GRAPPLER GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR A GANTRY CRANE

摘要

In a gantry crane (10) having a movable grappler (45) adapted for lifting standard containers (40), a system is provided to aid in positioning the grappler relative to the container. The grappler is equipped with at least two corner video devices (100) located near the corners of the grappler for viewing the corner locking holes (60) of a container below. An additional distal video device (105) can also be mounted to a side of the grappler opposite the cab to view the relative orientation of a side of the container relative to the side of the grappler. A plurality of alignment sensors (140) can also be mounted to respective sides of the grappler to detect the relative position of the corresponding sides of the container vertically below. A pair of height (120) sensors can also be mounted to the grappler to measure the height of the grappler above the upper surface of the container.