The invention relates to a heavy-duty transport vehicle for containers, in particular ISO containers, which is freely movable on floors, and rail-bound, and has a loading surface on which a first container can be placed.
The invention also relates to a method for loading such a heavy-duty transport vehicle.
A typical field of application of such heavy-duty transport vehicle is handling installations for containers, in particular standardised ISO containers, and in this case in particular the transport of containers within container terminals at seaports or inland ports as well as in container terminals for combined traffic between road and rail.
In this connection, ISO containers are understood to be standardised large-capacity containers or sea freight containers comprising standardised picking-up points or corner fittings for load picking-up means, which are used in international goods traffic. The most widely used are ISO containers having a width of 8 foot and a length of 20, 40 or 45 foot.
A corresponding heavy-duty transport vehicle can transport a payload of at least 20 t. A 40 foot long ISO container can weigh up to 35 tin the laden state. A heavy-duty transport vehicle which travels without a load or transports an empty ISO container is also included in this definition, insofar as this vehicle is able to transport a payload of at least 20 t.
Such heavy-duty transport vehicles typically have pneumatic rubber tyres and are thereby floor-bound but not rail-bound and thus are freely movable. Accordingly, the heavy-duty transport vehicles concerned in the present case are to be differentiated from rail vehicles and in particular from freight cars. Furthermore, the heavy-duty transport vehicles can be operated manually by a driver travelling in a driver's cab, semi-automatically or, in the case of so-called Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) which do not have a driver's cab, can be operated fully automatically and therefore without a driver. The drive of these heavy-duty transport vehicles is typically diesel-electric, diesel-hydraulic or fully electric.
Heavy-duty transport vehicles which correspond to one of the previously described types are known e.g. from German laid-open document DE 10 2009 025 051 A1.
Furthermore, European patent application EP 323 394 A1 discloses a transport vehicle, by means of which a plurality of empty containers can be transported at the same time. For this purpose, the containers which are positioned next to one another and/or on top of one another beforehand are connected, prior to being transported, with their corner fittings by means of so-called twistlocks to form a transport unit and subsequently are placed on a loading surface of the transport vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,548 A discloses a freight car which is movable on rails and on whose loading surface a first container can be placed. The freight car comprises a frame-like support structure which extends, next to the loading surface or storage surface for the first container, vertically upwards away from the loading surface and on which a second container can be placed above the first container. The support structure has, in the region of its corners, carrying elements by means of which the second container can be picked up and carried with its container corners.
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved heavy-duty transport vehicle for containers, in particular ISO containers, having increased transport capacity, and to provide a method for loading same.
A heavy-duty transport vehicle for containers, in particular ISO containers, which is freely movable on floors and not rail-bound and has a loading surface on which a first container can be placed is improved by virtue of the fact that a second container can be placed on the first container and the heavy-duty transport vehicle has at least one guide for guiding the second container, in particular the bottom corner fittings thereof, when it is placed on the first container, in particular on the top corner fittings thereof. The guide advantageously ensures that when the second container is placed on the lower first container the bottom corner fittings of the upper second container are positioned simply and rapidly on the corresponding top corner fittings of the lower first container and are aligned congruently with one another. The guide serves at the same time to secure the placed upper second container during transport journeys. In particular, the corner fittings arranged one on top of the other are prevented in this case from slipping exclusively by means of the guide, so that the corner fittings do not require any additional connection, e.g. by means of twistlocks. Therefore, the transport volume of the heavy-duty transport vehicle can be increased whilst maintaining the same travel time and adhering to the same travel route.
In a structurally simple manner, provision is made that the guide can be moved between a loading position and a release position by means of a positioning apparatus.
Precise guidance and securing during placement or a secure unloading procedure of the second container is achieved in a simple manner by virtue of the fact that in the loading position the guide lies against the first container, preferably against a top corner fitting of the first container, and in the release position the guide is arranged spaced apart from the first container.
Dimensional tolerances and loading inaccuracies of the first container can be advantageously compensated for by virtue of the fact that the guide is mounted on at least one positioning arm of the positioning apparatus, said positioning arm being mounted on the heavy-duty transport vehicle so as to be movable in a translatory or rotatory manner, preferably in a longitudinal direction of the heavy-duty transport vehicle, between the loading position and the release position.
The positioning apparatus moves in a simple manner by virtue of the fact that the positioning apparatus has a positioning drive by means of which the positioning apparatus, in particular the positioning arm, can be moved.
