embodiment, the lateral protrusions may, on the contrary, be partially encompassed by the side walls of the boom, thereby also limiting the swing of the boom in the horizontal plane. In yet another embodiment, the lateral projections may combine the preceding embodiments so that one portion of the projection has an element that abuts the end face of the side wall of the boom and the other portion of the projection partially covers or is covered by this wall, thereby simultaneously preventing the boom from scuffing upward above the horizontal and the boom from swinging horizontally.
The upper sides of the lateral projections of the cage may be connected to each other by means of a horizontal side shelf 209 located between, on or above them, reinforced by the lateral projections that act as reinforcement ribs. The side shelf of the cage may be in the form of a plate, tube, profile, etc., and may be rectangular or have any other suitable shape. The side shelf may accommodate other components of the device, as will be shown later herein. Similar to the lateral protrusions, the side shelf of the cage may abut the top wall of the boom face-to-face, partially covers it, or combines these options. The upper wall of the boom may accordingly be reciprocally shaped to mate with the side shelf of the cage.
The boom is held in place by the cable-stayed system 206. An attachment point for the main portion of the cable-stayed system is the cage.
The cable-stayed system 206, an example of which in its unfolded state is shown in
The cable-stayed system 206 further comprises a middle rack 213 in the form of a rectangular frame, with one end hingedly connected to the upper portion (first end or first ends) of the pivoting frame 210 and aligned with an assembly 231 for attaching cable stays 214 and 215, and the other end hingedly connected to the lateral protrusions 208a, 208b and/or to the side shelf 209 of the cage. In other embodiments, the middle rack may not be in the form of a rectangular frame but, for example, in the form of a U-shaped frame, an arc-shaped frame, a single rectangular tube, in the form of two or more interconnected or non-directly connected racks, tubes or profiles, etc. The middle rack 213 may also be referred to herein as a first rack.
The cable-stayed system 206 further comprises spacers (arms) 216a, 216b, with a first end hingedly coupled to the cage frame at a rear portion thereof and a second end hingedly coupled to a lower portion (second end or second ends) of the pivoting frame 210. Thus, the spacers 216a, 216b and the middle rack 213 serve, respectively, as a small and large radius of rotation relative to the cage 204, meaning that the pivoting frame 210 can move (rotate, pivot) relative to the cage 204. The ratio of the length of the spacers 216a, 216b and the middle rack 213 in the exemplary embodiment may be 1:2.
The cable-stayed system 206 further includes a rear rack 217 formed as a frame having an upper portion (first end) hingedly coupled to the second ends of the spacers 216a, 216b and aligned with node(s) 232 for attaching the pivoting frame 210 to the spacers 216a, 216b, and its lower portion (second end) connected by means of blocks 218a, 218b to a rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system. The frame forming the base of the rear rack 217 may be in the form of a rectangular frame, a U-shaped frame, an arc-shaped frame, etc. The rear rack 217 may also be referred to herein as a second rack.
In addition to the aforementioned blocks 218a, 218b of the rear rack, the rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system includes a lower block 220, a rope (cable) 221 and an actuator 222. The actuator 222 is a rotatably mounted drum on which the rope 221 is wound. The actuator 222 is located on the platform 202 at a rear portion thereof, under the rear rack 217 of the cable-stayed system. The axis of rotation of the actuator 222 is parallel to the axis of rotation of the blocks 218a, 218b of the rear rack. The rope 221 extends from the actuator 222 upwardly to one of the blocks 218a, 218b of the rear rack, then downwardly to the lower block 220 mounted on the platform 202 near the actuator 222. The axis of rotation of the lower block 220 is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the actuator 222. Further from the lower block 220, the rope 221 passes upwardly to another of the blocks 218a, 218b of the rear rack and downwardly again to the platform 202 on which it is rigidly secured in the region about the actuator 222. Thereby, a simple and reliable block and tackle system is formed, which enables the functions of holding the cable-stayed system in the working position, as well as moving the cable-stayed system when the boom is folded and when the boom is moved vertically.
In the above-mentioned embodiment, the first ends of the rear rack 217, the second ends of the pivoting frame 210, and the second ends of the movable spacers 216a, 216b are connected to each other on the same axis at the node or nodes 232 of their hinged connection. Such a design is simpler to assemble and design, but other designs are possible. For example, in another embodiment, the end of the rear rack 217 may be attached to a portion of the spacer 216 other than the end of the spacer 216, wherein the end of the spacer is attached to an end of the pivoting frame 210. In yet another embodiment, the end of the rear rack 217 may be attached to the end of the pivoting frame 210, while the end of the spacer 216 is not attached to a point where the rear rack 217 is coupled to the pivoting frame 210, but to either the rear rack 217 or the pivoting frame 210 at a point other than the end thereof. If necessary, other connection options may be implemented to provide the desired functionality for holding and moving the cable-stayed system while maintaining the advantages of the present invention.
