JP2005152214A - Pachinko ball carrying conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pachinko ball carrying conveyor on/from which a carrying belt can be simply installed/removed. <P>SOLUTION: In the pachinko ball carrying conveyor (1) having the carrying belts (47 and 49), both drive units (21 and 21') are turnably connected to a belt support rail (3) having one carrying path (18) and the other carrying path (19) parallel between one end and the other end thereof along the length thereof through a turning mechanism (83) on the one end side and the other end side of the belt support rail. With the turning of one or both of the two drive units, the distance between rollers belonging to both the drive units can be extended or reduced. If the distance is reduced between the rollers, the carrying belts can be simply installed/removed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a pachinko ball conveyor for connecting pachinko balls and transporting pachinko balls by connecting an upper tank of other pachinko islands.

Each pachinko island set up in the pachinko amusement hall is provided with a pachinko ball polishing machine for lifting pachinko balls and an upper tank for storing pachinko balls lifted by the pachinko ball polishing machine. Most of the pachinko balls stored in the upper tank are the extra pachinko balls that have been replenished to each pachinko machine out of the raised pachinko balls. If the amount of pachinko balls to be transported is less than the amount of pachinko balls to be replenished, the small amount will be covered by the pachinko balls in the upper tank. The amount of pachinko balls required varies depending on the gaming state of the pachinko machine, and accordingly, the amount of pachinko balls held by each pachinko island also varies. That is, there are pachinko islands that have an excess of pachinko balls and other pachinko islands that lack pachinko balls. It is the role of the crossover to adjust the excess and deficiency of such pachinko balls through the upper tanks (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-191835 (paragraph numbers 0002 and 0003, see FIG. 1)

  However, since the above-mentioned crossover is configured to convey pachinko balls using its own inclination, it requires a sufficient inclination to roll the pachinko balls. In order to obtain the inclination, it is necessary that the transfer source is at a correspondingly high position. The longer the transfer distance, the higher the position of the upper tank as the transfer source. However, there is a limit to raising it. If the ceiling of the pachinko parlor is not high enough, the upper tank cannot be installed beyond the ceiling. Therefore, a transport method other than the transport method relying only on the inclination has been desired. One possible solution is the use of a pachinko ball conveyor that uses a conveyor belt. If a conveyor belt is used, an inclination for rolling is unnecessary, and even a slight inclination is sufficient. That is, it is very convenient because the upper tank does not need to be installed at a position as high as before.

  On the other hand, even if such a pachinko ball conveyor is used, there is a problem in attaching and detaching the conveyor belt. It is normal to attach and detach the conveyor belt according to the situation in the pachinko game hall. This is because the shape of the upper tank is usually different depending on the pachinko amusement hall, and the distance between the upper tanks varies. Since the upper tank is more than 2 meters from the floor, it must be done in an unreasonable posture. For this reason, it is desirable to make the attachment / detachment work as simple as possible. This is the object of the present invention. That is, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pachinko ball conveying conveyor that can easily attach and detach the conveying belt.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention has a remarkable feature in that the distance between the driving roller and the driven roller that spans the conveying belt can be expanded and contracted. Due to this feature, the distance between the rollers necessary for use to maintain the tension of the conveyor belt can be shortened when the conveyor belt is bridged or removed, so that the attachment / detachment operation can be easily performed. The detailed configuration will be explained again. It should be noted that the definitions of terms used in the description of the invention described in any claim shall be applied to the invention described in other claims as long as possible in nature. Furthermore, the descriptions of “one” and “the other”, “first” and “second”, etc. in this specification are only distinguished as such for convenience of explanation, and either one is It is not intended to identify the other. If there is a reason such as avoiding redundant expressions by omitting these descriptions, these descriptions may be omitted.

(Characteristics of the invention of claim 1)
A pachinko ball conveyor according to the invention of claim 1 (hereinafter referred to as “conveyor of claim 1” as appropriate) includes an upper tank of pachinko island and a connection mechanism between the upper tank and an upper tank of another pachinko island. It is a conveyor which can be connected via. Specifically, a belt support rail having one conveyance path and the other conveyance path arranged in parallel between one end and the other end in the length direction, and a first rotation mechanism (rotation) on one end side of the belt support rail. A first drive unit that is pivotably (rotatably) connected via a structure), a first drive roller that is disposed on the one transport path side of the first drive unit, and a first drive unit that is disposed on the other transport path side. A driven roller, a second drive unit connected to the other end side of the rail body via a second rotation mechanism (rotation structure) so as to be rotatable (rotatable), and conveyance of the one of the second drive units A second driven roller arranged on the road side, a second driving roller arranged on the other conveying path side, one conveying belt detachably bridged between the first driving roller and the second driven roller, and the second driving Roller and the first slave The other conveyor belt hung removably on the roller, a conveyor including a second drive mechanism for driving the first driving mechanism and the second driving roller for driving the first drive roller, the. Then, by rotating the first drive unit and / or the second drive unit relative to the belt support rail, the distance between the first drive roller and the second driven roller and the second drive roller The distance between the first driven roller and the first driven roller can be expanded and contracted. The belt support rail may, for example, combine one transport path and the other transport path that are individually manufactured, or may have one transport path and the other transport path coexist in an originally integrated one.

