METHOD AND CONTAINER TRANSFER INSTALLATION FOR PLACING CONTAINERS INTO AND REMOVING CONTAINERS FROM CONTAINER STORARE AREAS

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and to a container transfer installation (2, 102) for placing containers into and removing containers from or transferring containers (1) in high-rack or block storage arcs (3, 15) of a seaport or inland port within a container transfer installation (2, 102) having an integrated, fully automatic container transport system. An accelerated process having high total throughput is achieved in that individual containers (1) are deposited by the at least one loading gantry (6) successively onto pallets (19) or transverse conveying carts (18) provided on a transfer cart (8; 8a, 8b) that at least has an upper and a lower accommodating and conveying level (I, II) and can be moved parallel to the container storage area (3, 15), and the pallets (19) loaded with a container (1) are led over means of pallet transverse conveying means (25) or the containers (1) are led over by means of the transverse conveying carts (18) of the transfer cart (8; 8a, 8b) from the transfer cart onto an end distribution vehicle (9; 9a, 9b), which can be moved parallel to the container storage area (3, 15) and is positioned in line before the transfer cart (8; 8a, 8b) and has an upper and a lower level (I, II) and are led over by means of transverse conveying means (20; 25) from the end distribution vehicle onto a stationary transfer station (10) of the container storage area (3, 15), which transfer station likewise has an upper and a lower level (I, II) and from which transfer station a storage area crane (12) lifts the container (1) in order to place the container in the container storage area (3, 15).

Claims

1. A method of storage and retrieval or return of containers in high-bay or block storage facilities of a seaport or an inland port within a container transfer installation having an integrated fully automated container transport system comprising, for transfer of the containers from a ship to land and conversely, a gantry crane and a storage-facility crane that can retrieve the containers from or put the containers back in the storage facility, the method comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of levels for the containers between the gantry crane and the storage-facility cranes; delivering the containers one at a time with the gantry crane successively to pallets or transverse conveying carriages provided on a take-over carriage having an upper receiving level and a lower conveying level and movable parallel to the container storage facility; transferring from the take-over carriage the pallets laden with a container by pallet transverse conveying means or by the transverse conveying carriages of the take-over carriage, to an end distributor vehicle movable parallel to the container storage facility and positioned in line in front of the take-over carriage and that like the take-over carriage has an upper level and a lower level; and transferring the containers from this vehicle by transverse conveying means to a stationary transfer station that also has an upper level and a lower level and lifting the containers from the station by the storage-facility crane for storage in the container storage facility.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the take-over carriage and the end distributor vehicle are moved on rails.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the container storage facility is constructed as a high-bay storage facility the take-over carriage and the end distributor vehicle are moved on elevated rails and the stationary transfer station is provided in the two uppermost floors of the high-bay storage facility, wherein the take-over levels, which correspond with the two levels of the take-over carriage, of the end distributor vehicle can be load receiving means installed in fixed position or a vertically adjustable load receiving means of the end distributor vehicle is positioned on the respective level to be serviced.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a front section, which faces the quay side, of the pallet transverse conveying means of the take-over carriage and a rear section, which faces in the direction of the container storage facility, of the pallet transverse conveying means of the stationary transfer station can be raised or lowered from the lower level to the upper level and conversely, wherein the pallet transverse conveying means in both the lowered and the raised end positions thereof extend in alignment with pallet transverse conveying means of the interposed end distributor vehicle.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein empty pallets after lowering to the lower level from the stationary transfer station can be conveyed by way of the lower level of the end distributor vehicle back to the lower level of the take-over carriage, where after raising to the upper level they are reloaded with a container.

6. A container transfer installation with an integrated fully automated container transport system for storage and retrieval or return of containers in high-bay or block storage facilities of a seaport or an inland port comprising, for transfer of the containers from a ship to land and conversely, a gantry crane and a storage facility crane by which the containers are stored and retrieved or put back in the storage facility, a plurality of levels being provided for the containers between a gantry crane and the storage-facility cranes, the installation comprising, associated with a gantry crane toward the container storage facility on respective tracks extending parallel to the container storage facility a take-over carriage and, adjacent to the container storage facility, a end distributor vehicle movable independently of the take-over carriage and positionable in alignment with a stationary transfer station formed at least at the feed side of the container storage facility and arranged in the operating range of a storage-facility crane, wherein the take-over carriage, the end distributor vehicle and the stationary transfer station are each constructed with an upper receiving level and lower conveying level and container and/or pallet transverse conveying means provided thereat.

