An adaptive levelling boarding ramp for a tidal harbour

Abstract

The utility model relates to port facilities technical field, and disclose a kind of self-adapting leveling type boarding ladder for tidal port, comprising: winch portal;The bottom of winch portal is provided with frame shaft;Main frame is movably connected on the winch portal by the frame shaft, so that the main frame can rotate around the frame shaft;The top of winch portal is provided with pulley block;Steel cable, one end is connected to the main frame, the other end extends via the pulley block and is wound to winch.The utility model can make main pedal automatically, in real time, rotate around pedal shaft and always keep level when main frame is inclined due to tidal change or ship sway by integrating in two-way adjusting device Angle sensor, controller and driving mechanism, eliminate the difficulty of walking and the risk of falling due to steep slope, provide a continuous stable, safe walking plane for the passing personnel, greatly improve the safety of boarding and disembarking process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of port terminal facilities technology, specifically to an adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports. Background Technology

[0002] In tidal ports and inland river terminals with dramatic water level changes, the relative height between the ship's deck and the dock level is constantly and significantly changing. This environment poses a severe challenge to the safe and convenient boarding and disembarking of personnel. To address this challenge, existing technologies mainly rely on fixed gangways, simple adjustable boarding ladders, and semi-automated boarding bridges. Fixed gangways, as the most primitive method, have a simple structure, consisting of a rigid ladder frame fixed at one end to the dock or ship's hull, with the other end directly resting on the other side. This method is completely unsuitable for tidal fluctuations; once the water level changes, the gangway becomes excessively steep or completely suspended in mid-air, posing extremely high safety risks. It requires frequent and cumbersome manual handling and adjustments, which is inefficient and highly dangerous.

[0003] Existing simple adjustable boarding ladders incorporate manual pins or hand-cranked worm gears into the fixed design, allowing operators to adjust the pitch angle within a certain range. However, the adjustment process relies entirely on manual judgment and operation, resulting in a significant lag in response. It cannot keep up with the continuous changes in tides and the immediate rise and fall of the ship, proving inadequate in rapidly changing or finely adjustable conditions. Its function is usually limited to coarse adjustments of the pitch angle. Utility Model Content

[0004] In view of the shortcomings of existing boarding equipment mentioned in the background art, this utility model provides an adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports, which has the advantages of automatic leveling, elimination of tread gaps, and fully automatic intelligent adaptation, thus solving the technical problems mentioned in the background art.

[0005] This utility model provides the following technical solution: an adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports, comprising: a winch gantry; a frame shaft at the bottom of the winch gantry; a main frame movably connected to the winch gantry via the frame shaft, allowing the main frame to rotate around the frame shaft; a pulley block at the top of the winch gantry; a steel cable, one end of which is connected to the main frame, and the other end extending through the pulley block and wound onto a winch; multiple pedal shafts evenly spaced along the length of the main frame; and multiple main pedals, each... The main pedals are movably connected to the main frame via a pedal shaft; a second frame plate is disposed below the main frame; multiple support shafts, the bottom end of each support shaft is movably connected to the second frame plate via a pivot shaft, and the top end is movably connected to the end of the corresponding main pedal away from the pedal shaft via a pivot shaft; a two-way adjustment device is movably mounted on the main frame; and a movable rack is controlled by the two-way adjustment device and can move up and down relative to the two-way adjustment device, the bottom end of the movable rack being fixedly connected to the second frame plate.

[0006] Preferably, the main pedal includes: a fixed part connected to the main frame via the pedal shaft; a telescopic pedal movably sleeved on the end of the fixed part away from the pedal shaft; and an elastic element disposed between the fixed part and the telescopic pedal, providing the telescopic pedal with an elastic force that extends it away from the fixed part.

[0007] Preferably, the elastic element is a spring.

[0008] Preferably, the main pedal further includes a pull-back mechanism; a reel groove is provided on the pedal shaft; a pull-back piece, one end of which is fixedly connected to the telescopic pedal, and the other end of which is wound in the reel groove; wherein, when the main pedal rotates around the pedal shaft, the pull-back piece is wound or released, thereby applying a pulling force or releasing the pulling force to the telescopic pedal.

