DESC:FORM – 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10; rule 13)

“AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR BAY ALIGNMENT OF RTG CRANE"

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited
A Company Incorporated under the Indian Companies Act
Adani House, Near Mithakhali Circle,
Navrangpura, Ahmedabad- 380009
Gujarat India

The following specification particularly describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:

FIELD OF INVENTION:

The present invention relates to an Automated system of Bay alignment of RTG crane. More particularly the present invention relates to An Automated System of Bay Alignment of RTG Crane whereby the RTG (Rubber Tyre Gantry) crane aligns itself automatically to the centre of the bay in the container terminal yard, at which the job of loading or unloading of the container is performed.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION:

A RTG (Rubber tyre Gantry) crane is a mobile gantry crane used in container yards for loading and unloading of containers in the container stack (Fig 1). Inbound containers are stored for future pickup by drayage trucks, and outbound are stored for future loading on to vessels. RTGs typically straddle multiple lanes, with one lane reserved for container transfers. Container Yard receives containers from ships in the yards usually with import cargo or for trans-shipment to other containers terminal or empty.
Typical RTGs comprises of:
• the vertical girders
• two horizontal girders mounted on said vertical girders,
• spreader
• hoist
• trolley

said vertical girders are in pair on each side, travelling on the track using tyres below vertical girders;

said spreader attached to the hoist, mounted on the trolley, and is used to unload containers from truck to stack and load containers on truck from stack for the movement outside the terminal

said structure achieves the task by travelling on the horizontal girder over the containers stack.

All the movements (Trolley- forward and backward, Hoist up and down and spreader forward and reverse) in a conventional RTG (Rubber Tyre Gantry) Crane is done by the operator sitting in the cabin at a height of 18.1 meter above the ground or sitting in a Remote Operations Station, if Crane is remotely operated.

Said RTG Crane is used in the container terminals or yards for the handling i.e. loading and unloading of containers in or from the stack. Container Terminals receive containers from Ships in the yards usually with import cargo or for transhipment to other containers terminal or empty.

Similarly, container terminal also receive loaded or empty containers for movement on to the ships. Here RTG (Rubber Tyre Gantry) Crane unloads the containers from Truck in the stack and further loads them on trucks for the movement on quay.

In a container terminal, containers are stacked in the yard, before being sent to the ship or outside container terminal. This stacking of the containers in the container yards is done by the RTG (Rubber Tyre Gantry) crane that travels on wheels over the stack of containers.

Containers movement from ship to the shore is handled by Quay Cranes and containers are transported to container yard (Y) by Trucks (TR). In yard (Y), Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes (RTG), having two horizontal girders (HG) mounted on the vertical girders (VG), two on each side, travelling on the track using tyres below vertical girders (VG), is used to unload (UL) containers from truck (TR) in stack and load (L) containers on truck (TR) for the movement outside the terminal with the help of spreader (S) attached to the Hoist (H) mounted on the trolley (T), travelling on the horizontal girder (HG) over the containers stack (CS).

Similarly, container terminal also receives loaded or empty containers for movement on to the ships. Here Rubber Tyre Gantry (RTG) Crane unloads (UL) the containers from truck (TR) in the stack and further loads (L) them on trucks (TR) for the movement on quay.

All the movements (Trolley (T)- forward and backward, Hoist (H) up and down and Crane forward and reverse) in a conventional Rubber Tyre Gantry (RTG) Crane is done by the operator sitting in the cabin (HE) of the RTG Crane or sitting in a Remote Operations Station, if crane is remotely operated.
During the loading (L) of container from the Yard (Y) to the truck (TR) or unloading (UL) container from the truck (TR) in the yard (Y), in a conventional RTG Crane, the operator of the RTG Crane have to manually adjust the RTG crane to the centre of the Bay to execute the operation that is loading (L) or unloading (UL). This manual adjustment of crane is time consuming, which is key result factor for any Container Terminal (Fig. 3). In order to avoid the manual adjustment of the RTG Crane, the system is invented whereby RTG Crane, after reaching the target Bay, adjusts itself to the centre of the bay automatically, without manual operation. This auto adjustment saves the crucial time of operation, thereby improves working efficiency of container terminal.

