Electric cargo handling machine charging system

Abstract

To provide an electric cargo handling machine charging system in a container terminal, which prevents waiting for electric cargo handling machines to be charged.SOLUTION: The electric cargo handling charging system in a container terminal having at least one charging facility and a plurality of electric cargo handling machines is configured to execute at least the following steps: an acquisition step of acquiring a cargo handling plan information and power consumption information per unit travel distance of the plurality of electric cargo handling machines; a calculation step of calculating a predicted time of arrival at the charging facility and a predicted charging time for the plurality of electric cargo handling machines on the basis of the cargo handling plan information and the power consumption information per unit travel distance of the plurality of electric cargo handling machines; a selection step of selecting charging facilities to be used by the plurality of electric loading equipment; and an instruction step of instructing, to the plurality of electric cargo handling machines, the predicted time of arrival at the charging facility, the predicted charging time, and the charging machines to be used calculated in the calculation step.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a charging system for electric cargo handling equipment. [Background technology]

[0002] As efforts to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere become more active to prevent global warming, the Carbon Neutral Port (CNP) initiative has been launched in Japan, and efforts to reduce GHG emissions in port areas are being promoted. Container terminals located in port areas are being required to reduce the use of fossil fuels such as diesel fuel used in the loading and unloading equipment used to load and unload containers.

[0003] Among major loading and unloading equipment, container cranes are being increasingly electrified. However, diesel engines that run on light oil are still used for the tractor heads that transport containers. Therefore, development of electric tractor heads is underway to decarbonize tractor heads.

[0004] When electric tractor heads are introduced at a container terminal, it is necessary to install charging equipment to charge the electric tractor heads. However, due to the cost of charging equipment and the issue of securing space for installation, it is desirable to install the minimum number of such equipment necessary. However, if the charging timings of multiple electric tractor heads overlap, charging waits will occur, which could result in reduced loading and unloading efficiency.

[0005] Patent Document 1 discloses a charging system for an unmanned forklift. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-160905 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, at container terminals, loading and unloading of docked ships must be completed within a specified time, and there is a concern that regenerating the schedule every time the remaining battery charge falls below a specified level could result in delays to loading and unloading operations. Therefore, it is desirable to have a schedule that makes use of limited charging facilities while also taking into account charging opportunities.

[0008] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a charging system for electric loading and unloading equipment in a container terminal, which prevents electric loading and unloading equipment from having to wait for charging. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] A first aspect of the present invention is a charging system in a container terminal having at least one charging facility and a plurality of electric cargo handling devices, configured to perform at least the following steps: In the acquisition step, cargo handling plan information and power consumption information per unit travel distance of the plurality of electric cargo handling devices are acquired, In the calculation step, a predicted time of arrival at a charging facility and a predicted charging time of the plurality of electric loading devices are calculated based on the loading plan information and information on power consumption per unit travel distance of the plurality of electric loading devices, In the selection step, a charging facility to be used by the plurality of electric loading devices is selected; In the instructing step, the charging system instructs the plurality of electric loading devices of the estimated charging facility arrival time, the estimated charging time, and the charging facility to be used, which are calculated in the calculating step.

[0010] A second aspect of the present invention is a method for charging electric loading / unloading equipment in a container terminal having at least one charging facility and a plurality of electric loading / unloading equipment, comprising: configured to perform at least the following steps: In the acquisition step, cargo handling plan information and power consumption information per unit travel distance of the plurality of electric cargo handling devices are acquired, In the calculation step, a predicted time of arrival at a charging facility and a predicted charging time of the plurality of electric loading devices are calculated based on the loading plan information and information on power consumption per unit travel distance of the plurality of electric loading devices, In the selection step, a charging facility to be used by the plurality of electric loading devices is selected; In the instructing step, the estimated charging facility arrival time, the estimated charging time, and the charging facility to be used, which are calculated in the calculating step, are instructed to the plurality of electric loading devices. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] Overall view of Container Terminal 1 [Diagram 2] Detailed diagram of electric cargo handling equipment charging system 2 [Diagram 3] Flowchart diagram according to the first embodiment [Figure 4] Flowchart diagram according to another embodiment DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Various features shown in the following preferred embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0013] <First embodiment> 1 shows an overall view of a container terminal 1. The container terminal 1 mainly includes a gantry crane 3, a portal crane 4, an electric tractor head 5, a container 6, and a charging facility 7.

[0014] The gantry crane 3 is a device for loading and unloading containers 6 transported by a ship 10 (not shown) to land, or for loading and unloading containers 6 stored in the container terminal 1 onto the ship 10.

[0015] The gantry crane 4 is a device primarily used to store containers 6 at designated positions within the container terminal 1, or to load stored containers 6 onto a chassis 51 (not shown) towed by an electric tractor head 5.

