Kalmar Industries has secured an international patent for its automatic steering and container position verification system.
The system, called Smartrail, was introduced by Kalmar Industries in 1997 for its rubber tyred gantry cranes (RTGs). It is also used, under license, by other RTG manufacturers.
Kalmar president and CEO Christer Granskog, explained why the patent was important. ‘Firstly, it is a strong indicator that Kalmar’s R&D capabilities are second to none. This is being reflected not only in the advanced technology we are able to offer our customers but also in product quality enhancement through higher standards of design and engineering.
‘Secondly, it provides us with greater security, especially when applying our technology to RTGs manufactured by our competitors. Retrofitting Smartrail is becoming an important additional revenue stream for Kalmar and we want to protect ourselves from other companies who might try to copy in some way our technology.’
One of the largest Smartrail deals so far was placed in 2001 by the Dubai Ports Authority (DPA), which retrofitted all 40 of its RTGs with Smartrail. This was the first time that the system was applied to machines not manufactured by Kalmar. Since then the port has ordered six Liebherr RTGs with Smartrail specified.
Smartrail works also as a container position verification system: each time the spreader twistlocks are activated, the yard management system is automatically updated and the new position of the handled container is recorded.