The cable-stayed system 206 further includes a hinged rack 223 formed as a frame, which may be formed as a rectangular frame, a U-shaped frame, an arc-shaped frame, etc. The hinged rack 223 may also be referred to herein as a third rack. A front portion (first end or first ends) of the hinged rack 223 is hingedly coupled to the lower portion of the cage 204 closer to the front end of the cage 204. The rear portion of the hinged rack 223 includes at least one connector 224 and is in a free (unfastened) position in the operational unfolded position of the cable-stayed system, due to at least one stop 225 mounted in the lower portion of the cage 204 closer to the rear end of the cage 204 and holding the hinged rack 223 in weight. Said at least one connector 224 is designed to mate with at least one connector 226 of the rear rack (e.g., located between the blocks 218a, 218b, as shown in
In an embodiment in which the boom comprises two sections, the cable-stayed system 206 further includes a front rack 227 having a lower (first) end hingedly connected to a boom section pivot assembly 228 and an upper (second) end hingedly connected to the cable stay 214 extending from the assembly 231 for attaching the cable stays 214 and 215 to the pivoting frame 210 and the middle rack 213. Additionally, when the cable-stayed system is in the unfolded operating position, a front cable stay 229 is suspended from the upper (second) end of the front rack 227 and is connected, respectively, to the front boom section. The front rack 227 may be in the form of a rectangular frame, a U-shaped frame, an arc-shaped frame, a single rectangular tube, two or more interconnected or non-directly connected racks, tubes or profiles, etc. The front rack 227 may also be referred to herein as a fourth rack.
The rear cable stay 215, when the cable-stayed system is in the unfolded operating position, is suspended at one end from the middle rack 213 by means of the attachment assembly 231 and at the other end is connected to the rear boom section. The rear cable stay 215 and the front cable stay 229 are provided to hold the boom. The upper cable stay 214 is for holding the front rack 227. It should be understood that each cable stay is referred to above in the singular, but more cable stays of one kind or another may be utilized as needed. For example,
As indicated above, one of the key features of the present invention is the ability to fold and unfold the crane.
Folding is done from the working position, that is, from a position in which the tower is mounted vertically and the boom is deployed and mounted horizontally. Before folding, the boom is moved to the highest position to avoid hitting the ground and to ensure the necessary space under the cage. At the same time, the cage is secured to the tower to prevent it from inadvertently moving downward or tilting under loads and to avoid the need for the rope-block system 235 for moving the boom in this process (to be described in detail later in the “Vertical Boom Movement” section). Securing the cage to the tower may be accomplished, for example, by locking devices (pins, retractable corners, etc.) manually or automatically. In a specific non-limiting example, a cage locking device 249 (not shown in the drawings) is located inside the tower at the top of the tower at the level of the bottom of the cage when it is in the upper position, is in the form of a crank mechanism, and comprises an actuator, a wheel driven by the actuator, and two pins driven (extending in different directions from the axis of the wheel) by connecting rods attached to the edges of the wheel.
To start the process of folding the boom and the cable-stayed system, the rope-block system 219 is actuated—in particular, the rope 221 is uncoiled by means of the actuator 222. The tension of the rope 221 is released, the boom under its own weight starts to lower relative to the hinges on which it is mounted on the cage and pulls the cable-stayed system with it.
The process of folding the cable-stayed system is shown separately in
The process of folding the boom is shown in
Since the boom is foldable, the cable stays 214, 215, 229 must also be able to fold. The use of flexible material, such as rope or steel wire rope, is impractical to avoid tangling, so it is suggested that the cable stays be made of rigid foldable rods, tubes, beams, and the like. The cable stay can be folded by means of a hinge located on it. The folding points (hinge positions) and folding directions depend on the connection points of the cable stays to the boom and the dimensions of the cable stays themselves, the middle rack, the front rack and the boom sections, and are selected so that the folded cable stay does not protrude beyond the space between the folded boom sections. In one non-limiting example, the front cable stay 229 may be folded midway in the direction of the boom, the upper cable stay 214 may be folded in the direction of the boom at a point which, when the cable-stayed system is folded, is near the boom section pivot assembly 228, and the rear cable stay 215 may be folded in the direction away from the boom at a point which, when the cable-stayed system is folded, is near the boom section pivot assembly 228.