PRIOR ART AND ITS DISADVANTAGES:

• US application number US 14/112,872 discloses a system for determining a location of a vehicle in an environment provided with at least two landmarks whose location is known. The system includes at least one scanning distance sensor installed in the vehicle and configured to measure distance and direction from the vehicle to the at least two landmarks, as well as a data processing device configured to store in its memory the location of the at least two landmarks; and determine the location of the vehicle on the basis of at least the location of the at least two landmarks as well as the distance and direction from the vehicle to the at least two landmarks.
• However, said prior art relates to the use of satellite based message system, which further adds to more uncertainty in conveying of the message to the system in occurrence of poor connections and increases dependency on satellite signalling and environmental conditions. Further the sensors used in the prior art are distance sensors which makes the system complicated and more costly as there is a need to develop additional infrastructure such as distance sensor sensing plates installation. Also it fails to provide measures for alignment of the vehicles in accordance to the obstacles.

• European patent EP19840309091 relates to a vehicle guidance and control system has a number of trucks whose movement is controlled by a base station. Each truck periodically fixes its own position in relation to marker boards consisting of patterns of reflective coded stripes by scanning a narrow laser beam in a predetermined direction across the stripes. Using at least two boards its position can be determined by triangulation, and because the beam scans in a fixed direction, the positional accuracy can be determined by a particular stripe or edge of a stripe, and not by the size of a marker board as a whole.

However, in the said prior art handling of container vehicle is through the use of laser sensors and reflector. Further said prior art fails to provide communication mechanism required to release the command to the container handling devices.

DISADVANTAGES OF PRIOR ART:

The existing RTG cranes involves manual Bay alignment and suffers from all or at least any of the following disadvantages:

• Existing RTG cranes fails to align itself automatically to the centre of the bay in the container terminal yard, at which said job of loading and unloading is to be done.
• Most of them consumes a lot of time.
• There are high chances that during loading or unloading job the RTG crane is not aligned to the centre of the Bay and containers are stacked in disproportionate manner.
• Most of them fail to assure precision in the system, due to which the productivity is decreased.
• An unaligned RTG crane increases the risk of container not getting lifted upward properly, thereby increases possibilities of stack collision.

Thus, there is unmet need to develop the automated bay alignment system for RTG crane.

OBJECTIVES OF INVENTION:

The main objective of the present invention is to provide an automated bay alignment system for RTG crane.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide an automated bay alignment system for RTG crane, whereby the RTG (Rubber Tyre Gantry) crane aligns itself automatically to the centre of the bay in the container terminal yard at which the said job of loading and unloading is to be done.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an automated bay alignment system for RTG crane that consumes minimum time for alignment of bay in the container terminal yard.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an automated bay alignment system for RTG crane which eliminates the chances of disproportionate alignment of RTG Crane at the centre of the container terminal yard at which the said job of loading and unloading is done.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an automated bay alignment system for RTG crane that which enables the alignment of the bay at the centre if the container terminal yard at which the job of loading and unloading is done with precision.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an automated bay alignment system for RTG crane that enhances the overall productivity of the system at the container terminal yard.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an automated bay alignment system for RTG crane that obviates the problem of the prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:

FIGURE DESRIPTION
Fig. 1 : Shows RTG (Rubber tyre Gantry) crane of the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane.
Fig. 2 : Shows Block, Bay, Row and Tier of the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane.
Fig. 3
: Shows the centre alignment of the bay in the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane.
Fig. 4 : Shows the installation of laser sensors in the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane.
Fig. 5
: Shows the enlarged view of Section A of fig.4 of the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane.
Fig. 6 : Shows the block diagram of the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane.
Fig. 7 : Shows the top view of the RTG crane wherein the bay is not aligned in the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane
Fig 8 : Shows the top view of the RTG crane wherein the bay is aligned in the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane.
Fig.9 : Shows the working flow chart for the unloading job at the container terminal of the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane.

