JP2001157724A - Ball sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball sorting device which is little affected by weather if installed outdoor or semi-outdoor, can surely and efficiently sort balls which are different in resilience, is lightweight and low in manufacturing and opera tional costs and can easily and cheaply change members which are directly pressed against a ball. SOLUTION: Sorting rollers 6 comprising sorting free wheels 6a to 6e, which are arranged like layers and freely rotate independently of one another, are arranged in two rows facing each other. A regular polygon and star-shaped sorting gear 7, to which thick disc-shaped members 18 are secured at the apex 14 and the concave bottom 15, rotates against a ball placed on a gap 20 and its concave portion 19 bites the ball to apply a proper pressure on it. Then, a ball with high resilience H is pushed out of the gap 20, while a ball with low resilience stays around on the gap 20 and the both kinds of balls are dropped onto different ball carriers 30, 31, respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a ball sorting device.

[0002] In a hitting ball game center mainly comprising a batting center, even if they are almost the same type, both hard and soft balls are used in the same game space, and one of the ball types is selected by the player's discretion. There are a lot of places where it can be gained. The present invention mainly collects such game balls having different elasticities in the same collecting mechanism, is connected to the collecting mechanism in which the hard and soft balls are mixed, and sorts them into hard balls and soft balls again, such as a pitching machine. The present invention relates to a ball sorting device for supplying to a pitching mechanism.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art The prior art according to the present invention generally uses a sensor mechanism as a sorting means. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-163678 is a typical example, in which pressure is applied to a selected ball using a pressing mechanism, and the degree of elasticity of the ball is detected using elasticity detecting means connected to the pressing mechanism. , Using a selecting means that operates according to the detection result.

As a technique that does not use a sensor for the sorting means, that is, a technique that is strong in pure mechanical engineering colors, it is arranged to face a pressing means for applying a predetermined pressure to a ball with a gap having a predetermined width. There is a technology in which a sorting roller is provided, and whether or not a gap between the sorting rollers passes through is determined based on the degree of elastic deformation of the pressed ball.

[0005] As a prior art belonging to the latter technique, FIG. 5 which is an overall view thereof, and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the sorting roller 10 is attached to the flange portion 102 of the drum 103, which is connected to the rotary drive mechanism 101 and the flange portion 102 is formed at both ends, according to the elasticity of the ball.
4 are arranged in two rows of regular polygonal rings at different distances from the center with a predetermined gap, and the highly elastic balls H are pressed by a rotatable annular selection wheel 105 which is a pressing means, and a drum cylinder is provided. The low-elasticity ball L is sent to the low-elasticity ball guide mechanism 108 while being placed in the gap between the selection rollers 104 while the low-elasticity ball L is sent to the inside of the internal cavity 106 and to the high-elasticity ball guide mechanism 107 connected thereto. There is a configuration technology.

[0006]

Among the prior arts which use a sensor mechanism to detect the difference in the elasticity of the ball, although there is certainly little problem in accuracy,
In general, since it is a delicate configuration, it is necessary to perform an enormous number of sorting processes such as in a batting center. Inevitably occur constantly, and the installation location of the ball sorting device itself,
It is usually installed in a semi-outdoor area, and will be considerably affected by temperature changes and rain and wind, so the sensor mechanism itself,
Alternatively, there is a problem that a trouble such as a failure tends to occur in a sorting mechanism such as various mechanisms which are connected to a sensor mechanism and operate in a dependent manner.

[0007] Among the conventional techniques, the above-mentioned technique which belongs to a technique having a strong color of pure mechanical engineering, that is, has a technical direct relation with the present invention, includes a delicate device which dislikes shock and vibration such as a sensor mechanism. Drum 1 on which the flange portion 102 is formed, although no mechanism is mounted.
In order to keep the sorting processing capacity at a certain level while adjusting the diameter of the balls to be sorted, it is necessary to avoid having a considerable weight and size in order to arrange the sorting roller 105. Instead, the rotation drive mechanism connected to the drum 103 must be considerably large in configuration. For this reason, there has been a problem that the weight of the entire ball sorting device is considerable, and the manufacturing cost and operating cost of the rotary drive mechanism are large.

In the case of high elasticity balls, especially in the gap between the sorting rollers or in the vicinity of the junction between the inside of the drum body cavity where the high elasticity balls are extruded and the high elasticity ball guide mechanism connected thereto, especially in the rainy weather. When the friction between the ball and the sorting wheel is reduced, such as when the surface of the ball has moisture on the fold, smooth pressurization and delivery are not performed, so that the ball tends to stagnate. There has been a problem that a good ball sorting process is often hindered.

Further, the portion of the pressing means for pressing the ball which is directly pressed against the ball is relatively rich in elasticity in order to minimize the damage to the ball even in the prior art, and is substantially equivalent to the ball. Often, synthetic resin with little wear is used while maintaining the friction of
Since coating by a metal member is generally used, there is a problem that it is often difficult to replace the member directly pressed against the ball.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and enables a ball having a different elasticity to be reliably and efficiently selected with little influence on the weather even when the ball is installed outdoors or semi-outdoors. It is an object of the present invention to provide a ball sorting apparatus that is low in both manufacturing cost and operation cost, and inexpensive and easy to replace a member directly pressed against a ball.

[0011]

According to the present invention, a pressing means mounted on an apparatus base and applying a predetermined pressure to a ball, and a sorting roller disposed opposite to each other with a predetermined width of gap are provided.
A ball selecting mechanism for selecting balls having substantially the same diameter and different elasticity, and a first conveying mechanism for conveying the balls to the ball selecting mechanism.
A ball transport mechanism, and a second ball transport mechanism that transports the selected balls to a predetermined ball storage mechanism, wherein the second ball transport mechanism is configured by a low-elasticity ball transport mechanism and a high-elasticity ball transport mechanism. With the configuration, the low elasticity ball cannot pass through the gap between the sorting rollers, and the high elasticity ball cannot fit between the sorting rollers due to the degree of elastic deformation of the ball pressed by the pressing means. In a ball sorting device configured to be able to pass through the gap,
The pressurizing means includes a regular polygonal star-shaped selection gear having a predetermined thickness, a load means having a considerable weight connected to the selection gear, and a shock absorbing means connected to the load means. At the same time, a thick disk-shaped member is disposed at the star-shaped top and the star-shaped concave bottom of the sorting gear, and the sorting roller coaxially rotates a plurality of sorting freewheels, each of which is independently rotatable independently and The selection gear is connected to a rotary drive mechanism to form a delivery mechanism from the first ball transport mechanism to the second ball transport mechanism, and the second ball transport mechanism Of these, the low-elasticity ball transport mechanism
The main problem is that the configuration is such that the high-elasticity ball transport mechanism is extended in the direction of the rotation axis of the sorting roller serving as a low-elasticity ball guide, and the high-elasticity ball transport mechanism is continuously provided in the pressing direction by the pressing means via the gap between the sorting rollers. The solution.

