JPH0360515B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an automatic mahjong machine using tiles that are divided into two layers, a tile display surface portion and a tile back surface portion. The present invention relates to a device that selects tiles suitable for tile building by detecting differences in surface light reflectance.

Prior Art Japanese Patent Publication No. 12207/1983 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 12207/1983 disclose a device that photoelectrically detects and discriminates the front and back sides of tiles.
There was one described in Publication No. 28811.

In the known device, the front and back sides of the tile are separated by transmitting light into the interior of the tile and detecting the difference in the amount of transmitted light.

Problem to be Solved However, since the display surface of the tile is white or milky and is not a transparent material like transparent glass, it absorbs almost no light to the same extent as the back surface of the tile, which is colored brown or blue. In the known method described above, it was impossible to distinguish between the front and back sides of the tiles.

In addition, in automatic mahjong machines in which a magnet or a magnetic material such as iron is embedded in the tile display surface and the tiles are made to fall down using magnetic force, since the magnet or magnetic material is opaque, the above-mentioned transmission type photoelectric detection It is in principle impossible to apply the method.

Means and Effects for Solving the Problems The present invention relates to an improvement of a tile sorting device for an automatic mahjong machine that overcomes the above-mentioned difficulties, and is divided into two layers, a tile display surface portion and a tile back portion. In an automatic mahjong machine using tiles whose surfaces have different light reflectances and whose display surface is thicker than the back surface of the tiles, there is a conveyor that conveys the tiles in a prone or supine state, and a conveyor that is adjacent to the outside of the conveyor. The height from the conveyance surface of the conveyor to the installation position of a reflective photoelectric conversion element consisting of a light emitting source and a light receiving part along the longitudinal direction of the conveyor is lower than the thickness of the tile, and the thickness of the tile display surface portion is lower than the thickness of the tile. a reflective photoelectric conversion element disposed at a higher position than the tile; and a control signal generating means for determining the front and back of the tile based on the output of the reflective photoelectric conversion element and transmitting a control signal when the tile display surface is facing upward. , and tile pushing means for pushing out the tiles from the conveyor to the side in response to a signal transmitted from the control signal generating means.

Since the present invention is configured as described above,
When a tile with the tile display surface facing downward is conveyed on the conveyor, a small amount of reflected light reflected from the back surface of the tile reaches the reflective photoelectric conversion element, causing the reflection type photoelectric conversion element to The amount of light received is small,
A control signal is not transmitted from the control signal generating means, the tile pushing means does not operate, and the tiles with the tile display surface facing downward are transported as they are on the conveyor, but the tiles with the tile display surface facing upward are transported as is. When the tiles are conveyed on the conveyor, a large amount of reflected light reflected from the tile display surface reaches the reflective photoelectric conversion element, and the amount of light received by the reflective photoelectric conversion element is large, and the control signal is A control signal is transmitted from the generating means, the tiles are pushed out, and the tiles are removed from the conveyor, and in this way, tiles suitable for building tiles are sorted out in a prone state with the tiles display surface facing downward, and the tiles are arranged in the required tile arrangement area. etc. will be transported.

In this way, in the present invention, since the difference in surface reflectance between the tile display surface and the tile back surface is detected and selected, it is possible to detect not only ordinary tiles whose tile display surface is not transparent, but also tile display. It can also be applied to a device in which iron or magnets are built into the surface part so that the tiles are held down by magnetic force, and the tiles can be sorted properly.

Further, in the present invention, the tiles are conveyed by the conveyor in a prone or supine state, and the reflectance of the tiles is detected by the reflective photoelectric conversion element over the entire length of the tiles in the longitudinal direction. It is completely unaffected by disturbances such as local dirt on the surface of the tiles, and the front and back sides of the tiles can be detected with high reliability and sorted reliably.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the reflective photoelectric conversion element, the control signal generating means, and the tile pushing means can be arranged on the side of the conveyor, so that the tile sorting device can be constructed in a compact manner.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described.

1 is divided into two layers: a white or milky white display surface part 1a (a part with characters and figures engraved on the surface) and a brown, blue or black back part 1, and each surface has a different light reflectance. The display surface portion 1a is thicker than the back surface portion 1b of the tile.

Further, a base board 2 is arranged at the lower center of the mahjong table (not shown), and the base board 2 includes a fixed disk 3 for receiving tiles 1 that have fallen from a tile drop opening on the table (not shown).
A stirring arm 4 is disposed at the center of the stirring arm 4, which is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 by a motor (not shown).

Further, a tile alignment area 8 is disposed above the outside of the base 2, and is oriented in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tile alignment area 5. A conveyor 6 whose conveyance direction is inclined upward is disposed throughout.

Furthermore, the height of the light emitting source 7 and the light receiving part 8 is 1 tile from the conveyance surface of the conveyor 6 adjacent to the outer side of the conveyor 6 and along the longitudinal direction of the conveyor 6.
and the thickness t of the display surface portion 1a,
A light emitting source 7 and a light receiving section 8 are arranged at a higher position than the light receiving section 8, and a photoelectric conversion element 9 such as a photoconductive element, a phototransistor, a photocell, or a phototube is built into the light receiving section 8. When the tile 1 is conveyed by the conveyor 6 near the intermediate position,
Light emitted from the light emitting source 7 is reflected by the tile 1 and is received by the photoelectric conversion element 9 of the light receiving section 8.

Moreover, the output terminal of the photoelectric conversion element 9 is connected to the input terminal of the control signal generation means 10, and when the output signal of the photoelectric conversion element 9 is at a high level exceeding a predetermined reference value, the control signal generation means 10 pushes out the tile. An operating signal is transmitted to the means 11 and conveyor 6
A tile pushing means 11 located on the outside of the tile 1 is operated to cause the tile 1 to fall toward the fixed disc 3 side.