In a structurally simple manner, provision is made that the positioning drive is designed as a linear drive and preferably comprises a belt drive, chain drive, rack and pinion drive or a lifting cylinder, in particular an electric cylinder or hydraulic cylinder, arranged underneath the loading surface.
The containers are guided and secured in a reliable and structurally simple manner by virtue of the fact that the guide has a first guide surface and a second guide surface, in the loading position the first guide surface lies against a head side of the first container and/or the second guide surface lies against a longitudinal side of the first container, preferably against a top corner fitting of the first container.
Flexible use in relation to different container heights is advantageously achieved by virtue of the fact that in the loading position the first guide surface and the second guide surface extend over a height at which the top corner fittings of any container placed on the loading surface, in particular an ISO container with a container height of 8 foot to 9 foot, 6 inches, are arranged and preferably in the loading position the first guide surface is oriented in parallel in relation to the head side and the second guide surface is oriented in parallel in relation to the longitudinal side.
By virtue of the fact that adjoining above the first guide surface and above the second guide surface is a respective insertion sleeve which in the loading position extends in each case obliquely upwards and in a manner directed away from the container, a container oscillating to a greater extent during lowering can be grasped and captured by the guides, in particular the insertion surfaces. This simplifies and speeds up the loading procedure.
In a structurally simple manner, provision is also made that each guide is mounted in a rotatable manner, in particular oscillating about an axis of oscillation oriented transversely, preferably horizontally, with respect to a longitudinal direction of the heavy-duty transport vehicle, or in a rotationally fixed manner on the at least one positioning arm. In particular, in the case of a rotationally movable positioning arm and guides mounted in an articulated manner about the axis of oscillation, the compensation of dimensional tolerances and loading inaccuracies can be improved further by reason of the guides which can be moved in a circular path from the release position to the loading position.
In an advantageous manner, the reliability can be increased further by virtue of the fact that the guide is mounted in a rotatable manner such that the guide surfaces are oriented vertically in each position of the guide, in particular in each position of the guide deviating from the loading position.
In a structurally simple manner, the reliability is further increased by virtue of the fact that the guide has two stops in the region of the axis of oscillation, in order to limit oscillation of the guide about the axis of oscillation.
Particularly reliable guidance and securing for transport journeys is achieved by virtue of the fact that two guides are arranged at a first end and/or two guides are arranged at a second end of the heavy-duty transport vehicle such that in the loading position in each case one of the guides lies at the first end and/or at the second end against each of the top corner fittings of the first container.
In a structurally simple manner, provision is made that the two guides are each connected to one another at the first end and/or the two guides are each connected to one another at the second end, preferably mounted on a transverse beam, and can be moved in a synchronised manner by means of the at least one positioning arm.
As an alternative, provision is made in a structurally simple manner that each guide is rotatably mounted on two positioning arms which are coupled to one another in the manner of a parallelogram guide and are mounted so as to be movable in a synchronised manner via the positioning drive.
In an advantageous manner, provision is made that the heavy-duty transport vehicle is designed as an automated guided vehicle.
A method for loading a corresponding heavy-duty transport vehicle, wherein in a first loading step the first container is placed on the loading surface, is improved by virtue of the fact that during the first loading step each guide is arranged in the release position and after the first container has been placed each guide is moved to the loading position. As a result, the lower first container is additionally secured even if a second container is not placed on the first container.
Particularly secure and precise loading of the heavy-duty transport vehicle for so-called double-stack transportation is achieved by virtue of the fact that in a second loading step the second container is placed on the first container and in this case the second container, in particular the bottom corner fittings thereof, is guided via at least one guide onto the first container, in particular onto the top corner fittings thereof. With regard to the method, the advantages already set forth in relation to the heavy-duty transport vehicle are likewise achieved.
An exemplified embodiment of the invention is explained in greater detail with the aid of the following description of the drawings.
Moreover, the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1 comprises a travel drive which consists substantially of a front electric motor, a front transfer gear-box, a rear electric motor and a rear transfer gear-box. The front electric motor, as seen in the longitudinal direction L of the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1, is attached centrally and in the region of the front axle 3a underneath the vehicle frame 2. The rear electric motor, as seen in the longitudinal direction L of the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1, is attached centrally and in the region of the rear axle 3b underneath the vehicle frame 2. The front electric motor drives the two front wheels 4a via the front transfer gear-box and the rear electric motor drives the two rear wheels 4b via the rear transfer gear-box. Therefore, the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1 has an all-wheel drive system. The travel drive can be of a diesel-electric design or a fully electric design comprising a battery, in particular a lead battery.