[0012] Based on the above-mentioned means for solving the main problems, the present invention firstly aims at improving the sorting accuracy and realizing smooth ball transfer to the sorting mechanism and reliable transfer of the sorted balls to the ball storage mechanism. As a means for solving the problem, the low-elasticity ball transfer mechanism is a low-elasticity ball transfer guide provided with a slant, and the high-elasticity ball transfer mechanism is a high-elasticity ball transfer guide mounted with a slant. The high-elasticity ball conveyance guide and the low-elasticity ball conveyance guide are provided adjacent to each other below the sorting roller, and the entire length of the sorting freewheel disposing area constituting the sorting roller is at least determined by the sorting gear. The low-elasticity ball conveyance guide, which has a length considerably longer than the length of the pressing range, is provided at the end of the sorting freewheel disposition area or below the end extension area, and Ball transporting guide is assumed to be taken a construction that is provided immediately below the sorting freewheel arrangement 設域.

[0013] Based on the above main means for solving the above problems, the present invention is, secondly, a method for selecting a regular polygonal star in order to make the replacement of members directly pressed against a ball inexpensive and easy. The gear comprises two regular polygonal star plates,
A disk-shaped member disposed at the top of the star and the bottom of the star-shaped recess is interposed between the regular polygonal star-shaped plate member and the disk-shaped member is made of an elastic synthetic resin. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which it is detachably fixedly attached to the disposition portion.

Thirdly, based on the means for solving the above-mentioned main problems, the present invention is based on the premise that the goodness of the transporting state in the sorting mechanism is maintained, and thereby the sorting accuracy is surely maintained. As a means for solving the problem to suppress unnecessary vibration or play of the pressurizing mechanism, a load arm of a considerable weight connected to the selection gear is a load arm rotatably connected to the apparatus base. A shock absorbing mechanism is provided at a floating end of the load arm, and the shock absorbing mechanism includes a piston pivotally connected to the load arm floating end, and a cylinder to which the piston is slidably fitted. The bottom of the cylinder is rotatably connected to the apparatus base, and a fluid flow hole in the cylinder is formed in the bottom of the cylinder.

In the means for solving the problems according to the present invention, gap adjusting means for adjusting the gap between the sorting rollers disposed opposite to each other in accordance with the size or elasticity of the ball is provided at the sorting roller fixing installation site. It is possible to take a configuration, and to make the transporting state of the balls to be transported and sorted in the sorting mechanism favorable, and also as a means for performing sorting without waste and surely in sorting, adjacent to the sorting gear, A disc-shaped member formed by a disc-shaped member disposed at two star-shaped tops and a disc-shaped member disposed at one star-shaped recessed bottom between the adjacent vertices forms a sorting ball 1.
In order to utilize the weight of the rotary drive mechanism without waste, the rotary drive mechanism of the selection gear is fixed to the load arm and is connected to the selection gear in order to freely use the weight of the rotary drive mechanism. It is possible to take each configuration of the configuration serving as a component of the load means.

With the above configuration, the balls transported from the first ball transport mechanism are transported to the ball sorting mechanism. The condition of the transfer to the ball sorting mechanism is based on the premise that the first ball transfer mechanism sequentially transfers the balls one by one to the ball sorting mechanism. Therefore, in terms of the configuration, for example, a bellows-shaped pipe having a diameter slightly larger than the ball diameter is provided with an inclination of only the downward inclination, and a guide having a diameter slightly larger than the ball diameter is continuously provided. Configuration.

The balls conveyed to the ball selection mechanism in this way idle on the ball selection roller one by one, and abut or engage with the top or valley of the regular polygonal star-shaped selection gear. In this state, it is pressed by the pressing means. Due to this pressing, the high-elasticity ball passes through the gap between the sorting rollers by elastic deformation and is sent out to the high-elasticity ball transporting mechanism of the second ball transporting mechanism. Does not pass through
The idler is sent out to the low-elasticity ball transport mechanism of the second ball transport mechanism by the sorting gear while rotating on the gap between the sorting rollers.

As for the pressing means, in addition to the selection gear, all three components of a load arm of a considerable weight and a rotary drive mechanism fixed to the load arm serve as the load means and press against the ball on the selection roller. Add. Therefore, since the weight of the rotary drive mechanism can be used for pressing, the convenience of installation is good, and the weight of the entire apparatus is also reduced. In addition, the transmission of the rotation drive from the rotation drive mechanism to the selection gear is efficient because the transmission distance is short.

The pressing force applied to the ball rolling on the sorting roller by the pressing means is applied to the highly elastic ball transfer mechanism for the highly elastic ball in a state where the ball is fitted in the star-shaped recess of the sorting gear. Acts as a force to deliver
The low-elasticity ball does not act as a force to send it to the high-elasticity ball transport mechanism. It acts only as a force for transporting while idling.

The operation described in the preceding paragraph is achieved by the fact that the thick disk-shaped member disposed at the top of the star and the bottom of the star-shaped recess of the selection gear presses against the ball on the selection roller. . That is, when the star-shaped top portion is pressed against the ball, the ball escapes from the disc-shaped member disposed on the star-shaped top portion due to the free rotation of the ball, and is sequentially engaged with any one of the adjacent star-shaped concave portions, Pressing from the pressing means is applied while abutting on the disc-shaped member provided at the bottom of the star-shaped recess.

