JPH0724353U - Ball storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To increase the storage efficiency of a storage device for storing a large number of balls without requiring manual labor. [Structure] An elongated plate-shaped bridging plate 25 having a width narrower than that of the box-shaped housing portion 20 is provided so as to be inclined from one side of the upper portion of the housing portion 20 to the other side. A guide portion 52 for dropping a ball is provided above one end portion of the connecting plate 25 which is located at an upper position in the inclination direction, and a large number of balls are accommodated in the accommodating portion 2 from the tip of the guide portion 52.
Drop to 0. A ball that has fallen on the trolley rolls down on it and falls from the side edge of the trolley.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a ball accommodating device for accommodating a large number of golf balls, baseball balls, tennis balls, and the like, and more particularly to a ball accommodating device for efficiently and evenly accommodating these collected balls in an accommodating portion.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 In a golf ball collection vehicle or the like that collects and accommodates golf balls (hereinafter simply referred to as “balls”) scattered on the lawn such as an open-air golf driving range, for example, as shown in FIG. ), The golf ball B picked up from the lawn is dropped from the tip of the guide member 3 into the housing case 1 provided in the vehicle body. The bottom member 2 of the housing case 1 is tilted so that the side opposite to the guide member 3 side is lowered so that the dropped ball B moves to the opposite side.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 In the above-mentioned conventional technique, the balls B dropped from the guide member 3 roll in the inclination direction on the bottom member 2 and move to the opposite side at the beginning of the accommodation, and line up on the bottom member 2 in one layer. In this state, the upper side of the ball B, which is a single layer, is uneven as a whole, and it is difficult for the ball to roll on it. Therefore, the ball B dropped next from the guide member 3 does not easily move to the opposite side in the housing case 1, and gathers near the tip of the proposed member 3 as shown in FIG. Become. For this reason, although the storage space is still left in the storage case 1, the ball B is prevented from entering the storage case 1 and overflows from the guide member 3. For example, even in a storage case capable of storing 3000 balls, a mountain is formed on the guide member 3 side when about 1000 balls have entered, and unless the pile is manually broken down to flatten the storage case. No more balls can be placed in slot 1. Note that, in FIG. 7, the size of the ball B is exaggerated in comparison with the accommodation case 1.

When the storage case 1 of the golf ball collection car is full, the balls are discharged into a concrete groove provided on one side of the lawn in the practice field, and the golf ball collection cars are scattered on the lawn again. Are collected and housed in the housing case 1. The balls in the concrete groove are collected by water flow, etc., washed and stored in a large-sized storage section.In this case as well, there is a mountain of balls near the tip of the guide member into which the ball is dropped. As a result, there is a problem that the ball cannot enter.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and to enhance the accommodation efficiency of the ball accommodation device without requiring human labor.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 To this end, the ball accommodating device according to the present invention is configured to drop a large number of balls from the tips of the guides 52 and 56 into a part of the box-shaped accommodating part 20 as illustrated in FIGS. In the ball accommodating device, the guide portion 52, 56 has a plate shape narrower and narrower than the accommodating portion 20 and extends in the longitudinal direction from the vicinity of the tips of the guide portions 52, 56 toward the side portion inside the accommodating portion 20 apart from the tips. At least one transition plate 25 having an upper surface which is inclined downward and is substantially horizontal in the lateral direction is attached to the upper portion of the accommodating portion 20, and the guide portions 52 and 56 include at least a part of a large number of balls. The feature is that it is dropped onto one end of the 25 which is located at an upper position in the inclination direction.

[0007]

[Action]

 At least a part of the large number of balls B dropped one after another from the tip of the guide portion 52 is dropped to a position above the transition plate 25 in the inclination direction, and the side portion of the accommodation portion 20 separated from the tip of the guide portion 52 by the inclination. It rolls on the crossover plate 25 toward and falls off the side edge of the crossover plate 25 into the accommodating portion 20. The position where each ball B is disengaged from the side edge of the transition plate 25 varies depending on the position at which the ball B is dropped onto the transition plate 25, the momentum and direction at that time, and other random factors.

[0008]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, the position where the individual balls fall off the side edge of the crossing plate and fall into the accommodating portion depends on an accidental factor, so that the balls fall over a wide area in the accommodating portion. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the formation of a part of the balls in the accommodating portion, and the balls automatically accumulate at a depth that is almost uniform, so that the accommodating efficiency of the balls can be improved without requiring manual labor.

