Charging station for a container transport vehicle, container transport vehicle, and system comprising same

A charging station for a container transport vehicle includes a charging device and a contacting unit connected thereto, to establish a connection between the charging station and contacts of a rechargeable battery of a container transport vehicle for battery charging process. The charging station, including the contacting unit and the charging device, is designed as a mobile unit. The contacting unit and the charging device are arranged in a housing, and the housing has an opening through which the contacting unit can be moved for a charging process. Optionally, battery contacts and a funnel-shaped guide are provided, and the contacts are arranged near the guide such that a contacting unit of the charging station can be guided to the battery contacts, by the guide, for a battery charging process. The disclosure also relates to a system including a charging station and a container transport vehicle.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a § 371 national stage of International Application PCT/EP2018/053711, filed Feb. 14, 2018, which claims priority benefit of German Pat. Application DE 10 2017 103 032.8, filed Feb. 15, 2017.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an electric charging station for a container transport vehicle, such as of the type that may be used in a port terminal.

BACKGROUND

Container transport vehicles are ground conveyor vehicles which are designed as heavy-duty vehicles and are configured for handling and/or transporting containers in specific terminals, in particular port terminals. Such containers, in particular in the case of ISO containers in the loaded state, can weigh up to 40 t and can have normed or at least standardised lengths of e.g. 10, 20, 40, 45, 53 or 60 foot (the two last-named lengths have hitherto been used exclusively in North America as non-ISO-normed containers). In conjunction with this, ISO containers are understood to be normed large-volume or sea-freight containers which are used in the international transportation of goods. In the terminals, corresponding containers are handled between at least two transport means of the same or different type, e.g. between ships, road vehicles and/or rail vehicles. Therefore, correspondingly combined transportation between water, road and/or rail can also take place in the terminals. In this connection, containers can also be other normed or at least standardised load carriers, such as e.g. swap bodies, in particular swap containers or swap trailers.

Such container transport vehicles are special ground-borne but not rail-borne vehicles which are operated only internally within such terminals and are generally not authorised for use on public roads. Therefore, these internal container transport vehicles are to be operated strictly separately from vehicles on public roads. A possible vehicle type of such container transport vehicles has a loading surface which is delimited by mutually spaced-apart guide elements. The guide elements are also referred to as position adapters and guide a container to be picked up or its corner fittings onto the loading surface. For this purpose, the guide elements extend with their guide surfaces inclined outwardly and upwards away from the loading surface. In this case, the loading surface can also be designed as part of a lifting platform which can be raised and lowered. Such container transport vehicles are known e.g. from EP 2 637 954 B1. A towing vehicle which is referred to as a terminal truck or terminal tractor can also form, in its own right or together with one or a plurality of trailers as a type of trailer truck, a vehicle type of container transport vehicles in terms of the present invention. Their loading surface and guide elements for picking up the load carriers are then provided in each case on the trailer(s). Such container transport vehicles are known e.g. from DE 10 2012 108 768 A1. Gantry lift devices also represent a vehicle type of container transport vehicles in terms of the present invention. This vehicle type is described e.g. in EP 2 694 424 B1. Such gantry lift devices, which are also called gantry lift stacker trucks, gantry stacking trucks, straddle carriers, van carriers, shuttle carriers or runners, are used not only for container transport in horizontal transportation but are also used in particular as special handling devices for ISO containers. With the aid of a lifting device and a load picking-up means known as a spreader, gantry lift devices can lift containers and set them down at a target location after transportation. Since the gantry lift devices have a spider leg-like construction, they can travel over a container resting on the ground or on another container and thus additionally also transport a raised container depending on construction. In dependence upon the construction height, the gantry lift devices are designated e.g. as 1-over-3 devices, 1-over-2 devices etc. A 1-over-3 device can set a container down on 3 stacked containers, pick up the uppermost one of 4 stacked containers or travel over 3 stacked containers with a picked-up container.

The aforementioned container transport vehicles used within a terminal can be guided manually and can be actively controlled accordingly in particular during acceleration, braking and steering by drivers typically also travelling in the vehicles. For this purpose, manually guided container transport vehicles have a corresponding vehicle controller and typically also a driver's cabin, from which manual engagement of the vehicle controller can be effected for the purpose of manual guiding. Alternatively, the container transport vehicles can also be automatically guided and can be controlled in an automated manner accordingly in particular during acceleration, braking and steering in terms of so-called automated guided vehicles (AGV). For this purpose, automatically guided container transport vehicles have a suitable vehicle controller and so, by reason of the automatic control or navigation effected thereby, it is not necessary or possible for a driver also travelling in the vehicle to perform any active manual engagement. In this sense, an automatically guided container transport vehicle can also be manned if a driver also travels in the vehicle, but in this case not in the sense of having to or being able to actively engage the controller of the container transport vehicle as a vehicle driver. Container transport vehicles which are driverless but are manually remote-controlled by a vehicle driver are not deemed to be automatically guided vehicles but instead are deemed to be manually guided vehicles.