The shape of the disk-shaped member is thick, and it is desirable that the thickness is such that the ball does not escape in a direction other than the transport direction or the sending direction, such as a thickness close to the ball diameter. . With this configuration, even if the ball escapes in a direction in which it engages with any of the adjacent star-shaped recesses, it hardly escapes in a direction other than the transport direction or the sending direction. Therefore, the engagement of the balls with the selection gear star-shaped concave portions becomes reliable one by one.

The ball that fits into the star-shaped recess of the selection gear is
A disk-shaped member disposed at two adjacent star-shaped tops;
It engages with a concave portion formed by a disk-shaped member disposed at one location of the star-shaped concave portion between the adjacent top portions,
If the concave portion is configured to movably surround a portion less than or equal to a half area of one ball to be fitted, the action described in the previous stage and the stage before the second stage ensures that the fitting is ensured,
In the process in which the ball idles and conveys on the sorting roller, the process in which the ball is detached from the concave portion is also performed smoothly and reliably.

The sorting and transporting of the balls into the star-shaped recesses of the sorting gears in a reliable and smooth manner by individually engaging and disengaging the balls is performed with higher precision than in the case where the selecting gears are merely annular. The friction between the ball and the sorting gear is not limited to normal conditions. A decrease in the sorting accuracy due to the decrease is unlikely to occur, and a constantly high sorting accuracy is maintained.

In order to efficiently and stably apply the pressure applied to the ball via such a sorting gear and to always maintain high sorting accuracy, the disc-shaped member provided in the sorting gear should be rotatable. Rather, it is desirable to be fixedly mounted. This is because, when mounted rotatably, the ball escapes excessively and the pressing efficiency is reduced.

The escape of the ball generated at the ball contact portion in the pressurizing means tends to be excessive due to a decrease in friction at the ball contact portion even in the above-mentioned rainy weather or during folding such as after ball washing. Therefore, if the disc-shaped member is made of an elastic synthetic resin such as urethane, and is fixedly mounted on the selection gear, the ball escapes appropriately, the selection accuracy is hardly reduced, and the ball is not damaged or damaged. Hard to give wear.

When the disk-shaped member is made of synthetic resin, it is inevitable that a certain amount of wear or damage will occur. Therefore, if the fixed attachment to the selection gear is removable in the configuration, it can be replaced easily and inexpensively according to the degree of wear before damage occurs due to the metal part of the selection gear being pressed against the ball. Becomes

With regard to the engagement and disengagement of the balls in the selection gear star-shaped concave portion one after another in a reliable and smooth manner, if the balls to be engaged are balls, particularly high-elasticity balls have considerable elasticity, Unnecessary swinging of the selection gear is caused by the repulsion from the ball in contact with the disc-shaped member or the repulsion transmitted from the adjacent balls during the ball engagement process described in the preceding paragraph. Become.

As a result, the rotation of the selection gear connected to the rotary drive mechanism and the conveyance speed of the ball conveyed from the first ball conveyance mechanism may be inconsistent, or the rotation of the selection gear may cause unnecessary swing. Pressing from the pressure means often causes excessive fluctuations that degrade the sorting accuracy.However, such unnecessary swing of the sorting gear causes the load arm to pivot freely on the device base. If they are tied, they will appear in the form of rotation around their pivots, so if a shock absorbing mechanism is installed at the floating end of the load arm, it will be considerably suppressed. Becomes

In this shock absorbing mechanism, the cylinder bottom is rotatably connected to the device base, and a piston slidably fitted to the cylinder base is rotatably connected to the load arm floating end. Then, since the load arm is also pivotally connected to the device base, unnecessary swinging due to the repulsion from the selection gear or the ball that is likely to occur in the load arm through each pivot member,
It is absorbed by the flow of fluid passing through the in-cylinder fluid flow hole drilled in the cylinder bottom area, and its shock absorption is
These become link mechanisms evenly transmitted through the respective linking members, so that, even with respect to the pressure applied to the ball from the pressurizing means, a stable and continuous state sufficient to maintain the sorting accuracy is well maintained. .

The gap between the sorting rollers from which the high-elasticity ball is delivered is premised on the gap, the pressure applied to the ball by the pressurizing means, a high degree of equilibrium such as the difference in the diameter of the ball and its abrasion, and the interrelation. Next, the balls are sorted. Therefore, the aging of the sorting efficiency and sorting accuracy is affected by the influence of the large amplitude vibration of the pressurizing means such as the device itself or the load arm over a long period of time, and the degree of wear of the ball or the disc-shaped member disposed on the sorting gear. Deterioration is inevitable,
In order to maintain a constant sorting efficiency and sorting accuracy, fine adjustment of the gap between the sorting rollers is often required. If the means for adjusting the gap between the sorting rollers is provided at the location where the sorting roller is fixed, the gap can be delicately corrected as needed, and a constant sorting efficiency and maintaining the sorting accuracy can be maintained. It is.

The high-elasticity ball passes through the gap between the sorting rollers. After the high-elasticity ball is transported from the first ball transport mechanism, the high-elasticity ball idles while contacting the sorting freewheel. In this process, the ball is brought into contact with the high-elasticity ball conveyance guide by pressing, but the ball abuts on the selection gear that rotates with the driving force, and is completely engaged with the star-shaped recess while moving to the high-elasticity ball conveyance guide. Until it is sent out, pressure is applied from the pressurizing means.

Therefore, depending on the length of the arrangement range of the sorting roller, for example, when a high-elasticity ball continues to be selected for a ball to be sorted, the leading ball is sent to the high-elasticity ball guide and the following ball is added. The intrusion into the gap due to the pressing of the pressure means appears at the same time, and the rotation of the sorting roller when the leading ball is sent to the highly elastic ball guide is hindered by the penetration of the following ball into the gap, or Conversely, the entry of the following ball into the gap may hinder or excessively rotate the sorting roller due to the delivery of the preceding ball to the highly elastic ball guide.

