JPH04243709A - Container transfer equipment for railroad freight terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide equipment which automatically and promptly transfers railroad containers in a railroad freight terminal. CONSTITUTION:A three dimensional warehouse 1 and the rail 23 of an NC crane 2 for transferring containers 3 are provided along the rail 6 of a railroad freight terminal. An NC crane main body 2, which travels on the rail 23, has an automatic detection device for the containers 3. The automatic detection device transmits data to a control device provided independently of the detection device. The control device controls the action of the NC crane 2 according to this data.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to equipment for automatically and quickly transferring railway containers at a railway freight terminal.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In conventional railway freight terminals, container transfer operations such as loading and unloading of cargo containers are normally carried out using a forklift 9, as shown in FIG. Container 3
It was directly stocked on the floor.

By the way, there are two types of railway freight terminals: intermediate stations and terminal stations, and in both cases, it is necessary to carry out container transfer work in a short period of time. In other words, ■ At intermediate stations, it is necessary to complete the loading and unloading work within the stopping time of the freight train. ■ At the head station, it is necessary to clear the track for the next arriving freight car, and the unloading work from the freight car must be carried out promptly before the next train arrives. Additionally, since new containers to be loaded usually arrive all at once in the evening or at night, this loading work also had to be carried out intensively.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventional railway freight terminals have had the following problems due to the above-mentioned situation. ■ As mentioned above, the container transfer work was manual work using a forklift, which was too inefficient to transfer a large number of containers in a short period of time. ■ Furthermore, in addition to the fact that the transfer work is a manual process, there is a time constraint on the work as mentioned above, so the transfer work has to be rushed. For this reason, work errors are unavoidable, and there are also problems from the standpoint of work safety. ■Furthermore, since containers were stored flat on the floor, it was not easy to find a place to stock them.

[0005] The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is capable of automatically and quickly transferring railway containers at a railway freight terminal, while minimizing the installation area. The purpose of this project is to provide container transfer equipment for railway cargo terminals that can be used in railway freight terminals.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, the container transfer equipment for a railway freight terminal according to the present invention is capable of transferring containers between a multi-story warehouse installed in parallel with the railway track and the multi-story warehouse and freight cars. This equipment is comprised of a transfer means that closes the container, a detection means that detects the positions of freight cars and containers, and a control means that controls the transfer means based on the detection results from the detection means.

[0007]

[Operation] Container transfer work between the freight car and the multi-storey warehouse is automatically performed via the transfer means controlled by the control means.

[0008] In the container transfer work from the freight car to the multi-storey warehouse, that is, the unloading work, the detection means first detects the position of the freight car and the container on the freight car. Based on this measurement result, the control means controls the container transfer operation of the transfer means. As a result, the transfer means automatically unloads the loaded container from the freight car and transports it to a predetermined location in the multi-level warehouse.

[0009] Container transfer work from a multi-level warehouse to a freight car,
That is, the container loading operation is also automatically performed by the completely opposite operation to the above-described unloading operation.

[0010] Furthermore, the container storage location is a multi-level warehouse, and the entire facility does not occupy a large amount of land.

[0011]

[Embodiments] Specific embodiments of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings.

[0012] In this embodiment, a three-dimensional warehouse 1, a transfer means,
It consists of a detection means for detecting the position of the freight car and the container, and a control means for controlling the transfer means.

As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-level warehouse 1 is installed in parallel on the track 5 of the cargo terminal via transfer means, which will be described later, and includes a plurality of racks 11 stacked in parallel, and It consists of a stacker crane 12 installed at Further, the multi-story warehouse 1 is provided with two entrances and exits 13 at the lowest level for communicating the containers 3 to transfer means, and a trolley 14 as shown in FIG. 3 is installed as the communication means.

[0014] The stacker crane 12 is installed in the multi-level warehouse 1.
It is a means for moving and loading the container 3 to an appropriate position within the container, and preferably has a configuration that allows the container 3 to be moved up and down in the horizontal direction. Various concrete configurations are conceivable; for example, the trolley system already proposed by the present applicant in JP-A No. 63-272704 (a trolley system in which a cargo-loaded trolley is raised and lowered, and the trolley is moved horizontally via rails). It is possible to adopt a configuration in which the cargo is transferred by moving the cargo.

The transfer means is for transferring containers between the multi-level warehouse 1 and the freight cars 4, and in this embodiment, the container is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, an NC crane 2 is used which connects to the multi-story warehouse 1 via a loading/unloading conveyor 6.