As can be seen in
During the process of folding the boom, the front rack 227 is first (
As a result of the folding of the boom as shown in
To maximize the size of the boom, the rear section has a length approximately equal to the distance along the tower from the point of attachment to the cage (i.e., from the hinge) to the platform, and the front section may be slightly longer and have a length approximately equal to the distance along the tower from the platform to the side shelf 209 of the cage, as seen in
After the boom is folded, the tower is folded. Before proceeding to the folding process, it is necessary to describe the design of the tower attachment to the platform.
In the proposed invention, the tower is mounted on the platform by a lever mechanism 250 comprising two lower arms 251, two upper arms 252 and a bracket 253 located on the front wall of the tower above the platform 202 at the level of the bottom of the cage when the cage is in the lower position. In this way, the bracket 253 may act as a stop to the bottom travel of the cage. The lower arm 251 is hingedly connected to the platform 202 near the front of the tower at its lower end, and its upper end is hingedly connected to the bracket 253 at the lower portion of the bracket. In turn, the upper arm 252 is hingedly connected to the platform 202 behind the rear wall of the tower by its lower end, and its upper end is hingedly connected to the bracket 253 at the upper portion of the bracket. The length of the upper arm 252 is greater than the length of the lower arm 251. Thus, it is possible to tilt and rotate the tower relative to the platform by means of the arms.
The upper arm 252 is essentially straight, and the lower arm 251 is in the form of a corner to allow the upper arm to be wrapped around when the tower is in a horizontal position (
The proposed design of attaching the tower to the platform allows the center of gravity of the tower to be shifted slightly forward, so that when the tower is in the upright position, it does not tend to fall spontaneously backwards, but is held on the arms.
To hold the tower in the upright position, a rope-block system 255 for holding the tower (see
The tower is prevented from tipping forward by platform ledges or stops, the geometry of which follows the geometry of the lower part of the tower. In the example in
In addition, retainers (e.g., fingers, retractable corners, etc.) are utilized to further secure the tower to the platform. In a specific non-limiting example, a tower locking device 254 (not shown in the drawings) is located within the tower at its lower front portion, implemented as a crank mechanism, and comprises an actuator, a wheel driven by the actuator, and two pins driven (extending in different directions from the axis of the wheel) by connecting rods attached to the edges of the wheel.
To start the process of folding the tower, a counterweight is first removed from the platform. The tower is then unfastened from the platform-namely, the clips are released from their securing position (e.g., automatically by means of the tower locking device 254) and the tower, being suspended on the arms 251, 252, is allowed to rotate. Nevertheless, as mentioned above, the tower does not immediately start to fall/lower to a horizontal position under its own weight, since it has a displaced center of gravity and since it is held by the rope-block system 255 for holding the tower.
To set the tower in motion, the rope-block system 255 for holding the tower uncoils the rope 257 by means of the actuator 256, the tension of the rope 257 is released, and the tower begins to lower under its own weight relative to the arms 251, 252 on which it is mounted on the platform 202. During the folding process, the lower portion of the tower carried by the arms 251, 252 protrudes slightly forward (relative to the working position) until the arms have exhausted their travel range, while the rest of the tower is lowered backwards.
The folding speed is adjusted automatically or by an operator based on tension data of the rope 257 from a rope tension sensor mounted at the dead end of the rope 257. It should be understood that as the tower folds, the tension in the rope-block systems 219 and 235 also changes, so these systems also compensate for the resulting tension shift based on rope tension sensors mounted on the dead ends of the respective ropes, operating simultaneously or alternately with the rope-block system 255.
Ultimately, the tower, together with the previously folded rear boom section and front boom section, assume a horizontal position. The result of folding the tower is shown in
The unfolding of the boom is an inverse process to folding. Specifically, it involves raising the tower from a horizontal to a vertical position, securing the tower to the platform, placing the counterweight on the platform and then unfolding the boom to a horizontal position and releasing the cage lock on the boom. As with folding, the actuators 230 and 222 operate simultaneously or alternately when unfolding the boom to allow the cable-stayed system to unfold and prevent the end of the boom from colliding with the ground.