Further, the leading and trailing balls are not high elastic balls, but are high elastic balls, low elastic balls, or
Even when the low elastic ball and the high elastic ball are continuous with each other, the idle rotation of the low elastic ball on the gap between the sorting rollers, especially the idle rotation in which a certain pressure is applied by the pressing means, Alternatively, with respect to a subsequent high-elasticity ball, there is a possibility that the rotation of the low-elasticity ball may hinder the rotation of the selection roller accompanying the sending to the high-elasticity ball conveyance guide.

As described above, unnecessary transmission of the rotation of the selection roller, which is likely to occur when balls are simultaneously present in the ball selection mechanism, depends on the inherent elastic difference of the ball and the state of adhesion of moisture on the ball surface. However, if the sorting roller has a configuration in which a plurality of independent sorting freewheels are rotatably arranged coaxially and in a fixed length in a layered manner, the sorting roller may be as described above. Unnecessary transmission of rotation is cut off, and as a result, high-precision sorting is always performed.

As described above, the sorting roller arranged opposite to each other has a structure in which a plurality of independent sorting freewheels are rotatably arranged coaxially in a layered manner at a fixed length.
If the rotation axes of the sorting freewheels are arranged substantially in parallel and the diameters or shapes of the sorting freewheels are the same, it is easy to procure, manufacture and replace components, and the manufacturing cost is low.

As described above, the high-elasticity ball is sent from the ball selecting mechanism to the high-elasticity ball conveying guide constituting the second ball conveying mechanism, while the low-elasticity ball is fed to the opposing selecting roller. Even if the upper portion is pressed by the pressing means, the second ball is transported while being idle while being placed on the sorting roller and the gap as a transport guide without being pushed into the gap between the sorting rollers. It is sent out to the low elasticity ball conveyance guide which constitutes the mechanism.

The high-elasticity ball transport guide and the low-elasticity ball transport guide constituting the second ball transport mechanism are provided adjacent to each other below the sorting roller, so that both the high-elasticity ball and the low-elasticity ball have the second elasticity ball. Delivery to the ball transport mechanism is by dropping.

At this time, the entire length of the sorting freewheel arrangement range is at least considerably longer than the length of the pressing range by the sorting gear, and the high-elastic ball can be sent out by dropping to the high-elastic-ball transport guide. After the completion, the sorting freewheel is further extended to a certain length. Therefore, the low-elasticity ball conveyance guide provided at the end of the sorting freewheel disposition area or below the end extending area. , Only the low elasticity ball falls. Therefore, only the high-elasticity ball can be
Only the low elasticity ball is dropped and delivered to the low elasticity ball conveyance guide.

Since the second ball conveyance guide is provided with an inclination for both the high elastic ball conveyance guide and the low elastic ball conveyance guide, the selected high elastic ball and low elastic ball It is conveyed to the storage mechanism while idling and falling on the high elastic ball conveyance guide and the low elastic ball conveyance guide.

[0040]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall side view of an embodiment of the ball sorting apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, a ball sorting mechanism 2 is mounted on an apparatus base 1, and a high-elasticity ball and a low-elasticity ball having substantially the same diameter to be sorted are mounted on the ball sorting mechanism 2. A first ball transport mechanism 3 which is transported in a state where the mixed balls are mixed, and a second ball transport mechanism 4 for transporting the selected balls to predetermined ball storage mechanisms M and N are provided in series. Ball sorting mechanism 2
The apparatus comprises a pressing means 5 mounted on a base of the apparatus and applying a predetermined pressure to a ball, and a sorting roller 6 disposed opposite to the apparatus with a predetermined width of gap.

The ball sorting mechanism 2 of the first ball transport mechanism 3
A ball guide gutter 3a for sequentially sending out the balls to be sorted is provided in the connecting portion with the ball guide gutter 3a.
A bellows-shaped ball guide tube 3b is connected to a. A typical embodiment of the balls to be sorted is a softball H for baseball as a high-elasticity ball and a hardball L for baseball as a low-elasticity ball.
The diameter of b is slightly larger than the diameters of the baseball soft balls H and the hard balls L so that the baseball soft balls H and the hard balls L are sequentially sent to the ball sorting mechanism 2.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 which is a partially cutaway perspective view of the main part of this embodiment, the means for pressing the ball 5 as a component of the ball sorting mechanism 2 has a predetermined thickness. Principal configurations of polygonal star-shaped selection gear 7, load arm 8 as a load means connected to selection gear 7, and rotatable mounting of selection gear 7 in the center area thereof, and rotation drive mechanism of selection gear 7 A motor 9 as a driving source, which is a member and fixed to the load arm 8; a rotation drive transmission gear 10 and a chain 11 which are fixed to the selection gear 7 and transmit the rotational drive from the motor 9 to the selection gear 7; It consists of. The load arm 8 is a load arm fixing seat 1 of the device base 1.
a.

The sorting rollers 6 are arranged in two rows facing each other on a plane parallel to the installation surface on which the apparatus is installed or slightly inclined downward from the first ball transport mechanism 3 toward the second ball transport mechanism 4. One sorting roller independently rotates a plurality of, and typically five or so, sorting freewheels 6a to 6e having the same diameter and the same thickness and having the same bearing mechanism on the same rotating support shaft 12. The sorting freewheels 6a to 6e are freely arranged in layers and face each other. The embodiment is not limited to those having the same diameter and the same thickness. The length in which the sorting freewheels 6a to 6e are arranged is, in the embodiment, about three times less than the diameter of the ball to be sorted.

The selection gear 7 has a regular polygonal star shape as shown in FIG. 3A, which is an overall view of the selection gear of the present embodiment. A typical example is a regular hexagonal star as shown in FIG. 3 (a), but is not limited to a hexagon. As shown in FIG. 3 (a) and FIG. 3 (b) which is an exploded perspective view of the sorting gear of this embodiment, the sorting gear 7 has two regular hexagonal star-shaped gear plates 13 and Bolts 16 on all of the star-shaped top 14 and the star-shaped recessed bottom 15
It is constituted by a disc-shaped member 18 made of urethane resin which is detachably fixed and interposed by a nut 17.