[0009] Preferably, a frame rotating ring is fixedly connected to the main frame; the frame rotating ring is movably sleeved on the frame shaft.

[0010] Preferably, the main frame is provided with an adjustment groove; the two-way adjustment device is movably mounted on the main frame through the adjustment groove.

[0011] Preferably, the top end of the support shaft is movably connected to the telescopic pedal via a pivot.

[0012] Preferably, the two-way adjustment device includes: a housing movably mounted on the main frame; a tilt sensor disposed within the housing or on the main frame for detecting the tilt angle of the main frame; a controller disposed within the housing and electrically connected to the tilt sensor, the controller being configured to calculate the compensation displacement required for the second frame plate based on the tilt angle; a lateral drive mechanism disposed within the housing and controlled by the controller for driving the housing to move laterally along the main frame; and a longitudinal drive mechanism disposed within the housing and controlled by the controller for driving the movable rack to perform longitudinal telescopic movement.

[0013] Preferably, the lateral drive mechanism includes a lateral drive motor and a gear that meshes with an adjusting tooth groove disposed on the main frame; the longitudinal drive mechanism includes a longitudinal drive motor and a lead screw and nut pair driven by the motor, and the movable rack is fixedly connected to the nut.

[0014] This utility model has the following beneficial effects: 1. This utility model, through the tilt sensor, controller and drive mechanism integrated in the two-way adjustment device, enables the main pedal to automatically and in real time rotate around the pedal axis and always remain horizontal when the main frame tilts due to tidal changes or ship swaying. This eliminates the walking difficulties and slip risk caused by steep slopes, provides a continuous, stable and safe walking surface for passers-by, and greatly improves the safety of boarding and disembarking processes.

[0015] 2. This utility model uses a pedal telescopic mechanism composed of a pull-back plate and a spring, which enables the telescopic pedal to adaptively extend and retract during the leveling of the main pedal. When the tilt angle of the main frame increases, the pedal automatically retracts to avoid excessive overlap between adjacent pedals; when the tilt angle decreases, the pedal automatically extends to connect tightly, effectively eliminating the risk of slipping and tripping caused by gaps or overlaps in the tread surface, and ensuring the continuity and safety of the stepping space at any tilt angle.

[0016] 3. By combining the macroscopic coarse adjustment of the steel cable with the precise fine adjustment of the two-way adjustment device, this utility model enables the entire boarding ladder to form a complete adaptive system. This not only frees operators from tedious, repetitive, and experience-dependent manual adjustments, but also achieves fully automatic adaptive leveling, significantly improving the port's passage efficiency and inherent safety level when facing continuous tides and ship operations. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the horizontal state of this utility model; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the pedal of this utility model; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the tilted state of this utility model; Figure 4 This is a schematic cross-sectional view of the present invention. Figure 5 This utility model Figure 4 A magnified view of the structure at point A in the middle.

[0018] In the diagram: 1. Winch gantry; 11. Frame shaft; 12. Pulley block; 2. Main frame; 21. Pedal shaft; 22. Frame swivel; 23. Adjusting tooth groove; 3. Main pedal; 31. Telescopic pedal; 32. Spring; 33. Pull-back plate; 4. Steel cable; 5. Second frame plate; 51. Support shaft; 6. Two-way adjustment device. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present utility model, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0020] Please see Figure 1 An adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports includes a winch gantry 1, which is fixed to the ship's deck or dock platform and serves as the main support structure for the boarding ladder. A frame shaft 11 is fixedly connected to the bottom of the winch gantry 1, and a main frame 2 is movably connected to the frame shaft 11. A frame swivel ring 22 is fixedly connected to the main frame 2 and is movably sleeved on the frame shaft 11, allowing the main frame 2 to rotate around the frame shaft 11 to adjust its inclination. A pulley block 12 is fixedly installed at the top of the winch gantry 1, and a steel cable 4 is movably connected to the pulley block 12. One end of the steel cable 4 is fixedly connected to the middle section of the main frame 2, and the other end is wound on a winch. By operating the winch to wind up and unwind the steel cable 4, the main frame 2 can be raised and lowered to adjust its inclination, thereby changing the angle of the boarding ladder to adapt to the use of ships at different heights under different tidal conditions.