7. The container transfer installation according to claim 6, wherein the take-over carriage and the end distributor vehicle are movable on rails, these being elevated rails when the container storage facility is constructed as a high-bay storage facility.

8. The container transfer installation according to claim 6, wherein the levels of the take-over carriage are provided at a fixed spacing from one another and the associated end distributor vehicle is constructed as a storage and retrieval unit with an upper and a lower load receiving means with transverse conveying means or a vertically adjustable load receiving means for successive removal and transverse conveying of the containers from the upper level and lower level of the take-over carriage.

9. The container transfer installation according to claim 8, wherein the associated stationary transfer station has in the lower receiving level a transverse conveying section projecting relative to the upper receiving level in the direction of the container storage facility.

10. The container transfer installation according to claim 6, wherein the take-over carriage is constructed with an upper level divided in two and has a front part-level section lowerable from the upper to the lower level and conversely, wherein the associated end distributor carriage is constructed with a continuous upper level receiving the containers fed from the take-over carriage and the projecting transverse conveyor section of the stationary transfer station is constructed with a lifting means lowerable from the upper level to the lower level and conversely.

11. The container transfer installation according to claim 10, wherein the front part-level section of the take-over carriage and the projecting transverse conveying section of the stationary transfer station are constructed with scissor lifting tables.

12. The container transfer installation according to claim 6, wherein the transverse conveying means transporting the deposited containers are constructed as transverse conveying carriages or the transverse conveying means transporting the containers deposited on pallets are constructed as rollers or roller tracks.

Description

[0020] Further features and details of the invention are evident from the claims and the following description of embodiments of the invention schematically illustrated in the drawings, in which:

[0021] FIG. 1 shows a container transfer installation in a perspective plan view with a ship berthed at the quay for unloading, a gantry crane, a take-over carriage, an end distributor carriage and a container storage facility as a block storage facility with transfer station and storage-facility crane at the feed side, wherein the take-over carriage, the end distributor carriage and the transfer station successively transversely convey the containers, which are deposited on pallets, at an upper level, whereas the empty pallets are transported back at a lower level of these components;

[0022] FIG. 2 shows the container transfer location of FIG. 1 in a side view;

[0023] FIG. 3 shows, in a perspective plan view as a part view, a container transfer location with a high-bay storage facility as container storage facility, and a take-over carriage and an end distributor vehicle arranged on elevator tracks and constructed in a different form for transverse conveying of containers by means of displaceable transverse conveyor carriages at both an upper level and a lower level;

[0024] FIG. 4 shows, as a part view of a container transfer installation in a perspective front view, the high-bay storage facility of FIG. 3 without gantry cranes, with take-over carriages arranged in different positions and end distributor vehicles constructed as storage and retrieval units;

[0025] FIG. 5 shows, in a perspective part view as seen from above, a container transfer installation with a high-bay storage facility and vehicles that are movable and positionable on parallel rail tracks in front of the feed side of the high-bay storage facility, here in an embodiment of the end distributor carriage, which is arranged directly adjacent to the high-bay storage facility, in a mode of construction as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

[0026] FIG. 6 shows, as a detail of a container transfer installation with a high-bay storage facility in the mode of construction according to FIGS. 3 and 4, the co-operation of gantry crane, take-over carriage, end distributor carriage in the mode of construction as a storage and retrieval unit, stationary transfer station and storage-facility crane, in a side view; and

[0027] FIG. 7 shows, in a perspective plan view as a detail of the container transfer installation of FIGS. 1 and 2 or FIG. 5, the co-operation of take-over carriage, an end distributor carriage of modular construction and a stationary transfer station.