  According to the conveyor of the first aspect, the excess or deficiency of the pachinko balls can be adjusted by conveying the pachinko balls between the upper tanks. One conveyor belt that is slidably supported by the belt support rail and travels in one conveyor path conveys pachinko balls from the upper tank of the conveyance source to the upper tank of the conveyance destination. The other transport belt that is supported by the same belt support rail and travels in the other transport path transports pachinko balls to the upper tank of the transport source. That is, between the upper tank and the other upper tank connected by the conveyor, one transport belt is used when transporting the pachinko balls as viewed from the former, and the other transport belt is used when receiving the transport. When the same conveyance is viewed from the latter, that is, from the other upper tank, one conveyance belt becomes the other conveyance belt, and the other conveyance belt becomes one conveyance belt. The travel of both conveyor belts is due to the action of the first drive mechanism and the second drive mechanism. Here, when the first drive unit is rotated using the function of the rotation mechanism, the distance between the first drive roller and the second driven roller and the distance between the second drive roller and the first driven roller. Shrinks. As a result, the two conveyor belts that have been stretched are loosened, so that the two conveyor belts can be easily removed by using this. Similarly, it is very easy to attach both conveyor belts in a loose state. If the first drive unit is rotated after being attached and returned to the original position, both the slackened conveyor belts can be stretched and used. The attaching / detaching operation can be performed by rotating the second drive unit instead of rotating the first drive unit, or can be performed by rotating both of them simultaneously. As described above, according to the conveyor of the first aspect, since both the conveyor belts can be attached and detached very easily, it is possible to install and set according to the field situation in the pachinko game hall. Furthermore, by making the structure of the first drive unit and the structure of the second drive unit the same, it can be used regardless of the mounting direction of the conveyor itself. Therefore, it is not necessary to care about the direction when installing and setting the conveyor in the pachinko amusement hall, so that the work can be performed very easily and easily.

(Characteristics of the invention described in claim 2)
A pachinko ball conveyor (hereinafter referred to as “conveyor of claim 2”) according to the invention of claim 2 is the conveyor of claim 1 and the belt support rail can be configured as follows. That is, the belt support rail is provided with both side walls standing up from the both sides in the width direction of the upper surface over the entire length direction, and a partition wall standing up from the approximate center in the width direction of the upper surface over the entire length direction. The one conveyor belt is disposed between the one side wall and the partition wall, and the other conveyor belt is disposed between the other side wall and the partition wall. It is preferable that the side wall and the partition wall partially constituting the belt support rail are integrally formed with the belt support rail main body, which is another part, in terms of saving labor and reducing the number of parts. What was manufactured as an integrated thing may be used.

  According to the conveyor of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the conveyor of claim 1, one conveyor belt conveys pachinko balls between one side wall and the partition wall, and the other conveyor belt is connected to the other side wall. A pachinko ball is transported to and from the partition wall. As described above, the conveyors themselves can be made very compact and lightweight because they are constituted by the minimum necessary members of the side walls and the partition walls. This is important for facilitating the installation and setting in the pachinko game hall.

(Characteristics of Claim 3)
The pachinko ball conveyor according to the invention of claim 3 (hereinafter referred to as “the conveyor of claim 3” as appropriate) is the conveyor of claim 1 or 2, and is a cross section orthogonal to the length direction of the belt support rail. The shape is preferably constant at any position in the length direction. That is, the cross-sectional shape at a certain position is the same as the cross-sectional shape at any other position. This means that the belt support rail can be manufactured by a relatively easy method such as, for example, extrusion. For example, if the required bolt hole is formed in the belt support rail, the cross-sectional shape including the bolt hole is different from the cross-sectional shape in other parts where there is no bolt hole, and the cross-sectional shape is constant in that sense. However, the inconsistency in the cross-sectional shape that appears as a result of the subsequent operation such as the bolt hole does not impair the above-described constancy of the cross-sectional shape.

  According to the conveyor of Claim 3, in addition to the effect of the conveyor of Claim 1 or 2, since manufacture of a belt support rail can be performed comparatively easily, the manufacturing cost can be held down correspondingly. Furthermore, the fact that the cross-sectional shape is constant also makes it easy to adjust the length of the belt support rail. In other words, it can be used by connecting short ones, or can be used by cutting off the long ones, so that it is possible to respond flexibly to the difference in the distance between the upper tanks in the pachinko game hall.

(Feature of the invention of claim 4)
The pachinko ball conveyor according to the invention of claim 4 (hereinafter referred to as “the conveyor of claim 4” as appropriate) is the conveyor of claim 2 or 3, wherein the first drive unit and the second drive unit are It can be configured as follows. That is, the first drive unit and the second drive unit are provided with both opposing unit side walls, a support plate part that connects the unit side walls, a unit partition plate that stands up from the support plate part, Each of the unit side walls is disposed at a position corresponding to each of the both side walls, the unit partition plate is disposed at a position corresponding to the partition wall, and the upper surface of the support plate portion is disposed on the belt support rail. It can arrange | position so that it may become substantially the same as the extended surface of an upper surface.

  According to the conveyor of Claim 4, in addition to the effect of the conveyor of Claim 2 or 3, both unit side walls act like both side walls, and a unit partition plate acts like a partition wall. Further, the upper surface of the support plate portion acts as an extension surface of the upper surface of the belt support rail. As a result, the belt support rail and the first drive unit are functionally integrated.

(Feature of the invention of claim 5)
The pachinko ball conveyor according to the invention of claim 5 (hereinafter referred to as “the conveyor of claim 5” as appropriate) is the conveyor of claim 4, and is the width of the one conveyor path on the upper surface side of the belt support rail. Both guide grooves extending over the entire length in the length direction are formed in the approximate center in the direction and the width direction in the other conveyance path, and each of the support plate portions is continuous with each of the guide grooves. The two unit guide grooves that can receive the guided ridges are formed over the entire length in the length direction, and approximately the center in the width direction of the non-transport surface (the back surface of the transport surface) of the one transport belt and the other In the middle of the width direction of the non-conveying surface of the conveying belt (the back surface of the conveying surface), there are lengths of both guided ridges for receiving the guide grooves and the unit guide grooves to prevent meandering. It is formed over the entire length.

