Ring gear cable winch

Abstract

The invention relates to a ring gear cable winch having a cable drum and a drive device for driving the cable drum, wherein the drive device comprises a ring gear connected to the cable drum in a rotationally fixed manner and a plurality of drive motors arranged distributed over the circumference of the ring gear, and each drive a drive pinion meshing with the ring gear, wherein the drive pinions are connected directly to the drive motors without gearing and rotate at the motor shaft speeds of the drive motors.

Description

[0001] Gear ring winch

[0002] The present invention relates to gear ring cable winches, having a cable drum and a drive device for driving the cable drum, wherein the drive device comprises a gear ring connected to the cable drum in a rotationally fixed manner and a plurality of drive motors which are arranged distributed over the circumference of the gear ring and each drive a drive pinion meshing with the gear ring.

[0003] Cable winches for container cranes or other lifting equipment that lift heavy loads and are used intensively—meaning they don't just have to perform individual lifts with extended downtimes in between, but operate more or less continuously—are often generously dimensioned with regard to the drive train and designed to withstand continuous operation with heavy loads to avoid any risk of downtime. However, such a cable winch design impairs energy efficiency and is also detrimental to the lifting dynamics, as the correspondingly dimensioned drive motors and gearboxes must be accelerated, decelerated, and accelerated again with each lift. The inertia of the drive systems not only impairs the dynamics of the lifting process itself but also results in increased energy consumption.Container winches are typically driven by a spur gear drive, which not only helps to operate the drive motors within a favorable speed range through an appropriate gear ratio, but also allows multiple drive motors to be connected and synchronized with each other, for example, through a shared spur gear pinion driven jointly by the multiple motors and then transferred to the cable winch via additional spur gears. Not only is the aforementioned inertia of the drive train a problem, but also the multiple pinion engagement, which causes drive losses and reduces the drive train's rigidity, which is noticeable when precisely positioning or gently setting down a heavy load.

[0004] Cable winches that are driven by a gear ring rather than a spur gear are known, for example, from document WO 2014 / 114440 A1. These gear rings are attached to the flanges of the cable winch, meshing with drive pinions, each driven by an electric motor. The respective pinion is coupled to the motor shaft of the drive motor via a planetary gear to achieve a sufficiently high transmission or reduction ratio in a small installation space, allowing cable winch operation at conventional motor speeds. A similar gear ring drive is also shown in document EP 22 80 191 A2.

[0005] The present invention is based on the object of creating an improved gear-ring cable winch of the type mentioned above, which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art and advantageously develops them further. In particular, highly efficient and dynamic lifting operation is to be enabled while simultaneously achieving very high reliability and ease of maintenance, without requiring difficult-to-obtain special motors or gear elements made of expensive high-tech materials. Preferably, the gear-ring cable winch is to withstand continuous container handling operations at high power levels. According to the invention, the stated object is achieved by a gear-ring cable winch according to claim 1 and a lifting device according to claim 20. Preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0006] It is therefore proposed to distribute the drive power required to drive the cable drum between several relatively small-sized drive motors and to operate these at a relatively high speed in order to enable higher top speeds during empty runs thanks to a wider speed range. According to the invention, the drive pinions meshing with the gear ring are connected directly to the drive motors without gears and rotate at the motor shaft speeds of the drive motors. The drive pinions are therefore driven by “their” motor shafts without over-reduction, so that the lack of gear stages between the motor shafts of the drive motors and the drive pinions meshing with the gear ring not only reduces the inertia of the drive train and increases its rigidity, which overall enables more dynamic drive behavior, but also smaller orlower inertia drive motors can be used, which are more commercially available and therefore easier to obtain.

[0007] At the same time, by distributing power across multiple drive motors and multiple independent meshings on the gear ring, a multiply redundant system design can be ensured. The drive power of the multiple drive motors is transferred to the gear ring via independent paths. This means that if one drive motor and / or drive train fails, the drive power of the remaining drive motors is still effective and can be transferred to the gear ring. Nevertheless, despite the multiple independent meshings on the gear ring, losses can be reduced or minimized, as the number of meshings is still comparatively small compared to drive solutions with multiple drive motors and multi-stage spur gears or planetary gears.