[0009]

【Example】

 First, the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a golf ball collecting apparatus having a ball accommodating device according to the present invention comprises a tractor portion T and a trailer portion, and the trailer portion includes an accommodating portion 20, a ball picking mechanism portion 30, a ball. It includes an intake mechanism 40, a ball take-out section 50, a ball gathering mechanism 70, and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the vehicle body frame 10 of the trailer portion is provided with a lower frame 10c in the front half thereof, and each rear wheel 12 is provided in an extension member 10b which is welded to both sides of the rear portion and protrudes downward. A pair of rear axles 12a that support the bearings are fixed, and a bridge member 10a that connects the left and right is welded to the middle portion. A portal-shaped reinforcing member 11 that connects the left and right is welded to the front portion of the body frame 10, and a pair of front wheels 14 is provided below the overhanging portion 13 that projects left and right from the reinforcing member 11. There is. Each front wheel 14 is a caster wheel in which the wheels are supported by a turning member 14a rotatably provided on the overhanging portion 13 by a vertical shaft 14b. The body frame 10 moves on the lawn surface G by the front wheels 14 and the rear wheels 12. A pair of U-shaped metal fittings 15 fixed to the front part of the body frame 10 is provided with a pulling arm 16 capable of swinging in the vertical direction via a horizontal hinge pin 15a, and a ball joint 17 provided at the front end of the pulling arm 16 allows the body frame 10 to move. Is connected to the rear of the tractor T.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, on the lower frame 10 c in the front half of the vehicle body frame 10, the left and right side walls 21, the front box 22, the rear wall 23, and the slats which are fixed to the vehicle body frame 10 are provided. A box-shaped accommodating portion 20 including the bottom member 24 is formed. In the present embodiment, both ends of two elongated crossover plates 25 having flat upper surfaces are supported by mounting fittings 26 fixed to the upper portions of the rear wall and the rear wall 23 of the front box 22, respectively. Each of the transition plates 25 is located in the upper part of the accommodation portion 20, and is provided with an inclination of, for example, about 5 degrees so that the rear wall 23 side becomes higher. The horizontal direction is almost horizontal. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the total lateral width of the two transition plates 25 is made considerably smaller than the lateral width of the accommodating portion 20, and the ball B is dropped between each of them and each of the side walls 21. A considerable gap is formed. The ball B picked up from the lawn surface G by the ball picking mechanism section 30 to be described later is taken out by the ball taking-out section 50 and is received from the edge of the guide plate 52 provided on the rear wall 23 of the containing section 20. Dropped into the portion 20, a considerable number of them are dropped to a position above the crossover plate 25 in the inclination direction, and the rest are dropped directly into the housing portion 20. The transition plate 25 may be an elongated trapezoid whose width at the lower position in the inclination direction is narrow, instead of being an elongated rectangle as in the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lower half of the rear side wall of the front box 22 has a discharge door 22a whose upper edge is attached by a hinge 22b. By opening the discharge door 22a by a motor (not shown) as shown by the chain double-dashed line, the discharge is carried out from the lower front portion of the vehicle body frame 10 into a concrete groove provided on one side of the lawn of the driving range. The bottom member 24 is inclined so that the side of the discharge door 22a is low so that this discharge can be performed smoothly.

Next, the ball pick-up mechanism unit 30, the ball take-in mechanism 40, and the ball take-out unit 50 will be described with reference to FIGS. The sweeping roller 31 of the ball pick-up mechanism portion 30 is rotatably supported on the rear portion of the vehicle body frame 10 by a horizontal lateral roller shaft 33, and a sprocket 37a is supported by a motor 36 supported on the bridge member 10a. , 37b and the chain 37c to rotate in the direction of the arrow shown. On the outer peripheral surface of the sweeping roller 31, pins 32 made of a flexible material such as rubber and protruding in the radial direction are provided in a row along the axial direction at a slight interval. The diameter of the pin 32, the amount of protrusion in the radial direction, and the pitch in the axial direction are, for example, about 8 mm, 40 mm, and 30 mm, respectively, and 18 rows are provided along the circumferential direction of the sweeping roller 31.