The vehicle frame 2 supports a planar loading surface 2a for placing at least one container 5 which is to be transported. However, the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1 is designed in such a manner that a double stack of 40 or 45 foot long containers 5 or in principle even one or two double stacks of 20 foot long containers 5 can be transported, wherein the containers 5 can each be loaded to the maximum extent. It is also fundamentally possible to form a stack comprising two lower 20 foot long containers 5, which are placed one behind the other directly on the loading surface 2a, and one 45 foot long container 5 which is placed thereon. Accordingly, the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1 is designed for a maximum payload of approximately 70 t.
The heavy-duty transport vehicle 1 illustrated in
A plurality of guide elements 2b which are defined as position adapters are arranged on the loading surface 2a, in order to define, on the loading surface 2a, a substantially rectangular storage surface 2c for the lower first container(s) 5. In this case, the guide elements 2b are arranged circumferentially in the manner of a wall in an edge region of the loading surface 2a and are arranged spaced apart from one another. Starting from their attachment to the loading surface 2a, all of the guide elements 2b extend obliquely upwards and outwards. By virtue of this funnel-like arrangement, the guide elements 2b serve as a guide or stop when a container 5 is placed on the loading surface 2a. A container 5 which, whilst being lowered by a crane, oscillates in a manner suspended from the load picking-up means thereof, e.g. in the form of a so-called spreader, and therefore must be oriented with respect to the storage surface 2c, stops in particular with its bottom corner fittings 5a initially against the guide elements 2b, is oriented therewith and is guided onto the storage surface 2c as it is lowered further. Moreover, the guide elements 2b serve to secure containers 5 placed directly on the loading surface 2a to prevent them from slipping transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction L. Moreover, in order to secure containers 5 on the loading surface 2a, securing elements 2d (see
The heavy-duty transport vehicle 1 has two guides 6 in the region of its first end 1b as seen in the longitudinal direction L, in order to guide in particular the bottom corner fittings 5a of the upper second container 5, as said second container is being placed, onto the top corner fittings 5a of the lower first container 5. The two guides 6 can be moved together between a loading position (see
In a first loading step, a first container 5 is placed onto the vacant loading surface 2a of the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1, wherein the positioning apparatus 7 and the guides 6 are located in the release position. In the release position, the guides 6 do not lie against the first container 5 but instead are arranged at least horizontally spaced apart therefrom. Irrespective of whether during the course of the procedure a second container 5 is set down on the first container 5 which is already loaded onto the loading surface 2a, or a transport journey is performed only with the first container 5, the guides 6 are moved from the release position to the loading position by the positioning apparatus 7 after the first container 5 has been placed. In the loading position which is illustrated in
In order, during unloading of the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1, to be able to raise and move the upper second container 5 away from the lower first 5 and to be able to raise and move the first container 5 itself away, the guides 6 are moved from the loading position back to the release position by the positioning apparatus 7.
The guides 6 form, for the second container 5 which is to be placed and is also 40 foot long—similar to the guide elements 2b for the lower first container 5—a type of stop which, as the second container 5 suspended from a spreader is lowered, limits the oscillating movements thereof in horizontal directions, in particular in the longitudinal direction L and transversely thereto. For this purpose, the guides 6 are designed as a type of angle profile-shaped guide shoes consisting in each case of a first guide block having a first guide surface 6a and of a second guide block having a second guide surface 6b. In the loading position, each guide 6 lies with the first guide surface 6a on a head side 5b of the lower first container 5 against an upper corner fitting 5a, wherein the first guide surface 6a extends in parallel with the head side 5b. The second guide surface 6b lies on a longitudinal side 5c of the lower first container 5 against the upper corner fitting 5a of the first container 5 and extends in parallel in relation to the longitudinal side 5c. By reason of the loading inaccuracies of the first container 5 and dimensional tolerances of the containers 5, it is possible that in the loading position only one guide or none of the guides 6 lies in position with the second guide surface 6b.