Meaning of Reference numerals of said format of drawings and said component parts of present Automatic Bay Alignment system for RTG crane:

(A) : Present Automated Bay Alignment System for RTG crane.
(RTG) : Rubber Tyre Gantry
(L) : Loading
(UL) : Unloading
(CS) : Container Stack
(TR) : Truck
(Y) : Container Yard
(HG) : Horizontal Girders
(VG) : Vertical Girders
(H) : Hoist
(T) : Trolley
(S) : Spreader
(HE) : Cabin
(C) : Controller
(VMT) : Vehicle Mounted Terminal
(LS) : Laser Sensors
(CRM) : Means of matrix Generation
(CRG) : Gantry Encoder Processing
(CRGC) : Means of Comparison
(GM) : Gantry Motor
(GE) : Gantry Encoder
(GD) : Gantry Drive
(VD) : Means of Displaying
(VT) : Means for transmitting
(TI) : Tier
(BA) : Bay
(RO) : Row
(BL) : Block
(LB) : Laser beam
(TOS) : Terminal operating system
(BB) : Bus Bar
(DT) : Drive in trolley
(BS) : Boggy Structure
(ST) : Reflectors
(RS) : Photo sensors
(LS1) : Laser sensor 1
(LS2) : Laser sensor 2
(LS3) : Laser sensor 3
(LS4) : Laser sensor 4

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION:

The embodiment of the present invention provides an automated bay alignment system for RTG crane (A), whereby the RTG (Rubber Tyre Gantry) crane aligns itself automatically to the centre of the bay in the container terminal yard at which the said job of loading and unloading is to be done. Present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane (A) is installed in the existing infrastructure of the container terminal. The movement of the gantry is essential for the RTG crane for loading (L) and unloading (UL) the containers.

Referring to Fig.1 to Fig.9, the RTG crane used in the present Automated Bay alignment system (A) uses existing RTG with:

• The vertical girders (VG),
• The horizontal girders (HG) mounted on said vertical girders (VG),
• Spreader (S),
• Hoist (H),
• Trolley (T),
• Bus Bar (BB),
• Terminal Operating system (TOS),
• Gantry Encoder (GE),
• Gantry Motor (GM),
• Gantry Drive (GD);
• Gantry Encoders,
• Drive in trolley (DT)

And requires installation of following for the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane (Fig.4 and Fig.5):

• Plurality of Laser sensors (LS),
• Laser sensor 1 (LS1),
• Laser sensor 2 (LS2),
• Laser sensor 3 (LS3),
• Laser sensor 4 (LS4),
• Controller (C),
Wherein,

Said container are stacked in the container terminal yard prior to the shipping to the container terminal. Said stacking of the containers is done by the RTG crane that travels on wheels over the container stack (CS). Said RTG crane operator sits in the operator cabin (HE) of the RTG crane, at a height of 18.1 meter from the ground, to operate the crane. The crane operator has a vehicle Mounted Terminal (VMT) in his cabin (HE), at which operator receives regular information of the jobs wherein said job includes loading (L) and unloading (UL) to be performed from the planner. Alternatively the said RTG crane is remotely operated by the RTG crane operator seats in the remote operations station where he has the access of RTG crane through wireless network and job information through Vehicle Mounted Terminal (VMT).

