Pneumatic Unloader

Abstract

This invention provides a pneumatic unloader that can significantly reduce the burden on the operator by continuously automating cargo handling operations performed at multiple locations. [Solution] A pneumatic unloader 1 has a control device 22 that performs cargo handling by sucking bulk material from a suction nozzle 11 and has a support function 23 that automatically controls the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11 during cargo handling so that an appropriate suction pressure is maintained. The control device 22 has a support position setting function 24 that records the operation procedure when the suction nozzle 11 is moved sequentially to multiple positions by manual operation as information for identifying each position, and an automatic operation function 25 that automatically traces each position in reverse based on the recorded information and automatically controls the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11 at each position.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a pneumatic unloader.

Background Art

[0002] As an unloader for unloading various bulk materials such as grains loaded from a ship moored at a quay, a pneumatic unloader is known which performs unloading by inserting a suction nozzle into the cargo and performing suction.

[0003] This type of pneumatic unloader includes a horizontal telescoping pipe connected to a receiver tank disposed on the quay side and extending in the lateral direction, a bend pipe connected to the horizontal telescoping pipe and bent downward, a vertical telescoping pipe connected to the tip of the bend pipe and extending substantially vertically downward, and a suction nozzle connected to the tip of the vertical telescoping pipe and inserted into the cargo, and is configured to perform unloading by sucking the cargo from the suction nozzle by the suction force of a vacuum blower.

[0004] In such a conventional pneumatic unloader, since all operations related to cargo handling had to be performed manually by the operator, there was a problem that the burden on the operator engaged in the cargo handling work was large. However, a pneumatic unloader equipped with a control device that automatically controls the lifting operation of the suction nozzle during cargo handling work so as to maintain an appropriate suction pressure has been devised by the same applicant as the present invention, and has already been filed as Patent Document 1 as shown below.

[0005] According to the pneumatic unloader of Patent Document 1, the burden on the operator can be reduced compared to the prior art by performing the lifting operation of the suction nozzle after the start of the manual bulk cargo handling operation by the operator through automatic control by the control device.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

[0007] However, in the case of the pneumatic unloader proposed in Patent Document 1, it was only possible to automatically assist in raising and lowering the suction nozzle during cargo handling operations performed at specific locations. Therefore, when performing cargo handling operations at each location while moving the suction nozzle to multiple positions, the suction nozzle had to be moved manually each time, and it did not continuously reduce the burden on the operator.

[0008] This invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a pneumatic unloader that can significantly reduce the burden on the operator by continuously automating cargo handling operations performed at multiple locations. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention relates to a pneumatic unloader that performs cargo handling by sucking bulk material from a suction nozzle and has a control device equipped with an assistance function that automatically controls the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle during cargo handling so as to maintain an appropriate suction pressure, wherein the control device is characterized by having an assistance position setting function that records the operation procedure when the suction nozzle is moved sequentially to a plurality of positions by manual operation as information for identifying each position, and an automatic operation function that automatically traces each position in reverse based on the recorded information and continuously performs automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle at each position.

[0010] Thus, by using the support position setting function of the control device, the operating procedure when the suction nozzle is moved sequentially to multiple positions by manual operation is recorded as information for identifying each position. Then, the automatic operation function of the control device can automatically retrace each position in reverse based on the recorded information and continuously perform automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle at each position. As a result, when performing cargo handling operations at multiple positions, it is possible not only to perform the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle by automatic control using the support function, but also to continuously automate the entire series of cargo handling operations, including movement between each position.

[0011] Furthermore, in the present invention, it is preferable to provide a landing detector that detects the landing of the suction nozzle during cargo handling operations at each position, and to have a control device automatically control the operation to terminate the cargo handling operations at each position and move to the next position when the landing detector detects landing multiple times in a row during the automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle.