The NC crane 2 runs on laid rails, and as shown in FIG.
It consists of a first traveling body 20 that is movable in the longitudinal direction, and a second traveling body 21 that is disposed on this first traveling body 20 and is movable in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the first traveling body 20. The second traveling body 21 is provided with a hanging tool 22 that can be raised and lowered and is rotatable. The first traveling body 20 is a rail provided along the longitudinal direction of the track 5, and includes a rail 23 laid near the track 5 and a rail 2 provided near the multi-story warehouse 1.
3, it is configured to be horizontally suspended via wheels, thereby making it possible to move along the longitudinal direction of the track 5. In addition, in this embodiment, the rail 23 is shown in FIG.
As shown in c), one of them is laid on the ground, and the other one is constructed in the air by the support 24, but this is a configuration in which both are laid on the ground, or both are laid in the air. Any construction configuration may be used. Further, in the longitudinal direction of this first traveling body 20, rails 25 are provided above and below the first traveling body 20.
is provided.

The second traveling body 21 is disposed so as to be movable via wheels on rails 25 above and below the first traveling body.

The hanging tool 22 is composed of a hanging tool main body 26 and a fork 27, as shown in FIG. 1(c). In particular, in this embodiment, two forks 27 are provided, but the number may be three or more as long as the NC crane body can withstand the weight of the container 3.

As described above, the hanging tool 22 has a rotatable structure and has two forks 27, so in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1(c), two containers can be It is possible to load and unload 3 at once.

The operation of the NC crane 2 of this embodiment as described above is controlled by a control means to be described later.

[0021] Note that the transfer means may of course have other configurations,
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a structure in which a truck 29 equipped with a slide fork 28 movable on either side may be installed on the side of the track 5 may be used.

[0022] The loading and unloading conveyor 6 is connected to the multi-level warehouse 1.
It is installed along the longitudinal direction so that one end thereof communicates with the inlet/outlet 13 and the other end communicates with the lifting tool 22 of the NC crane. In particular, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1(a), the hoisting tool 22 of the NC crane is
It is installed so that it communicates with both sides of the hanging tool 22 when it is moved to the position (A) where it is to be transferred.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the loading/unloading conveyor 6 includes an outer placing table 61 and an inner transfer table 6 having wheels.
The transfer table 62 is configured to be able to be raised, lowered and shifted by a walking beam system comprising a lift 63 and a cylinder 64. For example, when transferring the container 3 from the loading/unloading trolley 14, FIG.
) and (b), the transfer table 62 is advanced by the cylinder 64 and its tip is inserted directly under the container 3, the lift 63 is raised to lift the container 3, and the cylinder 64 is used again to transfer it. Retract the stand 62,
And if the lift 63 is lowered, the container 3 will move to the position shown in Fig. 4(c).
), it will be placed on the stand 61. Further, when transferring the container 3 on the loading/unloading conveyor 6, it is sufficient to follow almost the same procedure. Note that an embodiment in which this loading/unloading conveyor 6 is not installed is also conceivable. In that case,
The hanging tool 22 of the NC crane 2 is directly connected to the entrance/exit 13 of the multi-level warehouse 1.

[0024] The detection means automatically detects the positions of the freight car 4 and the container 3, and in this embodiment is installed on and integrated with the hoist 22 of the NC crane. Various configurations can be considered as this detection means, but in this embodiment, a sensor for detecting the target object is provided,
Furthermore, the detection result by the sensor is sent to the control means. The sensor is preferably a photoelectric sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or the like, but other types of sensors may of course be used.

Detection of the positions of the freight car 4 and the container 3 by such a detection means will be explained based on FIG.
) detection causes the sensor to move in the X direction, and
Detection of the position (for example, y1) in the height direction (Y direction in the figure) causes the sensor to move in the Y direction. In particular, in this embodiment, since the sensor is installed on the lifting tool 22 of the NC crane 2 as described above, in order to move the sensor in the X direction, the first traveling body 20 of the NC crane is moved in the traveling direction. It suffices to move it, and to move it in the Y direction, it suffices to move the hanging tool 22 up and down. Then, the position of the object is measured based on the ON/OFF state of the position to which the sensor has moved.

