Device for automatic unlashing of cargo containers

Abstract

Specially designed to carry out unlocking shipping containers, eliminating the physical risks for port personnel, includes a telescopic load-bearing structure (1) that can be moved up with a port crane (3), and at its ends, pairs of lateral frames emerge (5-5′) that have a robotic mechanism (6) on their inner faces, with at least three degrees of movement for a claw for catch onto the handles (11) for opening different types of securing mechanisms (12) of the container (13). The claw has at least one degree of freedom of movement, while the robotic mechanism (6) is assisted by artificial vision (14) and motion systems (16) that are remotely operated, assisted, or fully automatic.

Claims

1. A device for automatically unlocking shipping containers comprising: a horizontal frame designed to be moved by a port crane located in a belly of a ship; a first upper side frame having an upper end located on a first end of the horizontal frame; a second upper side frame having an upper end located on a second end of the horizontal frame; a first lower side frame connected to a lower end of the first upper side frame; a second lower side frame connected to a lower end of the second upper side frame; the horizontal frame is telescopic to adjust the separation between the first upper and the second upper side frames; a robotic mechanism located on each one of: the lower end of the first upper side frame, the lower end of the second upper side frame, a lower end of the first lower side frame, and a lower end of the second lower side frame; wherein each one of the robotic mechanism moves vertically, transversally, and axially; a grasping device located on each one of the robotic mechanism; wherein each one of the robotic mechanism works independently from each other to unlock stacked containers simultaneously; wherein each one of the robotic mechanism unlocks opening handles of a securing mechanism on the respective container; wherein each one of the robotic mechanism includes an artificial vision system, a motion system, sensors, and a motion control system.

2. The device for automatically unlocking shipping containers according to claim 1, wherein: the artificial vision system processes an image, determines a presence of securing mechanisms on the shipping containers, and sets position coordinates of each securing mechanism in the image; the motion control system based on the position coordinates provided by the artificial vision system, the motion system, a frame's speed controlled by the sensor, and separation between each one of the robotic mechanism and the shipping containers, generates a trajectory that each one of the robotic mechanism to position the grasping device over the opening handles of the securing mechanism and then unlocks the shipping container.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) To complement the description ahead and to help improve understanding of the invention's characteristics, per an ideal model of its practical implementation, a set of drawings is included. These constitute an integral part of this description, and they show the following, for purposes including but not limited to illustration:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a device for automatically unlocking shipping containers made in accordance with the object of this invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged detail of one of the side frames of the device. On its inner face is the robotic mechanism that performs unlocking operations;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a first alternative for integrating the vision and motion systems for the robotic mechanisms, depending on the control system envisioned for the system;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a second alternative for integrating the vision and motion systems for the robotic mechanisms, depending on the control system envisioned for the system; and

(6) FIG. 5 shows a third alternative for integrating the vision and motion systems for the robotic mechanisms, depending on the control system envisioned for the system.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

(7) In the figures outlined, particularly FIG. 1, it can be seen how the invention's device includes a telescoping horizontal frame (1), capped on both end frames (2), with the setup being upwardly mobile with a port crane (3). It is specially designed in that the end frames (2) are fastened feasibly, more specifically, through securing mechanisms (4) like those used on shipping containers to unlock one or more side frames (5-5′).

(8) In the example of FIG. 1, the system includes a first and a second upper side frames (5) and a first and second lower side frames (5′) the first and the second lower side frames (5′) are shorter to enable unlocking two containers simultaneously, though as many pairs of side frames (5′) as necessary could be connected, given the specific needs in each case.

(9) These side frames (5-5′) include complementary securing mechanisms (4) at their upper and lower bases.

(10) As can be seen in FIG. 2, a robotic mechanism (6) is set up on the inner face of the first and the second upper side frame (5), formed by a set of rigid links articulated with each other that offer at least three degrees of movement, thereby defining vertical (7), transversal (8) and axial (9) guiding means.

(11) Additionally, the end of this robotic mechanism is capped with a grasping device (10) such as a claw with at least one degree of movement, specially designed to catch on the opening handles (11) of different types of securing mechanisms (12) for the container (13).

(12) As mentioned, this structure is designed to facilitate the relative movement of the tool or claw with respect to the general structure of the side frame (5), with this movement being wide and fast enough to compensate for any unforeseen movement of the containers and for the natural movement of the frame as it moves around the stack of containers.

(13) These robotic mechanisms, which operate independently for each frame, will have tracking, identification, capture, and unlocking functions. For these purposes, they are equipped with an artificial vision system (14) that has one or more cameras (15), with corresponding image processing (18) and coordinate transformation (19), as well as a motion control system (16) and a system for acting (17) on the corresponding robotic mechanism (6), as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. This way, when a guided action is planned, such as the one shown in FIG. 3, the vision system (14) is responsible for capturing an image of the work area at a pace proportional to the speed of motion of the lifting structure with respect to the containers. Then, the vision system processes (18) the image, determines the presence of any securing mechanisms (12), and sets their position in the image. Subsequently, the motion system—based on the coordinates provided by the vision system, the motion system (16), the frame's speed of motion controlled by a sensor (21), and the separation between the robotic mechanism (6) and the stack of containers—generates the duly controlled (22) trajectory (20) that this robotic mechanism must take to position the capture claw (10) over the opening handle of the target securing mechanism and then carry out the unlocking maneuver.

(14) The embodiment variant in FIG. 4 depicts operation by means of visual servoing. In this form of integration, the vision system (14) captures an image of the work area, identifies the presence of the securing mechanism (12), and determines the position error in Cartesian coordinates (proportional to the difference between the target position and the current position of the end effector of the robotic mechanism). The sampling rate for image capture and error calculation is constant and set beforehand. Then, this information is sent to the motion control system (16) at the same speed, to then generate the control signal (22) to drive the robot's capture claw properly to the point where position error is minimized.

(15) Once the capture claw is located over the opening handle of the securing mechanism (12), the control system handles the unlocking maneuver.

(16) Unlike the guided actuation integration system, where the characteristics of movement are established with an initial image, continuous image acquisition is required for visual servoing. The most external control loop in visual servoing is the image itself, and since there is no trajectory generator in it, images must be acquired and processed continuously to guide the robotic mechanism's end effector.

(17) Finally, in FIG. 5, a hybrid of the solutions shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is proposed, which has a primary vision system (14) responsible for capturing an initial image of the workspace through cameras (15) with a wide visual field. This initial image is meant to facilitate the first location of the securing mechanisms, and it generates a trajectory that moves the end effector to a more specific target area. Subsequently, a second vision system (18′-19′) is responsible for controlling (22) the position of the end effector once it is located over the target area. This subsystem continuously acquires and processes images, and it aims to locate the robotic mechanism's capture claw over the opening handle of the target twistlock.

(18) As a final note, the invention's device offers three modes of operation: remote operation, where a crane operator controls the movement of a lifting frame that supports the robotic mechanism for opening securing mechanisms while one or more stevedores guide the opening of those mechanisms from a safe place at the port; assisted operation, where stevedores have a supervisory responsibility over the process of opening the securing mechanisms, collaborating by calibrating the vision system, confirming the location of the target securing mechanisms, or requesting to reopen the securing mechanisms; and automatic operation, where the robotic mechanism for opening securing mechanisms provide the instrumentation signals needed to guide the crane's movement, which can serve as a support for the crane operator or even as a reference to guide the automatic movement of the lifting frame, where all of the system tasks for opening the securing mechanisms can be carried out alone, without the need for human operators.