WO 2013/050447 A2 describes a gantry crane which serves as an electric charging station for container transport vehicles. Loading can be performed inductively or even by means of cables.

WO 2009/150303 A1 discloses a power supply station for supplying power to electrically operated straddle carriers or terminal trucks.

Electric charging stations are known from documents US 2013/057209 A1, WO 2013/100764 A1, WO 2009/053524 A1, US 2015/0367741 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 7,619,319 B1, WO 2012/011436 A1, WO 2016/203383 A1, US 2011/0055037 A1 and WO 2014/184729 A2. AT 507 605 B1 discloses an electric charging station system for electric vehicles, in which each driver of an electric vehicle must keep safe and carry a user module in order to connect it for a charging procedure as a type of docking station to the charging device of the electric charging station.

EP 2 440 488 B1 or WO 2010/142688 A1 discloses a corresponding container transport vehicle comprising a battery-electric travel drive which comprises a chargeable lead battery as a traction battery. Moreover, this document describes a battery changing station, in which the battery from the container transport vehicle can be replaced by an already charged battery. The battery changing station also has a charging and storing function and so in the station a plurality of removed batteries can be charged outside the container transport vehicle and can be placed into storage until the next battery change.

EP 2 694 424 B1 describes that the battery of a straddle carrier can be exchanged for an already charged battery for a charging procedure outside the straddle carrier.

In order to avoid a change of batteries and instead to be able to leave the battery in the container transport vehicle during the charging procedure, a charging station at which the container transport vehicle can stop for the purpose of a charging procedure can be installed in a terminal. The manufacturer Kalmar provides a charging station for straddle carriers under the name “FastCharge” (see https://www.kalmarglobal.com/fastcharge). The charging station comprises a mast, by which a contacting unit is elevated and movably mounted. The contacting unit is supplied with electric power via a cable guided up the mast. For a charging procedure, a straddle carrier stops in the region of the charging station and so the contacting means can be moved away from the mast in the direction of a top frame of the straddle carrier in order to be able to be connected to contact means of the straddle carrier, which are arranged on the top frame, for the charging procedure. Then, by means of the contact means connected to a battery of the straddle carrier the battery is charged at the charging station via its contacting unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an improved electric charging station, an improved container transport vehicle and a system therewith which permit particularly economical and flexible operation.

In accordance with one form of the invention, an electric charging station is provided for a container transport vehicle, wherein the electric charging station comprises a charging device and a contacting unit which is connected thereto and via which a connection between the electric charging station and contact means of a chargeable battery of a container transport vehicle can be established for a charging procedure of the battery, wherein the electric charging station including the contacting unit and the charging device is designed as a mobile unit, is improved by virtue of the fact that, in order to design the electric charging station as a mobile unit, the contacting unit and the charging device are arranged in a housing and the housing has an opening, through which the contacting unit can be moved out of the housing for a charging procedure. The combination of the electric charging station components to form a mobile unit ensures that the installation site of a thus transportable electric charging station can be easily changed upon requirement. In this connection, the electric charging station can be arranged e.g. in a structurally simple manner on a vehicle trailer and can be moved accordingly thereby. It may become necessary to change the installation site e.g. during structural alteration works in a terminal or during area rehabilitation work at this location. A further advantage arises from the fact that the electric charging station components can be fully constructed and tested prior to delivery to the mobile unit and this is no longer necessary after the delivery. Instead, after delivery, only the connection to the local power supply network is required. Furthermore, the use of such an electric charging station module requires only very small levels of investment in the infrastructure at the installation site, e.g. in a port terminal. In this connection, it is only necessary to ensure a connection option to the local power supply network. Optionally, a network connection for data transmission can additionally also be provided as part of the communication described below between the terminal management system or fleet management system and the electric charging station. Also, in comparison with fixedly installed electric charging stations in terms of charging stations, the installation outlay at the installation site is lower. Furthermore, the infrastructure outlay for installing a mobile electric charging station in accordance with the invention is also considerably lower than for setting up the battery changing station for lead batteries which is known from the prior art. In contrast to the aforementioned prior art, the electric charging station in accordance with the invention does not require the permanent construction of any building, heavy-duty rack or even a rack serving apparatus for the exchange of batteries. Since, in the event of a failure of the rack serving apparatus of a battery changing station, not all of the stored batteries are available, it is frequently the case that two battery changing stations are constructed in order to ensure sufficient redundancy. In contrast thereto, redundancies to avoid an operating failure of container transport vehicles can be achieved with considerably lower outlay by installing a plurality of electric charging stations in accordance with the invention. These advantages have an even greater effect if the electric charging station is configured for charging lithium-ion batteries and accordingly the container transport vehicles are equipped with correspondingly designed batteries in order to be powered thereby. This results from the fact that lithium-ion batteries can be charged more quickly than lead batteries and therefore the duration for which a container transport vehicle is removed from the normal transport operation by reason of the charging procedure can be reduced and, associated with this, the electric charging station is available more quickly for the next container transport vehicle.