[0012] Furthermore, in implementing the present invention in more detail, it is preferable to include a pressure sensor for measuring the suction pressure used to draw in bulk materials, and to automatically control the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle during bulk material handling operations using a control device so that an appropriate suction pressure is maintained based on the measurement value of the pressure sensor. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the pneumatic unloader of the present invention, not only is the raising and lowering of the suction nozzle automatically controlled when performing cargo handling operations at multiple locations, but the entire series of cargo handling operations, including movement between each location, can be continuously automated. This has the excellent effect of significantly reducing the burden on the operator compared to conventional methods. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0014] [Figure 1] This is a diagram showing the main components of one embodiment of the pneumatic unloader of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is an overall schematic diagram of the pneumatic unloader. [Figure 3] Figure 1 is a flowchart showing the specific control procedure in the control device. [Figure 4] This flowchart provides a more detailed explanation of the control procedures for the key steps shown in Figure 1. [Figure 5] This is an explanatory diagram showing the different positions for moving the suction nozzle. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016] Figures 1 and 2 show one embodiment of the present invention. First, the overall configuration of the pneumatic unloader 1 in this embodiment will be described below with reference to Figure 2. This type of pneumatic unloader 1 includes a receiver tank 3 disposed on the quay side 2, a vacuum blower 5 connected to the receiver tank 3 via an air pipe 4, a horizontal telescopic tube 6 swingably connected to the receiver tank 3 and extending laterally, a swinging mechanism 7 for swinging the horizontal telescopic tube 6, a bend pipe 8 connected to the end of the horizontal telescopic tube 6 and bending downward, a vertical telescopic tube 9 connected to the end of the bend pipe 8 and extending substantially vertically downward, and a suction nozzle 11 connected to the end of the vertical telescopic tube 9 and inserted to a predetermined depth into the bulk cargo loaded on the ship 10. Furthermore, a flexible pipe 12 is interposed between the bend pipe 8 and the vertical telescopic tube 9, and a flexible pipe 13 is interposed between the vertical telescopic tube 9 and the suction nozzle 11.

[0017] Here, the horizontal telescopic pipe 6 includes a large-diameter pipe section 6a connected to the receiver tank 3 and a small-diameter pipe section 6b slidably inserted into the large-diameter pipe section 6a, and is configured to be expandable and contractible by moving the large-diameter pipe section 6a and the small-diameter pipe section 6b relative to each other using the horizontal telescopic device 14.

[0018] Further, the vertical telescopic tube 9 includes the large-diameter tube portion 9a and the small-diameter tube portion 9b slidably inserted into the large-diameter tube portion 9a, and is configured to be extendable and retractable by causing the large-diameter tube portion 9a and the small-diameter tube portion 9b to move relative to each other via the vertical telescopic device 15.

[0019] In the present embodiment, bulk materials as cargo handling objects (objects to be conveyed) are sucked into the suction nozzle 11 together with air, then introduced into the receiver tank 3 via the flexible tube 13, the vertical telescopic tube 9, the flexible tube 12, the bend tube 8 and the horizontal telescopic tube 6, the bulk materials separated from the air by the receiver tank 3 are supplied to the quay conveyor 16 or another vessel (not shown), while the air separated from the bulk materials is configured to be sucked into the vacuum blower 5 from the air pipe 4.

[0020] Next, the detailed structure of the suction nozzle 11 and the vertical telescopic device 15 will be described with reference to Figure 1. The suction nozzle 11 has a double-pipe structure in its cylinder, and is configured to reverse the secondary air flow, which descends through the outer peripheral flow passage, at the suction port into the inner peripheral flow passage to suck up the bulk materials, and the vertical telescopic device 15 is configured as a winch that extends and retracts the vertical telescopic tube 9 via winding and unwinding of the wire rope 17.

[0021] Here, to supplementarily describe the vertical telescopic device 15, the vertical telescopic device 15 includes the wire rope 17 whose tip is attached to the small-diameter tube portion 9b of the vertical telescopic tube 9, the drum 18 around which the wire rope 17 is wound, and the electric motor 19 that rotates the drum 18.

[0022] Further, a load cell 20 for detecting the load applied to the wire rope 17 is provided as a landing detector at the end of the wire rope 17 on the flexible tube 13 side in the vertical telescopic device 15, a detection signal 20a of the load cell 20 is input to the control device 22, and the control device 22 is configured to be able to determine that the suction nozzle 11 has landed when the load applied to the wire rope 17 decreases to a value equal to or lower than a specified value.

[0023] Furthermore, a pressure sensor 21 is installed at an appropriate position upstream of the horizontal expansion joint 6 to detect the internal pressure of the horizontal expansion joint 6 as the suction pressure for drawing in bulk material. The pressure sensor 21 detects the suction pressure of the bulk material and monitors the degree of negative pressure, thereby allowing confirmation of whether the bulk material is being sucked up normally without clogging.