  According to the conveyor of the fifth aspect, in addition to the effect of the conveyor of the fourth aspect, the traveling of the conveyor belt is performed in a state where the guided protrusion is received in the guide groove and the unit guide groove. The guide action of the guide groove and the unit guide groove prevents lateral blurring of the conveyor belt, and eliminates friction between the conveyor belt and both side walls that may occur when it is assumed that lateral blurring has occurred. As a result, wear of the conveyor belt is effectively prevented and stable running is performed.

(Characteristics of the invention described in claim 6)
The pachinko ball conveyor according to the invention of claim 6 (hereinafter referred to as “the conveyor of claim 6” as appropriate) is the conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first drive unit and the second drive. The unit is provided with a first auxiliary roller and a second auxiliary roller for adjusting the tension of the one conveyance belt and the other conveyance belt. The first auxiliary roller and the second auxiliary roller are provided with a structure capable of adjusting the relative position of the first auxiliary roller and the second auxiliary roller so that a stronger tension can be generated by bringing the first auxiliary roller and the second auxiliary roller closer to the conveyance belt. Good.

  According to the conveyor of the sixth aspect, in addition to the function and effect of the conveyor according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the tension of the one conveyor belt and the other conveyor belt can be adjusted by the first auxiliary roller and the second auxiliary roller. it can. The tension can be adjusted by rotating the unit, but finer adjustment is possible by providing an auxiliary roller.

  According to the conveyor which concerns on this invention, the pachinko ball conveyance conveyor which can attach or detach a conveyance belt easily can be provided.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “the present embodiment”) will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a pachinko island equipped with a pachinko ball conveyor (hereinafter referred to as “conveyor” as appropriate). FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the upper tank with the conveyor omitted. FIG. 3 is a right side view of the upper tank with the conveyor omitted. FIG. 4 is a front view of the upper tank to which the conveyor is attached. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the upper tank shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the conveyor. FIG. 7 is a plan view of the conveyor. FIG. 8 is a right side view of the conveyor. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the support rail shown in FIG. 10 and 11 are front views of the conveyor. FIG. 12 is a front view showing the tension adjustment structure of the auxiliary roller. For convenience of explanation, the conveyor belt is omitted in FIGS. 6 and 7, and similarly, in FIGS. 10 and 11, the internal structure is depicted by a solid line on the assumption that the side wall on the front side of the support rail is transparent. It is.

(Upper tank and conveyor)
This will be described with reference to FIGS. Reference numeral 100 denotes a pachinko island (see FIG. 1) in which a large number of pachinko machines are assembled, and reference numeral 101 denotes an upper tank for storing pachinko balls provided in the pachinko island 100. The upper tank 101 is a tank having a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from above. Receiving cutouts 102 and 102 are formed in the upper portions of the side walls 101a and 101a constituting the upper tank 101. Each receiving notch 102 corresponds to the outlet of the pachinko ball polishing machine 99 indicated by a two-dot chain line, and is a notch for receiving the discharged pachinko ball. The reason why the two receiving notches 102 are provided is that one of them can be selected and used in accordance with the installation state of the upper tank 101. In the present embodiment, since the pachinko ball polishing machine 99 is installed on the back side of the upper tank 101 shown in FIG. 2, the receiving cutout 102 on the back side is used as the receiving cutout 102 on the front side, and the closing plate (not shown) is used. (Omitted). On the contrary, when the pachinko ball polishing machine 99 is installed on the front side, the reception cutout 102 on the front side is opened and the reception cutout 102 on the back side is closed.

  In the upper part of the upper tank 101, the pachinko balls that have passed through the receiving cutout 102 are arranged in a stepped manner via an upper slope 103 for receiving the pachinko ball on its upper surface, and an upper slope 103 and a downstream gap 105 (see FIG. 3). And a lower slope 106. The upper slope 103 is gently downwardly inclined (usually about 5%) toward the lower slope 106 (to the left in FIG. 3), and the upper slope 103 and the side wall 101b of the upper tank 101 are separated from each other. An upstream gap 104 is formed between which a pachinko ball can fall. The upstream gap 104 is a gap for preventing the clogging due to the stagnation by dropping the pachinko ball stagnated when the pachinko ball stagnates on the upper slope 103 and the stagnant pachinko ball spreads to the upstream end.

  The lower slope 106 is also gently inclined downward in the left direction in FIG. 3 (usually about 5%). The downstream gap 105 between the upstream end of the lower slope 106 and the downstream end of the upper slope 103 is also different from the upstream gap 104. It is also a gap for preventing pachinko ball stagnation. That is, the pachinko balls that have fallen from the upper slope 103 fall on the lower slope 106 and roll to further fall from the notches 107 and 107, but this fall is delayed and the pachinko balls fall on the lower slope 106. The downstream gap 105 receives the pachinko ball that has stagnated when the stagnation of the stagnation occurs and reaches the upstream end of the lower slope 106. The pachinko balls falling from the notches 107 and 107 are configured to be dropped onto the conveyors 1 and 1 via the guide chutes 110 and 110, respectively. The other end of each conveyor 1 is connected to another adjacent upper tank (not shown). 2 and 4, reference numeral 53 indicates a motor, and reference numeral 54 indicates a gear box. These are members that constitute a part of a drive mechanism 51 described later.