Further, on the side of the conveyor 6 near the base plate 2, there is formed a sliding inclined wall 12 that is gently curved from the inner edge of the upper surface of the conveyor 6 to the fixed disk 3, and near the loading portion of the conveyor 6. A guide wall 13 is formed at the top, so that the tiles 1 transferred to the carry-in portion of the conveyor 6 are aligned by the stirring arm 4 so that the longitudinal direction of the tiles 1 is oriented in the conveyance direction of the conveyor 6. ing.

Furthermore, a stopper 14 is provided at the tip of the unloading portion of the conveyor 6, and a tile 1 is placed on this stopper 14.
A sensor 15 that transmits a detection signal when the
is provided on the stopper 14, and a tile pushing device 16 is disposed on the outside of the carrying out portion of the conveyor 6. The tile pushing device 16 operates in response to a signal from the sensor 15, and the tiles on the carrying out portion of the carrying conveyor 6 are 1 into the tile alignment area 5.

Since the illustrated embodiment is configured as described above, the tiles 1 stirred on the fixed disk 3 are aligned in the conveying direction of the conveyor 6 by the guide wall 13, and then the tiles 1 are brought into the conveyor 6. sent to parts.

Then, when the tile 1 carried into the conveyor 6 in a prone state with the display surface portion 1a facing downward and the back surface portion 1b facing upward passes near the light emitting source 7 and the light receiving section 8, the tile 1 emits light. The light irradiated from the source 7 hits the side surface of the back portion 1b and is reflected to the light receiving portion 8.
Although the light is received by the photoelectric conversion element 9 of
Since the reflectance of the photoelectric conversion element 9 is low, the amount of light received by the photoelectric conversion element 9 is small, and the operation signal is not transmitted from the control signal generating means 10 to the tile pushing means 11.
does not operate, and the tiles 1 on the conveyor 6 are directly sent to the discharge section of the conveyor 6 and pushed into the tile alignment area 5 by the tile pushing device 16.

However, when the tile 1 carried onto the conveyor 6 and placed in a supine state with the display surface portion 1a facing upward and the back surface portion 1b facing downward, passes near the light emitting source 7 and the light receiving section 8, The light emitted from the light emitting source 7 hits the side surface of the display surface portion 1a, which has a high reflectance, and is reflected and received by the photoelectric conversion element 9 of the light receiving section 8, so that the amount of light received by the photoelectric conversion element 9 is large, and the control An operation signal is transmitted from the signal generating means 10 to the tile pushing means 11, and the tile pushing means 11 operates, and the tiles 1 on the conveyor 6 are pushed out to the side from the conveyor 6 and slide down the sloped wall 12. It is returned onto the fixed disk 3 and stirred again by the stirring arm 4.

By repeating such an operation, tiles 1 in a prone state suitable for tile building are sent one after another to the tile alignment area 5, tiles are built in the same way as in a normal automatic mahjong machine, and castle building tiles are placed on a table (not shown). It is formed.

In this way, by shining light on the side of the tile 1 and using the difference in reflectance between the display surface portion 1a and the back surface portion 1b of the tile 1, the prone or supine state of the tile 1 can be detected. Even if the tile 1 is opaque, it is possible to reliably select the tiles 1, and even if the tile 1 has an opaque material such as a steel plate or a magnet embedded in the display surface portion 1a through which light can pass, it is possible to reliably detect the front and back sides of the tile 1. can.

In addition, since light was applied to the side surface of tile 1 as it moved along the length of tile 1 and scanned, even if the side surface of tile 1 was locally dirty and had a low reflectance area, it would not be possible to mistake the front and back sides of tile 1. Never detected.

Since light is applied to the smooth side surface of the tile 1 and reflected, the reflectance does not vary widely as it does on the display surface of the tile 1, resulting in high reliability.

Further, since the light emitting source 7, the light receiving section 8, the control signal generating means 10, and the tile pushing means 11 are arranged outside the conveyor 6, the tile sorting device can be constructed in a compact manner.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating an embodiment of a tile sorting device for an automatic mahjong machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 1. 1a... Display surface part, 1b... Back part, 1...
... Tile, 2 ... Base plate, 3 ... Fixed disk, 4 ... Stirring arm, 5 ... Tile alignment area section, 6 ... Transport conveyor, 7 ... Light source, 8 ... Light receiving section, 9 ... ... Photoelectric display element, 10 ... Control signal generating means, 11 ... Tile pushing means, 12 ... Sliding slope wall, 13 ... Guide wall, 14 ... Stopper, 15 ... Sensor, 16
...Tile pushing device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an automatic mahjong machine using a tile that is divided into two layers, the tile display surface and the tile back, and the light reflectance of each surface is different, the tile display surface is thicker than the tile back. A conveyor that conveys in a supine state, and an area adjacent to the outer side of the conveyor along the longitudinal direction of the conveyor from the conveyance surface of the conveyor to the installation position of a reflective photoelectric conversion element consisting of a light emitting source and a light receiving section. a reflective photoelectric conversion element disposed at a position where the height is lower than the thickness of the tile and higher than the thickness of the tile display surface portion, and the front and back of the tile are determined based on the output of the reflective photoelectric conversion element. a control signal generating means for transmitting a control signal when the tile display surface is facing upward; and a tile pushing means for pushing out the tiles from the conveyor laterally in response to the signal transmitted from the control signal generating means. A tile sorting device for an automatic mahjong machine.