In this way, the crane can be folded and unfolded automatically and quickly. In the folded condition, the crane is compact and can be transported by regular-sized cargo vehicles. Moreover, to increase autonomy and automation, the crane can be installed on a mobile platform (e.g. directly on a truck or as a trailer). Having delivered the crane to the point of its installation, it is only necessary to connect the crane to a power supply and set the counterweight in the process of unfolding, and the crane will perform the rest of the actions independently.
Accordingly, the present invention greatly simplifies the transportation and installation of the tower crane.
Another important feature of the present invention is the ability to move the boom of the tower crane vertically. For this purpose, the crane is further provided with the rope-block system 235 for moving the boom. The rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system is also involved in the movement of the boom. A schematic representation of the kinematics of the rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system and the rope-block system 235 for moving the boom is shown in
The elements constituting the rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system are described in detail above.
As for the rope-block system 235 for moving the boom, it comprises an actuator 236 which is located on the platform 202 at the rear portion thereof and is a rotatable drum on which a rope (steel wire rope) 237 is wound. The rope 237 passes from the actuator 236 through blocks 238-240 located at the base of the tower to a block 241 located on a tower cathead 245. In addition, blocks 242a and 242b are located on the tower cathead 245. The block 241 is positioned on an edge of the tower cathead 245 at an angle so as to receive the rope 237 on one side, and on the other side, together with the block 242a, to provide suspension for a block 243a located on the cage 204. After passing through the blocks 241, 243a and 242a, the rope passes to the block 242b. The end of the rope is rigidly secured to the tower cathead 245, thereby suspending, together with the block 242b, a block 243b located on the cage 204. The blocks 243a and 243b are coaxial and arranged parallel on opposite walls of the cage.
The proposed design provides both rope-block systems 219 and 235 with the same block and tackle capabilities, which are 4:1. This provides a reduced load on the actuators, reduces the mass and power consumption of the actuators to be utilized in the crane, and simplifies the control of these actuators. In addition, the actuators are placed close together on the platform, which increases their maintainability and serviceability, as well as reducing the weight of the tower and the boom and simplifying the folding and unfolding of the crane.
It should be understood that in other embodiments a different arrangement of the blocks and a different design of the rope-block system are possible, but the principle of the cage being suspended by means of the rope-block system from the tower cathead must be retained.
It should also be noted that in the example in
The process of lowering the boom of the tower crane vertically is as follows. The rotation of the shaft of the actuator 236 (winch) is carried out to unwind the rope 237, and the loosening of the tension of the rope 237 leads to the fact that the cage suspended on the blocks 243a and 243b is lowered downwards, and together with the cage the boom attached thereto is lowered.
It should be noted that the boom in the proposed crane is suspended from the cable-stayed system, which is held in place by the rope-block system 219. Lowering the cage causes not only the boom but also the cable-stayed system attached to the cage to be lowered. Accordingly, the tension of the rope 221 is loosened and the front end of the boom begins to fall and/or the boom begins to fold, which disrupts the geometry of the boom and the deviation from horizontal. To overcome these negative phenomena, the rope winding actuator 222 is rotated so that the boom remains strictly horizontal.
The tower crane with the boom in the lowered position, that is, the result of lowering the boom, is shown in
Raising the boom is a process that is the inverse of lowering the boom. In particular, the shaft of the actuator 236 (winch) is rotated to coil the rope 237, and an increase in the tension of the rope 237 causes the cage suspended from the blocks 243a and 243b to rise, and the boom attached thereto rises with the cage.
Lifting the cage causes the tension of the rope 221 to increase, and the front end of the boom begins to scuff upward. The design of the lateral projections and the side shelf of the cage prevents the boom from scuffing but does not eliminate the problem of over-tension of the rope 221 and the risk of its breakage or breakage of the rope-block system 219, so the actuator 222 is rotated to unwind the rope such that the boom remains strictly horizontal.
The above-described design features of the rope-block systems cause the actuators to rotate in opposite directions, that is, when the drum 222 is empty, the drum 236 is full, and vice versa. In addition, the drums have multiple layers of winding. Due to these factors, when the drums move at the same speed, the ropes are wound/unwound at different speeds, resulting in scattering and again in problems with different rope tensions. To compensate for these errors, it is proposed to use a tension sensor for each rope and synchronize the motion control of the actuators programmatically by monitoring the rope tension using sensors. The rope tension sensor is usually installed at the dead end of the rope, where measurements are most accurate and stable. In addition, it is possible to use encoders mounted on the drums and configured to track the length of the unwound portion of the rope and the winding/unwinding speed, and/or proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers.
