And the first Kuenz FREERIDER goes to…
Decades of experience and continuous product improvement has led Kuenz to become an innovation leader in the container handling market. Because of these strengths, Kuenz elevated the common RTG design into the 21stcentury with its product innovation – the Kuenz FREERIDER – presented in 2018. Now Kuenz is proud to announce, that the first FREERIDER will soon be operating at Kloosterboer’s Container Terminal in Vlissingen, the Netherlands.
The Kuenz intention to meet the requirements of the future container handling business for more efficiency, faster and more comfortable container handling was one of the determining factors for Kloosterboer Vlissingen B.V. to award Kuenz for the delivery of all in all four Kuenz FREERIDER with a high degree of automation. Furthermore, the capability to make RTG operation possible in automated mode such as housekeeping was convincing.
The new customer Kloosterboer is a front-runner in logistics services for temperature controlled food products in Western Europe. With more than seven hundred employees, nine locations in the Netherlands and six abroad Kloosterboer has more than 4.700.000 m³ of storage capacity with a throughput of 4,500.000 tons. The new Kuenz Cranes will be delivered to Kloosterboer´s location in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. The Vlissingen facility has a storage capacity of 1.700.000 m³ where 200.000 t of food and non food can be stored. The container terminal has a storage capacity of 5600 TEU incl. more than 1000 reefer plugs.
The scope of supply contains four semi-automated Kuenz FREERIDER 7+1 wide, handling 1 over 5. In addition, Kuenz will deliver three remote desks.
The first phase will start by end of September and covers the transport, installation and testing of the first crane as well as tasks for the remote operation. Phase two will follow up with the delivery of the last three cranes in November 2019 and January 2020. Final hand over is planned for May/June 2020.
Kuenz FREERIDER – The missing link between RTG and ASC.
Presenting the FREERIDER, Kuenz reconsidered the common RTG design and updated the popular concepts with innovative solutions. The revised gantry structure features an increased stiffness and reduced gantry structure weight, due to an innovative, patented aerodynamic design. It´s manufactured as a stiff and robust single girder with an aerodynamically shaped main girder and A-shaped posts. Four traveling gears, each consisting of four rubber tires, are equipped with a steering gear, which allows for different travel directions. The stiff aerodynamic gantry structure, together with the robust rope tower of the new hoist system SPIDER allow for significantly higher travel speed, even with a fully loaded container up to 130 m/min.
The new, patented hoist system SPIDER is currently the most innovative and advanced hoisting gear concept on the market. The rope tower is the key function of the Kuenz FREERIDER and consists of eight rope drums. Eight individually controlled motors are able to move the head block and the load in all six degrees of freedom simultaneously. Auxiliary ropes are not required for the fine positioning. Furthermore, no additional anti-sway or micromotion is necessary for a smooth operation. The integrated Micro-Motion allows +/- 5° of all movements and a horizontal shift of 300 mm in all directions. Together with the Operating System ONE HAND, which allows an easy and intuitive operation using only one hand, the Kuenz FREERIDER ensures an optimum, precise, and safe container handling.
The ONE HAND operating system will be integrated also in the remote desks in Vlissingen.
High Degree of Automation
During the day, the truck unloading and loading will be operated in semi-automated mode. At night, Kloosterboer Vlissingen will handle the housekeeping in fully automated operation. This high degree of automation requires an advanced and capable system in operation and safety. With its sophisticated patented solutions, the Kuenz FREERIDER is most suitable to increase productivity, safety and to reduce operational costs because of:
- the highest gantry speed on the market,
- gantry drive even with loaded container up to 130 m/min,
- the patented SPIDER Hoist System and the ONE HAND control desk for accurate, faster and safer container handling,
- a fully automation concept.
About Kuenz
Kuenz was founded in 1932 by Hans Kuenz who succeeded in creating a significant and successful mechanical engineering company in a very short period of time. The company started out manufacturing tower construction cranes. The focus later shifted towards manufacturing container cranes, followed by hydro power equipment. Kuenz is one of the oldest and most prestigious mechanical engineering companies in Austria.