Swivel headblock optimisation

Container terminals experience problems with their container cranes when lowering and raising the headblock-spreader combination in the ship cells, both with and without a container. Due to deformation and damage in the ship cells, the combination often gets stuck. In these cases, the operator has to pull the combination at an angle to release it, which results in the hoist cables no longer running straight through the cable sheaves, leading to excessive wear of the hoist cables.

Iv has developed a design that extends the life of the cables and increases safety without the need for an entirely new headblock. The Iv-designed modification allows the cable sheaves to tilt 5 degrees transversely. This ensures the cables remain straight under the headblock sheaves, even when the headblock-spreader combination is pulled at an angle in a ship cell.

The existing headblock structure had to be modified to allow the cable sheaves to tilt. For this purpose, the sheave blocks were cut loose from the main structure, and a pivot point was added between the main structure and the sheave blocks. End bearings were added to the pivot structure to limit the maximum tilt angle to 5 degrees, while torsion springs ensure that the cable sheaves return to their initial position after tilting.

This modification of the existing headblock, rather than a completely new design, required detailed analysis and recalculation of the steel structure.

Thanks to the implementation of the modified headblock, the wear on the crane cables is significantly reduced, resulting in lower maintenance costs and longer cable life.