JP2007282781A - Ball feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball feeder capable of further increasing the number of putout balls per unit time. <P>SOLUTION: This ball feeder is positioned in the lower part of a tubular retaining tube retaining a plurality of balls in a loosely piled state, allows a single ball to move from an upper face side to a lower face side, and dividedly feeds a ball one at a time by a division disk having a through-hole whose circumferential-side inner wall is downward inclined. This ball feeder is characterized in that a wall in the rotating-directional back side and the circumferential-side inner wall form a downward spiral passage by the rotating-directional back side wall. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a sphere delivery device for a game machine using a sphere.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a sphere delivery device for delivering spheres stacked one by one at a high speed.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a small sphere delivery device for delivering a predetermined number of spheres one by one at a high speed when winning a game.
A typical example of a sphere is a pachinko ball.

  The applicant of the present invention is the above-described partitioning disk having a plurality of through-holes that are located in a lower part of a cylindrical retaining cylinder that retains a plurality of spheres in a stacked state, and one sphere can move from the upper surface side to the lower surface side. In a sphere delivery apparatus that divides and sends out spheres one by one, a sphere delivery apparatus has been proposed in which at least a peripheral edge side of the sorting disk of the through hole is formed as a downwardly inclined portion (for example, Patent Documents) 1).

JP 2005-224408 (FIG. 9, pages 5, 8, 9)

In this technique, the sphere that has fallen into the through hole is pressed against the downward inclined portion of the through hole by the centrifugal force, and thus receives a downward force due to the component force of the reaction force from the inclined portion.
In other words, since the sphere that has fallen into the through-hole is moved by receiving a downward force from the inclined portion, there is an advantage that the sphere is surely moved downward without jumping upward.
However, when the rotating speed of the sorting disk is increased to increase the number of balls to be dispensed per unit time, or when the rotating speed of the sorting disk is increased to reduce the diameter of the sorting disk and not reduce the number of balls to be dispensed. However, even with the above technique, there is a problem that the sphere is not reliably paid out.
The reason is that, as described above, the sphere is pressed against the downward inclined portion, which is the peripheral side wall of the disc, by the centrifugal force immediately after dropping into the through hole, and receives a downward force.
However, due to the high-speed rotation of the sorting disc, it is also pressed against the upright side wall located immediately behind the through-hole in the rotational direction, and receives braking force from this surface.
From the above, it is considered that the spherical body cannot smoothly pass through the through hole because the force that reduces the downward force due to the centrifugal force is received from the inner surface at the rear in the rotational direction.
In other words, there is a limit to the number of payouts per unit time even when the peripheral side wall of the sorting disk is formed in a downward inclined portion.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a spherical payout device that can further increase the number of payouts per unit time.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a small spherical payout device that can further increase the number of payouts per unit time.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a spherical payout device that can further increase the number of payouts per unit time at low cost.

In order to achieve this object, the ball dispensing apparatus according to the present invention is configured as follows.
A through hole that is located at the bottom of a retaining cylinder that holds a plurality of spheres in a stacked state, one of the spheres is movable from the upper surface side to the lower surface side, and the peripheral side wall is inclined downward In the sphere feeding device in which the spheres are sorted and fed one by one by a sorting disk having a sphere, the sphere feeding device is characterized in that the rear side wall in the rotation direction of the through hole is formed as a downward inclined portion.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the spherical body feeding device according to the first aspect, the rear wall in the rotational direction and the peripheral side wall further form a spiral passage in which a distance from the rotation axis increases in the circumferential direction. To do.

In this configuration, a large number of spheres are separated into a stacked state and are held in a holding cylinder above the disk.
Since the through holes of the sorting disk are located in the lower opening of the retaining cylinder, the spheres in the retaining cylinder fall into the through holes and are separated one by one.
The sphere that has fallen into the through hole is pressed against the peripheral side wall of the through hole by centrifugal force, receives a downward force from the peripheral side wall, and is further pressed by the downward side wall at the rear side in the rotation direction of the through hole by the high-speed rotation of the sorting disk. It is.
Therefore, since the downward force is received from the downward side wall at the rear side in the circumferential direction and the rotation direction, the downward movement is accelerated by the downward force generated by the rotation of the sorting disk in addition to the gravity applied to the sphere itself.
For this reason, the movement from the upper side to the lower side in the through hole of the sphere is accelerated, in other words, the moving speed in the through hole of the sphere increases.
Therefore, since the sphere can pass through the through hole of the sorting disk at a high speed even when the rotation speed of the sorting disk is increased, the number of spheres dispensed per unit time can be increased. Even when the delivery device is downsized, a predetermined number of spheres can be delivered per unit time.