In this way, it is possible to automatically move the boom vertically while maintaining a strictly horizontal position in the crane, which at the same time provides the ability to automatically fold both the tower and the boom.
Moreover, the mechanisms responsible for folding and unfolding the crane (primarily the rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system) are not single function mechanisms that would idle during the main crane operation, but instead are involved in the main crane operation to move the boom vertically, thereby increasing the utilization of the equipment and increasing the utility of the equipment.
In one embodiment, the tower conveyor may be mounted within the tower, that is, within the tower body or frame. For example, if the tower has a truss-shaped body, the conveyor is positioned in the space between the truss rods, or if the tower has a column-shaped body, the conveyor is positioned in the space between the column walls. In this case, a distinction is provided between the rope-block systems 219 and 235, which are mounted externally, and by passing the building block, which increases the reliability of the proposed crane. In another embodiment, the tower conveyor may be mounted outside the tower, that is, attached to it externally as an outrigger. In this embodiment, it is possible to use the tower with a reduced interior space, which makes it possible to apply measures to strengthen the tower and/or reduce its own dimensions (not including the conveyor). In this case, in one of the embodiments, the conveyor can be installed on the tower after transportation, just before its lifting (unfolding), which can solve the problem of transportation of the crane in conditions where the capacity of roads does not allow the transportation of the pre-assembled crane as a whole.
It should be noted that the horizontal conveyor of the boom occupies little space in the cross section of the boom, so the actuator 230 and rope 233 installed inside the rear boom section with optimally selected parameters and location do not interfere with the operation of the horizontal conveyor and the passage of building blocks along it, that is, the possibility of using the horizontal conveyor in the foldable boom is provided.
Control of the mechanisms, assemblies, elements, modules and units of the proposed device 110 may be realized as fully autonomous control, where all actions are performed by the device 110 automatically using a control module 50 (not shown in the drawings) executing appropriate control program algorithms, or partially as remote control with operator involvement—for example, when an abnormal situation needs to be resolved or when the device 110 has difficulty in making a decision.
To improve control efficiency and receive feedback, various elements of the proposed device 110 may be provided with sensors 51 (not shown in the drawings) that record certain parameters of the environment or of the actions being performed, such as a rope tension sensor, a wind speed sensor (anemometer), a wind direction sensor (rhumbometer), an air humidity sensor (hygrometer), an air temperature sensor (thermometer), a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a magnetometer, etc. For example, the building block installer 9 may comprise a camera, and by automatically analyzing an image from the camera, the control module 50 may determine the exact location of the building block and generate control signals for the actuators to move and install the building block accurately. Data from the sensors 51 may be taken into account when performing certain actions-rope tension (e.g., to synchronize the operation of the actuators of the rope-block systems for holding the cable-stayed system and moving the boom when the boom is moved vertically), wind speed (e.g., to correct the movements of the building block installer 9), air temperature and humidity (e.g., to estimate the curing rate of mortar and correct the composition of the mortar to be applied), etc.
The control module 50 comprises a processor 52 and a memory 53 storing programs and data for controlling the processes performed during the operation of the proposed device 110 for erecting structures. For example, the control module 50 may comprise and execute a boom movement program to control the actuators of the rope-block system for holding the cable-stayed system and moving the boom during the vertical movement of the boom, a crane folding program, a crane unfolding program, and a building block installation program that specifies the order and location of the building blocks to control the movement of the building blocks, the tower, the boom, the trolley, and the trolley conveyor body, as well as the actions of the building block installer to deliver and install the building block to a required point within a workspace.
Also, the control module 50 comprises means 54 for receiving signals from the sensors and the mechanisms and means 55 for transmitting signals for monitoring and transmitting control commands. The control module 50 may be centralized and collect all data at a single point or may be distributed, in which case some or all of the mechanisms may comprise their own control submodules.
If necessary, some or all of the control cables 42 may be replaced with wireless data communication means. In one non-limiting example, the control module 50 may be located on the platform at the base of the tower and comprise a wireless communication controller 56 (e.g., Wi-Fi) and an antenna 57 to wirelessly communicate data and control signals to the sensors and the actuators. This may make it possible to reduce the size of the cabling network, and to avoid the cost of protecting the control signals from interference from the power cables 41. In another example, the control module 50 may be located on the platform at the base of the tower, the control cable 42 may be routed from the control module 50 in the tower to the boom, and the wireless communication controller 56 and the antenna 57 may be located in the boom. This may allow keeping nearly all elements of the proposed device 110 within line of sight of the antenna, reducing a maximum required wireless range, and avoiding obstructions to a wireless signal, such as walls and slabs. In yet another embodiment, the control module 50 may be located on the platform at the base of the tower and comprise the wireless communication controller 56 and the antenna 57, and a relay station (repeater) 58 may be located on or in the boom in the area near the tower. This may allow for a stable monitoring and control network without the use of control cables.