In one aspect, the contacting unit can dock in an automated manner with a container transport vehicle which stops in the region of the electric charging station in order to charge its battery. In principle, it is also possible for a driver to manually move the contacting unit for docking purposes.

In another aspect, provision is made in a structurally simple manner that, in order to design the electric charging station as a mobile unit, the contacting unit and the charging device and possible further components are arranged on a common carrier element and as a result can be transported together between different installation sites. The carrier element can be formed e.g. by a vehicle trailer or its loading surface.

In another aspect, provision is made so that, in order to design the electric charging station as a mobile unit, the contacting unit and the charging device are arranged in a housing. Preferably, the housing is designed in this case as a container, in particular as an ISO container. Therefore, the electric charging station components are structurally combined by the housing likewise serving as a carrier element and as a result can be handled in a particularly easy manner and can be transported in a particularly cost-effective manner to different installation sites. This applies in particular in the case of an ISO container having normed corner fittings, by means of which simple fixing is also possible during transport and on the floor of the installation site, in that locking means in the form of so-called twistlocks are used. Preferably, all of the components are accommodated completely in the common housing. Furthermore, it is also advantageous that the installation of a housing, in particular a container or ISO container, does not require any special foundation and instead just a planar installation surface is sufficient.

Optionally, provision is made that the housing has an opening, through which the contacting unit can be moved for a charging procedure. In an advantageous manner, the contacting unit can be moved automatically through the opening of the housing. Conversely, the contacting unit can also be retracted completely into the housing through the opening. As a result, it is possible to safely pass the electric charging station without the risk of a collision between the container transport vehicle and the contacting unit.

In an advantageous manner, provision is made that as a further component a connector is provided which is connected to the charging device for the purpose of connecting the charging device to an electric power supply network and/or a control unit for activating the charging device and the contacting unit and for incorporation into a fleet management system. The connection to the power supply network can also be established, as described below, indirectly via a transformer station.

A container transport vehicle comprising a battery-electric travel drive which comprises a chargeable battery is improved by virtue of the fact that contact means of the battery and a guide, in particular in the form of a funnel, are provided and the contact means are arranged in the region of the guide such that, for a charging procedure of the battery, a contacting unit of an electric charging station can be guided to the contact means by means of the guide. This permits particularly secure and reliable docking of the contacting unit with the container transport vehicle. In this case, the battery is preferably a lithium-ion battery because in an advantageous manner they can be recharged considerably more quickly than lead batteries. As a result, it is particularly economical to perform the charging of the batteries in particular in an automated manner in the container transport vehicles which in the meantime are not available for the normal or regular transport operation in the terminal.

In an advantageous manner, provision is made for the container transport vehicle to be designed as an automatically guided container transport vehicle.

A system comprising at least one electric charging station for a container transport vehicle and at least one container transport vehicle is improved by virtue of the fact that the electric charging station and the container transport vehicle are designed as described in the present case. In an advantageous manner, such a system can be part of a terminal described in greater detail below, in particular a terminal for handling load carriers, such as e.g. ISO containers. In this case, instead of a battery changing station a plurality of electric charging stations are set up at or in the terminal. The number of electric charging stations can be ascertained taking into consideration the charging time for the batteries and the usage times between the charging procedures and the number of container transport vehicles used at maximum capacity. Should an individual electric charging station fail or be undergoing maintenance work, the fleet of container transport vehicles can be operated via the remaining electric charging stations. Therefore, in comparison with the solution comprising a battery changing station, there is considerably higher redundancy and thus greater safeguarding against failure.