In this way, in this embodiment, by appropriately moving the hoisting tool 22 of the NC crane having the sensor in the X direction and the Y direction, it is possible to adjust the position of the container 3 in the longitudinal direction and the container as shown in FIG. Fork insertion part 3
1. The positioning pin 41 on the freight car can be automatically detected. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the detection of the position of the object in the height direction (Y direction), it is preferable to arrange a plurality of the sensors above and below. For example, in order to facilitate the detection of the heightwise position of the fork insertion part 31 of the container, three sensors 71 are used as shown in FIG.
, 72, 73 are arranged one above the other, and the distance between the two upper and lower sensors 71, 73 is the same as the height of the fork insertion portion 31. The detection states of the three sensors 71, 72, and 73 are 71ON and 72OFF.
, 73 ON, it is set in advance to be the fork insertion part 31, and the position can be easily detected by moving the hanging tool 22 having a sensor up and down. The detection results obtained through these procedures will be sent to the control means described later. Note that the detection means is not necessarily limited to a structure attached to the transfer means, and may of course be of a self-propelled structure provided separately from the transfer means as shown in FIG. 8, for example.

The control means controls the transfer means based on the detection results sent from the detection means,
In this embodiment, since the NC crane 2 is used as the transfer means as described above, the control means is integrated with the numerical control device built into the crane body.

In the transfer equipment of this embodiment configured as described above, containers are transferred as follows. First, in the transfer operation from the freight car 4 to the multi-level warehouse 1, the position of the loaded container 3 is detected by a detection means. When the position of the container 3 is detected, the control means controls the lifting tool 22 of the NC crane, and the container 3 is automatically unloaded from the freight car 4 to the loading/unloading conveyor 6 by the fork 27 of the lifting tool 22. Then, the products are transferred from the conveyor 6 into the multi-level warehouse 1 via the carts 14 at the entrance/exit 13. The containers 3 stored in the multi-level warehouse 1 are stored at appropriate locations by the stacker crane 12.

Next, the work of transferring from the multi-level warehouse 1 to the freight car 4 is carried out by the completely opposite operation to the above-mentioned work. During this operation, when loading the freight car 4 from the NC crane 2, the position of the container to be loaded is detected based on the positioning pin 41 provided on the freight car 4. Therefore, the container loading operation onto the freight car 4 is also performed completely automatically.

In addition, in this embodiment, as described above, the fork 27 is provided at two locations on the hoisting tool 22 of the NC crane, and the entrance/exit 13 is provided at two locations on the multi-story warehouse 1, and furthermore, the fork 27 is provided at two locations on the hoisting tool 22 of the NC crane, and the entrance/exit 13 is provided at two locations, and is connected to the entrance/exit 13. Since the loading/unloading conveyor 6 is configured to be set at two locations on both sides of the hanging tool 22 when it is moved to the position (A) to be transferred, loading work can be carried out using one fork 27 of the hanging tool 22. It is possible to perform the unloading operation using the other fork 27.

As described above, in this embodiment, the container 3
Loading and unloading operations can be carried out continuously and efficiently, completely unattended. In addition, by unmanning the work, human errors and accidents can be avoided. Furthermore, since the multi-level warehouse 1 is installed as a container storage area, it is possible to store a large amount of containers 3 in a small amount of land. Although not shown in this embodiment, if the multi-level warehouse 1 is placed on both sides of the track 5, the amount of containers stored will increase.
It is possible to create a cargo terminal that is large in size considering its installed area.

[0032]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, container transfer work at a railway freight terminal can be carried out unmanned and quickly, and the work efficiency is greatly improved. Additionally, because it is unmanned, there is no risk of human accidents and there are no safety issues.

Furthermore, since a three-dimensional warehouse is used, the equipment area can be minimized, which is a great advantage in terms of effective use of land.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an entire embodiment of the present invention;
(a) is a perspective view thereof, (b) is a plan view thereof, and (c) is a front view thereof.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the transfer means;
a) is a side view thereof, and (b) is a front view thereof.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the loading/unloading conveyor.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a container transfer process of the loading/unloading conveyor.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the moving direction of the sensor.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the fork insertion portion of the container and the positioning pins of the freight car.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which a plurality of sensors are provided.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment in which a detection means is provided separately.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a conventional railway freight terminal facility.

[Explanation of symbols]

1　3-dimensional warehouse 2 NC crane 3 Container 4 Freight car 5　Railway

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A multi-storey warehouse installed in parallel with a railway track, a transfer means for transferring containers between the multi-storey warehouse and a freight car, a detection means for detecting the positions of the freight car and the container, and a detection means for detecting the positions of the freight car and the container. A container transfer facility for a railway freight terminal, comprising a control means for controlling the transfer means based on a detection result.