When the rear side wall and the peripheral side wall further form a spiral passage whose distance from the rotation axis increases in the circumferential direction, the sphere located in the through hole is rotated at a high speed integrally with the sorting disk. It is pressed against the peripheral side wall of the through hole by centrifugal force.
Thereby, a spherical body receives reaction force from a peripheral side wall.
Since the peripheral side wall is inclined downward, the sphere receives a component force directed downward by the reaction force.
Further, since the sphere is also pushed by the rear side wall of the sorting disc, it receives a reaction force from the rear side wall.
Since the rotation rear side wall is also inclined downward, the sphere receives a downward component force by the reaction force.
Furthermore, since the peripheral side wall and the rear rear side wall form a spiral passage whose distance from the rotation axis increases in the circumferential direction, the sphere is accelerated by movement in the circumferential direction by centrifugal force.
Therefore, the resultant force of the downward component force received from the peripheral side wall of the disc and the downward component force received from the rear side wall acts on the sphere, and since the disc is rotating, the sphere is a distance from the rotation axis. Follows the spiral spiral trajectory that gradually increases and passes through the through hole from the upper side to the lower side.
In other words, in addition to the gravitational force applied to the sphere, the sphere receives the force that moves the sphere from the upper side to the lower side through the through hole of the disc by the resultant force of the centrifugal force and the downward force received from the rear side wall. In addition, the moving speed is accelerated by moving away from the rotation axis sequentially and moving to the rear side of the rotation.
Furthermore, since the sorting disk is rotating, the sphere moves in a spiral shape from top to bottom.
Therefore, the through hole of the sorting disk forms a spiral path in which the distance from the rotation axis increases in the circumferential direction with the rear side wall in the rotation direction and the peripheral side wall, so that the sphere can move through the spiral path. Since it is possible, it can pass from the upper side to the lower side extremely smoothly and at high speed.
Therefore, even if the rotating speed of the sorting disk is increased or the diameter of the sorting disk is reduced to reduce the size, the sphere has a through hole. Since it can pass smoothly, there is an advantage that a predetermined number of spheres can be paid out during a predetermined time.

  The best mode of the present invention is located in a lower part of a holding cylinder that holds a plurality of spheres in a stacked state, one of the spheres is movable from the upper surface side to the lower surface side, and the peripheral side wall is In the sphere feeding device in which the spheres are divided and sent out one by one by a sorting disk having a through hole inclined downward, the rear side wall in the rotation direction of the through hole is a downward inclined portion, and the rear in the rotation direction The spherical body feeding device is characterized in that the side wall and the peripheral side wall form a spiral passage in which the distance from the rotation axis increases in the circumferential direction.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a spherical body feeding device according to a first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the spherical body delivery device according to the first embodiment with a retaining cylinder removed.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the spherical body delivery device according to the first embodiment with a retaining cylinder removed.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the spherical body delivery device according to the first embodiment with a retaining cylinder removed.
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state in which the retaining cylinder and the sorting disk of the spherical body delivery device of Embodiment 1 are removed.
FIG. 6 is a rear view of the sphere feeding device according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the A plane in FIG.
FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged plan view and an explanatory view of a sorting disk of the spherical body feeding device of the first embodiment.
9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.
FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the sorting disk of the spherical body feeding device according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of the braking device in the spherical body delivery device of the first embodiment.

The sphere feeding device 100 is built in, for example, a game (not shown), and is used for paying out the sphere PB when winning in the game.
A spherical body feeding assembly 104 is configured by integrating a retaining plate 102 of the spherical body PB on the upper part of the spherical body feeding apparatus 100.

First, the holding tray 102 will be described.
The holding tray 102 has a function of temporarily holding the sphere PB supplied to the sphere delivery device 100 and supplying it to the sphere delivery device 100 using gravity.
The storage tray 102 has a substantially rectangular funnel shape, and is formed integrally with resin so that the sphere PB rolls down to the circular drop port 108 by gravity using the inclination of the bottom wall 106.
This resin is preferably grounded by using a conductive resin in order to prevent electrostatic charge.
The holding tray 102 is provided with a holding amount sensor (not shown), and a replenishment signal is output when the holding amount falls below a predetermined amount.
When the replenishment signal is output, the sphere PB is replenished from the sphere replenishment port 110 until the retention amount sensor detects a predetermined amount of retention.
In addition, when the sphere replenishment amount from the replenishing port 110 is sufficient, it is possible to supply directly from the replenishing port 110 to a later-described reserving cylinder 112 without providing the retaining tray 102.

Next, the sphere delivery device 100 will be described.
The spherical body delivery device 100 includes a retaining cylinder 112, a sorting disk 114, a delivery disk 116, a sorting body 118, and an outlet 120 disposed adjacent to the delivery disk 116.
The sphere sending device 100 has a function of sending a predetermined number of spheres PB instructed by the controller of the game machine to the next process during a predetermined time, for example.

First, the holding cylinder 112 will be described.
The holding cylinder 112 has a function of holding the sphere PB in a bulk stacking state.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, the retaining cylinder 112 is a cylindrical body having a circular cross section, and its upper part is located below the retaining tray 102 and communicates with the dropping port 108.
The height of the retaining cylinder 112 is preferably low in order to make the sphere delivery assembly 104 as small as possible.
However, it is preferable that the sum of the sphere PB in the through hole 122 of the sorting disk 114 and the sphere PB retained in the retaining cylinder 112 is the number of spheres PB to be paid out at least once in a prize.
The holding cylinder 112 is detachably attached to a casing 144 described later in a state in which the sorting disk 114 is included in the lower part.
As shown in FIG. 2, a bulging portion 124 is disposed above and immediately upstream of the outlet 120 in the retaining cylinder 112 and close to a flat portion 132 (to be described later) of the sorting disc 114, and is positioned below the bulging portion 124. The spherical body PB is prevented from falling into the through-hole 122.
In other words, the interval between the bulging portion 124 and a later-described cone-shaped portion 130 is smaller than the diameter of the sphere PB.
This is because the sphere PB delivered to the outlet 120 can smoothly move to an outlet passage 224 described later without being obstructed by other spheres PB positioned above.