Referring to Fig. 1 to Fig. 9, present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane (A), mainly comprises of RTG crane and further comprises of:
• Plurality of Laser sensors (LS),
• Controller (C),
• Means of Display (VD),
• Gantry Encoder (GE),
• Gantry Motor (GM),
• Gantry Drive (GD);

Wherein;
Said Vehicle Terminal Mount (VMT) is further comprised of;
? Means for transmitting (VT);

Said Vehicle Mounted Terminal (VMT) is a mobile electronic device having display, a keypad and a means of transmitting (VT) of data transmission. The user or Rubber Tyre Gantry (RTG) Crane operator receives the visuals on the display of said vehicle mounted terminal (VMT) of the container number on which either a loading (L) or unloading (UL) job is to be performed. Upon completion of the job the Rubber Tyre Gantry (RTG) Crane operator punches in the completion status and container position using keypad. Further two sources are provided from which said container terminal receives the containers; wherein the first source is the vessel and the second source is the inland factories or container depots. Upon receiving said job the RTG crane operator moves the crane to designated yard (Y) and Bay (BA). Upon reaching to the designated bay (BA), crane operator aligns the crane to the centre of the bay (BA) so that spreader (S) aligns over the said container and lifts the container.

Said Gantry Encoder (GE) is installed with shaft of the RTG crane (RTG); wherein gantry encoder (GE) starts working only when the command is passed by the RTG crane operator to move the RTG crane and said command is transmitted first to the Gantry Drive (GD), then to the Gantry Motor (GM) whereby the RTG crane starts moving with the movement of the Gantry Motor (GM);since the gantry encoder (GE)is installed on the shaft of the RTG crane, the encoder start converting the motion of a shaft to digital code and transfer same to the controller (C);

An encoder is an electro-mechanical device that converts the angular position or motion of a shaft or axle to an analogue or digital code and transfers the same to the controller (C). Controller (C) is a pre-programmed hard ware which receives the inputs, processes the same and then gives the output.

Said Laser sensors (LS) is an equipment used to discover, absence or presence of an object by using light transmitter. Wherein said laser beam (LB) is used as light transmitter in the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane (A). Further, plurality of laser sensors (LS); LS1, LS2, LS3, LS4 are provided in the RTG crane boggy structure (BS) to ensure that the RTG cane is aligned to the centre of the bay in less time, wherein two laser sensors (LS) are installed for 20 feet container stack (CS) and two laser sensors (LS) are installed for a 40 feet container stack (CS) as shown in Fig.4 and Fig.5. Wherein the two laser sensors (LS); laser sensor 1 (LS1) and laser sensor 4 (LS4) installed on the extreme end of the boggy structure (BS) are used for the 40 feet container stack (CS); whereas the RTG crane alignment to a 20 feet container stack is ensured by using either of laser sensor 1 (LS1), laser sensor 2 (LS2), laser sensor 3 (LS3) and laser sensor 4(LS4).
Said Controller (C) processes the inputs of the laser sensors, which are in binary form, and compares them with pre-programmed matrix. Said controller (C) further comprises of:
? Means of matrix Generation (CRM)
? Gantry Encoder Processing (CRG)
o Gantry Encoder Processing (CRG) is in turn comprised of:
? Means for comparison (CRGC),

Means of Comparison (CRGC): Means for comparison (CRGC) works on the basis of the inputs of the gantry encoder and makes RTG crane (RTG) move towards the destination bay. Means for comparison (CRGC) of said Gantry Encoder (GE) enables the movement of the RTG crane (RTG) towards correct target location from the current location.

Referring to Fig.6 shows the block diagram of the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane (A), wherein said controller (C) receives the binary inputs of the laser sensors (LS). Said laser sensors (LS) are provided to sense the clear path and send the signal to the controller (C) for further processing. Wherein if any of the said plurality of laser sensors (LS) does not provides a signal of clear path to said controller (C) than the RTG crane prevents the job of loading (L) unloading (UL) of containers, as shown in Fig. 7; wherein the non-detection of clear path is interpreted by the controller (C) as the presence of obstruction and thus the RTG crane continues movement until the clear path signal is detected. Said controller (C) receives the input from the Laser sensors (LS) as the RTG crane reaches the designated bay. If the input from any of the said laser sensors (LS) is not received by the controller (C), said Gantry drive (GD) sends command to the Gantry motor (GM); to move until the inputs of both the laser sensors(LS) are sensed by the controller. Once the input of both the laser sensors is sensed as 1 by the controller (C); the command to stop RTG crane movement is passed to the Gantry Driver (GD); which sends the command to the Gantry Motor (GM), thereby stopping the RTG crane movement and it is confirmed that the RTG crane is aligned to the centre of the bay as shown in Fig. 8. On stopping, bay alignment ready message is displayed on the Means of Display (VD).