As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the configuration of the ball-engaging portion of the selection gear 7 is such that the disc-shaped members 18 arranged at two places of the adjacent star-shaped tops 14 are provided. The concave portion 19 formed by the disc-shaped member 18 disposed on the star-shaped concave bottom 15 between the adjacent top portions 14 forms a portion less than a half area of the selected baseball softball H or hardball L. It shall be of such a degree that it is freely movable.

The configuration of the ball-engaging portion of such a selecting gear can be achieved by increasing the diameter of the selecting gear 7 to increase the diameter of the concave portion in the embodiments such as a regular octagon and a regular decagon which can be conceived as other embodiments. By increasing the degree of depression, that is, by forming a star shape rather than a regular polygonal shape, almost the same as the case of a regular hexagon, that is, a selected baseball softball H,
It is of a degree that freely surrounds a portion of the hard ball L below a half area.

However, in the case of the regular octagon, the regular decagon and the like which can be recalled as the embodiment of the sorting gear 7, the sorting freewheels 6a to 6a-
It is desirable to set the length of e to be at least three times the diameter of the balls to be sorted, for example, about four to five times.

The gap 20 between the sorting rollers arranged opposite to each other
As shown in FIG. 4A, which is a front perspective view of the main part of the present embodiment, the elasticity of the high elasticity ball H, the elasticity of the low elasticity ball L, the pressure applied to the ball by the pressing means, Diameter or shape of sorting freewheel, high elasticity ball,
Considering various factors such as a change in the pressure caused by the swing of the load arm 8 due to the alternate transport of the low elasticity ball and the presence or absence of moisture on the ball surface, the high elasticity ball H passes through the gap 20, and the low elasticity ball L passes through the gap. It is necessary to keep the width of the area not passing through 20.

Regarding the width of the gap 20, the high elasticity ball H
When a softball for baseball, which is a typical example of the baseball, and a hardball for baseball, which is a typical example of the low elasticity ball L, the ball diameter is approximately
A general example is a parallel width of about three quarters. However, the above-described general embodiment of the gap 20 is an embodiment in which the rotation support shafts 12 are arranged in parallel and the sorting freewheels have the same diameter as the embodiment. Alternatively, depending on the convenience of installation of the second ball transport mechanism 4, it is not necessarily limited to the one in which the rotation support shafts 12 are arranged in parallel.

That is, the individual sorting freewheel 6a
It is also possible to imagine an embodiment in which each of -e is a notch cone having a gradually decreasing diameter or a gradually increasing diameter, in which case, in order to maintain and improve a predetermined sorting effect, the rotating support in the ball transport direction is supported. In some embodiments, the width of the shaft 12 or the width of the gap 20 is gradually increased or decreased.

The degree of penetration of the selection gear 7 into the gap 20 is as follows:
Similarly to the setting of the width of the gap 20, the elasticity of the high elasticity ball H, the elasticity of the low elasticity ball L, the pressure applied to the ball by the pressing means, the diameter or shape of the sorting freewheel, the high elasticity ball, It should be set in consideration of various factors such as a change in pressure due to the swing of the load arm 8 accompanying the alternate conveyance of the low elasticity ball and the presence or absence of moisture on the ball surface.

As a typical embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the tip of the disc-shaped member 18 disposed on the star-shaped top 14 of the selection gear 7 has no ball in the ball selection mechanism 2. Under a condition, that is, under a stationary condition, the sorting freewheels 6a to 6e constituting the sorting roller 6 are configured to reach approximately half-range corresponding points. For this purpose, assuming that the load arm 8 is mounted in a stationary state, a load arm mounting stem 21 on which a spring 21a also serving as a shock absorbing auxiliary means is fitted is provided at an appropriate position on the apparatus base 1. According to this configuration, it is desirable that the distal end of the disc-shaped member 18 disposed on the star-shaped concave bottom 15 of the selection gear 7 should reach almost on the rotary support shaft 12 also in a stationary state.

The setting of the gap 20 of the sorting roller 6 is delicate, as described above, in consideration of the relationship with other related technical components. In order to maintain high sorting accuracy in the case where the surface of the hard ball L, wear of the hard ball L, wear of the disk-shaped member 18 and the like occur, the gap adjustment is performed so that the set position of the rotary support shaft 12 can be finely adjusted at any time. Means are provided. In the present embodiment, regarding the fixing of the rotation support shaft fixing base 22 to the device base rotation support shaft fixing portion 1b, FIG. 4B is a rear plan view of the device base rotation support shaft fixing portion of the present embodiment. As shown, the screw hole 23 is formed in an elongated rectangular shape, which is an embodiment of the gap adjusting means. In addition, sorting freewheel 6a-e
The rotation support shaft 12 is rotatably supported by a rotation support shaft fixing base in order to improve the rotation of the rotation support shaft.

The configuration of the main parts of the ball selecting mechanism 2 and the pressing means 5 according to the present embodiment has been described above. During the ball selecting step, the high elasticity ball H and the low ball L
Arm 8 caused by the engagement of the balls or the repulsion caused by the collision of the balls, and the sorting gear 7 fixed thereto.
In order to avoid unnecessary swing of the load arm 8, an impact absorbing mechanism 24 is provided at the floating end 8 a of the load arm 8.

The shock absorbing mechanism 24 includes a piston 26 having a piston rod 26a pivotally connected to the load arm 8 by a first pivot 25, and a cylinder 27 on which the piston 26 is slidably fitted. The bottom 27a of the cylinder 27
Is rotatably connected to a cylinder connection base 1c of the apparatus base 1 via a second pivot 28.

An air flow hole 29 as a typical and inexpensive embodiment of a fluid for absorbing and mitigating the impact of the swing of the load arm is formed at an appropriate position in the bottom region of the cylinder 27. The size of the air flow hole 29 is such that the amount of air flowing through the air flow hole 29 does not cause a sudden or extreme swing of the load arm 8, for example, a disk-shaped member disposed on the selection gear 7. It is desirable that the ball 18 be of such a size that it does not jump off the ball and is appropriately pressed against one of the balls.

