Patent Application
20160152451
This invention relates to cranes and particularly to cranes located on the deck of a vessel. In particular the present invention relates to knuckle boom cranes and elements thereof.
There are numerous types of cranes for on-ship/deck operation such as rotary jib cranes with or without telescopic boom, rotary boom cranes and knuckle boom cranes.
The present invention discloses a knuckle boom crane. Traditional knuckle boom cranes consist of a pedestal for interface with the deck, slewing bearings which provides rotation to a tower, the tower is engaged with a first main boom which is pivotally hinged to the tower, whilst the other end of the main boom is pivotally connected to the knuckle boom (
The knuckle boom design is well suited for use on ship as it provides good control of the payload as the main boom and the knuckle boom as well as the wire can be operated simultaneously. This means that the booms can be lowered so as to reduce the pendulum length of the hook and thereby reduce pendulum movements of the payload.
Knuckle boom cranes suffers from some drawbacks the wire will have to travel over a numbers of sheaves which makes threading of the wire difficult, it means that there are several service points on the top of the booms which are not easily accessed as shown in a crane of the prior art in
Knuckle boom cranes are usually hydraulic driven cranes, and the interface between the ship and the crane includes several hydraulic high pressure hoses in addition to this if the crane includes an operators cabin the interface will include electric power for feeding the control system in the operators' cabin.
It shall also be mentioned that heave compensation is important for on-ship operation, and that knuckle boom cranes are particularly suited for heave compensation.
It is an object according to the present invention to provide a knuckle boom crane that does not suffer from the disadvantages above, where the crane shall be adapted for applications such as:
According to the present invention it is provided a system and elements that does not suffer from the drawbacks indicated above. It is disclosed an offshore crane, ready to be installed on a vessel.
Special attention has been given to ease access for service and maintenance. The crane is of knuckle boom design which gives the operator the opportunity to place the load very precisely down in nearly any position within the area of the cranes working radius. The load can be transferred either by operating the winch or the booms or a combination of both.
The crane structural system consists of pedestal, tower, machine house, operator's cabin and booms were the tower is the rotating part of the crane mounted on a slewing bearing on top of the pedestal.
The main winch is equipped with active heave compensation and it has all required functionality for safe and efficient lifting operations.
Normal operation of the crane is performed from an operator chair located in the crane cabin. Emergency operation is performed through an emergency panel or by use of valve levers located in the crane. The crane has one hydraulic power unit supplying all the consumers with oil. Electric power is fed from the vessel.
According to one embodiment the knuckle boom crane at least comprises:
The knuckle boom crane may also comprise an operator cabin fixed to the tower, and/or a machine house.
The tower of the knuckle boom crane can be engaged with the pedestal via a slew bearing. In one embodiment the operator cabin is mounted on vibration dampers on a cabin platform.
The knuckle boom crane may according to one embodiment be provided with an electro operated winch, with at least one electric motor and at least one hydraulic motor. The winch can be rotatably arranged between two support plates which extend out from an upper side of the tower opposite of the main boom.
The main boom can be boomerang shaped and where the concave side of the boom faces downward. Vertical movements of the main boom and the knuckle boom is provided by at least two cylinders, where the at least two cylinders are one of: hydraulic cylinder, electro hydraulic cylinder or electric cylinder.
The wire from the winch can be routed through the aperture and directly to the at least one sheave.
According to one aspect of the invention it is provided a main boom adapted for operation with a knuckle boom crane, where the main boom is concave-convex and is provided with an aperture proximate to one end of the main boom, where the aperture is extended with its opening stretching from the convex side of the boom to the concave side of the boom.
The main boom can be provided with means for pivotally engagement with a knuckle boom at one end and with a crane tower at the other end. Moreover the main boom can be provided with means for engagement with at least one cylinder. Further the main boom can be provided with two means for engagement with two cylinders, where the means are adapted for pivotal engagement.
A according to an aspect of the invention it is provided a wire winch adapted for operation with a knuckle boom crane, where the winch at least comprises:
The control system can be configured to provide automatic heave compensation signals to the frequency controller and the hydraulic power unit so as to provide for an active heave compensated winch.
Other features will be apparent from the appending claims.
In order to make the invention more readily understandable, the discussion that follows will refer to the accompanying drawings, in which
The present invention relates to knuckle boom deck cranes and elements of knuckle boom cranes. In the following discussion it will be adhered to the accompanying drawings; however the drawings are not necessarily to scale nor are all features shown in the drawings mandatory, also some of the features may be excluded. The drawings are meant to ease understanding of the present invention.
In the following discussion the following word may be used interchangeably; sheaves and pulleys, operators house, operators cabin, crane cabin, crane house; boom cylinders and hydraulic cylinders.