[0008] Gearless electric motors can be used as drive motors, as their motor shaft directly drives the associated drive pinion, which meshes with the gear ring, without the need for gears or gear reduction. This allows high efficiency to be combined with simple, precise controllability.

[0009] In an advantageous development of the invention, more than three or more than four drive motors can be provided and connected to the same gear ring, wherein more than five or more than six drive motors can be arranged distributed over the circumference of the gear ring and can each drive the gear ring via a drive pinion.

[0010] Advantageously, the drive pinions and gear ring are designed, in terms of their number of teeth and their gear ratio, such that the drive motors can run at speeds in the range of 3,500 to 7,000 rpm or 3,500 to 6,000 rpm, or advantageously 4,000 to 5,000 rpm when driving the cable drum as intended. While container winches are conventionally driven by drive motors with speeds of 2,000 to 3,000 or a maximum of 3,500 rpm, significantly faster drive motors can achieve higher empty travel speeds, in particular. The drive motors can, of course, also be operated at speeds below the aforementioned 3,500 rpm, for example, to gently lower a container to the ground or to perform other fine positioning tasks.However, for intended travel movements such as empty runs, the high speed ranges mentioned above are advantageous. Since in container handling, usually every other journey, namely the journey from the drop-off point back to the pick-up point, is an empty run, the handling performance can be considerably increased if the empty runs are accelerated. Despite lower power outputs, the empty run speed can be significantly increased by higher speeds, as a wider overall speed range is available and high power is not required for the empty run due to the lack of a large load. Advantageously, the drive motors can be designed to have a moment of inertia of less than 2 kgm each. 2 or less than 1 kgm 2 For example, if six drive motors with a maximum moment of inertia of 1 kgm each 2used, the total inertia of all drive motors driving a gear ring is only 6 kgm 2 , which enables highly dynamic drive behavior. At the same time, in the event of a so-called snag load, when a container or load becomes caught, the hoist is subjected to less stress due to the rapid deceleration of the rotating masses.

[0011] In order to be able to continue operating the cable winch without major consequences in the event of a drive motor or a drive train between one of the drive motors and the gear ring failing, a control device for controlling the drive motors can be provided. This control device has a fail-safe operating mode in which, in the event of a drive power failure of one or more drive motors, for example due to a break in the shaft connection between the drive pinion and the motor, the drive power of the remaining drive motors is increased to such an extent that the lost drive power is at least partially compensated. In particular, the drive power of the remaining, operational drive motors is increased evenly or to the same extent, so that each of the remaining drive motors contributes only a small part to compensating for the lost drive power.This places an evenly higher load on all remaining drive motors, but places as little load on them as possible.

[0012] Advantageously, said failure mode can comprise at least two compensation levels. For example, a power mode can be provided in which the lost drive power is essentially fully compensated by increasing the drive power of the remaining drive motors, so that a largely loss-free handling operation can continue to be ensured. Advantageously, the failure mode can also have an economy mode or efficiency mode in which the lost drive power is only partially compensated by increasing the drive power of the remaining drive motors.Such an economy mode avoids increased wear of the drive motors and trains operated with higher power and can be particularly useful if the cable winch does not have to lift maximum loads, but rather handles comparatively light containers, for example, or if losses in handling performance are insignificant because the time available to unload a cargo is sufficient.

[0013] Advantageously, the control device can be configured to automatically switch to the failover mode when needed, in which the lost drive power of a failed drive is at least partially compensated by increasing the power of the remaining drives. This allows a substantially seamless transition to the failover mode to be achieved without significant drops in speed and the associated rocking motions. Advantageously, a detection device can detect the loss of drive power of each drive motor. The detection device can, for example, detect the power consumption of the individual drive motors and determine a failure based on the power consumption detected in each case.If the power consumption of a drive motor drops briefly, for example because the shaft connection to the drive pinion is broken, the detection device can identify such a drop in power consumption as a failure, whereupon the control device can control the remaining drive motors in such a way that they compensate for or partially compensate for the lost power.

[0014] In order to achieve efficient operation with as little loss as possible, an advantageous development of the invention can provide oil lubrication or wet lubrication with a suitable lubricant for the drive pinions.