Next, the sorting disk 114 will be described.
The sorting disk 114 has a function of separating the spheres PB received from the holding cylinder 112 one by one.
The partitioning disk 114 has a conical portion 130 whose central portion of the upper surface 126 is formed in a conical shape having the first rotational axis 128 as a vertex, and a flat surface around the conical portion 130 around the rotational axis 128. A portion 132 is formed.
In other words, a ring-shaped flat portion 132 centering on the rotation axis 128 is formed at the peripheral edge of the sorting disk 114.
The conical portion 130 may be a quadrangular pyramid or a triangular pyramid. However, the conical shape shown in the embodiment is most preferable because an equal guiding effect for the sphere PB can be obtained in the entire circumference of the conical shape.

In this embodiment, a guide groove 134 is formed in the flat portion 132 around the conical portion 130.
The guide groove 134 is formed in a ring shape centering on the rotation axis 128, and has a bowl shape having a curvature that is approximately three times larger than the curvature of the outer peripheral surface of the sphere PB in its cross section.
Therefore, the sphere PB can be positioned in the guide groove 134, and has a depth that about a quarter of the lower part of the sphere PB falls.
The guide groove 134 has a function of guiding and holding the spherical PB located in the vicinity of the through-hole 122 on a circle where the through-hole 122 is arranged, and efficiently dropping the spherical PB into the through-hole 122.
When the guide groove 134 is formed in the flat portion 132, the sphere PB on the conical portion 130 receives a centrifugal force due to the rotation of the sorting disc 114, and thus moves to the peripheral portion of the sorting disc 114.
As a result, the sphere PB can fall into the guide groove 134 and then fall into the through hole 122, and the sphere PB can smoothly fall into the through hole 122.
Therefore, even when the guide groove 134 is not provided, the guide groove 134 can not be formed if the spherical body PB is continuously paid out without missing teeth.
A ring-shaped flat portion 136 is formed on the outer periphery of the guide groove 134.
The outer periphery of the sorting disk 114 is formed in three steps, the uppermost portion has the function of the shaft 138, and the driven gear 140 is formed in the lowermost portion.
In the bottom part of the guide groove 134 of the flat part 132, a plurality of through holes 122 penetrate from the upper surface to the lower surface and are arranged at a predetermined interval, five in this embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 8, the through-hole 122 is circular and has a diameter slightly larger than the sphere PB.
The depth of the through hole 122 is slightly larger than the diameter of the sphere PB, and has a thickness that does not protrude from the flat portion 136 when the sphere PB dropped into the through hole 122 is on the delivery disk 116.
In other words, the thickness of the sorting disc 114 is larger than the diameter of the sphere PB, and the sorting disc 114 is arranged substantially horizontally.
A retaining cylinder 112 is disposed concentrically with the rotation axis 128 of the sorting disk 114, and an inner wall thereof is disposed above the flat portion 136.
Therefore, the sphere PB held in the holding cylinder 112 is held on the sorting disc 114.

As shown in FIG. 7, the sorting disk 114 is positioned immediately below the lower end opening 142 of the retaining cylinder 112, the flat part 132 is opposed to the lower end opening 142, and the conical part 130 is inserted into the retaining cylinder 112 from the lower end opening 142. It protrudes.
More specifically, the plurality of through holes 122 are opposed to the lower end opening 142 of the retaining cylinder 112.
Therefore, the sphere PB in the holding cylinder 112 can fall into the plurality of through holes 122 at the same time.

Next, the through hole 122 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the peripheral side wall 154 of the through hole 122 is located above the sorting disk 114 on a straight line 156 that intersects the rotation axis 128 at an angle α.
In other words, the peripheral side wall 154 is a downward inclined portion.
The crossing angle α between the straight line 156 and the rotation axis 128 is preferably in the range of 2 to 10 degrees.
If the crossing angle is 2 degrees or less, the specified function may not be exhibited due to the mounting error of the sorting disk 114. If the crossing angle is 10 degrees or more, the diameter of the sorting disk 114 is increased, and the sphere feeding device 100 is enlarged. This is because there is an inconvenience.
As shown in FIG. 9, the rotation rear side wall 158 of the through hole 122 is located on a straight line 160 that intersects the rotation shaft 128 at an angle β above the sorting disk 114 when viewed from the front.
In other words, the rotation rear side wall 158 is a downward inclined portion.
The crossing angle β is preferably in the range of 2 to 10 degrees, like the crossing angle α.
Therefore, the peripheral side wall 154 and the rotation rear side wall 158 form a downward passage 162 on the outer periphery of the sorting disk 114 and on the downstream side in the rotation direction.
The passage 162 is preferably downward and has a spiral shape in which the distance from the rotation axis 128 increases in the circumferential direction toward the lower side.
In other words, as shown in FIG. 10, the peripheral side wall 154 is formed on a slope whose distance L from the rotation axis 128 sequentially increases toward the lower side, and the rotation rear side wall 158 is formed on the peripheral side wall 154 in an arcuate surface. Connected by.
Accordingly, the passage 162 defined by these side walls is formed so that the distance from the rotational axis 128 increases downward and downward, like a part of the triangular pyramid-shaped coiled spring.
This is because the spherical body PB receives the combined force of gravity, centrifugal force, and rotational force, and moves from top to bottom, so that it can be considered that the movement through the spiral path is the smoothest.