The second ball transport mechanism 4 for transporting the balls, which have been classified into hard and soft according to the difference in elasticity, to predetermined ball storage mechanisms, ie, a hard ball storage mechanism M and a soft ball storage mechanism N.
As shown in FIG. 1, both of the low-elasticity ball transport guide 30 and the high-elasticity ball transport guide 31 constituting this are installed adjacent to each other and below the sorting roller 6.

The low-elasticity ball conveyance guide 30 and the high-elasticity ball conveyance guide 31 are both provided with a downward inclination in the depth direction in FIG. 1, and the low-elasticity ball conveyance guide 30 is provided with the sorting freewheels 6a to 6e. The arrangement area end 32 or the arrangement area end extension area 33 of the selection freewheels 6a to 6e is provided below the extension area 33, and the high-elasticity ball conveyance guide 31 is provided directly below the selection freewheels 6a to 6e. It is provided in.

With the above configuration, the first ball transfer mechanism, that is, the ball that has been transferred in the state of being hard-soft mixed in the order of the ball guide gutter 3a and the ball guide tube 3b is transferred to the ball sorting mechanism 2. . Since the diameters of the ball guide gutter 3a and the ball guide tube 3b are slightly larger than the ball diameter, the balls are sequentially conveyed one by one to a ball sorting mechanism.

The hard and soft balls conveyed to the ball selection mechanism 2 in this way idle on the ball selection roller 6 one by one and the star-shaped top 14 of the selection gear 7.
Alternatively, it is pressed by the pressing means 5 in a state of contacting or engaging with the bottom 15 of the star-shaped concave portion which is a valley. Due to this pressing, the soft ball H, which is a highly elastic ball, passes through the gap 20 between the sorting rollers 6 by elastic deformation as typically shown in FIG. The hard ball L, which is sent out to the high elastic ball transport guide 31 which is an elastic ball transport mechanism and is a low elastic ball, is
Since it does not pass through the gap 20 between the rollers, the idler roller idles on the gap between the sorting rollers and moves to the low-elasticity ball transport guide 30 which is the low-elasticity ball transport mechanism of the second ball transport mechanism 4 by the sorting gear 7. Sent out.

As for the pressurizing means 5, the weights of all three components of the selecting gear 7, the load arm 8, and the motor 9 as a rotary drive mechanism are used as loads. This weight is applied to both hard and soft balls L and H, and pressure is applied. For this reason, the entire apparatus is considerably reduced in weight, and the transmission of the rotational drive from the motor 9 to the selection gear 7 is also short because the transmission distance between the rotational drive transmission gear 10 and the motor 9 is short and there is no change in the relative position between the two. The rotation transmission efficiency is good together with the shortening of the chain 11 as the transmission means.

The pressing force applied to the hard and soft balls H and L that idle on the selection roller 6 by the pressing means 5 is applied to the state in which the balls H and L are engaged with the concave portion 19 of the selection gear 7. It acts as a force for sending out to the high-elasticity ball conveyance guide 31 with respect to the soft ball H which is a high-elasticity ball,
The hard ball L, which is a low elastic ball, does not act as a force for sending the ball to the high elastic ball conveyance guide 31. For this reason, the hard spheres L are conveyed only while reliably engaging with the star-shaped concave portions 19 while rotating freely and individually on the sorting rollers 6.

When pressure is applied to the ball from the pressing means 5, the ball is pressed against the star top 1 of the selection gear 7.
4 and a thick disk-shaped member 1 disposed on the bottom 15 of the star-shaped recess.
8 When the star-shaped top portion 14 is pressed against the ball, the ball escapes from the disk-shaped member 18 disposed on the star-shaped top portion 14 due to the idle rotation of the ball, that is, the center of the ball is idled due to the pressing direction applied to the ball. By shifting,
Pressing from the pressurizing means 5 is applied while engaging with the concave portion 19 of any of the adjacent selection gears 7 in sequence and abutting against the disk-shaped member 18 disposed on the star-shaped concave bottom 15.

Since the shape of the disc-shaped member 18 is thick and the ball does not escape in a direction other than the conveying direction or the sending-out direction, any one of the adjacent selection gear concave portions 19 is required. Although the ball escapes in the direction in which the ball is engaged, almost no escape occurs in a direction other than the transport direction or the sending direction. Therefore, the engagement of the balls with the concave portion 19 of the selection gear is ensured individually and sequentially.

The ball that fits into the concave portion 19 of the selection gear movably surrounds a portion that is less than or equal to a half area of one ball to be fitted, so that the ball is securely fitted. At the same time, in the process of the balls being conveyed while spinning on the sorting roller 6, the balls are smoothly and sequentially detached from the concave portions 19.

The sorting and transport of the balls to the concave portion 19 of the sorting gear 19 by the sequential and reliable and smooth engagement and disengagement are not limited to normal times.
Alternatively, even when the ball is washed after the ball is washed with water, the friction between the balls L and H and the sorting gear 7 due to the adhesion of moisture to the ball surface is not significantly affected, and a high sorting accuracy is always maintained.

The disc-shaped member 18 provided on the sorting gear has
Because it is made of a fixedly mounted urethane resin, it does not become excessive due to a decrease in friction at the ball contact portion even in the above-mentioned rainy weather or after folding the ball after washing with water, so that the ball escapes properly. It is maintained, and the sorting accuracy is unlikely to decrease. Also, since the metal portion of the selection gear is not pressed against the ball, it is difficult to damage or wear the ball. Further, as shown in FIG. Are also inexpensive.

The swing of the load arm 8 or the selection gear 7 due to the engagement of the ball with the concave portion 19 of the selection gear or the repulsion caused by the contact of the disc-shaped member 18 with the ball, particularly a high elasticity Load arm 8 by elastic ball H
Further, sudden or excessive swinging of the selection gear 7 may cause inconsistency between the rotation of the selection gear and the speed at which the ball is conveyed from the first ball transfer mechanism 3, or may deteriorate the selection accuracy in the pressing from the pressing means 5. Although it causes excessive fluctuation, the steepness of the load arm 8 or the sorting gear 7 due to the ridge 21a externally fitted to the load arm mounting stem 21 and the shock absorbing mechanism 24 provided at the free end of the load arm. Excessive rocking is considerably absorbed and suppressed.