[0015] In a further development of the invention, such an oil or wet lubrication system can comprise an oil or lubricant bath into which at least a lower part of the gear ring is immersed and / or into which at least one drive pinion arranged in the lower region of the gear ring is immersed. In order to be able to lubricate as many drive pinions as possible in the oil or lubricant bath, but nevertheless avoid the need for an oil or lubricant bath level, the drive pinions can, in an advantageous development of the invention, be arranged in a concentrated manner towards a lower part of the gear ring, so that all drive pinions run in the oil bath or roam through the oil bath. For example, the drive pinions can all be arranged in a concentrated manner in the lower half of the gear ring, so that an oil bath level up to the rotational axis of the gear ring is sufficient to lubricate all drive pinions.

[0016] Alternatively, the drive pinions can be evenly distributed around the circumference of the gear ring, so that, if the lubricant level is limited, one or more drive pinions are located outside or above the lubricant bath. These drive pinions, which are not immersed in the oil or lubricant bath, are then lubricated by the lubricant carried by the gear ring and transferred to the drive pinions above. When used as a container winch or with similarly long operating times, the gear ring is more or less constantly moving, so that the lubricant carried by the gear ring can also adequately lubricate the pinions located above the lubricant bath.

[0017] In order to be able to keep the amount of lubricant in the lubricant pan low even at higher lubricating bath levels, a development of the invention uses a relatively tightly fitting or small-sized or as small-volume as possible oil pan that surrounds the gear ring or a sector of the gear ring relatively closely. In a development of the invention, the lubricant pan can be disc-shaped and / or annular and have an axial thickness that is narrower than 200% or narrower than 150% of the axial thickness of the gear ring arranged in the disc-shaped oil pan. Due to such a narrow axial thickness of the lubricant pan, the pan walls running transverse to the direction of rotation of the gear ring sit relatively close to the end faces of the gear ring, so that small amounts of lubricant are stored there.Irrespective of such a tight fit in the axial direction, the lubricant pan can also be relatively close to the immersed sector of the gear ring in the circumferential direction or to the drive pinions provided there.

[0018] In order to have a small gap or a small dead volume in the circumferential direction as well, the lubricant pan can have bulges on the circumference which accommodate the drive pinions and nestle around the drive pinions, while circumferential constrictions can be provided between the said bulges, at which the circumferential wall of the lubricant pan nestles closer to the gear ring between each two adjacent drive pinions.

[0019] The said bulge and constriction structure of the circumferential side of the lubricant pan can be provided both with an externally toothed gear ring and correspondingly drive pinions arranged on the outer circumference of the gear ring and with internally toothed gear rings and correspondingly drive pinions arranged on the inner circumference of the gear ring.

[0020] The lubricant pan can, for example, be ring-shaped and extend around the gear ring of the gear ring. For example, metal sheets or lubricant pan walls can be arranged on the front side of the gear ring, enclosing the gear ring in a ring-like manner. The ring-shaped housing can be flooded in the lower sector or lower half to form the aforementioned lubricant bath.

[0021] In order to avoid overheating of the lubricant even in the case of a small-volume oil or lubricant bath, a further development of the invention can provide a circulating lubrication system which can guide the lubricant out of the reservoir around the gear ring and, for example, through an external cooler.

[0022] Alternatively or in addition to oil bath or lubricant bath lubrication, the drive pinions can also be lubricated using oil mist or lubricant mist lubrication. This type of mist lubrication can, in particular, prevent the splashing losses of a lubricant bath, making the operation of the cable winch even more efficient and increasing its effectiveness. In principle, mist lubrication can also be combined with lubricant bath lubrication, for example, by spraying a topmost drive pinion, which is not immersed in the oil bath, directly with lubricating mist using a mister. To avoid splashing losses as completely as possible, all drive pinions can also be lubricated using lubricant mist. Advantageously, several misters are provided, each of which directs or sprays lubricant mist specifically onto a respective drive pinion.

[0023] In order to avoid tooth breakage in the event of overloading, which would cause greater destruction and lead to longer downtimes, a further development of the invention can provide predetermined breaking points between the drive pinions and the drive motors, which break and cut the rotationally fixed connection between the motor shaft and the respective drive pinion before excessive torque shocks would damage the teeth of the drive pinion or the teeth of the gear ring.

