Low Elevated Transfer System for Container Terminals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current container loading/unloading systems at terminals face inefficiencies due to reliance on diesel engine-driven vehicles, leading to high operational costs, environmental pollution, and limited automation, with existing automatic systems being costly and prone to failures.
Innovation Solution
A three-dimensional low elevated transfer system using electric power and rails to guide transportation between quayside and yard cranes, enabling efficient, automatic, and accurate container movement, reducing the need for extensive ground space and minimizing environmental impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If diesel engine driven vehicles are used for container transportation, then the system can operate with simple structure, but the operational cost increases and environmental pollution occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces diesel engine driven vehicles with an electric rail-based transportation system. Electric locomotives and rail-guided vehicles eliminate combustion engines, thereby removing exhaust gas and noise pollution while maintaining transportation functionality through electric power delivery to moving vehicles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs electric power transmission through overhead lines or third rail systems to provide continuous power to moving vehicles. This electric power delivery mechanism replaces mechanical combustion with electromagnetic energy conversion, achieving clean operation while maintaining propulsion capability.
2Ease of operation
If multiple diesel engine driven vehicles are used to ensure smooth movement, then transportation coverage is improved, but the ground space required increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from ground-based vehicle movement to three-dimensional rail-based transportation. By utilizing elevated or depressed rail structures, the system achieves smooth vehicle movement without requiring large ground clearance areas, effectively moving the transportation infrastructure into the vertical dimension.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent consolidates multiple vehicle functions into a unified rail-based transportation network. Instead of deploying numerous independent diesel vehicles requiring separate maneuvering spaces, the system uses interconnected rail lines that guide multiple electric vehicles along predetermined paths, reducing the overall footprint required for smooth operations.
3Device complexity
If all vehicles move in the same plane to simplify the system, then the structure is simpler, but traffic congestion occurs and loading/unloading efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multi-level rail structures that enable vehicles to operate on different vertical planes simultaneously. This three-dimensional arrangement allows parallel transportation streams without ground-level congestion, maintaining simple operational control while dramatically improving loading/unloading throughput by eliminating traffic bottlenecks.
4Extent of automation
If AGVs are introduced for automatic transportation, then automation level increases, but the system cost increases and reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized control system that acts as an intermediary between operators and the rail-based transportation vehicles. This control system coordinates vehicle movements, scheduling, and operations to achieve automatic loading/unloading while maintaining high reliability through centralized monitoring and coordination, avoiding the complexity and failure-prone nature of distributed AGV systems.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention include quayside cranes and yard cranes related by a low elevated transfer system and a ground transportation carrier system. The low elevated transfer system includes low elevated transfer subsystems having low elevated rails, the low elevates rails include low elevated crane rails and low elevated flat carrier rails, low elevated cranes are disposed on the low elevated crane rails and low elevated flat carriers are disposed on the low elevated flat carrier rail. The ground transportation carrier system includes ground transportation carrier rails and transportation carriers moving along the ground transportation carrier rails. Embodiments of the present invention transport the containers by rails and use municipal electric as the power supply. A three-dimensional low elevated transfer system and a ground transportation carrier system are provided to implement three-dimensional transportation of containers. Embodiments of the present invention provide a container transportation schema that is efficient, power saving, environmental and automatic, ground resources are utilized with high efficiency. The present invention is an expansion and development of the invention provided in CN 200510111464.0.