An arcuate guide plate 34 is provided at a rear portion of the vehicle body frame 10 at a distance of, for example, about 50 mm from the sweeping roller 31, and between the sweeping roller 31 and the guide plate 34. A ball moving portion 35 is formed at the. The guide plate 34 is divided into an upper guide plate 34a and a lower guide plate 34b, which are fixed to the upper side and the lower side of the vehicle body frame 10, respectively. The lower edge of the lower guide plate 34b is rounded up considerably above the lawn surface G (for example, about 45 degrees obliquely rearward and downward from the roller shaft 33), and the sweeping roller is spread over the entire width of the lower guide plate 34b outside the vicinity. A ball intake mechanism 40 is provided so as to be substantially parallel to the tangent line of the outer peripheral surface of 31. Although not described in detail, the ball intake mechanism 40 has a large number of axial movement rods 44 arranged close to each other and biased by springs to the most advanced position.

The trailer portion provided with the ball pick-up mechanism portion 30 is pulled by the tractor T to move forward (to the left in FIGS. 1 to 3), and at the same time, the sweeping roller 31 is rotated counterclockwise as shown in the figure. When the motor 36 is rotated by the motor 36, the golf ball B on the lawn surface G (which is slightly lifted by the lawn) is captured between the rows of the pins 32, and the sweeping roller 31 rotates to approach the golf balls B in parallel to each other. It is picked up on a large number of axial rods 44 arranged and sent to the ball moving portion 35, is trapped between the pins 32 and is moved upward.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a ball take-out section 50 is provided above the ball pick-up mechanism section 30. The left and right side guides 51 of the ball take-out portion 50 are connected by a plan plate 52 and two connecting plates 53, and by supporting each connecting plate 53 by two supporting members 18 fixed to the vehicle body frame 10, The ball take-out part 50 is attached. A large number of take-out rods 54 fixed to the guide plate 52 and each connecting plate 53 by welding or the like are inclined so as to be slightly lowered frontward, and the rear end thereof is located above the sweep-up roller 31 coming out from the upper guide plate 34a. Close to the outer surface. The pitch of the take-out rods 54 is the same as the pitch of the pins 32 of the sweeping roller 31, and the take-out rods 54 are arranged so as to be shifted by a half pitch so that the pins 32 can pass through between the take-out rods 54. .

The ball B, which is sent to the ball moving unit 35 by the ball pick-up mechanism unit 30 and the ball intake mechanism 40, is trapped between the pins 32 and moved upward, is taken out by the take-out rod 54 at the upper part of the sweeping roller 31. It hits the rear end and is pushed up by the pin 32 on the rear side and pushed up onto the take-out rod 54, and it rolls forward due to the inclination of the take-out rod 54, and the transition plate 25 is provided from the edge of the guide plate 52 as described above. It is dropped into the accommodation section 20.

Next, the ball gathering mechanism 70 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, both side portions of the lower frame 10c of the vehicle body frame 10 project slightly forward of the accommodating portion 20, and a base end portion is supported in the vicinity thereof so as to be vertically swingable. A pair of left and right overhanging arms 71 extending obliquely to the outer front side is provided. A caster wheel 75 is attached to the lower surface of the tip end of the overhang arm 71, and five rotary roller assemblies 60 are attached between the base end portion and the caster wheel 75. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a mounting plate 69 arranged in an inverted octagonal shape is fixed to the lower frame 10c of the vehicle body frame 10, and the lower surface of the mounting plate 69 also includes four rotary roller sets. 60 is attached. The projecting arm 71, the mounting plate 69, and the rotating roller assembly 60 gather the balls B widely scattered on the lawn surface G near the ball pick-up mechanism section 30.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of rotary roller assemblies 60 are also attached to the front sides of the front wheels Ta and the rear wheels Tb of the tractor T. The rotary roller assembly 60 pushes away the balls in front of the wheels Ta and Tb in order to prevent the wheels Ta and Tb from stepping on the ball and embedding the ball in the lawn or damaging the lawn.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the trailer portion is pulled forward by the tractor T, the balls B gathered on the grass surface G as described above are taken in between the rows of the pins 32 of the sweeping roller 31 by the forward movement of the trailer portion. By the rotation of the sweeping roller 31, the scooping roller 31 is scooped up on a large number of axially moving rods 44 arranged in parallel with each other and sent to the ball moving portion 35. The ball B sent upward by the ball moving unit 35 is pushed up on the take-out rod 54 at the upper part of the sweeping roller 31, and is rolled forward by the inclination of the take-out rod 54 to move the crossing plate 25 from the front end edge of the guide plate 52. It is dropped into the accommodating portion 20 provided.