As shown in FIG. 8 (B), the sphere PB moved together by the sorting disk 114 is pressed against the peripheral side wall 154 by the centrifugal force. Therefore, the component force FU1 of the reaction force CFP generated by the centrifugal force FP is used. Receives downward force.
Further, since the spherical body PB is pushed by the force FN to the rotation rear side wall 158 by the rotation of the sorting disc 114, the downward force is received by the component force FU2 of the reaction force CFN.
Furthermore, the downward force FG based on the gravity of the sphere PB is received.
Therefore, the sphere PB is moved from the upper side to the lower side in the through-hole 122 by the downward force obtained by combining the component forces FU1, FU2, and FG.
Furthermore, since the peripheral side wall 154 and the rear rear side wall 158 through which the sphere PB is guided are configured such that the distance from the rotation axis 128 increases toward the lower side, the sphere PB is circumferentially and rotated by centrifugal force. Move downward while moving to the rear side.
Therefore, the sphere PB that has fallen into the through-hole 122 moves downward at a high speed while being accelerated by the movement toward the rear side in the circumferential direction and the rotation direction.

Note that the conical portion 130 can be changed to a plane, and the thickness of the sorting disk 114 can be set to 2 to 3 times the diameter of the sphere PB.
This is because a plurality of spheres PB can be retained in the through-hole 122, the sphere PB is always retained in the through-hole 122, and the sphere PB is continuously sent out without missing teeth.
In the case of a flat disc, the sphere PB on the upper surface 126 receives centrifugal force and moves to the peripheral side of the disc 114 by the rotation of the disc 114, so that it can smoothly fall into the through hole 122 located on the peripheral side. it can.
The sorting disk 114 is preferably molded from resin.
This is because it can be manufactured at low cost by integrally molding a complicated shape.
In this case, the sorting disk 114 is suitably made of nylon resin having excellent durability.
The sorting disk 114 is integrally formed of a resin having excellent mechanical strength and wear resistance such as polyacetal.

Further, the length of the through hole 122 (circumferential direction of the sorting disk 114) can be formed as a long hole in a range not more than twice the diameter of the sphere PB.
By making the through-hole 122 a long hole, even when the rotation of the sorting disk 114 is accelerated, the time during which the sphere PB can drop into the through-hole 122 is lengthened, and it is surely dropped into the through-hole 122. There are advantages that can be made.
By making the length of the through-hole 122 less than or equal to twice the diameter of the sphere PB, the plurality of spheres PB do not line up in the through-hole 122, so that there is an advantage that the two are not paid out simultaneously.

Next, the bearing device 170 for the sorting disc 114 will be described.
The bearing device 170 has a function of rotatably supporting the sorting disk 114.
The bearing device 170 includes a load bearing 172 and a posture bearing 174.

First, the load bearing 172 will be described.
The load bearing 172 has a function of supporting the weight of the sphere PB applied to the sorting disk 114.
In this embodiment, the load bearing 172 includes a hemispherical recess 176 formed at an upper end 208 of the rotating shaft 148 described later, a bearing sphere 178, and a recess 180 formed on the lower surface of the sorting disk 114 so as to surround the rotating axis 128. It is out.
The recess 176 has a hemispherical shape with a slightly larger curvature than the outer peripheral surface of the bearing sphere 178, and is formed with the second axis 142 as the axis.
The rotating shaft 148 is formed of a resin having excellent mechanical strength and wear resistance such as polyacetal.
The recess 180 has a hemispherical shape with a slightly larger curvature than the outer peripheral surface of the bearing sphere 178, and is formed with the rotation axis 128 as the axis.
The bearing sphere 178 is made of stainless steel, and the lower half is inserted into the recess 178 and the upper half is inserted into the recess 180.
Therefore, the load received by the sorting disk 114 is received by the rotating shaft 148 via the bearing sphere 178.
Since the rotation axis 128 of the sorting disk 114 and the second rotation axis 142 of the delivery disk 116 intersect each other, the sorting disk 114 and the delivery disk 116 perform a pulsating motion while rotating integrally as described later.
However, since the bearing sphere 178 and the concave portion 178 are in spherical contact with each other, the rub motion can be performed smoothly.

Next, the attitude bearing 174 will be described.
The attitude bearing 174 has a function of holding the sorting disk 114 rotatably in a substantially horizontal state.
In this embodiment, the attitude bearing 174 is supported by a first holding roller 182, a second holding roller 184 and a third holding roller 186 that are arranged at equal intervals around the shaft 138.
These holding rollers 182, 184, and 186 are rotatably attached to a first fixed shaft 188, a second fixed shaft 190, and a third fixed shaft 192 that are fixed downward to the lower end portion of the retaining cylinder 112.
These holding rollers 182, 184, and 186 are molded of resin and arranged in the same horizontal plane.
Therefore, the shaft 138 of the sorting disk 114 is supported at three points by the holding rollers 182, 184, and 186 and is rotatably held around the rotation axis 128.