This shock absorbing mechanism 24 is mounted on the cylinder bottom 2
7a is rotatably connected to a cylinder connecting base 1c of the apparatus base 1, and a piston 26 slidably fitted thereto is provided with:
The load arm 8 is rotatably connected to the load arm floating end 8a via a piston rod 26a.
Because it is pivotally connected to the load arm fixing seat 1b of
Unnecessary rocking due to the repulsion from a ball which is likely to occur in the selection gear 7 or the load arm 8 through each pivoting member causes the flow of air as a fluid passing through the air circulation hole 29 formed in the cylinder bottom 27a. Is absorbed by

The sorting gear 7 by the shock absorbing mechanism 24
In addition, the shock absorption due to the swing of the load arm 8 is evenly transmitted through the respective pivot members as a link mechanism. As a result, a stable and continuous state sufficient for maintaining the sorting accuracy can be well maintained for the pressure applied to the balls H and L from the pressing means.

The gap 20 between the sorting rollers 6 from which the high-elasticity balls H are sent out,
Is set in consideration of the pressure applied to the balls, the fine balance of the individual ball diameters and the high equilibrium such as the wear thereof, and the interrelationship. When these changes degrade the ball selection accuracy, the selection roller 6 Fine adjustment of the gap therebetween is performed by finely adjusting the width of the rotation support shaft 12. This fine adjustment is appropriately performed such that the rotation support shaft fixing base 22 on which the rotation support shaft 12 is rotatably supported is slid over the elongated rectangular screw hole 23 and ball sorting with high accuracy is performed. This is performed by positioning and screwing.

The high-elasticity ball H passes through the gap 20 after the high-elasticity ball H is transported from the first ball transport mechanism 3 and then idles while being in contact with the sorting freewheels 6a to 6e.
In this process, the hard and soft balls H and L are brought into contact with the sorting gear 7 which rotates with the driving force, and is sent out to the highly elastic ball conveyance guide 31 by pressing by the pressing means 5. Pressing means 5 applies pressure in the sending direction, that is, downward, until the balls H and L are completely sent out to the highly elastic ball conveyance guide 31 while being engaged with the concave portions 19 thereof. .

The sorting freewheels 6 a to 6 e are rotatable on the rotation support shaft 12, and the rotation support shaft 12 is also rotatably supported by the rotation support shaft fixing base 22. The soft ball H, which is a highly elastic ball that has begun to undergo elastic deformation, is very smoothly pushed out to the highly elastic ball transport guide 31 by the pressing means 5.

Since the sorting freewheels 6a to 6e can rotate independently on the rotation support shaft 12, for example, when a high-elasticity ball is continuous for a ball to be sorted, a high-elasticity ball of a preceding ball is used. The delivery to the guide and the entry of the following ball into the gap by the pressing of the pressing means appear simultaneously, and conversely, the entry of the following ball into the gap and the introduction of the preceding ball to the highly elastic ball guide. Even when the delivery is simultaneous, the rotation of the sorting freewheel when the leading ball is delivered to the high-elasticity ball guide is hindered by the rotation of another sorting freewheel accompanying the penetration of the following ball into the gap. Or, conversely, the rotation of the sorting freewheel due to the entry of the following ball into the gap hinders or rotates the rotation of the sorting freewheel due to the delivery of the leading ball to the highly elastic ball guide. Situation in which the degree thing does not occur.

The sorting rollers 6 disposed opposite each other are provided with a plurality of independent free wheels 6a to 6e having the same diameter and the same thickness.
Are rotatable coaxially and arranged in layers in a fixed length, so that parts can be easily procured, manufactured, and exchanged at any time, and especially in the case of standard products, the manufacturing cost is reduced.

The soft balls H, which are high-elastic balls, are sent out from the ball sorting mechanism 2 to the high-elastic-ball transport guide 31, while the hard balls L, which are low-elastic balls, pass on the sorting roller 6 disposed opposite to the ball. Even if a pressure is applied by the pressurizing means 5 and the sheet is sandwiched between the selection gear 7 and the selection roller 6, the separation roller 6 and the gap 20 are placed on the separation roller 6 and the gap 20 as a conveyance guide without being pushed into the gap 20 by the pressure. It is sent to the low-elasticity ball conveyance guide 30 while idling while existing.

The high-elasticity ball conveyance guide 31 and the low-elasticity ball conveyance guide 30 constituting the second ball conveyance mechanism 4 are provided adjacent to each other below the sorting roller 6 so that the soft ball H, which is a high-elasticity ball, is formed. The hard ball L, which is a low-elasticity ball, is transferred to the high-elasticity ball conveyance guide 31 and the low-elasticity ball conveyance guide 3
After that, the ball sorting process in the ball sorting mechanism 2 ends. When the balls are continuously transferred from the first ball transfer mechanism 3, this step is repeatedly and continuously performed.

The step of selecting hard balls L, which are low-elastic balls, will be described in more detail. The entire length of the arrangement range of the selection freewheels 6a to 6e is at least considerably longer than the length of the pressing range by the selection gear 7. As an example in the case where the selection gear in this embodiment is a regular hexagonal star, the diameter of the ball to be selected is set to 3 to 4 times or more, so that the soft ball H, which is a high elastic ball, is transported by the high elastic ball. After dropping completely on the guide 31, a sorting freewheel that extends for a certain length further separates the low-elasticity ball into the second ball-transporting mechanism 4, separately from the low-elasticity ball-transporting guide 30 as a component of the second ball-transporting mechanism 4. Function as a transport guide, and as a result,
Only the low-elasticity ball falls on the low-elasticity ball conveyance guide 30 which is a component of the ball conveyance mechanism 4.

The balls sorted into the soft ball H and the hard ball L in this manner are transported to the second ball transport mechanism 4, and the second ball transport guides 30 and 31 which are constituent members thereof.
Since the high-elasticity ball transport guide 31 and the low-elasticity ball transport guide 30 are both mounted with an inclination, the selected soft balls H and hard balls L can be stored in a predetermined ball storage mechanism, that is, a hard ball storage mechanism M. Then, it is conveyed to the soft-ball storage mechanism N while falling idle on the high elasticity ball conveyance guide 31 and the low elasticity ball conveyance guide 30.