Provision is made in an advantageous manner that a terminal is established, in which the at least one container transport vehicle can be operated and in which a plurality of alternative installation sites are provided, at which the at least one electric charging station can be connected to an electric power supply network of the terminal.

In a structurally simple manner, provision is made that the container transport vehicle and the electric charging station are each connected via a communication connection to a management system, in particular a terminal management system and/or a fleet management system in order to coordinate the operation of the container transport vehicle and the electric charging station.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent upon review of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1shows a schematic plan view of a terminal1, designed as a port terminal, for handling containers. In this case, a plurality of ships3can dock at a quay2of a port in order to deliver or collect containers. In order to load or unload the ships3, the quay2is provided with container bridges4which are also defined as ship-to-shore cranes and of which the jibs extend, on the one hand, over the ships3and, on the other hand, over the quay2. Alternatively, the loading or unloading of the ships3can also be performed using so-called harbor cranes, of which the jib is pivoted in this case over the corresponding ship3about a vertical axis. Both the container bridges4and the harbor cranes represent so-called handling devices.

The terminal1is surrounded by a boundary10formed as a fence or wall and is separated thereby from its outer surrounding area and from public road traffic outside the container terminal1. Moreover, the terminal1comprises within the boundary10a container store5, in which containers can be stacked for short-term intermediate storage in at least one storage area5a, which is also defined as a stack, after they have been unloaded from the ships3and before they are loaded for further transport onto a road vehicle or rail vehicle or after they have been delivered by the vehicles and before they are loaded onto the ships3. In this case, preferably a plurality of storage areas5aare provided in a row-like arrangement and/or grid-like arrangement. In order to manage the container store5, i.e. for placing/removing the containers into/out of storage in the container store5or its storage areas5a, at least one stacking crane7is provided for all of the storage areas5ain an adjacent transverse arrangement to the longitudinal direction L. In each storage area5a, the associated stacking crane7can be used for placing down a plurality of rows of containers with their long sides next to one another and for each row a plurality of containers on top of one another. For this purpose, each stacking crane7is designed preferably as a gantry crane and has a load picking-up means or apparatus for the containers which is designed as a spreader frame. In order to place/remove containers into/out of storage, the stacking crane7can be moved in the longitudinal direction L along the associated storage area5aover the containers stacked therein. Such stacking cranes7likewise represent handling devices and, in the exemplified embodiment shown inFIG. 1, are designed as automated and rail-borne stacking cranes which are also defined as automated stacking cranes or ASC for short. In the case of such an ASC terminal, the containers are set down for removal from storage or are picked up for placing into storage by the ASC on the head side at both longitudinal ends—pointing in the longitudinal direction L—of the associated storage area5a. The ASC moves between the head-side ends via a pair of rail tracks31, between which the respective storage area5ais located. In the case of an ASC terminal, the movement of internal vehicles for container transportation occurring water-side or quay-side in relation to the container store5is separated from the land-side traffic of external vehicles by the container store5. Accordingly, no movement of these vehicles is possible in the region of the rail tracks between the storage areas5a. In the present case, external vehicles are understood to be external lorries8awhich travel via a passing area11, located in the boundary10, into and out of the terminal1in order to collect containers from the container store5or its stacking crane7for further transport on public roads or, after transport on public roads, to deliver the containers for intermediate storage in the container store5.

In contrast to the layout of the terminal1illustrated in the present case, it is also feasible to have a layout rotated by 90 degrees in relation to the quay2, in which accordingly the storage areas5ado not extend in particular substantially transversely and perpendicularly but instead extend in parallel with the edge of the quay2. This applies in particular if the stacking cranes7are designed as rubber-tyred stacking cranes which are also referred to as rubber-tyred gantry cranes or RTG for short, or are designed as rail-borne stacking cranes which are also referred to as rail-mounted gantry cranes or RMG for short. Such stacking cranes7are typically manually guided or controlled by an operator also travelling in a crane operator's cabin. It is also feasible to have an at least partially or completely automated operation of such stacking cranes7. In this case, containers are not transferred on the head side but instead on the long side of the storage area5aand are set down or picked up for being removed from storage and placed into storage respectively by the RMG or RTG. For this purpose, corresponding transfer lanes are provided underneath the gantry of the corresponding stacking crane7. In this case, a stacking crane7can also manage a plurality of storage areas5a, which are adjacent one another in the longitudinal direction L, which, as seen in the longitudinal direction L, are arranged one behind the other and which are spaced apart from one another in each case by a transverse aisle, and travel over one or a plurality of transverse aisles. Alternatively, each storage area5acan be allocated a dedicated stacking crane7or a plurality of stacking cranes7.