The knuckle boom crane according to the present invention is of a rotary type, with slewing bearing between the pedestal and the tower 2.
The crane system basically consists of the following main components:
Crane Structure
Main Winch
Hydraulic Power Unit (HPU)
Accumulator Unit
Operator Cabin
The knuckle boom crane consists of a crane house/tower 2 which is bolted via a slew bearing to a pedestal. The pedestal is the interface to the deck of a ship. The knuckle boom crane according to the present invention can be of a free standing type, that is the interface between the pedestal and the deck consists of fixing means such as bolts for fixing the pedestal to the deck, moreover there is an electric interface between the pedestal and the ship. The ship delivers electric power supply to the crane. According to one embodiment of the invention the operation of the crane is electro hydraulic (hybrid system) and the hydraulic system is independent of any external to the crane hydraulic system i.e. being a self contained system. This provides for a neat and simple interface between the crane and the deck to which the crane is mounted. At least one electric pump builds up the pressure for the hydraulic system; the hydraulic system also includes a reservoir for the hydraulic fluid.
The idea of an electro hydraulic system is that the “heavy work” is carried out by the hydraulics whilst acceleration and fine movements are controlled and carried out by electric motors/actuators. Further description of the electro hydraulic system, the hydraulic system, the electric system and control thereof is described below.
The tower 2 is in accordance with one embodiment of the invention a tubular shaped member which is at its lower end arranged vertically on the pedestal. At its upper end an operator cabin 4 is fixed to the tower 2. A machine house 3 is arranged adjacent to the operator cabin 4. According to a first embodiment of the invention a winch 5 is rotatably arranged between two support plates 22 which extend out from an upper side of the tower 2 opposite of a main boom 14. The winch 5 is of an electro hydraulic type, thus heave compensation and movements with high acceleration are carried out by the electric motor internal of the winch whereas the movements with low acceleration are controlled by hydraulic motors.
In a second embodiment the winch is arranged external to the crane and a sheave is arranged where the winch 5 is arranged in the first embodiment of the invention described above.
The main boom 14 is at a first end pivotally connected to two support plates 21 with eyes for an axle 18. At its second end the main boom 14 is pivotally connected with a first end of a knuckle boom/arm 12. The second end of the knuckle boom is provided with at least one sheave 10. The sheave is configured to rotate around an axis 20. The main boom 14 is concave-convex shaped and the concave side of the boom 14 is facing downward with respect to a horizontal plane while the convex side of the crane is the opposite side of the boom 14. Proximate to its first end the boom 14 is provided with an aperture 7. The concave-convex shape together with the aperture 7 makes it possible to design the knuckle boom crane with only one sheave 10 which really facilitates threading of the wire 6. The wire is fed from the winch 5 or in the second alternative embodiment from a winch via a sheave arranged where the winch of the first embodiment is arranged through the aperture 7 and directly to the at least one sheave 10.
Both booms 12, 14 are controlled with hydraulic cylinders 8, 9. This way, movements of payload can be limited as the boom tip; the second end of the knuckle boom 12 can be kept at a limited height above deck. This feature makes the crane safe and efficient.
Advantages of the concave-convex knuckle boom design are among others:
The crane control system is based on an Industrial Controller (IC), control cabinets and sensors. The IC reads physical parameters such as boom angles, wire length on winch and crane load. The parameters are provided by sensors.
Crane functions are controlled by joysticks, switches and an operator panel inside the cabin 4. The joysticks control the winch 5, slew and booms 12, 14. The response on joystick movement can be tuned. Interfaces between operator controls, sensors and actuators are based upon a distributed I/O system communicating via Bus.
All sensor signals are routed to the industrial controller. Based on these signals the IC controls the crane, evaluates safety measures, activates alarms and presents necessary information on an operator display in the cabin 4.
The actual working radius and allowable safe working load (SWL) are calculated in the control system, these values are presented in the operator display. The operator is naturally responsible for safe operation of the crane, but the calculated values are also used as a safety measure to reduce the boom speeds in the end-positions for the boom cylinders 8, 9.
The load measurement is performed by a load cell bolt, mounted in the wire sheave 10 at the second end of the knuckle boom. The load cell amplifier gives an analogue input signal to the IC.
On the HPU several sensors/transmitters are installed, feedback on temperature, pressure from each pump and filter indication is available for the operator at all times. For instance are high oil temperature alarms and start/stop of oil coolers controlled by the IC-based on the input from the temperature transmitter on the HPU.