(Conveyor basic structure)
This will be described with reference to FIGS. The conveyor 1 includes a support rail (belt support rail) 3, a first drive unit 21 provided at one end of the support rail 3, a second drive unit 21 ′ provided at the other end, a first drive unit 21, The conveyor belts 47 and 49 are driven by the two-drive unit 21 ′ and supported by the support rail 3 so as to be slidable. As described above, the conveyor 1 is configured such that the upper tank 101 and another adjacent upper tank 101 can be connected, and the pachinko balls can be reciprocated between the upper tanks. The reason for reciprocating transport is that the pachinko balls stored between pachinko islands are averaged by interfacing pachinko balls through the upper tanks from pachinko islands where there are plenty of pachinko balls to spare to pachinko islands where there is insufficient pachinko balls It is to do. The overall length of the conveyor 1 is adjusted according to the distance between the upper tanks, and the adjustment can be performed by setting the length of the support rail 3 described later. The first drive unit 21 is rotatably connected to the support rail 3 via the first rotation mechanism 81, and the second drive unit 21 'is rotatably connected to the support rail 3 via the second rotation mechanism 81'.

(Support rail structure)
As shown in FIGS. 6 to 11, the support rail 3 includes a thick plate-like rail body 4 having a hollow portion 4 h (see FIG. 9) that penetrates the entire length in the length direction, and the width direction of the upper surface 5 of the rail body 4. Both side walls 7 and 7 that stand up from the both sides over the entire length in the length direction, and a partition wall 9 that stands up over the entire length in the length direction from the substantially center in the width direction of the upper surface 5 are configured. In addition to this, the L-shaped presser pieces 8 and 8 that hang from the both sides in the width direction of the lower surface 6 of the rail body 4 across the entire length direction and the cross-section upside down T that hangs from the substantial center to the entire length direction. A character-shaped presser piece 10 is formed. The presser pieces 8, 8, and 10 are provided in order to prevent the conveyor belts 47 and 49 from being loosened or lifted by pressing the conveyor belts 47 and 49 turned to the lower side of the rail body 4 as shown in FIG. It is. This is also for reinforcing the rail body 4 while preventing the rail body 4 from rebounding. On both sides of the rail body 4, T slots 13 and 13 that are opened laterally over the entire length in the longitudinal direction are formed (see FIG. 9). The T-slots 13 and 13 receive a movable piece (not shown) that moves in the length direction in the slot, and a member to be attached is screwed to the movable piece that has been moved to a desired position. This is for attaching the attachment member to the rail body 4. By forming the side walls 7, 7 and the partition wall 9, two spaces are formed in the upper region of the rail body 4. In this specification, one of these is called one conveyance path 18 and the other is called the conveyance path 18. This is called the other conveyance path 19. On the upper surface 5 side of the rail body 4, guide grooves 12, 12 are formed over the entire length direction, and the guide grooves 12, 12 are formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section (see FIG. 9). It is. Reference numerals 14 and 14 denote guide grooves on the lower surface side.

  The entire support rail 3 may be made of aluminum. This is because it is not hindered from being composed of a metal other than aluminum, a synthetic resin, or the like, but aluminum is easy to use because it is lightweight and has an appropriate strength. The reason why the hollow portion 4h is formed is to reduce the weight without impairing the strength of the support rail 3. The support rail 3 can be manufactured by die casting, cutting, or the like, but is preferably performed by extrusion. This is because the members such as the side walls 7 and 7 can be formed at a time, so that it is advantageous in terms of cost because it saves time and labor compared to separate formation and integration. When manufactured by extrusion molding, the cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the length direction of the support rail 3 is always constant. In addition, it is preferable to provide the sliding material 17 for reducing the friction between the non-conveying surfaces (sliding surfaces) of the conveying belts 47 and 49 on the upper surface 5 of the rail body 4 in the conveying path 18 and the conveying path 19. . This is for preventing wear of the conveyor belts 47 and 49 and smooth sliding. Reference numeral 15 denotes an upper lid for closing the conveyance path 18 and the conveyance path 19. The upper lid 15 is conveniently constructed of a transparent acrylic plate or the like so that the inside can be seen, and is supported from below by support protrusions 7a and 7a formed over the entire length in the upper part of both side walls 7 and 7. It is constituted as follows.

(Structure of the first drive unit)
The first drive unit 21 and the second drive unit 21 ′ will be described. The first drive unit 21 and the second drive unit 21 ′ have the same structure. For this reason, in the present specification, in order to avoid duplication, the description of the first drive unit 21 is mainly performed, and the description of the second drive unit 21 ′ is performed only when necessary. Moreover, in each figure, what added the dash (') to the former code | symbol is used about the structural member of 2nd drive unit 21' corresponding to the structural member of the 1st drive unit 21. FIG.

  This will be described with reference to FIGS. The first drive unit 21 includes both unit side walls 23 and 23 opposed to each other with a gap wider than the gap between the side walls 7 and 7 of the support rail 3 by the thickness of both side walls, and the unit side walls 23 and 23. A support plate portion 26 to be connected and a unit partition plate 30 rising from the support plate portion 26 are provided, and these are constituted by a sheet metal and a welded iron plate. Each of the unit side walls 23 includes a bent piece 23d formed by bending its lower end inward. Each of the unit side walls 23, 23 is arranged at a position so as to overlap each of the side walls 7, 7, and the unit partition plate 30 is arranged at a position where the partition wall 9 and the end faces face each other. Thus, both unit side walls 23, 23 correspond to both side walls 7, 7, and the unit partition plate 30 corresponds to the partition wall 9 in terms of position and function. Further, the upper surface 27 of the support plate portion 26 is configured to be substantially the same as the extended surface of the upper surface 5 of the rail body 4, that is, both are continuously formed to form substantially the same surface. In the support plate portion 26, unit guide grooves 28 that can receive the guided ridges 48 of the conveyor belt 47 and the guided ridges 50 of the conveyor belt 49 continuously with the guide grooves 12, 12 of the support rail 3. 28 is formed over the entire length direction (direction coincident with the direction of the extension line of the guide grooves 12, 12). The conveyor belts 47 and 49 are mainly composed of a synthetic resin such as polyurethane, and the guided protrusions 48 and 50 are integrally formed on the non-conveying surface. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the conveyor belts 47 and 49 have a substantially T-shaped cross section.