[0028] A container transfer installation 2 with a block storage facility 3, of which only one of several loading units disposed adjacent to one another at a spacing is shown, for transfer of containers 1 from a ship to land and conversely is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The containers 1 are removed by a gantry crane 6, which is positionable on a rail track 4 in the quay floor 5 in front of the ship, by the load receiving means 7 of the gantry crane, deposited on a take-over carriage 8, transferred from this to an end distributor vehicle 9, which in the embodiment according to FIGS. 1, 2 as well as 5 and 7 is constructed as a flat vehicle 9a of modular construction, transported to a stationary transfer station 10 of the block storage facility 3, transferred to the stationary transfer station 10 and removed thereat by a lifting means 11 of a storage-facility crane 12, which spans the storage unit of the block storage facility 3, and stored, for which purpose the storage-facility crane 12 is movable in the direction of the length dimension of the block storage facility or the storage unit and thus transversely to the block storage facility 3. Ship loading takes place in reverse sequence. The take-over carriage 8 is arranged, just like the end distributor vehicle 9, on rail tracks 13 and 14 extending at the feed side of the block storage facility parallel to the block or container storage facility, wherein the rail track 14 of the end distributor vehicle 9, 9a extends directly adjacent to the stationary transfer station 10, of which several are provided adjacent to one another to be distributed at a spacing.

[0029] The container transfer installation 102 of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 is constructed with a high-bay storage facility 15 as container storage facility and the rail tracks 13, 14 for the take-over carriage 8 and the end distributor vehicle 9, which in the embodiment according to FIGS. 3 and 4 is constructed as a storage and retrieval unit 9b (see also FIG. 6), are arranged to be elevated. The stationary transfer stations 10 are integrated in the steel structure on the two uppermost floors of the high-bay storage facility 15. The storage-facility crane or storage-facility cranes 12 is or are compartmented by roof superstructures 16 and cover the storage facility lanes to engage over all multi-floor bay installations, which are arranged to be separated from one another at a spacing in succession rearwardly in the plane of the drawing. Transport tied to the floor is eliminated in the case of container transfer installations 102 with high-bay storage facilities 15. The transfer procedures otherwise correspond, since the containers 1 are brought from the ship to the take-over carriage 8 by means of the gantry crane 6, transferred thereat to the variable reciprocable end distributor vehicles 9; 9a, 9b, moved by these until in front of a free stationary transfer station 10 and transferred to the transfer station, from which the containers 1 are taken over by the storage-facility crane 12 and stored in the block storage facility 3 or delivered by the storage-facility crane 12 of the high-bay storage facility 15 to storage and retrieval units movable on rails in the storage facility lanes, which units then take over distribution, at the storage facility side, of the containers in the bays.

[0030] The flexible handling of the containers 1 achievable by decoupling of the functions of take-over carriage 8, end distributor vehicle 9—here in the form of storage and retrieval units 9b—and stationary transfer stations 10 with the possibility of direct coupling of these components can be seen in FIG. 4, in which the gantry cranes associated with the take-over carriages 8, 8a are not shown. Whilst take-over carriages 8; 8a freed of the containers to be stored are prepared for reloading, other take-over carriages deliver the containers to the end distributor vehicles 9; 9b or laden end distributor vehicles can transfer the containers to stationary transfer stations 10. The container transfer thereby already significantly accelerated offers an overall throughput performance increased still further in that the take-over carriage 8; 8a, 8b, the end distributor vehicle 9; 9a, 9b and the stationary transfer station 10; 10a, 10b are each constructed with an upper level l and a lower level ll for reception of containers 1 at both levels l, ll (see FIG. 6) or at the upper level l, in which case the lower level ll is used for return transport of empty pallets (see FIG. 7).

[0031] The take-over carriage 8 according to FIG. 6 is constructed as a two-level vehicle 8a (see also FIGS. 3 and 4) with constant spacing of the two levels l and ll from one another. This applies in the same way to the storage and retrieval unit 9b as end distributor vehicle 9, the load receiving means 17a, 17b of which are adapted by the telescopic forks 20—which are constructed thereat as container transverse conveying means—in the vertical position thereof for suspended take-over of the containers 1 from the levels l, ll of the take-over carriage 8; 8a. Finally, the stationary transfer station 10 for receiving the transferred containers 1 also has an upper level l and a lower level ll, wherein the lower level ll has a section 10a that extends in the direction of the container storage facility 3; 15, for a transverse conveying means 18.