Next, the delivery disk 116 will be described.
The delivery disk 116 is disposed below the sorting disk 114, and is rotatable via a bearing 146 on the casing 144 so as to rotate around a second axis 142 that intersects the rotation axis 128 of the sorting disk 114 at a predetermined angle. It is being fixed to the rotating shaft 148 attached to.
The delivery disk 116 includes a central plate 194 and push projections 196, 198, 200, 202 and 204.
The central plate 194 has a disc shape, and a rotation shaft 148 having a large-diameter upper end portion 208 passes through the central through hole 206, and the upper end portion 208 projects upward from the central plate 194.
A recess 176 is formed in the upper end portion 208.
In this embodiment, five push projections 196, 198, 200, 202, and 204 extend from the peripheral edge of the circular central plate 194 at a predetermined length and at a right angle upward with respect to the central plate 194.
The intervals between the push protrusions 196, 198, 200, 202, and 204 are set to exceed the diameter of the sphere PB and less than twice.
In other words, the sphere PB that is prevented from moving toward the center of the central plate 194 by the upper end portion 208 of the rotating shaft 148 is aligned with the holding portion 210 between the adjacent pushing projections 196, 198, 200, 202, 204. The two spheres PB are arranged in such a positional relationship that they do not fall on the central plate 194 in one holding part 210.
Specifically, the pushing protrusions 196, 198, 200, 202, and 204 are arranged slightly apart from the diameter of the sphere PB.

Since the rotary shaft 148 is inclined at a predetermined angle, the delivery disk 116 is inclined at the predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal sorting disk 114.
As a result, the pushing protrusions 196, 198, 200, 202, and 204 can enter the passive holes 212 formed on the lower surface of the sorting disk 114 at predetermined positions.
Therefore, the sorting disk 114 is rotated by the delivery disk 116, and the through hole 122 and the holding unit 210 are provided corresponding to each other.
Further, the pushing protrusions 196, 198, 200, 202, and 204 are set so as to come out of the passive hole 210 at predetermined positions and to be separated from the lower surface of the sorting disk 114 at a predetermined distance.
The predetermined distance is a position below a guide body 214 described later, and is the maximum at a position facing the outlet 120.
The delivery disk 116 is closest to the sorting disk 114 at a position sandwiching the rotation axis 128 with respect to the outlet 120.
The delivery disk 116 is preferably manufactured by pressing a metal plate such as stainless steel.
Since the delivery disk 116 is rubbed by the metal sphere PB, the durability is improved.
The delivery disk 116 is disposed in the circular hole 216 of the casing 144.
The circular hole 216 is formed along the second axis 142.
In other words, the circular hole 216 is inclined with respect to the sorting disc 114.
The sphere PB that has fallen through the through hole 122 falls onto the central plate 194 of the delivery disk 116 and is held by the holding portion 210 between the adjacent pushing projections 196, 198, 200, 202, 204.
More specifically, the sphere PB is held by the holding portion 210 surrounded by the pushing protrusions 196, 198, 200, 202, 204, the upper end portion 208 and the inner surface 218 of the circular hole 216.

The next sphere PB is stacked and held on the held sphere PB.
In addition, the spherical body PB held on the central plate 194, when the push projection 196, 198, 200, 202 or 204 does not enter the passive hole 212, the whole of the sphere PB is detached from the through hole 122 and the circular hole 216 Guided by the inner surface 218.
When the pushing protrusions 196, 198, 200, 202, or 204 protrude into the passive hole 212, the upper part of the sphere PB is located in the through hole 122 and is not guided by the inner surface 218.
The casing 144 can be manufactured at a low cost by being integrally formed of resin.
Furthermore, the trouble by charge of resin can be prevented by using conductive resin and grounding.
When the delivery disk 116 is tilted with respect to the sorting disk 114 in this way, the sphere PB held by the holding part 210 is pushed up into the through hole 122 at the position where the delivery disk 116 approaches the sorting disk 114 and is placed thereon. Since the sphere PB in the retaining cylinder 112 is agitated indirectly via the sphere PB being held, there is an advantage that sphere jam in the retaining cylinder 112 can be prevented.
Further, since the delivery disk 116 is rotated by the sorting disk 114, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to provide a new drive source.

Next, the outlet 120 will be described.
The outlet 120 is a passage through which the sphere PB pushed by the pushing protrusions 196, 198, 200, 202 and 204 moves in the circumferential direction of the circular hole 216.
Specifically, the outlet 120 is configured by cutting out a part of the inner surface 218 of the circular hole 216 at the position where the delivery disk 116 is farthest from the sorting disk 114.
An outlet groove 220 extending in the circumferential direction of the circular hole 216 is formed following the outlet 120.
A tunnel-shaped outlet passage 224 is configured by covering the upper surface of the outlet groove 220 with a bracket 222 of the partitioning body 118.
The sphere PB moving in the exit passage 224 is guided by the side wall 226.

Next, the section 118 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The sorting body 118 has a function of forcibly guiding the sphere PB pushed one by one by the pushing projections 196, 198, 200, 202 and 204 of the delivery disk 116 to the outlet 120.
A sorting body 118 is disposed above the circular hole 216 between the delivery disk 116 and the sorting disk 114 in the vicinity of the outlet 120.
The partition 118 extends from the vicinity of the upper end 208 of the rotating shaft 148 in the tangential direction of the upper end 208 and is fixed to the lower surface of the bracket 222 so as to reach the outlet 120.
A side wall 226 of the outlet groove 220 is formed along an extension line of the partitioning body 118.
A slope 228 that is inclined so as to approach the central plate 194 is formed on the lower surface of the sorting body 118.
The distance between the segmented body 118 and the delivery disk 116 is set to be smaller than the diameter of the sphere PB and opposed to the upper side of the center of the sphere PB.
In other words, the inclined surface 228 of the sorting body 118 is in contact with the upward surface of the sphere PB supported by the central plate 194, and applies a downward force to the sphere PB and guides it in the circumferential direction of the delivery disk 116.
In this configuration, the sphere PB placed on the central plate 194 and pushed by the pushing protrusions 196, 198, 200, 202 or 204 moves in the circumferential direction, that is, to the outlet 120 by centrifugal force at the outlet 120, and is divided. The upward surface is guided by the inclined surface 228 of the body 118 and is forcibly guided in the circumferential direction of the delivery disk 116 and delivered to the outlet passage 224.