WORKING OF INVENTION:

Referring to reference numerals shown in Fig. 9 of the present Automated Bay alignment system for RTG crane, an unloading (UL) cycle for the step wise detailed explanation of working of invention is provided below:

Step. 1 & 2: The unloading (UL) process starts when the truck (TR) carrying container arrives at the Pre Gate of the port.
Step. 3, 4 & 5: Upon its arrival a gate entry operator checks the shipping documents and further allows the movement of truck (TR) inside the container terminal; if the shipping documents meet the standards then truck (TR) is directed towards buffer yard to unload (UL) the container.
Step. 6, 7 & 8: On arrival of the truck (TR) carrying container, at the terminal gate position is generated by the gate operator. Said position is given to the truck driver and simultaneously is displayed on the Vehicle Mount Terminal (VMT).
Step. 9: Controller (C) receives the target position at which job is to be performed and compares it with the current position.
Step.10: Said Controller (C) receives the inputs from the Gantry Encoder (GE) and makes RTG crane move towards the target position.
Step.11 & 12: RTG crane moves and stops at the designated bay. Controller (C) receives the input from the laser sensor (LS).
Step.13 & 14: Controller (C) check for the input of two laser sensor. If the input from two laser sensors is sensed then controller (C) allows the performance of the unloading (UL) job.
Step.15: If the input of only one of the two laser sensors then is detected then controller (C) directs Gantry Drive (GD) to move the RTG crane until the input of both laser sensor is detected.
,CLAIMS:WE CLAIM:
1. Present Automated System of Bay Alignment for RTG crane, wherein said RTG crane is comprised of:
? The vertical girders (VG),
? The horizontal girders (HG) mounted on said vertical girders (VG),
? Spreader (S),
? Hoist (H),
? Trolley (T),
? Bus Bar (BB),
? Terminal Operating system (TOS),
? Encoders,
? Drive in trolley (DT);

and is further comprised of:

? Plurality of Laser sensors (LS),
? Laser Sensor 1 (LS1),
? Laser Sensor 2 (LS2),
? Laser Sensor 3 (LS3),
? Laser Sensor 4 (LS4),
? Controller (C),
? Vehicle terminal mount (VMT),
? Gantry Encoder (GE),
? Gantry Motor (GM),
? Gantry Drive (GD);
wherein,

said container are stacked in the container terminal yard prior to the shipping to the container terminal; said stacking of the containers is done by the RTG crane that travels on wheels over the container stack (CS), wherein RTG crane operator sits in the operator cabin (HE) of the RTG crane, at a height of 18.1 meter from the ground, to operate the crane; the crane operator has a vehicle Mounted Terminal (VMT) in his cabin (HE), at which operator receives regular information of the jobs wherein said job includes loading (L) and unloading (UL) to be performed from the planner; said RTG crane is remotely operated by the RTG crane operator seats in the remote operations station where he has the access of RTG crane through wireless network and job information through Vehicle Mounted Terminal (VMT);
wherein;
said Vehicle Terminal Mount (VMT) is further comprised of;
? Means for transmitting (VT);