[0032] The containers 1 fed by the load receiving means 7 of the gantry cranes 6 are deposited in both levels l, ll of the take-over carriage 8; 8a on transverse conveying carriages as transverse conveying means 18 and transversely conveyed or displaced up to the transfer point at the end distributor vehicle 9; 9b positioned in alignment in front of the take-over carriage 8; 8a, from where the containers suspended by means of the telescopic forks 20 (see FIG. 4, on the right outside the two storage and retrieval units 9b) are taken over from the two levels l, ll. The transverse conveying carriages 18 are, after take-over of the containers 1 by the storage and retrieval unit 9b or end distributor vehicle 9, moved back to the starting position thereof for reloading with containers 1, as indicated by the double arrows in FIG. 6. Directly after transfer of the containers 1 the end distributor vehicle 9 or storage and retrieval unit 9b can be moved into an aligned position with the levels l, ll of one of the stationary transfer stations 10 and positioned thereat. Through reversal of the direction of the telescopic forks 20 the containers 1 are deposited at the upper level l and on a transverse conveying carriage 18 of the lower level ll of the stationary transfer station 10. The transverse conveying carriage 18 is moved on the projecting section 10a offset with respect to the container deposited at the upper level l so that the storage-facility crane 12 has, by the lifting means 11 thereof, free access to the containers 1 of both levels l, ll. As indicated by the directional arrow 21 in FIG. 6 the storage-facility crane 12 is movable in a high-bay storage facility 15 to extend over lanes and delivers the containers 1 for storage in the bays to storage and retrieval units 22 movable in the lanes, i.e. orthogonally to the directional arrow 21, of the high-bay storage facility 102.

[0033] FIG. 7 shows another mode of construction of the components constructed with the upper and lower receiving and conveying levels l, ll. The take-over carriage 8 is constructed as a part-level lowering vehicle 8b and has a part-level section, which is lowerable from the upper level l to the lower level ll and conversely raisable, in the form a scissor lifting table 23a. The projecting transverse conveying section 10a of the stationary transfer station 10 is also constructed with a scissor lifting table 23b lowerable from the upper level l to the lower level ll and conversely raisable.

[0034] The end distributor vehicle 9 is of flat modular construction 9a and constructed with a constant spacing of the two levels l and ll from one another. For transverse conveying of the containers 1, rollers or roller tracks enabling conveying in both directions as indicated by the horizontal directional arrows 24 are provided at both levels l, ll to supplement all components. In this mode of construction the unloaded pallets 19 can be lowered in the projecting transverse conveying section 10a of the stationary transfer station 10 from the upper level l to the lower level ll and conducted from there back to the lower level ll of the end distributor vehicle 9 or 9a. As soon as the end distributor vehicle 9a, 9a has then been positioned in front of the take-over carriage 8 or the part-level lowering vehicle 8b, the foremost pallet can be brought onto the scissor lifting table 23a disposed in the lower level ll and through raising of the scissor lifting table 23a readied on the non-lowerable part section of the upper level l for fresh loading with a pallet 1. The scissor lifting table 23a is thereafter lowered again to the lower level ll so that the next pallet is taken over and, after lifting to the upper level l, available for subsequent loading. In the modular construction 9a the end distributor vehicle 9 thus also serves, additionally to container distribution, as a coupling element for a closed pallet circuit, in particular on the one hand in co-operation with the stationary transfer station 10 and on the other hand with the take-over carriage 8 or 8b, wherein the pallet return after vertical lowering takes place exclusively in the lower levels 11 and the horizontal transverse conveying transport of the containers deposited on the pallets only in or at the upper levels of the components.

TABLE-US-00001 Reference numeral list 1 container 2, 102 container transfer installation 3 block storage facility/ container storage facility 4 rail track/rails 5 quay floor 6 gantry crane 7 load receiving means 8 take-over carriage 8a two-level vehicle 8b part-level lowering vehicle 9 end distributor vehicle 9a modular-construction vehicle 9b storage and retrieval unit 10 stationary transfer station 10a front section/protruding transverse conveying section 11 lifting means 12 storage-facility crane 13 rail tracks/rails 14 rail tracks/rails 15 high-bay storage facility/ container storage facility 16 roof superstructure 17a, 17b load take-over means (of the storage and retrieval unit 9b) 18 transverse conveying carriage 19 pallet 20 telescopic arm or fork/ container transverse conveying means 21 directional arrow 22 storage and retrieval unit 23a, 23b scissor lifting table/ lifting means