Within the terminal1, internal container transport vehicles8having a battery-electric travel drive are used for transporting containers between the container store5or its handling devices and the handling devices arranged on the quay2, the vehicles being able to be guided automatically or manually in terms of the above definition. This transport is effected in each case in so-called horizontal transportation. If, in this connection, partially or exclusively automatically guided container transport vehicles8are used, a delimited separate operating area in terms of an automatic-area A is established within the terminal1. In the automatic-area A, exclusively automatically guided container transport vehicles8, but no manually guided container transport vehicles8, are allowed to operate between the handling devices at the quay2and the part of the store5allocated to the automatic-area A. In a corresponding manner, a manual-area B is established for the manually guided container transport vehicles8, in which no automatically guided container transport vehicles8and also no external lorries8aare allowed to operate. The automatic-area A which adjoins the manual-area B can be established by an inner boundary analogous to the boundary10in the form of a fence or a wall. The automatically guided container transport vehicles8can be operated in accordance with regulations only within the automatic-area A and only depart from this area for maintenance or repair purposes through an inner passing area similar to the passing area11in the direction of the manual-area B. However, in this case, the container transport vehicles8do not depart from the automatic-area A in an automatically guided manner and so this is not deemed to be an operation in accordance with regulations. Persons are also allowed to enter the automatic-area A during regular operation only in exceptional cases e.g. for maintenance or repair purposes. The manual-area B is also accessible for authorised personnel only via at least one corresponding passing area11within the terminal1and otherwise is surrounded by the boundary10. This also prevents external lorries8afrom driving into the manual-area B. However, manually guided container transport vehicles8can depart from the manual-area B in order to ensure a connection of a rail terminal (not illustrated) located within the terminal1for rail-borne transport of containers.

In order to coordinate the traffic within the terminal1and in particular within the automatic-area A or manual-area B, a computerised terminal management system13is provided together with a fleet management system12(seeFIG. 3). Transport orders for the container transport vehicles8are scheduled, managed and communicated to the fleet management system12via the terminal management system13. The warehousing or management of container store5can also be performed by the terminal management system13and can influence the scheduling of the transport orders. The transport orders are then used by the fleet management system12for coordinating the traffic, in particular the route planning and route monitoring which are performed continuously in this case. In this connection, routes are generated from the transport orders and are communicated to the container transport vehicles8via wireless communication connections17, e.g. in the form of WLAN connections. In the case of automatically guided container transport vehicles8, the routes are converted by the vehicle controller14automatically into corresponding driving manoeuvres in specified lanes. In this connection, steering procedures and speeds as well as accelerations of the container transport vehicle8are automatically controlled by means of the vehicle controller14. In the case of manually guided container transport vehicles8, the drivers can receive driving instructions via a driver information system of the container transport vehicle8and on the basis of the routes, the instructions having to be implemented as corresponding driving manoeuvres by the driver by means of manual engagement of the vehicle controller14. In order to coordinate the traffic or route planning and route monitoring, the fleet management system12performs continuous processing of the time-variable positions of the container transport vehicles8, which are located in the automatic-area A or manual-area B of the terminal1, and further operating information such as e.g. the respectively used driving areas, lanes and travel directions of the container transport vehicles8and driving speeds and traffic regulations. Routes can also be specified and changed in this case via the fleet management system12and the communication connections17, e.g. by means of target positions specified for specific points in time, storage aisles, lanes and/or travel directions to be used. Moreover, the fleet management system12can dynamically block or release areas, in particular individual storage aisles or lanes in terms of exclusion areas, and can thus ensure that only one container transport vehicle8is located in a specified area.

FIG. 2shows a schematic view of a container transport vehicle8according to an example of a vehicle type. The container transport vehicle8has an unloaded weight of about 35 tonnes. Additional thereto is the weight of the ISO container(s) to be transported so that, in the loaded state, a total weight of about 100 tonnes can be achieved. The container transport vehicle8has a vehicle frame8b, on which, on a common front axle, two front wheels9aand, on a common rear axle, two rear wheels9bare mounted. By means of the wheels9a,9b, the container transport vehicle8can move freely on the quay2and therefore in a ground-borne but not rail-borne manner. Accordingly, such container transport vehicles8are to be distinguished from rail vehicles and in particular railway wagons. The wheels9of the container transport vehicles8are each provided with a tyre arrangement which is preferably an air-filled rubber tyre arrangement in the sense of tyres. Moreover, if the container transport vehicle8is not automatically guided as inFIG. 2, but instead is manually guided, a driver's cabin is provided. Automatically guided container transport vehicles8can also have a driver's cabin if a change is provided between automatic operation and manual operation. In this case, a container transport vehicle8can also be operated in the above-defined sense in an automatically guided and manned manner in the automatic-area A, wherein the person also travelling in the vehicle does not have to or cannot engage the vehicle controller14within the automatic-area A.