In order to thread the second container 5, which oscillates as it is lowered onto the first container 5, more simply into the region of the guide surfaces 6a, 6b which are vertical in the loading state, an insertion surface 6c adjoins in each case above the first guide surface 6a and above the second guide surface 6b. The insertion surfaces 6c extend in the loading position in each case obliquely upwards and in a manner directed away from the container 5, so that—similar to the guide elements 2b—a funnel-like arrangement of the insertion surfaces 6c is produced. The guides 6 together with their guide surfaces 6a, 6b and insertion surfaces 6c serve accordingly as a positioning aid, in order to position the second container 5, as it is being lowered, with its bottom corner fittings 5a in a precise manner on the top corner fittings 5a of the first container 5.
The two guides 6 are moved at the first end 1b in a synchronised manner between the loading position and the release position by means of the positioning apparatus 7. For this purpose, the two guides 6 are connected to one another by means of a horizontal transverse beam 7c, so that a type of one-piece guide is produced for the corner fittings 5a arranged at the first end 1b. At opposite ends of the transverse beam 7c, in each case one of the guides 6 is mounted in such a manner as to oscillate about an axis of oscillation P (see also
In order to move the guides 6 between the loading position and the release position, the guides 6 are mounted on two positioning arms 7a of the positioning apparatus 7. By virtue of the fact that the positioning arms 7a are each mounted rotatably on the first end 1b, preferably on the vehicle frame 2 in the region of the loading surface 2a, such that the positioning arms 7a can be moved in a rotatory manner about a swivel axis S oriented transversely and horizontally with respect to the longitudinal direction L of the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1, each positioning arm 7a forms a lever system. Starting from the swivel axis S, each positioning arm 7a accordingly has a first limb 7d forming the upper first lever of the lever system and a second limb 7e forming the lower second lever of the lever system. The first limb 7d forms with the second limb 7e an angle of less than 180 degrees, preferably approximately 150 to 170 degrees, particularly preferably approximately 160 degrees. The positioning arms 7a are mounted in particular spaced apart from one another in parallel, wherein the positioning arms 7a are connected to the transverse beam 7c at upper ends of the first limbs 7d above the vehicle frame 2. Below the vehicle frame 2, the positioning arms 7a are connected to a positioning drive 7b (see also
A further side view of the first end 1b of the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1 shown in
After the first container 5 of size G2 is guided and placed by the guide elements 2b onto the loading surface 2a or storage surface 2c in the first loading step, the preparation for the second loading step takes place, in that the guides 6 are moved to the loading position by the positioning apparatus 7 by means of extension of the lifting cylinders 7f of the positioning drive 7b and associated swivelling of the positioning arms 7a about the swivel axis S. In the second loading step, the second container 5 which is likewise 40 foot long is then placed on the first container 5 and in this case the second container 5 is guided onto the first container 5 via the guides 6. Even after the second container 5 has been already been placed, as shown in
In the release position shown in
As can be seen in
The guides 6 can be arranged on the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1 also in the region of its longitudinal sides 1a and can be moved transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction L between the loading position and the release position. Moreover, each guide 6 can be provided with a dedicated positioning apparatus 7, by means of which each guide 6 can be moved independently of the others between the loading position and the release position.
It is also fundamentally feasible to provide merely one guide 6 on the end side at one of the ends 1b and 1c which, with corresponding dimensioning, permits orientation of at least one head side 5b and one longitudinal side 5c of the second container 5, in order to guide the second container 5 during placement with the required level of accuracy onto the first container 5 and to secure it thereon. However, all four corner fittings 5a of the upper second container 5 are preferably guided and secured, for which reason one or two correspondingly dimensioned guides 6 are provided in each case at both ends 1a and 1b.
In addition, in order to be able to form and transport at least one double stack of 20 foot long containers 5, at least one guide 6 and one positioning apparatus 7 are also to be provided in the centre of the heavy-duty transport vehicle 1 and can be moved in a corresponding manner between a loading position and a release position. In the case of double stacks, the guide 6 and the positioning apparatus 7 are arranged accordingly between the two lower first containers 5, in order to be able to guide and secure the inner corner fittings 5a of the two upper second containers 5.
The heavy-duty transport vehicle 1 can also be operated manually or semi-automatically.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2014 109 700.9 | Jul 2014 | DE | national |
The present application claims the priority benefits of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2015/065386, filed Jul. 6, 2015, and claims benefit of DE 102014109700.9, filed on Jul. 10, 2014.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2015/065386 | 7/6/2015 | WO | 00 |