JP2001129218A - Ball leveling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball leveling device capable of preventing balls from overlying one another on ball guide gutters even if the length of each ball guide gutter is short and the balls are supplied in a large number. SOLUTION: A box frame 5 mounted on the tops of the ball guide gutters 1 is provided with vertical parting plates 9 matching the line of ball guide gutters 1, and a shaft 6 is fitted into receiving grooves 10 formed in the same positions of the vertical parting plates 9. Ball leveling members 7 provided by the same number as the ball guide gutters 1 have their respective upper ends pivotally attached to the shaft 6 and are hung down into the ball guide gutters 1. The receiving grooves 10 of different depths may be formed in plural positions on each vertical parting plate 9 and the bottom plate 2 of each ball guide gutter may be stepped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ball leveling device which is used by being attached to a ball guiding gutter for feeding balls aligned and fed to a ball lifting and feeding device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a ball-lifting device for a pachinko machine-installed island, a device having a structure in which balls in a lower storage tank are lifted to an upper storage tank is mainly used. The present applicant has developed a doffing and feeding device utilizing the rotation of a sprocket, and has already applied for a patent as Japanese Patent Application No. 10-320607. This doffing and feeding device is equipped with a plurality of (5 to 10) sprockets in parallel because it is necessary to discharge a large amount of balls to the upper storage tank in a short time. The ball is sent from a plurality of rows of ball guiding gutters.

[0003] In such a sprocket type doffing and feeding apparatus, it is desired to continuously supply the balls without interruption. However, when flowing a large amount of balls, the balls may be vertically overlapped on the ball guiding gutter. Conventional ball guide gutters do not have a special ball leveling device, so overlapping balls may bite and damage the sprocket, or balls may form a dumpling at the sprocket entrance and stop the flow of balls. There was a risk of doing so. Such a problem was particularly remarkable when the length of the ball guiding gutter was short and the ball supply amount was large.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and ensures that balls overlap on the ball guiding gutter even when the length of the ball guiding gutter is short and the ball supply amount is large. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a ball leveling device that prevents damage to sprockets and stops flow of balls in the ball lifting device.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a ball leveling device for a plurality of rows of ball guiding gutters connected to and mounted on a ball lifting device.
A box frame provided with a vertical partition plate corresponding to the row of ball guiding gutters, a shaft detachably fitted in a receiving groove formed at the same position of each vertical partition plate of the box frame, and an upper end pivotally connected to the shaft. Each of the balls is composed of the same number of ball leveling members as the number of rows of ball guiding gutters mounted thereon, and the box frame is mounted on the upper portion of the ball guiding gutter using a locking piece projecting therefrom. It is characterized in that the leveling member is suspended inside the ball guiding gutter. In addition, it is preferable to form receiving grooves having different depths at a plurality of positions of each vertical partition plate of the box frame. Also, a step is formed on the bottom plate of the ball guiding gutter, and the ball leveling member is placed above the step. , It is possible to obtain a reliable ball leveling effect.

[0006] The ball leveling device of the present invention is provided between a vertical partition plate of a box frame having a vertical partition plate coincident with a row of ball guiding gutters.
Because the ball leveling member that is pivotally attached to the upper end of the ball is suspended, even when the balls overlap one another on the ball guide gutter, the top of the ball contacts the suspended ball leveling member, The overlap is broken and it becomes one step. As a result, even when the length of the ball guiding gutter is short and the ball supply amount is large, the balls are supplied to the ball hoisting device in an orderly manner, which causes damage to the sprocket of the ball hoisting device and the stoppage of the ball flow. Nothing.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which the ball leveling device of the present invention is mounted on a ball guiding gutter, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view thereof.

In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a ball guiding gutter made of plastic, which is provided with a plurality of rows (10 in this example) by vertically providing both side walls 3 and a large number of partition walls 4 on a bottom plate 2.
Row) of the ball guide gutter having parallel ball passages.
The partition wall 4 is inclined so that the inlet side is lower and the outlet side is gradually higher. This ball guiding gutter 1 is located between a ball tank (not shown) provided on the inlet side and a sprocket type ball feeder (not shown) provided on the outlet side, and aligns the balls supplied from the ball tank. It has the role of guiding to the doffing machine.

The ball leveling device according to the present invention comprises a box frame 5, a horizontal shaft 6, and a ball leveling member 7. The box frame 5 is provided with a vertical partition plate 9 in parallel with a partition wall 4 constituting a row of ball guiding gutters 1 in a vertical quadrangular outer frame 8 and is entirely made of plastic. In the same position of each vertical partition plate 9 of the box frame 5, a substantially V-shaped receiving groove 10 is provided.
Are formed, so that the shaft 6 can be dropped and fitted. In this embodiment, receiving grooves 10 having different depths are formed at a plurality of positions so that the height of the shaft 6 can be changed.