[0024] For example, the drive shaft between the drive motor and the drive pinion can have a weakening point, for example in the form of a diameter taper and / or a predetermined breaking notch.

[0025] To facilitate easy replacement of the respective drive group in the event of breakage or even just normal wear, for example, replacing a drive pinion and / or the motor shaft and / or the connecting shaft, a further development of the invention can provide a torque-transmitting plug connection between the drive pinions and the motor shafts of the drive motors. This torque-transmitting plug connection transmits torque when plugged together and can be axially released, so that, for example, the drive motor can be easily removed with its motor shaft stub. For example, the torque-transmitting plug connection can be a splined shaft connection, a polygonal shaft connection, or a serrated shaft connection.In an advantageous development of the invention, a key connection can also be provided as a torque-transmitting plug connection, wherein the key can simultaneously form the predetermined breaking point if it shears off under excessive load.

[0026] The aforementioned gear-ring cable winch can be used particularly as a container winch and fully exploits its advantages in container handling. Container winches typically operate full-time at their maximum performance limit, unlike, for example, hoist winches on tower cranes or cable winches on passenger elevators, which, unlike container winches, repeatedly have longer idle periods. Due to their full-time operation under high loads or at full power, the thermal load on container winches is relatively high, which can be controlled by the oil lubrication described above and fundamentally limited by the high energy efficiency. Furthermore, the distribution of the drive power among many small drive motors, each with separate, independent drive trains leading to the gear ring, ensures a high level of reliability.Furthermore, the wide speed range of the fast-running, smaller drive motors takes into account the fact that container winches cyclically move high loads and retract more.

[0027] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

[0028] Fig. 1 : a schematic side view of a container or ship-to-shore crane with a gear ring cable winch according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention,

[0029] Fig. 2: a sectional view of the gear ring cable winch of the crane from Fig. 1 in a design with an internally toothed gear ring and drive motors concentrated in the lower half, the sectional view showing one of the drive motors and its drive pinion meshing with the gear ring,

[0030] Fig. 3: a front view of the gear ring cable winch from Fig. 2, showing arrangements of the drive motors distributed over the circumference and concentrated in the lower half,

[0031] Fig. 4: a sectional view of a gear ring cable winch similar to Fig. 2 according to a further embodiment of the invention, in which the gear ring is externally toothed,

[0032] Fig. 5: a front view of the gear ring cable winch from Fig. 4, showing the distribution of the drive motors over the lower half of the circumference of the gear ring,

[0033] Fig. 6: a sectional view of a gear ring cable winch similar to Figures 2 and 4 according to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, in which gear rings are provided on opposite flanges of the cable drum 2, which are each driven by several drive motors, wherein the gear rings are each externally toothed,

[0034] Fig. 7: a front view of the gear ring cable winch from Fig. 6, showing the drive motors evenly distributed over the circumference,

[0035] Fig. 8: a sectional view of a gear ring cable winch similar to Figures 2, 4 and 6 according to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, in which the gear ring is externally toothed and the drive motors are arranged without overlapping to the cable drum,

[0036] Fig. 9: a front view of the gear ring cable winch from Fig. 8, showing the arrangement of the drive motors distributed over the circumference, Fig. 10: a sectional view of a gear ring cable winch with two gear rings similar to Fig. 6, according to a further embodiment of the invention, in which the gear rings are internally toothed,

[0037] Fig. 11 : a front view of the gear ring cable winch from Fig. 10, showing the arrangement of the drive motors evenly distributed over the circumference,

[0038] Fig. 12: a sectional view of a gear ring cable winch similar to Fig. 8, according to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, according to which the gear ring is internally toothed and the drive motors are arranged without overlapping with the cable drum,

[0039] Fig. 13: a front view of the gear ring cable winch from Fig. 12, showing the evenly distributed arrangement of the drive motors over the circumference,

[0040] Fig. 14: a perspective half-section of a gear ring cable winch similar to Fig. 8, showing an annular oil pan around the externally toothed gear ring and the drive pinions meshing therewith, and

[0041] Fig. 15: a partial sectional view of a drive pinion meshing with the externally toothed gear ring and the drive motor connected to it, wherein the predetermined breaking point and the plug connection in the area of ​​the connecting shaft between the drive motor and the drive pinion are shown in an exploded view.