Depending on the functions to be performed, the crane may be a traditional means for lifting and moving loads or, for example, a new means for delivering building blocks and/or mortar to a desired point within a workspace for automated or automatic erection of building structures using building blocks and/or 3D printing.
In the case of 3D printing, the crane may comprise a print head attached to and movable by the trolley and a system for delivering mortar to the print head, which is routed through the tower and the boom.
In the case of automatic stacking of building blocks/bricks, the tower crane may comprise a conveyor line (or conveyor line system) comprising a vertical tower conveyor connected to the tower and a vertical trolley conveyor connected to the trolley, and a building block installer connected to the trolley conveyor. The trolley may be horizontally movable along the boom, the trolley conveyor may be vertically movable relative to the trolley. The conveyor line is designed to receive the building block at the inlet of the tower conveyor at the base of the tower and move the building block to the outlet of the trolley conveyor at the building block installer. The building block installer may grip the building block at the outlet of the conveyor line and install it on a structure to be erected.
Since the proposed invention relates to the crane, in addition to the above-described properties of moving and installing the building blocks, it can actually retain the properties of the crane and perform the moving of other loads, such as slabs, by the traditional tower crane method. For this purpose, the trolley 7 with the trolley conveyor 14, the building block installer 9 and the mortar applicator 16 is moved to an extreme position near the tower. It is then possible to use a carriage 17 to carry loads using a hook (see example in
If necessary, guides and travel paths for the carriage 17 and the trolley 7 may be formed without mutual overlap so that they do not interfere with each other. The trolley 7 may be mounted on the side portion of the boom 6 and configured to move laterally from the boom 6, and the trolley conveyor body 8 may be attached to the frame of the trolley 7 and configured to move vertically laterally from the boom 6. This allows not only to separate the paths of movement of the trolley 7 and the carriage 17, but also to provide the possibility of simplified folding of the boom 6 without demounting the trolley 7 and the trolley conveyor body 8.
The load moving capabilities can also be used for moving prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) modules or other similar prefabricated structures that do not require additional treatment and allow to increase the speed of construction.
In addition, it has been indicated above that the proposed device 110 may comprise the mortar delivery system 30. The mortar delivery system 30 may be used not only to deliver and apply mortar to the building block, but also for other purposes, such as pouring floors or reinforcing belts or 3D printing. In these embodiments, appropriate equipment, such as a gun, print head, etc., should be located at the outlet of the mortar delivery system (i.e., at the bottom of the trolley conveyor body). Such equipment may be attached in addition to or instead of the existing equipment (i.e., the mortar applicator and the building block installer). The equipment may be replaced manually or automatically according to principles similar to the automatic tool replacement of an industrial robot (e.g., using a tool magazine of a milling robot). Thus, the proposed device 110 has the potential to increase automation in all phases of building construction, reducing the required personnel and equipment.
There are also possible scenarios in which variations of monolithic block construction can be realized. For example, the monolithic part of a structure (frame) is poured using the mortar delivery system, and then the required exterior and interior walls are laid out of building blocks using the building block installer. By moving the boom and the trolley conveyor body, it is possible to lay the building blocks “deep” in the floor when the frame is already poured and the boom must be above it.
As shown in
Thus, the present invention has a design that allows a wide variety of construction techniques to be embodied with increased efficiency and increased automation for the erection of both small and relatively large building forms and structures (including multi-story buildings) without requiring a large amount of additional equipment.
The following is a specific non-limiting example of the design of the building construction system according to the present invention.
In this example, the system 100 for erecting structures comprises the truck unloading system 120 and the tower crane 110. The truck unloading system 120 is in the form of a gantry robot 18.
The tower crane 110 comprises the support 201, the platform 202 with the tower 203, the cage 204 mounted on the tower 203, the boom 205 coupled to the cage 204 and held by the cable-stayed system 206 coupled to the cage 204. The boom 205 includes front and rear sections hingedly connected to each other and suspended from cable stays. In addition, the crane 110 comprises the rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system, the rope-block system 235 for moving the boom, and the rope-block system 260 for folding the boom. Each rope-block system comprises an actuator, a rope, and blocks.