[0021] Multiple sets of pedal shafts 21 are evenly spaced in the middle of the main frame 2, and main pedals 3 are movably connected to them through the pedal shafts 21. One end of the main pedal 3 is movably connected to the main frame 2 through the pedal shaft 21, and the other end is movably connected to a support shaft 51 through a rotating shaft. The bottom end of the support shaft 51 is also movably connected to a second frame plate 5 through a rotating shaft. The distance between the second frame plate 5 and the rotating shaft of each support shaft 51 is consistent with the distance between the multiple sets of pedal shafts 21 on the main frame 2 and corresponds one-to-one. Adjustment grooves 23 are provided at both ends of the main frame 2, and two-way adjustment devices 6 are movably installed through the adjustment grooves 23. The two-way adjustment devices 6 can move left and right along the main frame 2, and the two-way adjustment devices 6 control a movable toothed rod that can move up and down and is fixed. The bottom end of the movable toothed rod is fixedly connected to the second frame plate 5.

[0022] The two-way adjustment device 6 includes: a housing movably mounted on the main frame 2; an inclination sensor disposed within the housing or on the main frame 2 for detecting the inclination angle of the main frame 2; a controller disposed within the housing and electrically connected to the inclination sensor, the controller being configured to calculate the required compensation displacement of the second frame plate 5 based on the inclination angle; a lateral drive mechanism disposed within the housing and controlled by the controller for driving the housing to move laterally along the main frame 2; and a longitudinal drive mechanism disposed within the housing and controlled by the controller for driving the movable rack to perform longitudinal telescopic movement.

[0023] When the winch is activated to pull up the steel cable 4, causing the main frame 2 to rise by an angle to adapt to the height of the upper deck of the tidal port, the main frame 2 will generate an angle. At the same time, the two-way adjustment device 6 calculates the distance that the second frame plate 5 moves to the left and down relative to the main frame 2 based on this angle and starts the motor to drive the second frame plate 5 to move accordingly. During this process, the support shaft 51 always remains vertical, thereby maintaining the main pedal 3 rotating around the pedal shaft 21 to keep it in a horizontal state. This achieves automatic leveling of the main pedal 3 and avoids the problem that when the water level changes greatly and the height difference between the ship deck and the dock increases, the slope of the boarding ladder also increases, causing inconvenience for personnel to enter and exit and posing safety hazards. In particular, on wet and steep inclined boarding ramps, personnel are very likely to slip and fall when boarding and disembarking the ship, causing casualties.

[0024] Please see Figure 2The main pedal 3 also includes a telescopic pedal 31, which is movably sleeved onto the movable end of the main pedal 3. The top end of the support shaft 51 is movably connected to the telescopic pedal 31 inside the main pedal 3 via a rotating shaft. A spring 32 is fixedly installed inside the main pedal 3. One end of the spring 32 is fixedly connected to the inner wall of the main pedal 3, and the other end is fixedly connected to the inner side of the telescopic pedal 31. The spring 32 pushes the telescopic pedal 31 to extend outward from the main pedal 3 to extend the width of the main pedal 3. A limit device is fixedly provided on the inner side of the telescopic pedal 31 to prevent extension and retraction. The pedal 31 is pushed by the spring 32, causing it to completely detach from the main pedal 3. When the main frame 2 is in a horizontal state, the telescopic pedal 31 extends to its maximum length. At this time, the main pedal 3 and the telescopic pedal 31 are tightly connected to form a tight pedal without gaps. The main pedal 3 is movably sleeved with the pedal shaft 21, which has a winding groove in the middle. A pull-back tab 33 is wound around the pedal shaft 21 at the winding groove. One end of the pull-back tab 33 is fixedly connected to the side of the pedal shaft 21 and, after being wound around the pedal shaft 21, the other end extends out and is fixedly connected to the inside of the telescopic pedal 31. In a horizontal state, the pull tab 33 pulls the telescopic step 31 to maintain its maximum extension length. When the main frame 2 is tilted by the steel cable 4, that is, when the main step 3 rotates around the step shaft 21 to keep itself horizontal, the main step 3 and the telescopic step 31 rotate relative to the step shaft 21. During the rotation, the pull tab 33 continues to be wound up, thereby pulling the telescopic step 31 to retract inward against the spring 32. The greater the tilt angle of the main frame 2, the greater the angle at which the main step 3 rotates relative to the step shaft 21 to maintain horizontality. At this time, the length of the pull tab 33 is wound up, thereby pulling the telescopic step 31 to retract a greater distance. This ensures that the overall width of the main step 3 adapts to the angle adjustment under different tilt angles of the boarding ladder. This avoids the situation where the width of the main step 3 is fixed, resulting in a large vertical overlap area between adjacent main steps 3 in a large tilt angle, which would reduce the stepping space. Or, in a small tilt angle or even a horizontal state, the adjacent main steps 3 would move away from each other as the angle of the main frame 2 changes, forming gaps that could cause people to step into gaps and be dangerous when boarding or alighting from the ship.