  A shaft hole (not shown) is passed through the unit side walls 23, 23, and a rotating shaft 33 passing through the shaft hole is rotated by ball bearings 32, 32 fixed to both outer surfaces of the unit side walls 23, 23. Bearings are freely available. A driving roller 35 and a driven roller 41 are attached to the rotating shaft 33. The drive roller 35 is a roller made of a metal core roller such as aluminum and a synthetic resin such as urethane covering the surface thereof, and is attached so as to rotate integrally with the rotary shaft 33. Urethane is for stopping slippage of the conveyor belt 49 with respect to the non-conveying surface. A roller guide groove 42 corresponding to the unit guide groove 28 is formed on the entire circumference of the drive roller 35 in the width direction.

  On the other hand, the driven roller 41 is a roller having the same outer diameter as that of the driving roller 35. The driven roller 41 is made of aluminum, but may be made of other types of metals or synthetic resins. Although omitted in the present embodiment, the surface may be covered with a non-slip material such as urethane. A roller guide groove 42 corresponding to the unit guide groove 28 is also formed over the entire circumference at substantially the center in the width direction of the driven roller 41. The driven roller 41 is attached so as to rotate freely without rotating integrally with the rotating shaft 33. Specifically, the driven roller 41 was attached to the rotating shaft 33 via ball bearings 43 and 43. The ball bearings 43 are fixed by press-fitting both ends of the hollow portion of the driven roller 41 formed in a hollow shape. Since it is attached via the ball bearings 43, the driven roller 41 rotates idly with respect to the rotating shaft 33 without rotating integrally with the rotating shaft 33. The reason for the idling is that the rotational direction of the driven roller 41 and the driving roller 35 are different from each other, and the two rotating in different directions are supported by a single shaft. If it is constituted by one shaft, if it is two, it can suffice with two required bearings, so the structure can be simplified and the width direction dimension of the drive unit 21 can be reduced. Can do. 7 and 8 indicate annular spacers for restricting the movement of the driven roller 41 in the direction parallel to the axial direction. Each annular spacer 44 is a thick pipe having a hollow portion having an outer diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the rotary shaft 33, and is configured to allow the rotary shaft 33 to pass through the hollow portion. Then, by arranging one annular spacer 44 between the driven roller 41 and the driving roller 35 and arranging the other annular spacers 44 and 44 between the driven roller 41 and the unit side wall 23, the shaft of the driven roller 41 is arranged. The movement in the direction parallel to the direction is restricted. The first drive roller 35 of the first drive unit 21 rotates the conveyor belt 49 together with the second driven roller 41 ′ of the second drive unit 21 ′, and the first driven roller 41 of the first drive unit 21 is the second driven roller 41 ′. The conveyor belt 47 is rotated together with the second drive roller 35 ′ of the drive unit 21 ′.

(Auxiliary roller structure)
As shown in FIGS. 6 to 11, the first drive unit 21 is provided with first auxiliary rollers 61 and 61 for adjusting the tensions of the conveyor belt 47 and the conveyor belt 49. The first auxiliary rollers 61, 61 are rotatably attached to a fixed shaft 63 supported between the unit side walls 23, 23 via ball bearings 66,. Between one unit side wall 23 and one first auxiliary roller 61, between one first auxiliary roller 61 and the other first auxiliary roller 61, and also between the other first auxiliary roller 61 and the other unit side wall. 23 is provided with an annular spacer 67 made of a thick pipe so that the movement of the first auxiliary rollers 61, 61 in the direction parallel to the axial direction can be restricted. The first auxiliary rollers 61 and 61 are so-called play wheels, and are provided at positions where the roller surfaces can be pressed from the lower side of the conveyor belts 47 and 49 (see FIG. 10). As shown by the broken line in FIG. 12, the fixed shaft 63 is formed of a cylindrical rod, but both end portions 64 and 64 (portions protruding outward from the inside of the unit side wall 23) are chamfered so that they are parallel flat surfaces. 65, 65 are formed. This is to prevent the fixed shaft 63 from rotating. That is, a slit 24 having a predetermined width is formed through each unit side wall 23. The slit 24 rotates while allowing the end portion 64 inserted therein to move in the length direction of the slit 24. Has the function of not allowing. The reason why the rotation is not allowed is that even if the rotation is attempted, the flat surfaces 65 and 65 are obstructed by the peripheral edge of the slit 24 and cannot move.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 12, an L-shaped attachment member 71 having a substantially L-shaped longitudinal section is screwed to the outside of the unit side wall 23 (front side in FIG. 12). The L-shaped attachment member 71 is composed of a vertical plate 73 and a horizontal plate 76 protruding laterally from the lower end of the vertical plate 73, and the vertical plate 73 has a slit 74 having the same shape as the slit 24 formed therethrough. is there. The slit 74 has the same function as the slit 24. A screw hole 77 is formed through the central portion of the horizontal plate 76 so that the tip of the adjustment bolt 78 tightened there can be brought into contact with the lower end of the end portion 64 protruding from the slit 74. Here, by moving the adjustment bolt 78 up and down, the end 64, that is, the first auxiliary roller 61 can be moved up and down to adjust the tension of the conveyor belts 47 and 49. After the adjustment, the fixing nut 79 is tightened to fix the adjustment bolt 78 to prevent positional deviation.