The tower crane 110 also comprises the trolley 207 mounted on the side of the boom 205 with the ability to horizontally move along the boom 205, and the trolley conveyor body attached to the trolley 207 with the ability to vertically move relative to the trolley 207.
The tower 203 is implemented as a column of rectangular cross-section. The boom 205 and the trolley conveyor body also have a rectangular cross-section. The tower 203, the boom 205 and the trolley conveyor body comprise the longitudinally spaced rectangular windows 12. The windows 12 are located on the side of the tower facing the boom, the side of the boom facing the trolley conveyor, and the side of the trolley conveyor body facing the boom.
The tower crane 110 also comprises the conveyor line system 20 comprising the vertical tower conveyor 10 mounted within the tower, the horizontal boom conveyor 11 mounted within the boom, and the vertical trolley conveyor 14 mounted within the trolley conveyor body.
The tower crane 110 also comprises the solution delivery system comprising flexible pipelines, and the cabling network comprising power and control cables. The cables and conduits are arranged in flexible conduits along the conveyor line system.
The tower crane 110 also comprises a control module mounted in the area of the base of the tower 203, and sensors mounted on elements of the tower crane 110, including rope tension sensors.
The tower crane 110 also comprises the mortar applicator 16 and the building block installer 9 attached to the trolley conveyor body.
The tower crane 110 is delivered in folded form (
A truck 19 with building blocks is driven into the truck unloading system 120. The gantry robot 18 removes the building blocks from the truck 19 and moves them to the inlet of the conveyor line system 20 at the base of the tower.
To ensure that the building block is delivered to a desired point in the workspace, the tower performs the necessary rotation on the pivoting platform, the boom, when moved along the tower to a desired height by the rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system and the rope-block system 235 for moving the boom, takes a position where the nearest top window 12 on the tower is aligned with the window at the end of the boom, the trolley is moved along the boom and the trolley conveyor body is moved relative to the trolley so as to align the window 12 on the boom, which is closest to the desired point, and the window 12 on the trolley conveyor body.
The conveyor line system 20 moves the building block to the outlet at the building block installer 9. In particular, the vertical tower conveyor 10, having received the building block at the inlet at the base of the tower, moves the building block up to the height at which the boom is located; then, using the L-shaped gripper 15, the building block is moved through the window 12 on the tower into the interior of the boom to the horizontal boom conveyor 11 of the boom; the boom conveyor 11 moves the building block up to the trolley level; then the L-shaped gripper 15 moves the building block through the window 12 on the boom and the window 12 on the trolley conveyor body to the trolley conveyor 14; the trolley conveyor 14 moves the building block to the outlet.
The mortar applicator 16 applies mortar received through the mortar delivery system 30 to the building block before it is installed on the structure to be erected.
The building block installer 9 grips the building block and then install the mortar-applied building block in a desired position with a desired orientation on the structure to be erected. Before doing so, if necessary, the tower, the boom, the trolley and the trolley conveyor body may perform additional movements to enable the building block installer 9 to install the building block in the desired position.
While the application of mortar and installation of one building block are in progress, the conveyors may work off to move other building blocks.
Floor slabs and other required loads are moved by the operator-controlled carriage 17 and the control module. If necessary, a print head may be used instead of or in addition to the building block installer to perform 3D printing.
When the building structure has been erected (e.g., a building has been built), the crane is cleaned and then folded as follows: the boom is automatically folded under the supervision of the operator, the counterweight is removed from the platform, the tower is automatically folded under the supervision of the operator. After that, the crane in the folded condition is ready for transportation.
Thus, the automatically folding and unfolding tower crane with the automatic vertical movement of the boom is provided. The accelerated automatic folding and unfolding of the crane is provided. In the folded condition, the crane is compact and is suitable for transportation by regular-sized cargo vehicles.
The mechanisms responsible for folding and unfolding the crane are not single function mechanisms that would idle during the main crane operation, but instead are involved in the main crane operation to move the boom vertically, which increases the utilization of the equipment and increases the feasibility of its application. In addition, these mechanisms are sized and positioned in such a way that they do not interfere with the operation of the conveyors and the passage of building blocks through them. The proposed design provides high block and tackle capabilities of the rope-block systems 219 and 235, which provides a reduction in the load on the actuators, a reduction in the mass and power consumption of the actuators to be used in the crane, and a simplification of the control of these actuators. In addition, the actuators are arranged close together on the platform, which increases maintainability and serviceability, as well as reducing the weight of the tower and the boom and simplifying the folding and unfolding of the crane.
