Justification of the container stack unpacking technological operation scheme in the automation of the loader work cycle

Abstract

Due to the new concept of the country transport logistics development “Turning to the East”, it is becoming the more important to increase the processing capacity of container terminals in the Far East. This research work is to study the possibilities of increasing the throughput capacity of container terminal areas by making the technical and technological management decisions. The opportunity of introducing automation elements into the terminal operation through the creation of a technological cyclic automatic machine on the basis of mobile container transporters is investigated as an idea to increase the processing capacity of the terminal equipment. In the context of developing the concept of the loader operation as a technological machine, the “working cycle” term is defined as a sequence of actions during performing the technological operation of picking up the target container from the stack, and then the transition diagram of the machine is an analogue of the technological scheme of this operation. Based on the foregoing, the purpose of the study is defined as the rationale for choosing a unified scheme for the technological operation of dismantling the container stack as part of automating the working cycle of a loader. To achieve this purpose, the following tasks are solved: the technical capabilities of loaders such as a reach stacker and a loader with an upper grip spreader are studied when working with a stack depending on the location of the target container in the latter; technological schemes for the execution of the operation of picking up target containers from a stack, differing in the type of equipment used and the method of disbanding blocking stacks, are considered; the positive and negative aspects of using each of the technological schemes as an analogue of the transition diagram of the technological machine control unit are revealed. The result of the research work is the technological scheme “the use of a reach stacker or a loader with a top grip spreader with complete disassembly of blocking stacks and picking up containers only from the near row”, which is the most preferable in terms of such important indicators for automating the technological process as versatility, “trouble-free” execution technology, insensitivity to stack capacity.