(Structure of rotating mechanism)
This will be described with reference to FIGS. As described above, the rotation mechanisms 81 and 81 are mechanisms for rotatably connecting the first drive unit 21 to one end of the support rail 3. Are the same. For this reason, the following description will be given only for one rotation mechanism 81. That is, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the rotation mechanism 81 is inserted into the pin hole 23 h formed through the upper right end of the unit side wall 23, the slide bearing 88 inserted and fixed in the pin hole 23 h, and the slide bearing 88. Each is basically composed of a fixing pin 87 and an L-shaped arm 83 that supports the fixing pin 87. The sliding bearing 88 is composed of a bearing body 88a embedded in the unit side wall 23 and a boss portion 88b locked to the outer surface, and the length of the bearing body 88a is in contact with the side wall 7 at the tip. In order to avoid this, it is set to be the same as or slightly shorter than the thickness dimension of the unit side wall 23. The L-shaped arm 83 is formed to be substantially L-shaped (see FIG. 10) when viewed from the front by a support piece 84 and a fixed piece 86 that is continuous via a stepped portion 85. The support piece 84 serves to support the fixing pin 87 through the pin hole 84h in a non-rotatable manner, and the step portion 85 absorbs the thickness of the unit side wall 23 so that the fixing piece 86 extends along the side surface of the rail body 4. Further, the fixing piece 86 has a role that allows the entire L-shaped arm 83 to be fixed to the rail body 4.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the L-shaped arm 83 is fixed through the fixing piece 86 by a fixing bolt 86b inserted into a through hole (not shown) formed through the fixing piece 86. The bolt 86b is fixed to a tap hole provided in a movable member (not shown) disposed in the T slot 13 of the support rail 3 (rail body 4). The slide bearing 88 plays a role of allowing the unit side wall 23 to turn around the fixed pin 87. Thereby, the first drive unit 21 including the unit side wall 23 can be rotated around the fixing pin 87, that is, with respect to the support rail 3. Needless to say, the structure of the rotating mechanism is not limited to the above-described one, but the L-shaped arm 83 is adopted in the present embodiment. This is because one drive unit 21 can be connected. Further, since the L-shaped arm 83 is attached using the T slot 13 described above, the attachment position of the L-shaped arm 83 can be changed in the length direction of the support rail 3. Also in this case, it is not necessary to process the support rail 3. A plurality of stop holes 23a,... Are formed in the unit side wall 23 along the length direction of the T slot 13. The stop holes 23 a are holes for fixing the first drive unit 21 to the support rail 3. That is, the fastening bolts 23b,... Inserted into the T slot 13 through the fastening holes 23a,... Are fastened and fixed to a movable piece (not shown) arranged in the T slot 13, thereby fixing the unit. It plays a role of fixing the side wall 23 to the support rail 3. Each stop hole 23a is formed in a long hole shape along the length direction of the T slot 13 so that the mounting position of the unit side wall 23 can be finely adjusted in the length direction of the T slot 13. You can also.

(Structure of drive mechanism)
Please refer to FIGS. 2 to 7, 10 and 11. FIG. The drive mechanism 51 of the first drive unit 21 includes a motor 53 as a drive source, a gear box 54 integrated with the motor 53, a drive pulley 55 fixed to an output shaft 54s (see FIG. 2) of the gear box 54, and rotation. A driven pulley 56 and a timing belt 58 fixed to the shaft 33 are generally configured. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the motor 53 is screwed to the side of the upper tank 101 via a sub plate 60 s fixed to the gear box 54 and an attachment 60 having an L-shaped cross section. In the fixture 60, elongated holes 60h,... That can receive bolts 54a,. In the sub plate 60s, long holes 60h ′,... Formed corresponding to the long holes 60h,. Reference numeral 60c denotes a long hole formed in the fixture 60 so as to pass through the output shaft 54s of the gear box 54, and reference numeral 60c ′ denotes a long hole formed in the sub plate 60s so as to correspond to the long hole 60c. Each is shown. If the nuts 54b,... Fastened to the bolts 54a, are loosened, the bolts 54a,... Have the long holes 60h,. The inside of the hole 60c and the long hole 60c ′ can be moved. That is, the motor 53 and the gear box 54 can be moved up and down with respect to the fixture 60 together with the sub plate 60s.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fixture 60 has a receiving protrusion 60 a protruding sideways. The receiving protruding piece 60a is opposed to a supporting protruding piece 60t formed by folding a small piece formed at the lower end of the sub-plate 60s. A tapped hole penetrating in the thickness direction is formed in the support projecting piece 60t, and an adjusting screw 60p is tightened into the tapped hole from below. When the adjustment screw 60p is tightened or loosened, the projecting dimension of the adjustment screw 60p from the upper surface of the support projecting piece 60t changes. It is configured to make adjustments. Specifically, fine adjustment is performed by the following procedure. First, when the nuts 54b are loosened and the bolts 54a can be moved up and down with respect to the fixture 60, the motor 53 and the gear box 54 are lifted together with the sub-plate 60s, and the tip of the adjustment screw 60p. To the lower end surface of the projecting piece 60a. The abutted state is a state in which the distance between the driving pulley 55 and the driven pulley 56 is the shortest, and the timing belt 58 is bridged between both pulleys in this state. If the distance between the drive pulley 55 and the driven pulley 56 is not sufficiently short, the adjustment screw 60p is loosened to reduce the distance between the two to a sufficient distance. When the timing belt 58 is bridged, when the motor 53 and the gear box 54 are lowered, a gap is formed between the tip of the adjustment screw 60p and the lower end surface of the receiving protrusion 60a, and the distance between the driving pulley 55 and the driven pulley 56 is increased. spread. As the distance increases, the tension of the timing belt 58 increases. Here, the adjustment screw 60p is tightened, the tip is received again against the lower end surface of the projecting piece 60a, and further tightened, whereby the sub-plate 60s is lowered with respect to the fixture 60 by the screw action. Thus, the tension of the timing belt 58 can be further increased. As a result of the increase, if the tension is too strong, the adjustment screw 60p may be loosened and readjusted. When the tension fine adjustment is finished, the timing belt 58 is completely bridged by tightening the nuts 54b. The removal of the timing belt 58 can be performed by a procedure reverse to the procedure described above. As described above, the timing belt 58 can be easily attached and detached because the distance between the driving pulley 55 and the driven pulley 56 can be expanded and contracted, and the adjustment screw 60p is used for fine adjustment of the tension. Adjustment is also easy. The motor 53 can be attached to the first drive unit 21, but is attached to the upper tank 101 for the purpose of reducing the weight of the entire conveyor 1 including the first drive unit 21. The motor 53 is driven based on an instruction received from a hall computer (not shown).