During the vertical movement of the boom, the tower passes through the process opening 212b of the cable-stayed system, that is, the proposed design of the cable-stayed system does not interfere with the movement of the boom. When the crane is folded and unfolded, the cable-stayed system wraps around the tower cathead and the cage with the help of the spacers 216, the hinged rack 223 and the process opening 212d, i.e. it does not hinder these processes either. In the folded condition, the cable-stayed system is located mostly between the boom sections and does not protrude beyond the folded boom and tower, so that the design remains compact and the ease of transportation is increased.
In combination with the wide possibilities of using different construction technologies, such as automatic laying of building blocks or 3D printing, the proposed crane provides simultaneously an increased level of automation, accelerated construction and a reduction in the amount of equipment required for construction, which has been previously unavailable in the prior art.
In the following, the methods according to the present invention will be described briefly. A particular case is a method for constructing buildings.
It is to be understood that these methods correspond to the above-described functions performed by each of the elements of the proposed system 100 and the device 110, and if any information is not disclosed with respect to the method, but is disclosed with respect to the system and the device, and vice versa, it is not intended to imply that the function or step cannot be performed in the system, the device or the method, but is done only to avoid cluttering the description by repetition of details.
A method for erecting structures using building blocks (a particular case of this method is a method for constructing buildings) comprises the step of feeding a building block in the base area of a tower of a tower crane into a vertical tower conveyor mounted inside the tower. Then, the building block is moved vertically with the tower conveyor, transferred from the tower conveyor to a horizontal boom conveyor installed inside a boom of the tower crane, through windows made in the tower and the boom. Further, the building block is moved horizontally with the boom conveyor, transferred from the boom conveyor to a vertical trolley conveyor mounted inside a trolley conveyor body attached to a trolley mounted on the boom, through windows made in the boom and the trolley conveyor body. Next, the building block is moved vertically downwardly by the trolley conveyor, whereupon the building block is gripped from the trolley conveyor and is installed on a structure to be erected by means of a building block installer attached to the trolley conveyor body. Optionally, before installation, mortar is applied to the building block using a mortar applicator attached to the trolley conveyor body.
A method for vertically moving the boom may comprise the step of raising the boom vertically, wherein the actuator 236 of the rope-block system 235 for moving the boom is controlled by the control module such that it increases the tension of the rope 237 of the rope-block system 235 for moving the boom to raise vertically the cage suspended from the tower cathead together with the boom, and the actuator 222 of the rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system is controlled by the control module such that it decreases the tension of the rope 221 of the rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system to hold the boom in a horizontal position by correcting the position of the front end of the boom by lowering it.
In addition, the method for vertically moving the boom may comprise the step of lowering the boom vertically, wherein the actuator 236 of the rope-block system 235 for moving the boom is controlled by the control module such that it reduces the tension of the rope 237 of the rope-block system 235 for moving the boom to lower vertically the cage suspended from the tower cathead together with the boom, and the actuator 222 of the rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system is controlled by the control module such that it increases the tension of the rope 221 of the rope-block system 219 for holding the cable-stayed system to hold the boom in a horizontal position by correcting the position of the front end of the boom by raising it.
The devices, systems and process according to the present invention can be used for highly automated and even fully automated construction of buildings. It is also possible to use the present invention in the construction of other suitable building structures, if required.
It is to be understood that although terms such as “first”, “second”, “third” and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, components, areas, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, areas, layers and/or sections are not to be limited to these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element, component, area, layer or section from another element, component, area, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, area, layer or section may be referred to as a second element, component, area, layer or section without departing from the scope of the present invention. In the present description, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the respective listed items. Elements mentioned in the singular do not exclude a plurality of such elements, unless otherwise separately indicated.
The functionality of an element recited in the description or claims as a single element may be realized in practice through multiple components of the device, and conversely, the functionality of elements recited in the description or claims as multiple individual elements may be realized in practice through a single component.
Although the exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in detail in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the present invention, and that the present invention is not intended to be limited to the particular arrangements and designs shown and described above. Various other modifications and embodiments of the invention, not departing from the essence and scope of the present invention, may be apparent to a person skilled in the art on the basis of the information set forth in the description and prior art knowledge.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023115942 | Jun 2023 | RU | national |
| 2023129857 | Nov 2023 | RU | national |