Encoders control the hook stop function of the winches 5. The encoder signals are input to the IC, which counts pulses from the sensors and also detect the direction of the motion. Via the operator display it is possible to reset the counting to zero and set span for the motion. The display will continuously show the actual wire paid out on the winch (from hook stop upper position).
The Motion Reference Unit, MRU, measures the vessels movements (roll, pitch, heave and heave acceleration). Based on the MRU signals and the crane position related to the vessel, the IC calculates the actual movement of the boom tip/second end of knuckle boom 12. During active heave compensation the MRU generates a reference/feedback signal to the control system in order to compensate for the boom tip movement.
Depending on the task to be performed, the operator can select the required system mode. Please note that the control system, under certain conditions, automatically will select one of the below modes.
The main winch 5 can change between the modes shown in the figure below. Arrows indicate possible transitions.
The operator's cabin 4 is mounted on vibration dampers on the cabin platform. The cabin is fitted with sufficient windows to give the operator an adequate view of the area of operation including hook and hook position.
The windows can be composed of laminated glass. The front window is designed to maximize the area of visibility.
Front and roof window may be provided with wipers and washers. The top window can be supplied with safety bars.
In accordance to one embodiment the cabin 4 may comprice:
The operational chair is according to one embodiment equipped with a joystick on each armrest, in addition there can be display with graphical user interface were system components can be selected. Each main component can be provided with its own page on the GUI were required information is available. Obviously other design with joysticks arranged on a pad with a gooseneck which facilitates movement of the pad is an alternative design. The GUI is microprocessor controlled hence the GUI scales well and it might be upgraded and reprogrammed. In one embodiment the armrest controls on the operators chair are:
Right Joystick
Left Joystick
All joysticks may have two axes with spring return to zero. The operational speed is proportional to the handle movement but it is limited by the control system to give approximately constant power.
The operator display provides interaction between the operator and the control system in order to assure safe operation of the crane in all modes. From the GUI, different systems components can be selected. These system components have a common GUI platform and the alternative window based screen images are of similar design.
Main Features:
An operator panel can be located next to the operator's chair. The operator's panel contains buttons and switches for safety measures and operation of auxiliary equipment such as window wipers and washer, stereo and optionally for UHF/VHF.
Main Equipment/Functions:
There are two types of emergency operation panels on this crane. One type for operating the crane and winches, the other is emergency start/stop of the pumps on the HPU. The activators for emergency start/stop of HPU are located on the starter cabinets.
The emergency operation panel and its base unit are located in the operator cabin 4. There is one common panel for operation of all the crane functions.
The emergency operation panel is portable and it is equipped with a cable for connection to the base unit. As there is no emergency stop button on the panel, it must be used within immediate reach of one. It is recommended that the emergency operation panel is used while seated in the operator chair.
The handles on the emergency operation panel is “hold to run” type and their function is clearly marked.
In the below figure the order of precedence of the safety measures are shown. In case of conflicting functions the measures at a higher level shall have priority. Emergency stop/MOPS shall have equal priority.
The crane can be designed as a self-contained unit without any hydraulic interface to the vessel.
Hydraulic power unit, drives and accumulator system which is dimensioned to allow operation at nominal speed and AHC capacities in accordance with industry standard regulations.
The hydraulic system basically consist of the following components Hydraulic power unit (HPU)
Accumulator
Hydraulic Consumer
Hydraulic Manifold
Hydraulic Piping System
A combination of hydraulic and electrical motors is according to one embodiment provided for operation of the machinery.
In one example of design the winch 5 is a 150 Te winch for crane:
With at least one electrical motors (approx 500 kW each)
At least one hydraulic motor such as Variable displacement hydraulic motor A6VM 1000 cm3.
The number and combinations off drive units will vary depending on size and requirements for the equipment it is installed on.
The hydraulic motors are mainly for load holding while the electric motors provide speed and acceleration.
Advantages:
Electrical power can be regenerated to the vessel.
Flexible solution with regards to available speed at different loads.
Reduced complexity on hydraulic power unit.
Reduced complexity on hydraulic motors.
Reduced installation time.
The electro installation is completed on the crane, ready for termination on the slip ring in the pedestal. The slip ring is a typical electric interface to the ship.
The crane can be equipped with the following lights:
A manually operated emergency stop system, leading to shut-down and stop of the crane movements is fitted. Simultaneously, the brakes are engaged in a progressive and safe manner. The emergency stop maintains its function regardless of any fault in the control system.
Emergency stop actuators are located at convenient locations for immediate use:
The arrangement of the emergency stop system is designed so that no single failure will cause loss of duplicated essential or important equipment.
In one embodiment the wire to be used is compact and rotation resistant.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/NO2013/050101 | 6/6/2013 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61656098 | Jun 2012 | US |