[0042] As Figure 1 shows, the gear-ring cable winch 1 can be used in a container handling crane or an STS crane 19 and form its main hoist winch, see Figure 1. Such a container handling crane 19 can comprise a fixed or movable, mast-shaped or portal-like substructure 20, which can be moved, for example, on rails or tracks or by means of a wheeled chassis on a rail-free surface. The substructure 20 supports a boom or a portal 21, which can be oriented horizontally and carries a trolley 22 that can be moved along the portal 21. A hoist rope 23 runs over the trolley 22 and can be wound up and lowered by the gear-ring winch 1.

[0043] As Figure 1 shows, the said gear ring cable winch 1 can be arranged on the portal 21 of the crane 19 and, for example, can be arranged in a machine house.

[0044] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the gear-ring cable winch 1 comprises a cable drum 2, the drum body 3 of which is provided with rope grooves around its circumference, but may also be smooth if desired. The drum body 3 may be enclosed at its ends by flanges 4, which define the winding space for the rope to be wound.

[0045] A toothed ring 5 can be arranged on at least one of the said flanged wheels 4, which can be rigidly connected directly to the flanged wheels 4 or can also be connected directly to the drum body 3 in a rotationally fixed manner.

[0046] The aforementioned gear ring 5 can be internally toothed, see Figures 2, 10 and 12, or externally toothed, see Figures 4, 6 and 8 as well as 14 and 15.

[0047] The drive device 6 for driving the cable drum 2 comprises, in addition to the aforementioned gear ring 5, a plurality of drive motors 7, each driving a drive pinion 8 that meshes with the gear ring 5. The aforementioned drive motors 7 can advantageously be arranged with the rotational axes of their motor shafts 24 parallel to the rotational axis of the drum body 3, which is also the rotational axis of the gear ring 5. The rotational axes of the motor shafts 24 can be spaced radially from the drum body axis to a greater or lesser extent, depending on whether the gear ring 5 has internal or external teeth.

[0048] As Figures 3 and 5 show, the drive motors 7 can be distributed around the circumference of the gear ring 5, but can be concentrated in a lower half or a lower sector of the gear ring 5. In particular, all drive motors 7 can be arranged with their motor shaft axes along the lower half of the gear ring 5 in order to be lubricated by an oil bath 12, as will be explained below.

[0049] In principle, however, it is also possible to arrange the drive motors 7 evenly distributed over the entire circumference of the gear ring 5, see Figures 7, 9, 11 and 13. In this case, spray lubrication can be provided in order to achieve efficient lubrication.

[0050] In this case, the drive motors 7 can be arranged without overlapping with the drum body 3, i.e. they can be arranged not overlapping with the drum body 3 in the radial direction, but rather projecting away from one or both end faces of the cable drum 2, see Figures 6, 8, 10 and 12.

[0051] Alternatively, the drive motors 7 can also be arranged radially overlapping the drum body 3. In this case, the drive motors 7 can extend from the gear ring 5 on one end face of the cable drum 2 to the opposite end face of the cable drum 2, see Figures 2 and 4.

[0052] In order to brake the cable drum 2 and / or hold it in place at a standstill, one or more brakes 26 can be provided, as shown by way of example in Figure 4. These brakes can be provided on one or more drive motors 7, in particular, they can be combined to form a preassembled drive-brake assembly. For example, the brake 26 can be flanged to an end face of the respective drive motor 7, for example, the end face facing away from the drive pinion 8, or possibly also the end face facing the drive pinion 8.

[0053] Alternatively or in addition to a brake 26 integrated into a drive motor 7, a separate brake 26 can also be provided which, without a drive motor 7, is assigned to a drive or, in this case, brake pinion 8 which meshes with the gear ring 5 and can be located next to or between the drive motors 7 distributed around the circumference, cf. Figs. 6 and 12. The brake 26 can be a disc or multi-disk brake or, in the case of a pure holding brake, also a claw brake, and can act independently of this on a connecting shaft 25 which is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the pinion 8.

[0054] As Figure 15 and also Figures 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 show, the invention provides that the drive pinions 8 meshing with the gear ring 5 are each directly, i.e. without gears, transmissions or reductions, connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the motor shafts 24 of the respective drive motors 7, so that the drive pinions 8 rotate at the same angular velocity or speed as the aforementioned motor shafts 24 of the drive motors 7.