[0024] The detection signal 21a from the pressure sensor 21 is input to the control device 22, and the control device 22 outputs a control signal 19a to the motor 19 of the vertical extension device 15 based on this detection signal 21a, thereby controlling the drive of the motor 19.

[0025] Here, the control device 22 is equipped with a support function 23 that automatically controls the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11 so as to maintain an appropriate suction pressure. This support function 23 is the same as that described in the aforementioned Patent Document 1 and is already well known technology, so its explanation will be omitted.

[0026] In this embodiment, the support function 23 describes only the basic function of automatically controlling the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11 by the control device 22 based on the detection signal 21a of the pressure sensor 21 so that an appropriate suction pressure is maintained. However, it is of course possible to provide options such as a distance sensor for measuring the distance from the suction nozzle 11 to the bulk material, as described in Patent Document 1, and maintaining an appropriate distance based on the measurement value of the distance sensor, or a tilt sensor for measuring the tilt angle of the suction nozzle 11, and maintaining the tilt angle within a specified value based on the measurement value of the tilt sensor.

[0027] Furthermore, the control device 22 is equipped with a support position setting function 24 that records the operation procedure when the suction nozzle 11 is moved sequentially to multiple positions by manual operation as information for identifying each position, and an automatic operation function 25 that, based on the recorded information, automatically retraces each position in reverse and continuously performs automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11 by the support function 23 at each position.

[0028] Furthermore, the control device 22 receives operation signals 26a from the manual operation system 26 in the driver's seat of the pneumatic unloader 1 and instruction signals 27a from the touch panel 27 in the driver's seat, while outputting control signals 28a to the various operation systems 28 that are responsible for the elevation and rotation movements of the pneumatic unloader 1.

[0029] Figures 3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating the specific control procedures for the support position setting function 24 and the automatic driving function 25 of the control device 22. When performing cargo handling operations at multiple positions while moving the suction nozzle 11 to multiple positions, first, in step S1 of the flowchart in Figure 3, the operator displays the setting screen for each function on the touch panel 27 in the driver's cab and manually moves the suction nozzle 11 toward the final position among the multiple positions to which it should be moved for cargo handling operations. In step S3, this position is set on the touch panel 27 as a reference point for recording the operation procedure.

[0030] In other words, as shown in Figure 5, when the cargo handling operation is performed by moving the suction nozzle 11 in the order A→B→C, the position of the suction nozzle 11 is moved manually in the order C→B→A to record the operation procedure, and based on the recorded information, the system automatically traverses each position in reverse order A→B→C, and at each position, the automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11 by the support function 23 is performed continuously. Therefore, the system first moves to C, which is the final position of the cargo handling operation, and this position is used as the reference point for recording the operation procedure.

[0031] Once a reference point for recording the operation procedure has been determined in this way, the process proceeds to step S4, where the device is manually moved towards the next position ([final-n: the final position is shown as C in Figure 5, and n=1 in the initial step], which selects B in Figure 5). In the next step S5, the operation procedure up to the arrival position is recorded by operating the touch panel 27.

[0032] Here, since the movement of the suction nozzle 11 is performed by the horizontal extension and retraction of the horizontal telescopic tube 6 and the rotation of the boom, if the number of forward and backward movements and the duration of those movements are recorded for the horizontal extension and retraction of the horizontal telescopic tube 6, and the number of left and right movements and the duration of those movements are also recorded for the rotation of the boom, it becomes possible to record this information to identify the destination position after movement.

[0033] For the sake of explanation, this is described using a single operating speed. However, if the operating speed is varied across multiple speeds, the operating time at each speed should be accumulated and recorded based on the speed command used during operation.

[0034] Then, in the next step S6, a decision is made as to whether or not to start automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11. However, at this stage, only the second position has been recorded, so the process proceeds to step S7, where n is incremented by +1, and then the process returns to step S4, where the device is manually moved to the next position ([final - n: n=2], which selects A in Figure 5).

[0035] In this way, once the suction nozzle 11 has been manually moved in the order C→B→A and the operation procedure has been recorded, a decision has been made in step S6 to start automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11. In the next step S8, the operator instructs the start of automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11 on the touch panel 27 in the driver's cab. In step S9, the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11 is started under automatic control. After the position of the cargo handling operation is changed in step S10, which will be described in detail later with reference to Figure 4, in the next step S11, it is determined whether the cargo handling operation has been completed at all positions. If it has not been completed, the process returns to the previous step S10 and the same procedure is repeated. If it has been completed at all positions, the control of the cargo handling operation is now complete.