[0016] The electric tractor head 5 is a vehicle that tows a chassis 51 on which a container 6 described below is loaded, and is equipped with a storage battery 52 (not shown) and is driven by operating a motor using electricity stored in the storage battery 52 as an energy source. Although six electric tractor heads 5 are shown in Fig. 1 at the container terminal 1, the number is optimized according to the scale of the container terminal.

[0017] The container 6 is a metal container for transporting cargo, and is mainly 20-foot or 40-foot in size. In the container terminal 1, the containers 6 are stored in designated storage areas separated by whether they are export containers, import containers, or export destinations.

[0018] The charging equipment 7 is primarily intended for charging the storage battery 52 mounted on the electric tractor head 5, but also targets other port electric cargo handling equipment such as forklifts, top lifters, and straddle carriers. The charging equipment 7 employs a conductive system using a connector, as is used in general electric vehicles, but is not limited to this. In addition, the container terminal 1 in FIG. 1 has three sets of charging equipment 7, but these are optimized according to the scale of the container terminal.

[0019] An example of one loading and unloading operation performed at the container terminal 1 is shown below. When a ship 10 loaded with a container 6 arrives at a quay, a gantry crane 3 unloads the container 6 loaded on the ship 10 onto the land side. The unloaded container 6 is loaded onto a chassis 51 towed by an electric tractor head 5 waiting under the gantry crane 3. After the container 6 is loaded onto the chassis 51, the electric tractor head 5 transports the container 6 to a designated storage area. Then, the container 6 is stored in the storage area by a gantry crane 4 in the storage area. Note that the above-mentioned operation is merely an example, and there are also other patterns, such as the reverse process to the above, and transporting the container 6 from a specific storage area to another storage area.

[0020] FIG. 2 shows a detailed diagram of the electric cargo handling equipment charging system 2. The electric cargo handling equipment charging system 2 mainly comprises an electric tractor head 5, a charging facility 7, a server 8, and a cargo handling management system 9, which are connected through a network. The network here is not limited to a private network, but may be a public network or a virtual network. FIG. 2 shows a charging system for only electric tractor heads, but the target port electric cargo handling equipment is not limited to this, and port electric cargo handling equipment present in a container terminal, such as a forklift, a top lifter, and a straddle carrier, may also be the target.

[0021] The electric tractor head 5 and the charging facility 7 are connected to a communication unit 102 in a server 8 (described later) via a network, and are configured to be able to transfer data between the server 8 and the electric tractor head 5 and the charging facility 7.

[0022] The server 8 has a communication unit 102, a recording unit 103, a control unit 104, and a calculation unit 105, and these components are electrically connected via a communication bus 101 inside the server 8. Note that the server 8 can utilize a locally existing server device, but may also be a cloud server.

[0023] The communication unit 102 may be a wired communication means such as USB, IEEE1394, Thunderbolt, wired LAN network communication, or a wireless LAN network communication, mobile communication such as 5G, LTE, 3G, Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication, but is not limited thereto. The server 8 transmits and receives, via the communication unit 102, cargo handling plan information, power consumption information per unit travel distance of the electric tractor head 5 (hereinafter referred to as "power consumption information"), estimated time of arrival at the charging facility, and information regarding estimated charging time, via the network with the electric tractor head 5 and the charging facility 7. Details will be described later.

[0024] The recording unit 103 records information received from the electric tractor head 5 and the charging facility 7 described above, as well as values ​​calculated by the calculation unit 105 described below, and details will be described later. This can be implemented, for example, as a storage device such as a solid state drive (SSD) that records various programs related to the server 8 executed by the control unit 104 described below, or as a memory such as a random access memory (RAM) that records temporarily required information (arguments, arrays, etc.) related to the calculation of the programs. Alternatively, it may be a combination of these.

[0025] The control unit 104 processes and controls the overall operation related to the server 8. The control unit 104 is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) (not shown). The control unit 104 transmits and receives information on the mileage and the charge amount, and calculates the power consumption for one loading and unloading operation by reading out a predetermined program recorded in the recording unit 103. That is, the information processing by the software recorded in the recording unit 103 is specifically realized by the control unit 104, which is an example of hardware, and can be executed as a functional unit (not shown) included in the control unit 104. These will be described in detail later. The control unit 104 is not limited to being single, and may be implemented to have multiple control units 104 for each function, or a combination of them.

[0026] The calculation unit 105 calculates the time when the electric tractor head 5 will arrive at the charging equipment 7 based on the loading and unloading plan information recorded in the recording unit 103, and also calculates the expected charging time from the travel distance calculated based on the loading and unloading plan information and the amount of power consumption calculated based on the electricity cost information, and records the calculated time in the recording unit 103.

[0027] 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of information processing executed by the electric cargo handling equipment charging system 2. Each flow of this flowchart will be described below.

[0028] The server 8 records the loading plan information of the container terminal 1 and the electricity cost information of the electric tractor head 5 to be charged received by the communication unit 102 in the recording unit 103 (S101), and the electric tractor head 5 to be charged carries out loading operations in accordance with the acquired loading plan (S102).