  As shown in FIGS. 6, 8, and 10, the first drive unit 21 includes a drop chute 91 at the top end of the upper tank 101. The drop chute 91 has a substantially Z-shaped cross-sectional shape including an upper plate 91a, an intermediate plate 91b, and a lower plate 91c, and a length dimension that is substantially the same as the distance between the side walls 23 and 23. The positional relationship between the upper plate 91a and the conveyor belts 47 and 49 is as shown in FIG. 10, and the pachinko balls that have been conveyed fall into the upper tank 101 and do not enter the pachinko balls under the rollers. It has a function. Both ends of the lower plate 91c are fixed to the bent pieces 23d and 23d with screws. The first drive unit 21 further includes a hook 95 having an L-shaped cross section. The overall length of the hanging tool 95 is set to be substantially the same as that of the drop chute 91, and one piece 95a is screwed to the bent pieces 23d and 23d together with the lower plate 91c. The other piece 95b of the hook 95 serves to support the conveyor 1 by being hooked on the lower end edge 113 of the receiving window 112 formed in the upper tank 101 shown in FIG. That is, the hanging tool 95 functions as a connection mechanism of the conveyor 1.

(Installation and use of conveyor)
This will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the fixture 60 is screwed to the side of the upper tank 101. Next, the motor 53 and the gear box 54 are attached to the fixture 60. At this time, the nuts 54b,. Further, the drive pulley 55 is fixed to the output shaft of the gear box 54. Next is the installation of the conveyor 1. Prior to mounting, the conveyor belts 47 and 49 are bridged. The bolts 23b of the first drive unit 21 are removed, and the first drive unit 21 is rotated clockwise with respect to the support rail 3 as shown in FIG. Then, the distance between the first driving roller 35 (first driven roller 41) and the second driven roller 41 ′ (second driving roller 35 ′), which was L1 shown in FIG. 11, is shortened to L2 by rotation. The rotation angle is generally around 90 degrees as shown in FIG. 11, but it may be more or less than this. Instead of rotating the first drive unit 21, the second drive unit 21 'may be rotated instead, or both the drive units 21, 21' may be rotated simultaneously. When the distance reaches L2 due to the rotation, the conveyor belt 47 and the conveyor belt 49 are bridged. When the bridge is installed, the rotated drive unit 21 and / or drive unit 21 ′ is rotated in the reverse direction and returned to the original position, and is fixed using bolts 23b,... (Bolts 23b ′,...). Finally, the adjustment bolt 78 is moved up and down to move the first auxiliary roller 61 (second auxiliary roller 61 ′) up and down to adjust the tension of the conveyor belts 47 and 49. Thus, the transfer of the conveyor belts 47 and 49 is completed.

  Next is mounting to the upper tank. Since the 1st drive unit 21 and 2nd drive unit 21 'have the mutually same structure, when attaching the conveyor 1, it is not necessary to care about the direction. Therefore, the conveyor 1 does not choose the attachment partner. The conveyor 1 is lifted as it is between adjacent upper tanks, and the other piece 95b of one of the hooks 95 is inserted into the receiving window 112 of one of the upper tanks 101 and hooked on the lower edge 113, and the other hook The attachment of the tool 95 'is completed only by hooking in the same manner. Then, while lifting the motor 53 (gear box 54), the timing belt 58 is bridged between the driven pulley 56 and the drive pulley 55. When the belt is bridged, the motor 53 (gear box 54) is pushed down to loosen the timing belt 58. take. The loosened nuts 54b are tightened to fix the motor 53 (gear box 54) to the fixture 60. If fine adjustment of the tension is necessary, the adjustment screw 60p is tightened or loosened. The removal of the conveyor 1 and the removal of the conveyor belts 47 and 49 can be performed by a procedure reverse to the above-described attachment procedure. As described above, according to the conveyor 1, the conveyor belts 47 and 49 can be easily attached and detached.

  The conveyor 1 attached to the upper tank 101 by the procedure described above operates as follows. That is, when the upper tank 101 shown in FIG. 2 conveys pachinko balls to other upper tanks not shown, the upper tank 101 shown in FIG. When receiving a ball, the other conveyance path 19 is used. The pachinko balls in the former case are supplied from the upper tank 101 to the conveyance path 18 via the guide chute 110, and the pachinko balls in the latter case are supplied from the conveyance path 19 to the upper tank 101 via the drop chute 91. The conveyance of the conveyance path 18 is due to the rotation of the conveyance belt 47, and this rotation is due to the cooperation between the second driving roller 35 ′ driven by the motor 53 ′ and the first driven roller 41. Further, the conveyance of the conveyance path 19 is due to the rotation of the conveyance belt 49, and this rotation is due to the cooperation of the first driving roller 35 and the second driven roller 41 ′ driven by the motor 53. . At this time, both the first driving roller 35 and the first driven roller 41 are around the rotating shaft 33, and the second driving roller 35 'and the second driven roller 41' are both around the rotating shaft 33 '. The first driven roller 41 functions as a play wheel by the action of the ball bearings 43 and 43, and the second driven roller 41 ′ functions as a play car by the action of the ball bearings 43 ′ and 43 ′. Accordingly, only one rotation shaft is sufficient for both the first drive unit 21 and the second drive unit 21 ′.

