Sensors smooth straddle carrier operations
At busy container seaports and inland destuffing operations, straddle carriers operate around the clock, loading, unloading and stacking containers.
Space utilisation is increasingly important and correctly identifying the size of container picked for each lift is essential for efficiency.
Contrinex photoelectric sensors have been fitted to the straddle carriers to detect the container size and eliminate the need for drivers to carry out identification checks, saving time and avoiding errors.
The sensor’s features include:
- Long sensing range (500mm) in a physically small sensor (20x30x10mm)
- Exceptional resistance to extreme vibration during operation
- Optimal space utilisation with little or no reliance on operator involvement
- Elimination of calibration errors during normal operation
For one customer, its original mechanical sensors proved unreliable, losing calibration when subjected to continuous vibration during normal operation. Although the scheduled maintenance interval for each vehicle is 1,000 hours, mechanical sensors required recalibration at intervals of no more than two or three days. A highly stable replacement sensor system was required and the units from Contrinex were installed.