Next, the sorting auxiliary body 230 will be described.
The sorting auxiliary body 230 has a function of forcibly moving the sphere PB rotated by the sorting disk 114 and the delivery disk 116 to the through hole 122 or the holding unit 210 before reaching the sorting body 118.
The sorting auxiliary body 230 is disposed between the sorting disk 114 slightly upstream of the outlet 120 and the upper end of the pushing protrusions 196, 198, 200, 202 or 204.
The sorting auxiliary body 230 is a protrusion formed at the tip of a metal plate 236 that is fixed to the casing 144 and rotatably supported by the fixed shaft 234, and the sorting disc 114 is substantially perpendicular to the moving direction of the sphere PB. Projecting from the circumferential side toward the upper end 208 at the center.
An edge of the sorting auxiliary body 230 facing the sphere PB is formed on the upward slope 235.
In the state where the sphere PB is placed on the central plate 194, the sorting auxiliary body 230 is set so that the upper end of the sphere PB can pass therebelow with a slight gap.
When the sorting auxiliary body 230 is rotated clockwise from the standby position shown in FIG. 5, the protrusion 238 of the plate 236 is urged in the return direction by a plate spring 242 having one end fixed to the screw 144 on the casing 144. , And is configured to be returned to the standby position.
Further, the plate 236 is locked to a stepped portion 244 (see FIG. 2) formed in the casing 144, and is configured to hold the standby position.

With this configuration, when the sphere PB is not in contact with the central plate 194 of the delivery disk 116 and is positioned in the middle, the outer peripheral surface of the sphere PB is guided by the upward slope 235 and is forced to the through hole 122 of the sorting disk 114. Returned or forcibly moved to the holding unit 210 of the delivery disk 116.
Thereby, the spherical body PB is sandwiched between the pushing protrusions 196, 198, 200, 202 or 204 and the sorting body 118, and the sorting disk 114 is prevented from being locked.
Further, when the sorting auxiliary body 230 is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 5 from the standby position, it is biased in the return direction by the leaf spring 242.
Therefore, when the sphere PB collides with the sorting auxiliary body 230, it can pivot clockwise about the fixed shaft 234 as a fulcrum.
In other words, since the sorting auxiliary body 230 can escape, the impact of the collision with the sphere PB is reduced, and the sphere PB is prevented from being caught between them.
Therefore, the sorting auxiliary body 230 can be provided as necessary.

Next, the drive device 250 for the sorting disk 114 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The driving device 250 has a function of rotating the sorting disk 114 at a predetermined speed.
Therefore, the driving device 250 can be changed to another device having a similar function.
In this embodiment, the driving device 250 includes an electric motor 252 and a speed reduction mechanism 254.

Next, the speed reduction mechanism 254 will be described.
The speed reduction mechanism 254 has a function of dividing and transmitting the rotation of the electric motor 252 to the driven gear 140 of the disk 114 at a predetermined rate.
The driven gear 140 meshes with a drive gear 258 that is rotatably supported by a shaft 256 that is disposed substantially vertically adjacent to the circular hole 216.
The drive gear 258 is drivingly connected to an intermediate gear 260 attached to the casing 144 via a speed reduction mechanism 254 such as a bevel gear.
The intermediate gear 260 meshes with a pinion gear 262 fixed to an output shaft (not shown) of an electric motor 252 fixed to the casing 144.
With this configuration, the sorting disk 114 is rotated at a predetermined speed from the electric motor 252 through the pinion gear 262, the intermediate gear 260, the speed reduction mechanism 254, the drive gear 258, and the driven gear 140.
Further, the delivery disk 116 is integrally rotated from the sorting disk 114 via the passive hole 212 and the pushing protrusions 196, 198, 200, 202 or 204.
The delivery disk 116 can be rotated in synchronization with the sorting disk 114 by another driving device.

Next, the braking device 270 for the sorting disk 114 will be described with reference to FIG.
The braking device 270 has a function of rapidly stopping the sorting disk 114 and the delivery disk 116 after a predetermined number of spheres PB have been paid out so that the spheres PB are not overpaid.
Therefore, the braking device 270 can be changed to another device having a similar function.

The braking device 270 can use an electric brake unit 274 that applies a braking force to the electric motor 252 by short-circuiting the power supply circuit 272 of the electric motor 252.
The electric brake unit 274 includes a switching unit 276 connected in parallel with the electric motor 252 in the power supply circuit 272 of the electric motor 252.
The switching unit 276 is a switch in this embodiment, but can be changed to other switching means having a similar function.

A switch 278 that is opened and closed by a command from a control device (not shown) of the game machine is connected to the power feeding circuit 272 in series.
When the switch 278 is closed, the power feeding circuit 272 becomes a closed circuit, and the electric motor 252 is rotated in a predetermined direction.
At this time, since the switch 276 is opened, the electric brake unit 274 does not function.
When the switch 278 is opened and the switch 276 is closed, the electric brake unit 274 becomes a closed circuit.

In this state, the motor 252 functions as a generator due to the inertial rotation of the sorting disk 114, and a current flows through the electric brake unit 274.
Since the electric motor 252 is short-circuited by the closed electric brake unit 274, the load on the electric motor 252 as a generator is maximized, and the braking force is applied to the sorting disk 114 via the speed reduction mechanism 254 and the like.
As a result, the sorting disc 114 and the delivery disc 116 stop with a slight amount of inertia rotation.

Next, the detecting device 280 for the sphere PB will be described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG.
The detection device 280 has a function of detecting the sphere PB passing through the outlet passage 224.
Therefore, it can be changed to another device having the same function.
The detection device 280 is a mechanical sensor, and includes a passive body 282 protruding into the exit passage 224 by a radius of the sphere PB, a lever 284 to which the passive body 282 is attached, and a proximity sensor 286.

The passive body 282 is preferably a roller in consideration of durability.
The lever 284 is located on the back surface side of the casing 144, is rotatable about the fixed shaft 288, and is biased counterclockwise in FIG.
In other words, the passive body 282 is biased to move so as to narrow the outlet passage 224.
However, the passive body 282 is locked to the end of the penetrating arc hole 292 and locked at the predetermined position.

The other end of the lever 284 is arranged to move within the detection region of the proximity sensor 286 when rotated in the clockwise direction from the position of FIG.
In other words, when the passive body 282 is moved outside the exit passage 224, the detection piece 294 at the tip of the lever 284 is detected by the proximity sensor 286, and the proximity sensor 286 outputs the detection signal DS.
This detection signal DS is used for counting the paid out sphere PB.
The proximity sensor 286 can be changed to a photoelectric sensor, but a proximity sensor that is not affected by dust is preferable.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
The sphere PB is supplied to the storage tray 102 by an automatic distribution device (not shown).
The sphere PB in the storage tray 102 rolls toward the drop opening 108 due to the inclination of the bottom wall 106 and falls into the storage cylinder 112 from the drop opening 108.

The sphere PB dropped on the holding cylinder 112 is held in the holding cylinder 112 in a stacked state.
When the electric motor 252 rotates based on the payout instruction, the sphere PB falls into the through hole 122.
The delivery disk 116 is integrally rotated in the same direction as the sorting disk 114 through any of the pushing projections 196, 198, 200, 202 or 204 that have entered the passive holes 212 on the lower surface of the sorting disk 114 (see FIG. 3 counterclockwise).

As apparent from FIGS. 4 and 7, since the lower end opening 142 of the retaining cylinder 112 is opposed to the plurality of through holes 122, the sphere PB is opposed to the bulging portion 124 even though it falls due to gravity. It can drop simultaneously into a plurality of through holes 122 excluding the through holes 122.
Since the sphere PB that has fallen into the through-hole 122 is rotated at a high speed together with the sorting disk 114, the centrifugal force causes the component force FU1 directed to the lower delivery disk 116 by the reaction force CFP from the downward peripheral side wall 154.
In addition, the spherical body PB is pushed by the downward rotating rear side wall 158 by the rotational force of the sorting disc 114, and therefore receives the downward component force FU2 of the reaction force CFR of the pressing force CF.
As a result, the sphere PB receives a downward force due to gravity and the resultant force of the component forces FU1 and FU2 and the rotation of the sorting disk 114, and the peripheral side wall 154 and the rotated rear side wall 158 on which the sphere PB is guided are closer to the lower side. Since the distance from the rotation axis 128 is increased, the sphere PB moves downward while moving to the rear side in the circumferential direction and the rotation direction by centrifugal force.
Therefore, the sphere PB that has fallen into the through hole 122 moves in a spiral toward the lower delivery disk 116 in the through hole 122 while being accelerated by the movement to the rear side in the circumferential direction and the rotational direction, Supported on a central plate 194 of the disk 116.

The sphere PB dropped on the delivery disk 116 is pushed by the pushing projections 196, 198, 200, 202, and 204, and is guided in part to the inner surface 218 of the circular hole 216 and in part is a through hole. While being returned into 122, it is carried along with the sorting disk 114 and the delivery disk 116.
If the sphere PB is not in contact with the central plate 194 immediately before reaching the sorting auxiliary body 236, the circumferential surface of the front side of the sphere PB collides with the sorting auxiliary body 236.
When a spherical surface below the center of gravity of the sphere PB collides with the upward slope 235, the sphere PB is guided upward by the upward slope 235, so that the entire sphere PB is returned into the through hole 122.
In this case, since the sphere PB is not held by the holding unit 210, the sphere PB is not sent out from the outlet 120.
When the spherical body PB collides with the sorting auxiliary body 236, the sorting auxiliary body 236 rotates around the fixed shaft 234 and is elastically received by the leaf spring 242.
Therefore, the impact at the time of the collision of the sphere PB is mitigated, and unnecessary bounce is suppressed, thereby achieving a smooth movement of the sphere PB.
When the spherical surface above the center of gravity of the sphere PB collides with the sorting auxiliary body 236, the sphere PB is guided to the lower side by the sorting auxiliary body 236 and forcibly guided to the holding unit 210.
At this time, when the sphere PB hits the center plate 194 and jumps, it is held by the holding unit 210 by the lower surface of the sorting auxiliary body 236.
In this case, the sphere PB reaches the outlet 120 by further rotation of the delivery disk 116 and jumps out to the outlet passage 224 by centrifugal force.
The upward surface of the sphere PB collides with the downward slope 228 of the sorting body 118 and is pushed downward and guided to the circumferential direction of the delivery disk 116 by the sorting body 118.
In other words, the sphere PB of the holding unit 210 is guided in the circumferential direction of the sorting disk 114 by the sorting body 118 and sent out to the outlet passage 224.

While the sphere PB moves through the exit passage 224, the peripheral surface of the sphere PB contacts the passive body 282, and the passive body 282 is moved away from the side wall 226 by the peripheral surface.
Immediately after the maximum diameter portion of the sphere PB passes between the passive body 282 and the side wall 226 of the outlet passage 224, the sphere PB is ejected by the elastic force of the spring 290.
Thereby, the sphere PB is vigorously paid out from the exit passage 224.

Therefore, even when the sorting disk 114 rotates at a high speed, the sphere PB is always retained in the through-hole 122, and the sphere PB that has reached the through-hole 122 includes the downward peripheral side wall 154 and the rotation rear side wall. The ball PB does not fall out of the teeth because it falls through the spiral passage 162 onto the disk 116 by the pushing force and gravity from 158 and falls through the spiral passage 162 and is moved by the pushing projections 196, 198, 200, 202 or 204. To be paid out.
By the rotation of the lever 284, the detection piece 294 at the tip thereof enters the detection area of the proximity sensor 286, and the sensor 286 outputs a detection signal DS.
This detection signal DS is used to count the paid out sphere PB.
After the sphere PB has passed, the passive body 282, and thus the lever 284, is returned to its original position by the spring 290 to prepare for the next payout.

  When the signal from the sensor 286 reaches a predetermined number, in other words, when a predetermined number of spheres PB are paid out, the switch 278 is opened and the switch 276 is closed so that the electric brake unit 274 enters a closed circuit. Therefore, the electric brake is applied to the electric motor 252 to be braked suddenly.

As a result, the sorting disk 114 and the delivery disk 116 are suddenly stopped, so that no overrun occurs.
That is, the sphere PB is not overpaid.

Since the sphere PB dropped into the circular hole 216 is pushed by the pushing projections 196, 198, 200, 202 or 204 as shown in FIG. 5, its lower surface is supported by the feeding disk 116, and its side surface is It is moved toward the outlet 120 while being guided by the inner surface 218 of the circular hole 216.
Accordingly, the sphere PB that has fallen into the through hole 122 immediately downstream of the sorting body 118 is pushed down into the through hole 122 by the central plate 194 and then descends again because the delivery disk 116 is inclined.
Due to the movement of the sphere PB in the through-hole 122, the sphere PB mounted thereon also moves up and down in the same manner.
Therefore, since the sphere PB in the holding cylinder 112 is also agitated by this vertical movement, jamming of the sphere PB can be prevented.

FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view of the second embodiment.

The second embodiment is an example suitable for a sphere delivery device 300 that is smaller than the first embodiment.
The sorting disk 302 of the spherical body feeding device 300 of the second embodiment has a petal shape in which semicircular sorting recesses 306 are formed at equal intervals on the periphery by protruding the protrusions 304 in the circumferential direction at equal intervals.
On the rear rear side wall 308 of the protrusion 304, a downward slope 308 similar to the rear rear side wall 158 of the first embodiment is formed.
The sorting disc 302 is disposed in the circular hole 310.
The inner wall 312 of the circular hole 310 is formed in a conical shape whose diameter increases downward like the peripheral side wall 154 of the first embodiment.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the through hole 314 is constituted by the recess 306 and the circular hole 310, and the spiral passage 316 is constituted by the downward slope 308 and the inner wall 312 of the circular hole 310.
In this configuration, when the sphere PB falls into the sorting recess 306 and rotates integrally with the sorting disc 302, it receives a downward force from the inner wall 312 that is inclined downward, and also a downward force from the rear rotation side wall 308. Are forced to move downward by gravity and their downward force.
Therefore, like the first embodiment, the spherical body PB has an advantage that it can move at high speed from the top to the bottom in the recess 306 instead of the through hole.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a spherical body feeding device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the spherical body delivery device according to the first embodiment with a retaining cylinder removed. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the spherical body delivery device according to the first embodiment with a retaining cylinder removed. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the spherical body delivery device according to the first embodiment with a retaining cylinder removed. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state in which the retaining cylinder and the sorting disk of the spherical body delivery device of Embodiment 1 are removed. FIG. 6 is a rear view of the sphere feeding device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the A plane in FIG. FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged plan view of the sorting disk of the spherical body feeding device according to the first embodiment. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged perspective view of a sorting disk of the spherical body feeding device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of the braking device in the spherical body delivery device of the first embodiment. FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view of the second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

PB sphere
112 cylinder
114, 302 disc
122, 314 through hole
154, 312 peripheral side wall
158, 308 Rotational direction rear side wall
160, 316 spiral passage

Claims (2)

A plurality of spheres (PB) are positioned below the retaining cylinder (112) that holds the spheres in a bulk state, and one of the spheres is movable from the upper surface side to the lower surface side, and the peripheral side wall (154) In the sphere delivery device, the spheres are divided and sent out one by one by a sorting disk (114) having a through hole (140) inclined downward.
A spherical body feeding device characterized in that the rear side wall (158) in the rotation direction of the through hole is formed as a downwardly inclined portion.   The spherical body feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the rear side wall in the rotation direction and the peripheral side wall further form a spiral passage (160) in which a distance from the rotation axis increases in the circumferential direction.

Images