[0025] The working principle of this utility model is as follows: In use, the operator starts the winch to wind up and unwind steel cable 4. After the steel cable 4 changes direction via the pulley block 12 at the top of the winch gantry 1, it pulls the main frame 2 to rotate around the frame axis 11, thereby adjusting the tilt angle of the entire boarding ladder so that its overlapping end is roughly aligned with the deck height of the target vessel. This is a preliminary adjustment to address the significant height difference caused by tides.

[0026] When the tilt angle of the main frame 2 changes, the tilt sensor inside the two-way adjustment device 6 installed on it detects the current tilt angle of the main frame 2 in real time and accurately. This angle data is transmitted to the controller inside the device in real time. The controller calculates the precise target position that the lower second frame plate 5 needs to move to in order to keep all the main pedals 3 horizontal, based on the internally stored geometric model algorithm of the whole system. This position information is decomposed into two directions of commands: a command for the drive device itself to move laterally along the main frame 2, and a command for driving the movable rack to extend and retract longitudinally. The movable rack drives the second frame plate 5 to move precisely laterally and longitudinally.

[0027] The movement of the second frame plate 5 is transmitted to the free end of each main pedal 3 via multiple support shafts 51 hinged to it. Since the bottom end of the support shaft 51 is hinged to the second frame plate 5 and the top end is hinged to the main pedal 3, they form a parallel four-bar linkage. The movement of the second frame plate 5 forces the support shafts 51 to remain in a vertical or near-vertical state, thereby lifting or pulling the free end of the main pedal 3 upwards or downwards, causing it to rotate around the pedal shaft 21. This ensures that regardless of whether the main frame 2 is steep or gentle, the main pedal 3 can automatically rotate around the shaft under the coordinated control of the support shaft 51 and the two-way adjustment device 6, ultimately stabilizing in a horizontal position, providing a safe and stable walking surface for pedestrians.

[0028] As the main pedal 3 rotates around the pedal shaft 21 to maintain horizontality, the pedal's adaptive extension / retraction mechanism activates simultaneously: when the inclination of the main frame 2 increases, and the main pedal 3 needs to rotate upwards at a larger angle to maintain horizontality, the pull-back tab 33 fixed to the pedal shaft 21 is wound up and tightened, generating a strong pulling force. This pulling force overcomes the thrust of the spring 32, pulling the telescopic pedal 31 back towards the inside of the main pedal 3, thereby reducing the actual width of the entire pedal. Conversely, when the main frame 2 tends to be horizontal, the rotation angle of the main pedal 3 decreases, and the pull-back tab 33 is relaxed. At this time, the elastic force of the spring 32 is released, pushing the telescopic pedal 31 outwards, restoring and increasing the width of the pedal. This "rotation-winding-contraction / extension" linkage ensures that the pedals do not overlap excessively at steep angles, thus reducing the effective footing area, and that the pedals are tightly and seamlessly connected in gentle or horizontal conditions, preventing the risk of slipping.