A preferably flat loading surface23is located on a top side of the vehicle frame8band serves to receive the ISO containers, not illustrated, which are to be transported. The size of the loading surface is selected in such a way that, as seen in a longitudinal direction L of the container transport vehicle8, two 20 foot containers can be transported one behind the other or a 40 foot container or a 45 foot container can be transported. The loading surface23can be designed to be passive in the sense of being rigidly connected to the vehicle frame2or can be active. In this connection, ‘active’ is understood to mean that the loading surface as part of a lifting platform can be raised and lowered in a vertical direction and relative to the vehicle frame8bin order to actively pick up or set down containers. The loading surface23can also be divided in order to be able to lift and lower a 20 foot container in each case.

Also illustrated are the guide elements23awhich are already mentioned in the introduction and which are provided in the vehicle type illustrated by way of example in order to be able to guide a container2, which is to be transported, and in the case of ISO containers in particular its corner fittings when being set down on the loading surface23, and to be able to orient same in relation to the loading surface23. For this purpose, the loading surface23is delimited on its sides by a plurality of guide elements23a. The guide elements23ahave guide surfaces which extend in an inclined manner. In this case, the guide surfaces extend in a manner directed upwards and outwards away from the loading surface23and extend in a manner directed downwards and inwards towards the loading surface23. The guide elements23aare preferably disposed in pairs on opposing sides, in particular long sides and/or short sides, of the loading surface23. The guide surfaces of one pair of guide elements23aform a type of funnel, the inclined extension of which tapers towards the loading surface23in order to achieve the guiding and orientating function. Accordingly, the guide surfaces of a pair of guide elements23awiden in the upwards direction away from the loading surface23. Moreover, the container transport vehicles8each have a battery-electric travel drive having a drive motor designed as an electric motor, and a transmission in order to drive the wheels9a,9btherewith. The travel drive comprises a rechargeable battery24in terms of an accumulator which is designed preferably as a lithium-ion battery. The battery24is suspended underneath the vehicle frame8bfrom the frame. Typical power contents of the battery24can be e.g. between 100 and 300 kWh and typical voltage ranges can be e.g. between 400 and 1000 V.

FIG. 3shows a schematic view of an electric charging station6which is designed in accordance with the invention as a mobile unit, with a container transport vehicle8in accordance with the invention in the terminal1. The electric charging station6comprises, as essential components, a charging device20and a contacting unit16which is connected thereto via an electrical line25. The contacting unit16having electrically conductive contacts can be used to establish an electrical connection to contacts or contact means19of the chargeable battery24—serving as a traction battery—of a container transport vehicle8for a charging procedure of the battery24. For this purpose, the contacting unit16is mounted so as to be movable in the retraction and extension direction X. The charging procedure is controlled via the charging device20which, for this purpose, comprises a converter, in particular in the form of a charge inverter, inductors and capacitors, mains filter and fuses and the components required for activation purposes. The activation is effected in this case e.g. via a programmable logic controller or PLC for short. By means of the PLC, the communication between the charging device20and the battery24is established or the charging device20is activated on the basis of the communication. Instead of a PLC, an industry-PC can also be used. Together with the entire contacting unit16and the charging device20, the electric charging station6is designed as a mobile unit. The charging capacity of the electric charging station6can be e.g. between 50 and 500 kW depending upon the connection power and battery size.