said Vehicle Mounted Terminal (VMT) is a mobile electronic device having a display, a keypad and a means of transmitting (VT) of data transmission; the user or Rubber Tyre Gantry (RTG) Crane operator receives the visuals on the display of the container number on which either a loading (L) or unloading (UL) job is to be performed, wherein upon completion of the job the Rubber Tyre Gantry (RTG) Crane operator punches in the completion status and container position using keypad; further two sources are provided from which said container terminal receives the containers; wherein the first source is the vessel and the second source is the inland factories, container depots, upon receiving said job the RTG crane operator moves the crane to designated yard (Y) and Bay (BA) and on reaching to the designated bay (BA), crane operator aligns the crane to the centre of the bay (BA) so that spreader (S) aligns over the said container and lifts the container;

said Gantry Encoder (GE) is installed with shaft of the RTG crane (RTG); wherein gantry encoder (GE) starts working only when the command is passed by the RTG crane operator to move the RTG crane and said command is transmitted first to the Gantry Drive (GD), then to the Gantry Motor (GM) whereby the RTG crane starts moving with the movement of the Gantry Motor (GM);since the gantry encoder (GE) is installed on the shaft of the RTG crane, they start converting the motion of a shaft to digital code and transfer same to the controller (C);

said encoder is an electro-mechanical device that converts the angular position or motion of a shaft or axle to an analogue or digital code and transfers the same to the controller (C); it is a pre-programmed hard ware which receives the inputs, processes the same and then gives the output;

said Laser sensors (LS) is an equipment used to discover, absence or presence of an object by using light transmitter, wherein said laser beam (LB) is used as light transmitter in the present automated bay alignment system for RTG crane (A), further, plurality of laser sensors (LS) LS1, LS2, LS3, LS4 are provided in the RTG crane structure to ensure that the RTG cane is aligned to the centre of the bay in less time;

said Controller (C) further comprises of:
o Means of matrix Generation (CRM)
o Gantry Encoder Processing (CRG)
o Gantry Encoder Processing (CRG) is in turn comprised of:
? Means for comparison (CRGC),

Means of Comparison (CRGC): Means for comparison (CRGC) makes RTG crane (RTG) move towards the destination bay by taking input from the gantry encoder (GE); further means for comparison (CRGC) of said Gantry Encoder (GE) enables the movement of the RTG crane (RTG) towards correct target location from the current location;

said controller (C) receives the digital inputs of the laser sensors (LS) that are provided to sense the clear path, wherein if any of the said plurality of laser sensors (LS) does not provides a signal of clear path to said controller (C) than the RTG crane prevents the job of loading (L) unloading (UL) of containers; wherein the non-detection of clear path is interpreted by the controller (C) as the presence of obstruction and thus the RTG crane continues gantry until the clear path signal is detected; wherein further once the inputs of both the laser sensors (LS) are sensed by the Controller (C), the controller directs the gantry drive (GD) to stop the further movement of the RTG Crane, thereby interpreting that the RTG crane is at the center of the bay (BA) and message of bay alignment is reflected on the means of display (VD).

2. Present automated system for bay alignment of RTG crane as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plurality of laser sensors (LS), Laser sensor 1(LS1), laser sensor 2 (LS2), laser sensor 3(LS3), Laser sensor 4 (LS4) are provided to send the signal of clear path to the said controller (C), wherein two laser sensors (LS) Laser sensor 1(LS1) and Laser sensor 4 (LS4), installed on the extreme end of the boggy structure (BS) are provided for the 40 feet container stack (CS); where RTG crane alignment to a 20 feet container stack is ensured by using either of Laser sensor 1(LS1), laser sensor 2 (LS2), laser sensor 3(LS3), Laser sensor 4 (LS4).

3. Present automated system for bay alignment of RTG crane as claimed in claim 1 and claim 2, wherein when said controller (c) senses the inputs of the laser sensors (LS) as “1”the command to stop RTG crane movement is passed to the Gantry drive (GD); which sends the command to the Gantry Motor (GM), and thereby stops the RTG crane movement and further displays the message bay alignment ready on the said means of display (VD).

Dated this 8th day of June 2017

Gopi J Trivedi (Ms)
Authorized Agent of Applicant

To,
The Controller of Patents,
Patent Office,
Mumbai.