[0029] The calculation unit 105 of the server 8 calculates the estimated time that the electric tractor head 5 to be charged will arrive at the charging facility 7 of the container terminal 1 after the loading and unloading operation is completed from the above-mentioned loading and unloading plan information, and also calculates the estimated charging time from the travel distance estimated from the above-mentioned electricity cost information and loading and unloading plan information and the known specifications of the charging facility 7 (S103). At this time, the estimated arrival time and estimated charging time for each of the multiple charging facilities 7 owned by the container terminal 1 are calculated.

[0030] Then, from the estimated arrival time at each charging facility 7 and the estimated charging time calculated in step S103, the server 8 selects the charging facility 7 that will minimize the charging wait time for the electric tractor head 5 to be charged and that will have the shortest estimated charging time (S104). That is, since the occupancy period of each charging facility 7 is known from the estimated arrival time and estimated charging time calculated for the electric tractor head 5 that departs earlier than the electric tractor head 5 in question, the charging wait time at each charging facility 7 is calculated from the estimated arrival time of the electric tractor head 5 in question. Also, if there are two or more charging facilities 7 with the same charging wait time, the one with the shortest estimated charging time is selected.

[0031] The server 8 instructs the electric tractor head 5 to be charged of the charging facility 7 to be used, selected in S104 (S105). Then, the electric tractor head 5 to be charged moves to the instructed charging facility 7 (S106) and charges the on-board storage battery 52 (S107).

[0032] This makes it possible to carry out efficient cargo handling operations at the container terminal without having multiple electric tractor heads 5 waiting to be charged.

[0033] <Other embodiments> 4 is a flow chart according to another embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is that the server 8 receives the position information of the electric tractor head 5 via the communication unit 103 (S201), and from the position information, the error in the position of the electric tractor head 5 relative to the original loading and unloading plan can be recognized, and when estimating the expected time when the electric tractor head 5 will arrive at the charging facility 7, the distance corresponding to the error is corrected by the time required to travel (S204). This makes it possible to calculate the expected arrival time with high accuracy.

[0034] The electric tractor head 5 is equipped with a receiver, and acquires position information by receiving, for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal, but other positioning methods such as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) may also be used.

[0035] In another embodiment of the present invention, the multiple electric tractor heads 5 may have an automatic transport function. By automatically controlling the operation from loading and unloading to transportation to the charging facility 7, it is possible to prevent the charging plan from being disrupted due to differences in driver skills.

[0036] The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The invention can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Such embodiments and modifications are within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1. Container Terminal 2. Electric cargo handling equipment charging system 3. Gantry Crane 4 Gantry Crane 5 Electric Tractor Head 6 Container 7 Charging equipment 10 Server 11 Cargo handling management system 101 Communication Bus 102 Communications Department 103 Recording Department 104 Control section 105 Arithmetic section

Claims

1. An electric cargo handling equipment charging system in a container terminal having at least one charging facility and a plurality of electric cargo handling equipment, configured to perform at least the following steps: In the acquisition step, cargo handling plan information and power consumption information per unit travel distance of the plurality of electric cargo handling devices are acquired, In the calculation step, a predicted time of arrival at a charging facility and a predicted charging time of the plurality of electric loading devices are calculated based on the loading plan information and information on power consumption per unit travel distance of the plurality of electric loading devices, In the selection step, a charging facility to be used by the plurality of electric loading devices is selected; In the instructing step, the charging system instructs the plurality of electric loading devices of the estimated charging facility arrival time, the estimated charging time, and the charging facility to be used, which are calculated in the calculating step.

2. 2. The charging system according to claim 1, Further comprising a correction step, In the acquiring step, position information of the plurality of electric loading devices is further acquired, In the correcting step, the estimated charging facility arrival time calculated in the calculating step is corrected based on the position information.

3. 3. The charging system according to claim 1, It also has a charging step. In the charging step, the charging facility charges the plurality of electric loading devices in accordance with the instruction in the instruction step.

4. The charging system according to claim 3, The plurality of electric cargo handling devices have an automatic transport function, In the charging step, the plurality of electric loading devices are automatically guided to the charging facility.

5. A method for charging electric loading / unloading equipment in a container terminal having at least one charging facility and a plurality of electric loading / unloading equipment, comprising: configured to perform at least the following steps: In the acquisition step, cargo handling plan information and power consumption information per unit travel distance of the plurality of electric cargo handling devices are acquired, In the calculation step, a predicted time of arrival at a charging facility and a predicted charging time of the plurality of electric loading devices are calculated based on the loading plan information and information on power consumption per unit travel distance of the plurality of electric loading devices, In the selection step, a charging facility to be used by the plurality of electric loading devices is selected; In the instructing step, the estimated charging facility arrival time, the estimated charging time, and the charging facility to be used, which are calculated in the calculating step, are instructed to the plurality of electric loading devices.

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