A part of the large number of balls B dropped one after another from the tip of the guide plate 52 directly falls into the accommodating portion 20. However, a considerable number of them fall into the upper position of the cross plate 25 in the inclination direction, and the cross plate 25. Due to the inclination of the guide plate 52, it rolls on the transition plate 25 toward the side of the accommodation part 20 away from the tip of the guide plate 52, falls off the side edge of the transition plate 25, and falls into the accommodation part 20. The position where each ball B is disengaged from the side edge of the transition plate 25 depends on the position at which the ball B is dropped on the transition plate 25, the momentum and direction at that time, and other random factors. Therefore, the balls fall over a wide area in the accommodating portion 20 and it is less likely that a part of the ball is formed in the accommodating portion, and the balls automatically accumulate at a depth that is almost uniform, so that the guide portion 52 There can be no pile of balls in the housing 20 near the tip of the. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the balls falling from the side edges of the transition plate 25 accumulate in the lateral direction at a depth which is almost uniform. Therefore, although the accommodation space is left, the balls do not overflow due to being obstructed by the hills formed near the tip of the guide plate 52. If a considerable amount of balls enter the accommodation section 20, the balls may locally form and the balls on the crossover plate 25 may not fall there, but the ball B may fall to other places. Therefore, as long as the accommodation space remains in the accommodation portions 20 on both sides of the transition plate 25, the ball B does not enter any more and does not overflow.

Next, a modified embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 will be described. In this modified embodiment, the tractor T is provided with the accommodating section 20, and the trailer section is provided with the ball pick-up mechanism section 30, the ball take-in mechanism 40, and the ball take-out section 50. The operation of the tractor T is unmanned, and it is operated by a remote control by radio control or a guide wire buried in the ground. The tractor T and the trailer portion are connected by a ball joint 82 located below the ball take-out portion 50.

The accommodating portion 20 has a vertically long box shape provided from the central portion to the rear portion of the tractor T, and at the upper portion of the accommodating portion 20, a single crossing plate 25 is provided over the entire length in the front-rear direction. There is. Similar to the above-mentioned embodiment, the crossover plate 25 is inclined so that the rear part is higher, and its lateral width is narrower than that of the accommodating part 20, so that a considerable gap for dropping the ball B is formed between the side walls of the accommodating part 20. Is forming.

Although not specifically shown, the ball pick-up mechanism section 30 and the ball take-in mechanism 40 are substantially the same as those in the above-mentioned embodiments. The ball take-out part 50 has a front part of the guide part 56 narrowed like a funnel so that even if the trailer part swings in the horizontal direction around the ball joint 82, it falls from the front end of the guide part 56 into the accommodating part 20. The ball is the same as that of the above-mentioned embodiment except that the ball to be inserted is prevented from coming off from the transition plate 25. Since the operation of this embodiment is almost the same as that of the above-mentioned embodiment, the detailed description will be omitted.

In addition to the golf ball collecting device as in the above-described embodiment, the present invention collects balls collected from such a golf ball collecting device into a concrete groove provided on one side of the lawn of a practice field. It can also be used when cleaning and storing in a large stock space. Further, it can be used not only for golf balls but also for other balls such as baseballs and tennis balls.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf ball collection device having an embodiment of a ball storage device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the golf ball collection device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part of the golf ball collection device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a storage portion showing a storage state of balls.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a golf ball collection device including another embodiment of the ball storage device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the golf ball collection device shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view of an accommodating portion showing a state of accommodating balls according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 ... Housing part, 25 ... Crossing plate, 52, 56 ... Guide part (guide plate).

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A ball accommodating device in which a large number of balls are dropped from a tip of a guide part into a part of a box-shaped accommodating part, and the tip of the guide part is an elongated plate having a width narrower than the accommodating part. At least one cross plate having an upper surface that extends from the vicinity toward the side portion inside the accommodation portion away from the tip and gradually decreases in the longitudinal direction and that has a substantially horizontal upper surface in the lateral direction is attached to the upper portion inside the accommodation portion.
The ball accommodating device according to claim 1, wherein the guide portion is configured to drop at least a part of a large number of balls onto one end portion of the transition plate which is located at an upper position in an inclination direction.