As a further component, the electric charging station6designed as a mobile unit also comprises, in addition to the contacting unit16, a connector21, which is connected to the charging device20via an electrical connector line21a, a control unit15and a sub-distribution unit22. By means of the connector21, the electric charging station6or the charging device20can be electrically connected to an electric power supply network30of the terminal1in order to supply the electrical power required for the charging procedures of the batteries24. The connection to the power supply network30can also be established indirectly via a transformer station in order to step down the voltage of the power supply network30from a medium voltage level to a lower voltage level. A plurality of electric charging stations6can be connected to such a transformer station. By means of the control unit15, the electric charging station6can be incorporated into the terminal management system13or the fleet management system12by establishing a wireless communication connection17, e.g. in the form of a WLAN connection, to the control unit15. The electric charging station6and in particular the control unit15can be activated via the communication connection17. In turn, the control unit15can then activate the charging device20and the contacting unit16. For this purpose, further communication connections27or28are provided between the control unit15and the charging device20or the control unit15and the contacting unit16, which can be wired or wireless. The contacting unit16can also be activated via the charging device20if a corresponding communication connection is likewise established therebetween. Further consumers of the electric charging station6can be supplied by means of the sub-distribution unit22.

In order to design the electric charging station6as a mobile unit, at least the contacting unit16and the charging device20, but preferably also the aforementioned further components, are arranged completely in a transportable common housing6a. In the present example, the housing6ais designed as an ISO container which completely accommodates all of the components of the electric charging station6. Therefore, no functional elements of the electric charging station6are accommodated outside the ISO container. Only the connector21can be mounted in the housing wall in the manner of a socket in order to be connected to the connector line21a. Alternatively, the connector21can also be mounted completely within the housing6aand so the connector line21a, e.g. in the form of a cable, is guided through the housing wall and connected to the power supply network30e.g. via a plug connection. The connector line21acan be a fixed component part of the electric charging station6. A plug connection with the connector21is also possible.

Moreover, the housing6ahas an opening6bprovided therein, through which the contacting unit16, after being correspondingly activated for a charging procedure, can be moved in particular automatically by means of a suitable drive. As a result, the contacting unit16can dock in an automated manner with a container transport vehicle8, which stops in the region of the electric charging station6, or its contact means19, which are connected to the battery24via a battery line26, for the charging procedure, and can establish the electrical connection for the charging procedure. The connection can be configured as a type of plug-socket connection, wherein the contacting unit16corresponds to the plug and the contact means19correspond to the socket. Reliable docking is ensured by virtue of the fact that a guide in the form of a funnel18is arranged on the container transport vehicle8, in particular on its long side and preferably on its vehicle frame8b(see alsoFIG. 2). The contact means19are arranged in the region of the guide such that the contacting unit16for a charging procedure of the battery24can be captured by the guide and guided to the contact means19. For this purpose, the funnel18is arranged with its wider opening, which serves as a type of capturing device for the contacting unit16, in a manner directed away from the centre of the vehicle. The narrower opening of the funnel18accordingly faces the centre of the vehicle, and the contact means19are arranged in the region of the narrower opening. By means of such a guide, tolerances in the positioning of the container transport vehicle8in advance of the electric charging station6, in particular in the longitudinal direction as well as at the height of the container transport vehicle8are possible and can be compensated for. For this purpose, the movable contacting unit16is designed or mounted accordingly in a flexible and/or pivotable manner. In the transverse direction of the vehicle, tolerances are compensated for by the contacting unit16itself, in that it can be moved to different extents in the retraction and extension direction X. After docking via the contacting unit16, the charging device20starts the charging procedure for the battery24remaining in the container transport vehicle8. After terminating the charging procedure, the contacting unit16then undocks from the container transport vehicle8and is moved back into the ISO container.

The communication connections17and the terminal management system13or fleet management system12ensure that preferably continuous communication takes place between the vehicle controller14and the control unit15. As a result, the vehicle controller14, which is connected to the battery24via a communication connection29, can monitor, in the manner of a battery management system, the charging state of the battery24and can prepare or initiate a charging procedure when the charging state of the battery decreases to a defined charging state. In the case of automatically guided container transport vehicles8, the vehicle controller14registers the container transport vehicle8for a charging procedure via the communication connection17and receives the information, in particular a corresponding route, which is required for travelling to a free electric charging station6in an automatically guided manner. In the case of manually guided container transport vehicles8, the driver is informed accordingly via the driver information system and is requested to drive to a free electric charging station6via a correspondingly specified route. In particular, in the case of smaller fleets of container transport vehicles8without a terminal management system13or fleet management system12, the charging state of the battery24displayed by a display can alternatively also be monitored by the driver and upon requirement it is possible to drive to a free electric charging station6without a specified route. At the same time, the corresponding container transport vehicle8is no longer considered for transport orders until completion of the charging procedure, i.e. it does not take part in the normal transport operation until completion of the charging procedure. As part of the preferably continuous communication, provision can also be made that the positioning of the container transport vehicle8, as required for the charging procedure, is detected at the electric charging station6, thus initiating the docking at the contacting unit16or the extension movement thereof and the subsequent start of the charging procedure. The completion of the charging procedure can be reported e.g. by the control unit15and/or the vehicle controller14to the terminal management system13or the fleet management system12. Therefore, the electric charging station6is available for a new charging procedure and the container transport vehicle8is then available to the regular transport operation for transport orders in the terminal1. As previously described, the terminal management system13or the fleet management system12can manage or coordinate battery charging orders or even maintenance orders. Preferably, each one of typically a plurality of electric charging stations6provided in the terminal1is incorporated accordingly for this purpose.