[0081]

As described above in detail, according to the ball sorting apparatus of the present invention, even if it is installed outdoors or semi-outdoors, it is possible to reliably and efficiently sort balls having different elasticity with little influence on weather. In addition, there is provided a ball sorting apparatus that is lightweight, has low manufacturing costs and low operating costs, and is inexpensive and easy to replace members directly pressed against the ball.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a main part of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is an overall view of a sorting gear according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3B is an exploded perspective view of the same.

FIG. 4A is a front perspective view of a main part of the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a rear plan view of an apparatus base rotation support shaft fixing part.

FIG. 5 is an overall view of a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view of a main part of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Device base 1a Load arm fixing seat 1b Device base rotation support shaft fixing portion 1c Cylinder pivot table 2 Ball selection mechanism 3 First ball transfer mechanism 3a Ball guide gutter 3b Ball guide tube 4 Second ball transfer mechanism 5 Pressurization Means 6 Sorting roller 6a-e Sorting freewheel 7 Sorting gear 8 Load arm 8a Load arm floating end 9 Motor 10 Rotary drive transmission gear 11 Chain 12 Rotation support shaft 13 Gear plate 14 Sorting gear star shaped top 15 Sorting gear star shaped concave bottom Reference Signs List 16 Bolt 17 Nut 18 Disc-shaped member 19 Separation gear concave portion 20 Separation roller gap 21 Load arm mounting stem 21a Sprocket 22 Rotation support shaft fixing stand 23 Screw hole 24 Shock absorbing mechanism 25 First pivot 26 Piston 26a Piston Rod 27 Cylinder 27a Cylinder bottom 28 Second pivot 29 Air flow hole 30 Low-elasticity ball conveyance guide 31 High-elasticity ball conveyance guide 32 Sorting freewheel disposition area end portion 33 Sorting freewheel disposition area end extension area 101 Rotary drive mechanism 102 Flange part 103 Drum 104 Sorting roller 105 Annular sorting wheel 106 Drum cavity 107 High elasticity ball guide mechanism 108 Low elasticity ball guide mechanism H High elasticity ball or softball for baseball L Low elasticity ball or hardball for baseball M Hardball storage mechanism N Softball storage mechanism

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A ball having substantially the same diameter and different elasticity, comprising: a pressing means mounted on an apparatus base for applying a predetermined pressure to a ball; and a sorting roller disposed opposite to the gap with a predetermined width. A first ball transport mechanism that transports the balls to the ball sorting mechanism, and a second ball transport mechanism that transports the selected balls to a predetermined ball storage mechanism. The second ball transport mechanism is composed of a low-elasticity ball transport mechanism and a high-elasticity ball transport mechanism, and the low-elasticity ball is formed according to the degree of elastic deformation of the ball pressed by the pressing means. In a ball sorting apparatus having a configuration in which a ball having high elasticity cannot pass through a gap between sorting rollers and a ball having high elasticity can pass through a gap between the sorting rollers, the pressing means has a regular polygon having a predetermined thickness. A star-shaped selection gear, a load means of a considerable weight connected to the selection gear, and an impact absorbing means connected to the load means; and a star-shaped top and a star-shaped concave bottom of the selection gear. Is provided with a thick disk-shaped member,
The sorting roller is configured by arranging a plurality of sorting freewheels coaxially, independently rotatably and in a layered manner at a fixed length, and the sorting gear is connected to a rotary drive mechanism to form the first sorting wheel. A delivery mechanism from the ball transport mechanism to the second ball transport mechanism is configured, and among the second ball transport mechanisms,
A low-elasticity ball transfer mechanism extends in the rotation axis direction of the selection roller serving as a low-elasticity ball guide, and the high-elasticity ball transfer mechanism is continuously provided in a pressing direction by a pressing means via a gap between the selection rollers. A ball sorting device. 2. The low-elasticity ball transfer mechanism is a low-elasticity ball transfer guide provided with a slant, and the high-elasticity ball transfer mechanism is a high-elasticity ball transfer guide mounted with a slant. The high-elasticity ball conveyance guide and the low-elasticity ball conveyance guide are provided adjacent to each other below the sorting roller, and the entire length of the sorting freewheel arrangement range constituting the sorting roller is at least pressed by the sorting gear. The low-elasticity ball conveyance guide having a length considerably longer than the length of the range, the low-elasticity ball conveyance guide is provided at the end of the sorting freewheel disposition area or below the end extension area, and the high-elasticity ball conveyance guide is provided. 2. The ball sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the ball sorting device is provided immediately below a sorting freewheel arrangement area. 3. A regular polygonal star-shaped selection gear includes two regular polygonal star-shaped plate members, and is disposed between the regular polygonal star-shaped plate members at the top of the star and the bottom of the star-shaped recess. A disk-shaped member is provided, and the disk-shaped member is made of an elastic synthetic resin,
2. The ball sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the ball sorting device is removably fixedly mounted on the disposition portion. 4. A load arm connected to the sorting gear and having a considerable weight is a load arm rotatably connected to the apparatus base, and a shock absorbing mechanism is provided at a free end of the load arm. The shock absorbing mechanism includes a piston pivotally connected to the floating end of the load arm, and a cylinder in which the piston is slidably fitted, and the bottom of the cylinder pivots on the device base. 2. The cylinder according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder is freely pivoted, and an in-cylinder fluid communication hole is formed in a bottom area of the cylinder.
The ball sorting device according to the above. 5. The ball sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein gap adjusting means for adjusting the gap between the sorting rollers disposed opposite to each other is provided at a portion where the sorting roller is fixedly installed. 6. A disc-shaped member disposed at two adjacent star-shaped tops of a selection gear and a disk-shaped member disposed at one star-shaped concave bottom between the adjacent tops. 4. The ball sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the recessed portion is configured to movably surround a portion equal to or less than a half area of one sorting ball. 7. The ball sorting device according to claim 4, wherein the rotation driving mechanism of the selection gear is fixed to the load arm and constitutes a load means connected to the selection gear.