It is a front view of Pachinko island provided with a conveyor. It is a perspective view of the upper tank which abbreviate | omitted the conveyor. It is a right view of the upper tank which abbreviate | omitted the conveyor. It is a front view of the upper tank which attached the conveyor. It is a top view of the upper tank shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of a conveyor. It is a top view of a conveyor. It is a right view of a conveyor. It is XX sectional drawing of the support rail shown in FIG. It is a front view of a conveyor. It is a front view of a conveyor. It is a front view which shows the tension adjustment structure of an auxiliary roller.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyor 3 Support rail 4 Rail main body 4h Hollow part 5 Upper surface 6 Lower surface 7 Side wall 7a Supporting ridge 9 Partition wall 8,10 Pressing piece 12,14 Guide groove 13 T slot 15 Upper cover 17 Sliding material 18,19 Conveyance path 21 1st Drive unit 21 'Second drive unit 23 Unit side wall 23a Stop hole 23b Stop bolt 23d Bending piece 23h Pin hole 24, 74 Slit 26 Support plate part 27 Upper surface 28 Unit guide groove 30 Unit partition plate 32, 43, 66 Ball bearing 33 Rotation Shaft 35 Drive roller 41 Driven roller 42 Roller guide groove 44, 67 Annular spacer 47, 49 Conveying belt 48, 50 Guided ridge 51 Drive mechanism 53 Motor 54 Gear box 54a Bolt 54b Nut 54h Through hole 54s Output shaft 55 Drive pulley 5 6 driven pulley 58 timing belt 60 fixture 60a receiving protrusion 60c, 60c 'long hole 60h, 60h' long hole 60p adjusting screw 60s sub plate 60t support protrusion 61 auxiliary roller 63 fixed shaft 64 end 65 flat surface 71 L-shape Mounting member 73 Vertical plate 76 Horizontal plate 77 Screw hole 78 Adjustment bolt 79 Fixing nut 81 Rotating mechanism 83 L-shaped arm 84 Support piece 84h Pin hole 85 Step part 86 Fixing piece 86b Fixing bolt 87 Fixing pin 88 Slide bearing 88a Bearing body 88b Boss portion 91 Drop chute 91a Upper plate 91b Middle plate 91c Lower plate 95 Hanger 95a One piece 95b Other piece 99 Pachinko ball grinder 100 Pachinko island 101 Upper tank 101a, 101b Side wall 102 Receiving cutout 103 Upper slope 104 Upstream gap 105 Downstream Side gap 1 06 Lower slope 107 Notch 110 Guide chute 112 Receiving window 113 Lower edge

Claims (6)

It is a pachinko ball conveyor that can connect the upper tank of pachinko island and the upper tank of the other pachinko island via a connecting mechanism,
A belt support rail having one conveyance path and the other conveyance path which are parallel between one end and the other in the length direction;
A first drive unit rotatably connected to one end side of the belt support rail via a first rotation mechanism;
A first drive roller disposed on the one transport path side of the first drive unit and a first driven roller disposed on the other transport path side;
A second drive unit rotatably connected to the other end side of the rail body via a second rotation mechanism;
A second driven roller disposed on the one transport path side of the second drive unit and a second drive roller disposed on the other transport path side;
One transport belt detachably spanned between the first drive roller and the second driven roller, and the other transport belt spanned detachably between the second drive roller and the first driven roller;
A first drive mechanism for driving the first drive roller and a second drive mechanism for driving the second drive roller;
By rotating the first drive unit and / or the second drive unit with respect to the belt support rail, the distance between the first drive roller and the second driven roller and the second drive roller and the second 1. A pachinko ball conveying conveyor characterized in that the distance from the driven roller can be expanded and contracted. The belt support rail includes both side walls that stand up over the entire length in the length direction from both sides in the width direction of the upper surface, and a partition wall that stands up over the entire length in the length direction from the center in the width direction of the upper surface,
The one conveyor belt is disposed between the one side wall and the partition wall, and the other conveyor belt is disposed between the other side wall and the partition wall. The pachinko ball conveyor according to claim 1. The pachinko ball conveyor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the length direction of the belt support rail is constant at any position in the length direction. The first drive unit and the second drive unit are provided with opposing unit side walls, a support plate part that connects the unit side walls, and a unit partition plate that stands up from the support plate part. ,
Each of the unit side walls is disposed at a position corresponding to each of the both side walls, the unit partition plate is disposed at a position corresponding to the partition wall, and the upper surface of the support plate portion is supported by the belt. The pachinko ball conveyor according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the pachinko ball conveyor is arranged to be substantially the same as an extended surface of the rail upper surface. Both guide grooves extending over the entire length in the length direction are formed at the substantially center in the width direction of the one transport path on the upper surface side of the belt support rail and the substantially center in the width direction of the other transport path,
In each of the support plate portions, both unit guide grooves capable of receiving the guided protrusions continuously with each of the guide grooves are formed over the entire length direction,
In the center of the non-conveying surface of the one conveyor belt in the width direction and in the center of the non-conveying surface of the other conveyor belt in the width direction, the guide grooves are received in the guide grooves and the unit guide grooves to prevent meandering. The pachinko ball conveyor according to claim 4, wherein both guided ridges are formed over the entire length in the length direction. The first driving unit and the second driving unit are provided with a first auxiliary roller and a second auxiliary roller for adjusting the tension of the one conveying belt and the other conveying belt, respectively. The pachinko ball conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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