Apparatus and method for handling twistlocks
AssigneeABB Schweiz AG
InventorsYe Tian, Jiafan Zhang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and a method for handling twistlocks configured to lock a container onto a vehicle. The apparatus includes a gripper configured to grip one of the twistlocks to be mounted onto or dismounted from a corner fitting of a container. Further, the apparatus has a visual sensor configured to capture a first image of the corner fitting when the vehicle is moving in a twistlock handling station. The apparatus includes a control unit configured to obtain, from the visual sensor, the first image make some determinations based on the first image; and send a handling position such that the gripper moves to the handling position to handle the one of the twistlocks during the moving of the vehicle.
Claims18
An apparatus for handling twistlocks configured to lock a container onto a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- a robot comprising a gripper configured to grip one of the twistlocks to be mounted onto or dismounted from a corner fitting of the container;
- a visual sensor arranged on the robot and configured to capture a first image of the corner fitting when the vehicle is moving in a twistlock handling station;
- and
- a control unit configured to:
- obtain, from the visual sensor, the first image of the corner fitting;
- determine, based on the first image, a first position of the corner fitting at a moment when the first image is captured by the visual sensor;
- determine a handling position of the gripper for the one of the twistlocks, at which the gripper is to be aligned with the corner fitting, based on the first position of the corner fitting and a position correction parameter representative of a predictive displacement of the corner fitting within a predetermined response time of the robot;
- and
- move the robot to the handling position to handle the one of the twistlocks during the moving of the vehicle.
A method for handling twistlocks configured to lock a container onto a vehicle, the method comprising:
- obtaining, from a visual sensor arranged on a robot, a first image of a corner fitting of the container,
- wherein the robot comprises a gripper configured to grip one of the twistlocks to be mounted onto or dismounted from the corner fitting, and
- wherein the visual sensor is configured to capture the first image of the corner fitting as the vehicle is moving in a twistlock handling station;
- determining, based on the first image, a first position of the corner fitting at a moment the first image is captured by the visual sensor;
- determining a handling position of the gripper for the one of the twistlocks, at which the gripper is to be aligned with the corner fitting, based on the first position of the corner fitting and a position correction parameter representative of a predictive displacement of the corner fitting within a predetermined response time of the robot;
- and
- moving the robot to the handling position to handle the one of the twistlocks during the moving of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.