In order to be able to access the electric charging stations6provided in the automatic-area A also from outside the automatic-area A, they are incorporated, as illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 3, into the boundary10, e.g. a correspondingly dimensioned opening in the fence. In the case of such an arrangement, the electric charging station6is accessible for maintenance personnel also from the manual-area B and thus from outside the automatic-area A. In particular, the housing6acan be accessed in this case from the manual-area B through a door located outside the automatic-area A. It is thus possible to avoid an interruption in the regular operation or danger to persons in the automatic-area A. Basically, the electric charging stations6can, however, be parked and operated both within the automatic-area A and also within the manual-area B at suitable installation sites which can be accessed by the container transport vehicles8, at a distance or at no distance from the boundary10.

In order to design the electric charging station6in accordance with the invention as a mobile unit, the aforementioned components thereof do not have to be accommodated in an ISO container. Alternatively, it is also feasible to accommodate the components in a housing6awhich is designed as a non-normed container or other suitable transportable large-volume container having a corresponding opening6b. Also, an arrangement of the electric charging station6and at least the contacting unit22and the charging device on a vehicle trailer which can be moved via wheels represents an electric charging station designed as a mobile unit. For this purpose, a common housing6ais not required for the components of the electric charging station6. The vehicle trailer or its loading surface represents, just like a housing6a, a common carrier element, on which at least the contacting unit16and the charging device20and optionally the possible further components for designing the electric charging station6as a mobile unit can be arranged in order to design the electric charging station6as a mobile unit and thereby to be able to transport and install the unit in a simple manner between different installation sites. This permits particularly flexible positioning of the electric charging station6at alternate installation sites if the power supply network30extends to the respectively desired installation site and a facility for connecting to the power supply network30of the terminal1is provided in order to permit supply via the connector21.

Instead of the vehicle type illustrated by way of example in the figures, the fleet of container transport vehicles8used in the terminal1for horizontal transportation can also include trailer trucks having a towing vehicle in the form of a terminal truck or gantry lift devices in terms of the above definition. Heavy-duty lift trucks in the form of so-called reach stackers represent a vehicle type of container transport vehicles8. Corresponding gantry lift devices as well as heavy-duty lift trucks typically do not have a loading surface23with guide elements23afor setting down containers, but instead have a so-called spreader frame as a load picking-up means for picking up containers. Furthermore, these types of vehicles have as common features at least one battery-electric travel drive and a guide for the contacting unit16in the above-described sense. The contact means19arranged in the region of the guide for the contacting unit16can be spaced apart from the battery24and can be connected thereto via the electrical battery line26. As a result, the battery24itself can be arranged in the region of the guide or even spaced apart therefrom. This applies in particular if container transport vehicles8in the form of gantry lift devices, such as straddle carriers, drive to the electric charging station6for a charging procedure. In this case, the battery24can then be mounted e.g. in the region of a top frame of the gantry and thus above the contacting unit16, and the contact means19can be arranged in the region of running gear unit carriers of the gantry lift device approximately at the height of the contacting unit16. Furthermore, the described electric charging station6represents a solution which can be universally used in order to be able to recharge the batteries24of the container transport vehicles8for horizontal transportation. The electric charging station6can be automated as described for manually guided container transport vehicles8or even can be designed in a manually operable variant. In this case, a driver can manually move the contacting unit16for docking with the contact means19.

Moreover, the container transport vehicles8and electric charging stations6in accordance with the invention can be used not only in the manner described in the present case in relation to a terminal1designed as a port terminal. On the contrary, this is also possible if a corresponding terminal1is part of a logistics centre or an industrial operation, in the internal logistics of which container transport vehicles8or heavy-duty vehicles having a comparable battery-electric drive are used. Of course, instead of containers, in particular ISO containers, other normed or standardised load carriers, such as swap bodies, in particular swap containers or swap trailers, can also be transported and handled.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment(s) described herein but can be amended or modified without departing from the scope of the present invention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents.