JPH03289977A - Ball washing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically wash used balls only by charging the balls in a hopper, by washing balls which are taken out from a first washing device for performing washing as it is rolled on the outer periphery of a rotating brush, with a second washing device in which the balls are orderly moved as they rolled over a plurality of brushes. CONSTITUTION:Balls 1 in a first washing device 4 are washed by means of washing liquid 6, fed through a feed port 53, as the balls are orderly fed on the outer periphery of a brush 21 rotating at a high speed with the aid of a feed plate 31 moved at a low speed. In this case, since, by inclining the feed plate 31, the ball 1 is rolled in a multidirection within the first washing device 4, washing by means of the brush 21 is effected throughout the whole of the ball 1. The ball 1 completing washing effected by the first washing device 4 is delivered from a container 42 and dropped onto a guide plate 61 to be contained in a guide support 62. The balls 1 in the guide support 62 are rolled over rolling brushes 63 of a second washing device 5 and washed as they are orderly moved in the direction of an arrow mark E. The washing liquid 6 attached to the ball 1 is washed off by means of clean water jetted through a injection pipe 71.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a ball cleaning device that automatically cleans collected used hard balls while feeding them out.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, hard balls such as used golf balls collected at a golf driving range have been cleaned using a brush, and after cleaning, the cleaning liquid or moisture adhering to the balls has been wiped off.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] For this reason, it takes time and effort to clean the ball, resulting in a problem that the cost required for cleaning the ball increases.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a ball cleaning device that can automatically take in balls, clean them with a brush, and then send them out.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A ball cleaning device according to the present invention includes a hopper for accommodating balls before cleaning, and a ball delivery device including a bottom plate having an inclination at the bottom of the hopper, and automatically removes the balls from the bottom plate. A first cleaning device is provided that cleans the balls that have been sent out while rolling them on the outer periphery of a rotating brush.
A second cleaning device is provided in which the balls taken out from the cleaning device are sequentially moved while rolling on a plurality of rotating brushes that are arranged close to each other and approximately horizontally, thereby cleaning the balls.

Further, the first cleaning device includes a brush that rotates in a cylindrical container, a drive means for the brush that rotates the brush at high speed, and a ball that is sent out while rolling on the outer periphery of the brush. A long feed plate is provided on the circumference concentric with the brush, and
A drive means for the feed plates is provided to rotate these feed plates.

Further, the bottom plate is rotatable about a support shaft provided at one end.

[Operation] In the present invention, the balls in the hopper before cleaning are cleaned by a rotating brush in the first cleaning device, and then,
Cleaning is performed by sequentially moving the brushes while rolling on a plurality of brushes in the second cleaning device.

Further, in the first cleaning device, cleaning is performed by rolling the balls on the outer periphery of the rotating brush and sending them out by the feed plate.

Further, by rotating the bottom plate and opening it downward, the balls in the hopper are directly fed into the second cleaning device and cleaned.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the main part of FIG. 1. In these figures, 1 indicates a hard ball such as a golf ball. 2 shows the entire ball cleaning device. 3 is a ball sending device, 4 is a first cleaning device, 5 is a second cleaning device, 6 is a cleaning liquid, 7
is a storage tank for the used cleaning liquid 6, and 7a is a partition plate (indicated by a two-dot chain line) provided in the storage tank 7, which is provided as necessary. 8 and 9 are discharge ports for the cleaning liquid 6.

In the ball delivery device 3, 11 is a hopper into which the balls 1 dirty due to use are fed. Reference numeral 12 denotes a rotatable bottom plate provided at the bottom of the hopper 11, and has an inclination so that the balls 1 in the hopper 11 can be automatically transferred. The bottom plate 12 can rotate in the direction of arrow A using the support shaft 12a as a fulcrum to the position shown by the two-dot chain line. A roller 13 is provided at the end of the bottom plate 12 and rotates in the direction of arrow B. 14 is a roller chain, and 15 is a motor that rotates the rollers 13 via the roller chain 14.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the first cleaning device 4 of FIG. 1. FIG. 1 to 3, 21 is a rotating brush, 22 is a rotating shaft integrated with the brush 21, 23 is a sprocket, 24 is a bearing, 25 is a roller chain, and 26 is a brush 21 connected to the brush 21 via the roller chain 25. A motor 31 rotates the ball 1 at high speed, and in order to send out the ball 1 while rolling it on the outer periphery of the brush 21 for cleaning, the motor 31 has a longitudinal direction parallel to the axis of the brush 21 and a motor 31 on a circumference concentric with the brush 21. 32 is a side plate to which the feed plate 31 is fixed; 33 is a sprocket attached to the side plate 32; 34 is a roller chain;
Reference numeral 5 denotes a motor that rotates the feed plate 31 via the roller chain 34.

In FIG. 1, 41A is the ball 1 on the brush 21.
Upper holding plate provided to hold and roll the
1B is a holding plate on the lower side, and each folding plate 41A, 41
A cylindrical container 42 is formed by B, and the brush 21 and the feed plate 31 are housed inside the container 42, each of which is attached at one end to be openable and closable by respective hinges 43 and 44. 45 and 46, the upper and lower portions provided at the other ends of each of the holding plates 41A and 41B are fastened in one piece, the details of which are shown in the enlarged side view of FIG.

In Figures 1 and 4, 47 indicates that the upper part is tightened by piece 4.
5 is a through hole formed in the lower part, 48 is a screw hole formed in the piece 46 for tightening the lower part, 49 is a compression spring installed between the pieces 45 and 46 for each tightening part, 5° is a handle, and 51 is a screw hole formed in the piece 46. The handle shaft 52 is a threaded portion formed on the handle shaft 51, and the handle shaft 51 is inserted into the through hole 47. It is screwed into the screw hole 48 through the inside of the compression spring 49, and each presser plate 41A, 41B can be tightened or loosened by rotating the handle 50. In addition, the threaded portion 52 of the handle 50
By removing each presser plate 41A from the screw hole 48,
, 41B can be rotated and opened.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 53 is a supply port for supplying cleaning liquid 6 for cleaning the ball 1. 61 is a guide plate that receives and sends out the balls 1 taken out from the first cleaning device 4;
62 is a guide support for the ball 1. Second cleaning device 5
, a plurality of rotating brushes 63 are provided close to each other in the horizontal direction. 64 is a roller chain stretched so as to rotate each brush 63 in the same direction as the arrow mark; 65 is the roller chain 64;
This is a motor that rotates each brush 63 via. 7
1 is a spouting pipe that spouts clean water such as tap water, 72 is a blower that dries the ball 1, and 73 is a heater.

Next, the operation will be explained.

When the ball 1, which is dirty due to use, is put into the hopper 11,
The ball 1 moves while rolling on the bottom plate 12 and is stopped by the feed plate 31. Next, the feed plate 31 and the brush 21 are rotated in the direction of the arrow C by the drive of the motors 26 and 35, so the balls 1 are successively stopped on the feed plate 31 and run over the outer periphery of the brush 21 rotating at high speed. It is cleaned while moving at low speed. Further, by rotating the roller 13, the balls 1 are prevented from interlocking with each other at the feed plate 31 and preventing the balls from being fed.

The balls 1 in the first cleaning device 4 are cleaned by the cleaning liquid 6 supplied through the supply port 53 while being sequentially conveyed over the outer periphery of the brush 21 rotating at high speed by the feeding plate 31 rotating at low speed. At this time, if the feed plate 31 is tilted, the balls 1 roll in multiple directions within the first cleaning device 4, so that the brush 21 can clean the entire circumference of the balls 1.

Note that the transfer of the ball 1 on the outer periphery of the brush 21 is smooth;
In order to optimize the contact pressure between the brush 21 and the balls 1 for cleaning, turn the handle 50 to remove each presser plate 41A.
, 41B and the brush 21.

The balls 1 that have been cleaned by the first cleaning device 4 are placed in a container 42.
It is sent out from the guide plate 61, falls onto the guide plate 61, and is stored in the guide support 62. The balls 1 in the guide support 62 roll on each rotating brush 63 of the second cleaning device 5 and are cleaned while sequentially moving in the direction of arrow E. The cleaning liquid 6 adhering to the ball 1 is washed away by clean water jetted from the jetting pipe 71. Next, the ball is dried by air from the blower 72 and heat from the heater 73 to complete the cleaning process, and then sent out of the ball cleaning device 2 .

Note that when the used balls 1 are not very dirty, the bottom plate 12 is rotated in the direction of arrow A to open the bottom of the hopper 11, and the balls 1 are directly transferred to the guide support 62 without passing through the first cleaning device 4. cleaning can be carried out using only the second cleaning device 5.

Further, by providing a partition plate 7a shown by a two-dot chain line in the center of the storage tank 7, the dirty cleaning liquid 6 and the cleaning liquid with clean water can be separated and circulated or discharged.

[Advantageous Effects of the Invention 1] As explained above, the present invention provides a ball delivery device including a hopper for storing balls before cleaning and a bottom plate having an inclination at the bottom of the hopper, and automatically sends the balls from the bottom plate. A first cleaning device is provided that cleans the washed balls while rolling them on the outer periphery of a rotating brush, and a plurality of balls taken out from the first cleaning device are arranged close to each other and approximately horizontally. We installed a second cleaning device that sequentially moves and cleans the balls by rolling them on the rotating brushes, so that the used balls can be automatically cleaned by simply throwing them into the hopper. It has the advantage of reducing the labor required for cleaning, saving space, and reducing costs regardless of the installation location.

In addition, a rotating brush is provided in a cylindrical container, a driving means for the brush is provided to rotate the brush at high speed, and a long ball is sent out while rolling on the outer periphery of the brush for cleaning. Since the feed plates are provided on the circumference concentric with the brush and a drive means for the feed plates is provided for rotating these feed plates, there is an advantage that the cleaning ability of the balls can be increased.

Furthermore, since the bottom plate is rotatable around a spindle provided at one end, cleaning time can be shortened for balls with little dirt, which has the advantage of reducing cleaning time and costs. be.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the main parts of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing the cleaning device of FIG.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view showing a part of the cleaning device in which the presser plate is tightened. In the figure, 1 is a ball, 2 is a ball cleaning device, 3 is a ball delivery device, 4 is a first cleaning device, 5 is a second cleaning device, 6
is cleaning liquid, 7 is storage tank, 11 is hopper, 12 is bottom removal, 1
2a is a spindle, 13 is a roller, 21.63 is a brush, 22
is the rotating shaft, 23°33 is the sprocket, 26, 35.6
5 is a motor, 31 is a feed plate, 32 is a side plate, 41A, 41
B is the holding plate, 42 is the container, 45.46 is the tightening piece, 50
is the handle, 53 is the supply port, 61 is the guide plate, 62 is the guide receiver, 63 is the brush, 64 is the roller check Figure 3 Figure procedure amendment (voluntary) 10/3, 1990

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A ball delivery device including a hopper for storing balls before cleaning and a bottom plate having an inclination at the bottom of the hopper is provided, and the balls automatically sent out from the bottom plate are transferred to the outer periphery of a rotating brush. A first cleaning device is provided that performs cleaning while rolling on the ball, and the balls taken out from the first cleaning device are rolled on a plurality of rotating brushes that are arranged close to each other and approximately horizontally. A ball cleaning device characterized in that a second cleaning device is provided which sequentially moves and performs cleaning. (2) The first cleaning device is provided with a rotating brush in a cylindrical container, is provided with driving means for the brush that rotates the brush at high speed, and is configured to roll a ball on the outer periphery of the brush. A plurality of elongated feed plates are provided on a circumference concentric with the brush, and a driving means for the feed plates is provided to rotate these feed plates. The ball cleaning device described in 1). (3) The ball cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the bottom plate is rotatable about a support shaft provided at one end.