The shaft 6 is provided with the same number of ball leveling members 7 as the number of rows of the ball guiding gutter 1. The ball leveling member 7 has a metal weight 11 fitted in the lower part.
By pivoting on the ball, the ball can swing freely in the traveling direction of the ball. In this embodiment, two weights 11 are provided before and after changing the height, one of which is a pachinko ball 11a, and the other is a copper alloy 11b having a large specific gravity.
It has become.

At the lower part of the left and right outer frames 8 of the box frame 5, flat locking pieces 12 are projected, and these locking pieces 12 are connected to both side walls of the ball guiding gutter 1 as shown in FIG. The ball leveling device is mounted on the ball guide gutter 1 by being fitted so as to cover from the upper part of the ball 3 to the outside. Then, each ball leveling member 7 whose upper end is supported by the shaft 8 is hung inside the partition walls 4, 4 of the ball guiding gutter 1. At this time, the height of each ball leveling member 7 is set so that the balls that have been overlapped in two stages can be broken down into one stage.
The optimum height can be selected by changing the receiving groove 10 into which the groove is fitted.

The ball leveling device of the present invention having the above-described configuration, when the balls supplied from the ball tank are overlapped on the ball guiding gutter 1 in two or more stages, each of the ball guiding gutters 1 The ball leveling member 7 provided corresponding to the row hits the top of the overlapped ball, and the overlap can be broken. Moreover, since the ball leveling member 7 has the upper end pivotally attached to the shaft 6, the ball leveling member 7 can swing appropriately, and the overlapping balls do not bite and hinder the flow. For this reason, even when the length of the ball guiding gutter 1 is short and the number of supplied balls is large, it is possible to supply the balls to the ball hoisting device in an orderly manner without overlapping the balls. The ball does not stop flowing.

Further, since the degree of overlap differs depending on the number of supplied balls and the degree of contamination of the balls, it is possible to adjust the height of the ball leveling member 7 by changing the position of the shaft 6 according to the use conditions of each hole. it can. In particular, when the balls are extremely overlapped with each other and a sufficient ball leveling effect cannot be obtained by using the ball leveling member 7 alone, as shown in FIG.
3 is formed, and the ball leveling member 7 is preferably positioned above the step 13. With such a structure, the overlapping balls on the ball guiding gutter 1 are impacted not only by the ball leveling member 7 but also by the step 13 of the bottom plate 2 so that the overlapping is broken, so that a more reliable ball leveling effect. Can be achieved.

[0014]

As described above, the ball leveling device of the present invention can break down the overlapping of the balls by the ball leveling member to form a single stage even when the balls vertically overlap on the ball guiding gutter. . Accordingly, the balls are supplied to the ball lifting device in an orderly manner, and even when the length of the ball guiding gutter is short, the overlapping balls do not cause damage to the sprocket of the ball lifting device and stop the flow of the balls. Further, the ball leveling device of the present invention only needs to be mounted on the upper portion of the ball guiding gutter and does not require a special driving mechanism, so that it can be used easily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a ball leveling device is mounted on a ball guiding gutter.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an embodiment in which a step is formed on a bottom plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ball guidance gutter 2 Bottom plate 3 Side wall 4 Partition wall 5 Box frame 6 Shaft 7 Ball leveling member 8 Outer frame 9 Vertical partition plate 10 Receiving groove 11 Weight 12 Locking piece 13 Step

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A ball leveling device for a plurality of rows of ball guiding gutters mounted in connection with a doffing and feeding device, comprising: a box frame having a vertical partition plate corresponding to a row of ball guiding gutters; A shaft is detachably fitted in a receiving groove formed at the same position of each vertical partition plate of the frame, and a ball leveling member having the same number as the number of rows of ball guiding gutters whose upper ends are pivotally mounted on the shaft, By mounting the box frame on the upper part of the ball guide gutter using a locking piece projecting from the lower part thereof, each ball leveling member is hung inside the ball guide gutter. Equipment. 2. The ball dressing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein receiving grooves having different depths are formed at a plurality of positions of each vertical partition plate of the box frame. 3. The ball guide gutter according to claim 1, wherein a step is formed on the bottom plate of the ball guiding gutter, and the ball leveling member is located above the step.
Ball dressing device as described.