[0029] The operator only needs to control the steel cable 4 via the winch for macroscopic height matching, while the core leveling and width adaptive functions of the boarding ladder are completed automatically and in real time by the mechanical system. The entire system uses the two-way adjustment device 6 as the "brain", the support shaft 51 and the second frame plate 5 as the "leveling actuator", and the pull-back plate 33 and spring 32 as the "width control mechanism" to respond in coordination to changes in the angle of the main frame, ultimately achieving a safe, comfortable, and fully automated boarding and disembarking process.

[0030] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

[0031] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports, characterized in that: include: A winch gantry (1); a frame shaft (11) is provided at the bottom of the winch gantry (1); a main frame (2) is movably connected to the winch gantry (1) via the frame shaft (11), so that the main frame (2) can rotate around the frame shaft (11); a pulley block (12) is provided at the top of the winch gantry (1); a steel cable (4), one end of which is connected to the main frame (2), and the other end extends through the pulley block (12) and is wound to a winch; a plurality of pedal shafts (21) are evenly spaced along the length of the main frame (2); a plurality of main pedals (3), each of the main pedals (3) is connected to a pedal A shaft (21) is movably connected to the main frame (2); a second frame plate (5) is disposed below the main frame (2); multiple support shafts (51), the bottom end of each support shaft (51) is movably connected to the second frame plate (5) via a rotating shaft, and the top end is movably connected to the end of the corresponding main pedal (3) away from the pedal shaft (21) via a rotating shaft; a two-way adjustment device (6) is movably mounted on the main frame (2); and a movable rack is controlled by the two-way adjustment device (6) and can move up and down relative to the two-way adjustment device (6), the bottom end of the movable rack being fixedly connected to the second frame plate (5).

2. The adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main pedal (3) includes: a fixed part connected to the main frame (2) via the pedal shaft (21); a telescopic pedal (31) movably sleeved on one end of the fixed part away from the pedal shaft (21); and an elastic element disposed between the fixed part and the telescopic pedal (31) and providing the telescopic pedal (31) with an elastic force that causes it to extend away from the fixed part.

3. The adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports according to claim 2, characterized in that: The elastic element is a spring (32).

4. The adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports according to claim 2, characterized in that: The main pedal (3) also includes a pull-back mechanism; a roller groove is provided on the pedal shaft (21); a pull-back piece (33) is fixedly connected at one end to the telescopic pedal (31) and wound around the roller groove at the other end; wherein, when the main pedal (3) rotates around the pedal shaft (21), the pull-back piece (33) is wound or released, thereby applying a pulling force or releasing the pulling force to the telescopic pedal (31).

5. The adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports according to claim 1, characterized in that: A frame rotating ring (22) is fixedly connected to the main frame (2); the frame rotating ring (22) is movably sleeved on the frame shaft (11).

6. The adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main frame (2) is provided with an adjustment groove (23); the two-way adjustment device (6) is movably installed on the main frame (2) through the adjustment groove (23).

7. The adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports according to claim 2, characterized in that: The top end of the support shaft (51) is movably connected to the telescopic pedal (31) via a pivot.

8. The adaptive leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bidirectional adjustment device (6) includes: a housing movably mounted on the main frame (2); an inclination sensor disposed in the housing or on the main frame (2) for detecting the inclination angle of the main frame (2); a controller disposed in the housing and electrically connected to the inclination sensor, the controller being configured to calculate the compensation displacement required for the second frame plate (5) based on the inclination angle; a lateral drive mechanism disposed in the housing and controlled by the controller for driving the housing to move laterally along the main frame (2); and a longitudinal drive mechanism disposed in the housing and controlled by the controller for driving the movable rack to move longitudinally.

9. A self-adjusting leveling boarding ladder for tidal ports according to claim 8, characterized in that: The transverse drive mechanism includes a transverse drive motor and a gear that meshes with an adjusting tooth groove (23) disposed on the main frame (2); the longitudinal drive mechanism includes a longitudinal drive motor and a lead screw and nut pair driven by the motor, and the movable toothed rod is fixedly connected to the nut.

Images