[0055] The aforementioned drive pinions 8 can be arranged coaxially with the respective motor shaft 24 and can be seated on the aforementioned motor shaft 24 of the drive motor 7 itself. Advantageously, however, the respective motor shaft 24 can be extended, so to speak, by a pinion shaft 25. This pinion or connecting shaft 25 extends coaxially with the motor shaft 24 and is connected to the latter by a rotationally fixed plug connection 16, see Figure 15.

[0056] The plug-in connection 16 can, for example, comprise a keyway connection or another rotationally fixed shaft hub connection, such as a splined or serrated connection. Such a plug-in connection 16 makes it easy to remove the drive pinion 8 together with the connecting shaft 25 from the motor shaft 24, or conversely, to remove the drive motor 7 from the mounted drive pinion 8, for example, if the connecting shaft 25 breaks. Furthermore, common coupling types can also be used, such as curved-tooth or claw couplings, but in particular also torque-limiting couplings such as slip clutches.

[0057] To prevent damage to the teeth of the drive pinion 8 or the gear ring 5, the aforementioned connecting shaft 25 can advantageously be provided with a predetermined breaking point 15 that breaks before excessive loads could damage the teeth of the gearing. As Figure 15 shows, such a predetermined breaking point 15 can comprise, for example, a cross-sectional weakening or a constriction or a circumferential groove on the connecting shaft 25.

[0058] Alternatively or additionally, the key of the aforementioned key connection of the plug connection 16 can also serve as a predetermined breaking point, which shears off in the event of overload.

[0059] As the figures show, the drive device 6 comprises a gear ring 5 which is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the cable drum 2 and a plurality of drive motors 7 which are arranged distributed over the circumference of the gear ring 5 and each drive a drive pinion 8 which meshes with the gear ring 5, wherein the said drive pinions 8 are connected directly, without gears, to the drive motors 7 and rotate at the motor shaft speeds of the drive motors 7.

[0060] The drive motors 7 can advantageously be gearless electric motors.

[0061] Regardless of the motor type, more than three or more than four, for example, five or six drive motors 7 can be provided and connected to the same gear ring 5. With two gear rings on opposite ends of the cable drum 2, three or more than four, for example, five or six drive motors 7 can be provided and connected to each of the gear rings 5, see, for example, Figures 10 and 11.

[0062] Furthermore, it can be provided that the drive pinions 8 and the gear ring 5 are designed such that the drive motors 7, when driving the cable drum 2 as intended, have motor speeds in the range of 3,500 to 6,000 rpm or 4,000 to 5,000 rpm for the cable drum 2. As already mentioned at the beginning, the drive motors 7 can also operate at lower speeds, generally starting with speeds > 0, in order to be able to perform, for example, fine positioning tasks such as placing a container on the ground. Independently of this, the drive motors 7 can each have a moment of inertia of less than 2 kgm 2 or less than 1 kgm 2 to have.

[0063] A control device 9 for controlling the drive motors 7, see Figure 4, can advantageously have a failure operating mode in which, in the event of a failure of the drive power of one or more drive motors 7, the drive powers of the remaining drive motors are increased, in particular increased uniformly, to at least partially compensate for the failed drive power.

[0064] The said failure operating mode can comprise at least two compensation stages, namely a power mode in which the failed drive power is fully compensated by increasing the drive power of the remaining drive motors 7, and an economy mode in which the failed drive power is partially compensated by increasing the drive power of the remaining drive motors 7.

[0065] Preferably, the control device 9 can automatically switch to the failure operating mode if the drive power of one or more drive motors 7 fails, wherein a detection device 10 for detecting a failure of the drive power of each drive motor 7 can be provided, in particular can be designed to detect the failure of the drive power based on the power consumption of the individual drive motors 7, wherein the control device 9 switches to the failure operating mode depending on a failure signal of the detection device 10.

[0066] To further increase efficiency, oil lubrication 11 can be provided for the drive pinions 8.