[0036] Furthermore, to provide additional information regarding the change in the cargo handling position in step S10, the details are as shown in the flowchart in Figure 4. In step S12, while the automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11 is in progress, in step S13, it is determined whether the load cell 20 has detected "light (a decrease in load below the specified value)" twice in a row.

[0037] In this case, if "light" is detected twice in a row in step S13, it is assumed that there is no more bulk material to be sucked up at that position and the suction nozzle 11 has reached (settle) the bottom of the ship, and the process proceeds to step S14, in which the vertical telescopic device 15 automatically retracts the vertical telescopic tube 9 to raise the suction nozzle 11.

[0038] Next, in step S15, information on the operating procedure for moving to the next position is read out, and in the next step S16, it is determined whether the current position is the final position. If it is the final position (C in Figure 5), the process proceeds to step S17, where the suction nozzle 11 is raised in the same manner as in step S14, after which the operation ends, and the process proceeds to step S11 in the flow diagram of Figure 3 mentioned above.

[0039] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S16 that the current position is not the final position, the process proceeds to step S18, where movement to the next position begins based on the information of the operation procedure for moving to the next position read in step S15. After the automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11 is resumed in step S19, the control procedure from step S12 is repeated.

[0040] Furthermore, as long as "light" is not detected twice in a row in step S13, the process proceeds to step S20 to determine whether the vertical telescopic tube 9 has reached its extension limit. If it has not reached its extension limit, the control procedure from step S12 is repeated. If it has reached its extension limit, step S21 determines whether it is the first detection. If it is the first detection, the horizontal telescopic tube 6 is raised and lowered to lower the suction nozzle 11, and the control procedure from step S12 is repeated.

[0041] Furthermore, if the second detection occurs after the first detection in step S21, the process proceeds to step S14, where the suction nozzle 11 is raised, and the control procedure to move to the next position as described above is performed.

[0042] Thus, by doing so, the support position setting function 24 in the control device 22 records the operation procedure when the suction nozzle 11 is moved sequentially to multiple positions by manual operation as information for identifying each position. Then, the automatic operation function 25 in the control device 22 can automatically retrace each position in reverse based on the recorded information and continuously perform automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle at each position. As a result, not only is the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle 11 performed by the support function 23 automatically controlled when performing cargo handling operations at multiple positions, but the entire series of cargo handling operations, including movement between each position, can be continuously automated, thereby significantly reducing the burden on the operator compared to conventional methods.

[0043] Furthermore, the pneumatic unloader of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. As an example, the case in which the suction nozzle is moved at three locations A, B, and C in Figure 5 to perform cargo handling operations is described, but it is similarly applicable when the suction nozzle is moved at two or four or more locations to perform cargo handling operations. Also, the landing detector only needs to be a mechanism that can detect the landing of the suction nozzle and is not necessarily limited to a load cell mechanism as described in the embodiments. Of course, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0044] 1. Pneumatic Unloader 11 Suction nozzle 20 Load cell (implantation detector) 21 Pressure Sensor 22 Control device 23. Support Functions 24 Support position setting function 25. Autonomous driving function

Claims

1. A pneumatic unloader that performs cargo handling by sucking bulk material from a suction nozzle and has a control device that has an assistance function to automatically control the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle so that an appropriate suction pressure is maintained during the cargo handling operation, The control device is a pneumatic unloader equipped with a support position setting function that records the operation procedure when the suction nozzle is sequentially moved to multiple positions by manual operation as information for identifying each position, and an automatic operation function that, based on the recorded information, automatically retraces each position in reverse and automatically controls the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle at each position.

2. The pneumatic unloader according to claim 1, further comprising a landing detector that detects the landing of the suction nozzle during cargo handling operations at each position, and a control device that automatically controls the operation to terminate cargo handling operations at each position and move to the next position when the landing detector detects landing multiple times in a row during automatic control of the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle.

3. A pneumatic unloader according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a pressure sensor for measuring the suction pressure used to pull in bulk materials, and a control device that automatically controls the raising and lowering operation of the suction nozzle during bulk material handling operations so as to maintain an appropriate suction pressure based on the measurement value of the pressure sensor.

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