Patent ID: 7289876

Claim:
A container crane, comprising: a boom; a trolley movable along the boom; a hoist mechanism connected to the trolley and having suspended therefrom a load-carrying frame, comprised of a spreader and head block, for moving a container to and from a transport vehicle; an optical detection device arranged on the trolley for identifying longitudinal and transverse edges of the head block or spreader and of the transport vehicle; a processing unit operatively connected to the detection device and constructed to ascertain a spatial disposition of the longitudinal and transverse edges, calculate a position of longitudinal and transverse center lines of the head block or spreader as well as of the transport vehicle, as well as their spatial disposition, and determine the presence of an offset between the longitudinal and transverse center lines of the head block or spreader and the center lines of the transport vehicle, and/or the presence of a rotation angle of the longitudinal and transverse center lines, and an adjustment assembly acting between the head block and the spreader, wherein the adjustment assembly is operated in response to the presence of an offset or rotation angle to compensate the offset or rotation angle by moving the spreader in relation to the head block.