[0067] This oil lubrication system 11 can comprise an oil bath 12 through which at least one lower sector of the gear ring 5 and / or at least one drive pinion 7 arranged on the lower sector of the gear ring 5 passes. Said oil bath 12 is delimited by a disc-shaped oil pan 13 surrounding the gear ring 5 and having an axial thickness 13A that is narrower than 200% or 150% of the axial thickness 5A of the gear ring 5, see Figure 15. The drive pinions 8 can be arranged in the oil pan 13 and the drive motors 7 outside the oil pan 13. The brake 26 can also be arranged outside the oil pan 13, while the brake pinion meshing with the gear ring 5 can run in the oil bath 13.

[0068] In order to immerse as many pinions as possible in the oil bath with a limited oil bath volume, the drive pinions 8 can be arranged in a concentrated manner towards the lower half of the ring gear 5, so that preferably all of them run in the said oil bath 12.

[0069] Alternatively, it can also be provided that the drive pinions 8 are evenly distributed over the circumference of the gear ring 5 and at least one drive pinion 8 runs outside the oil bath 12.

[0070] In order to save unnecessary oil volume, it can be provided that the oil pan 13 has circumferential pinion bulges 17, each of which nestles around a drive pinion 8, as well as circumferential constrictions 18 between the pinion bulges 17.

[0071] Regardless of the specific oil pan contour, a circulating lubrication system can be provided, which can drain the oil from the oil bath, cool it, and / or filter it, and return it back to the oil bath. Lubricant supply and discharge openings or connections can be provided, for example, on the front oil pan walls that define the oil bath, particularly on the upright wall through which the connecting shafts 25, to which the drive pinions are attached, are guided into the oil chamber (see Figures 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15).

[0072] Alternatively or in addition to oil bath lubrication, the oil lubrication 11 may also comprise oil mist lubrication.

[0073] Furthermore, the oil mist lubrication system can comprise at least one atomizer 14 designed to spray oil mist onto at least one drive pinion 8 (see Fig. 6). Such an atomizer can also be assigned to each drive pinion 8. To avoid downtimes due to tooth breakage, a predetermined breaking point 15 can be provided between the drive pinions 8 and the drive motors 7 to protect the drive pinions 8 and the gear ring 5 (see Figure 15).

[0074] Irrespective of this, it may be useful if a torque-transmitting plug connection 16, in particular a key connection or a splined shaft connection, is provided between the drive pinions 8 and the motor shafts of the drive motors 7.

[0075] The plug connection 16 is advantageously detachable, at least if the predetermined breaking point 15 is broken, so that simple repair or replacement is easily possible. Alternatively or in addition to a plug connection, couplings of various designs can also be provided to enable easy replacement.

[0076] As can be seen from the above description, the proposed gear ring winch is essentially characterized by the following aspects:

[0077] • The invention is intended to replace existing container handling winch designs and incorporate additional advantages for the end application. The gear-ring cable winch is intended to enable highly efficient and dynamic container handling, offering very high reliability with a simple, maintenance-friendly design.

[0078] • By distributing the power across several small engines, they can be operated at higher speeds, which advantageously results in a larger speed range, which leads to higher top speeds when running empty.

[0079] By distributing power across several smaller motors and multiple independent tooth meshes in the gear ring, a multiply redundant system design is ensured. At the same time, each drive train can be protected independently thanks to the patented tooth fracture safety geometry.

[0080] Oil lubrication, particularly in the form of oil mist lubrication, ensures highly efficient lubrication and heat dissipation with at least one oil supply.

[0081] The smaller engines are more marketable and therefore easier to obtain. This ensures significantly lower costs for new and replacement engines.

[0082] The drive concept with smaller motors reduces the overall inertia, enabling more dynamic drive behavior. At the same time, the system is subjected to less stress in the event of a snag load (container becoming stuck) due to the faster deceleration of the rotating masses. The winch's power consumption is significantly reduced due to the low inertia during acceleration, resulting in significant energy savings.

[0083] Due to the reduced number of tooth engagements, the efficiency can be increased to an optimum.

[0084] In the event of maintenance, the individual drive units can be replaced quickly and easily, resulting in high availability.

[0085] The small individual drive units allow the system to be constructed modularly, a building block system.

Claims

Gear ring winch Claims Gear ring cable winch, with a cable drum (2) and a drive device (6) for driving the cable drum (2), wherein the drive device comprises a gear ring (5) which is rotationally connected to the cable drum (2) and a plurality of drive motors (7) which are arranged distributed over the circumference of the gear ring (5) and each drive a drive pinion (8) which meshes with the gear ring (5), characterized in that the drive pinions (8) are connected directly, without gears, to the drive motors (7) and rotate at the motor shaft speeds of the drive motors (7). Gear ring cable winch according to the preceding claim, wherein the drive motors (7) are gearless electric motors. Gear ring cable winch according to one of the preceding claims, wherein more than three or more than four drive motors (7) are provided and are connected to the same gear ring (5). A gear-ring cable winch according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the drive pinions (8) and the gear ring (5) are designed such that the drive motors (7) have motor speeds in the range of 3,500 to 6,000 rpm or 4,000 to 5,000 rpm for the cable drum (2) when driving the cable drum (2) as intended. A gear-ring cable winch according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the drive motors (7) are each designed to have a moment of inertia of less than 2 kgm. 2 or less than 1 kgm 2A gear-ring cable winch according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a control device (9) is provided for controlling the drive motors (7), which control device has a failure operating mode in which, in the event of a failure of the drive power of one or more drive motors (7), the drive powers of the remaining drive motors are increased, in particular increased uniformly, to at least partially compensate for the failed drive power. A gear-ring cable winch according to the preceding claim, wherein the failure operating mode comprises at least two compensation stages, namely a power mode in which the failed drive power is fully compensated by increasing the drive power of the remaining drive motors (7), and an economy mode in which the failed drive power is partially compensated by increasing the drive power of the remaining drive motors (7).A gear ring cable winch according to one of the two preceding claims, wherein the control device (9) is designed to automatically switch to the failure operating mode if the drive power of one or more drive motors (7) fails, wherein a detection device (10) is provided for detecting a failure of the drive power of each drive motor (7), in particular is designed to detect the failure of the drive power on the basis of the power consumption of the individual drive motors (7), wherein the control device (9) switches to the failure operating mode depending on a failure signal of the detection device (10). A gear-ring cable winch according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a wet, in particular oil, lubrication system (11) is provided for the drive pinions (8). A gear-ring cable winch according to the preceding claim, wherein the wet lubrication system (11) comprises a lubricant bath (12) through which at least one lower sector of the gear ring (5) and / or at least one drive pinion (7) arranged on the lower sector of the gear ring (5) passes, wherein said lubricant bath (12) is delimited by a disc-shaped and / or annular lubricant pan (13) surrounding the gear ring (5) and having an axial thickness (13A) that is narrower than 200% or 150% of the axial thickness (5A) of the gear ring (5). A gear ring cable winch according to the preceding claim, wherein the drive pinions (8) are arranged in the lubricant tray (13) and the drive motors (7) are arranged outside the lubricant tray (13).A gear-ring cable winch according to one of the two preceding claims, wherein the drive pinions (8) are arranged in a concentrated manner towards the lower half of the gear ring (5) and all run in said lubricant bath (12). A gear-ring cable winch according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the drive pinions (8) are arranged uniformly distributed over the circumference of the gear ring (5) and at least one drive pinion (8) runs outside the lubricant bath (12). A gear-ring cable winch according to one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the lubricant pan (13) has circumferential pinion bulges (17), each of which nestles around a drive pinion (8), and circumferential constrictions (18) between the pinion bulges (17). A gear-ring cable winch according to one of the preceding claims 10 to 14, wherein the wet lubrication (11) comprises a mist lubrication.A gear ring cable winch according to the preceding claim, wherein the mist lubrication comprises at least one atomizer (14) designed to spray lubricant mist onto at least one drive pinion (8). A gear-ring cable winch according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a predetermined breaking point (15) is provided between each of the drive pinions (8) and the drive motors (7) to protect the gear ring (5). A gear-ring cable winch according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a torque-transmitting plug-in connection (16), in particular a keyed connection or a splined connection, is provided between the drive pinions (8) and the motor shafts of the drive motors (7). A gear-ring cable winch according to the two preceding claims, wherein the plug-in connection (16) is detachable at least when the predetermined breaking point (15) is broken. A hoist with a gear-ring cable winch designed according to one of claims 1 to 19. A hoist according to the preceding claim, which is designed as a container crane.

Images