JPH08266699A - Ball dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To keep balls fed continuously by preventing ball jams and to enable only the preset number of balls to be dispensed easily. CONSTITUTION: A prepaid card is inserted into a dispenser 31 to set the reference number of balls 200. A solenoid is then excited under control of a control part 30 to raise the shutter of a shutter part 25. Balls 200 in a ball storage part 5 are fed by spiral ribs 16 by means of rotation of two spiral rollers 15, the jam of the balls 200 is cleared, and the balls 200 are made to drop between tapers and supplied into a chute. A counting part 22 issues a signal each time a ball 200 passes, and inputs the signals to the control part 300, and when the accumulated value of the signals reaches a set value the shutter is lowered again.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ball lending machine for automatically supplying a required number of golf balls when lending golf balls used in a driving range (hereinafter referred to as balls).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a ball lending machine is configured to store a large number of balls that have undergone washing and drying processes and to send out (lend out) as many balls as the amount of money. In such a ball lending machine, when lending the balls, a stocker for accommodating the reference number of balls (the smallest unit of the lending number) is provided in advance, and each of these stockers accommodates the reference number of balls. When lending the number of balls to be rented (a multiple of the reference number), it is a multiple of the stocker (for example, 2 if it is double).
Balls are sent from the stocker.

For example, when the standard number of balls that can be accommodated in the stocker is 50 and the number of balls to be lent out is 50, 50 balls are delivered from the stocker at one time, and the number of balls to be lent out is 100. Then, the stocker is operated twice to send out 100 balls in total.

[0004]

The ball lending machine as described above has a problem that it cannot operate normally when the stocker is clogged with balls. Furthermore, the owner of the driving range has to replace or adjust the stocker when setting the reference number of balls, which increases the cost related to replacement and adjustment of the stocker. There was a problem.

Further, there is a problem that even if the number of loans to be rented out is set in detail in order to execute different services depending on the time zone and the number of floors of the practice ground, it cannot be dealt with for the above reason.

The object of the present invention is to prevent the balls from being clogged in the ball lending machine, and to change the setting of the number of lending without changing the stocker. For example, the number of lending can be changed on a weekly or hourly basis. It is to provide a ball lending machine whose settings can be easily changed.

[0007]

A ball lending machine according to the present invention is provided in a ball supply port of a ball accommodating portion, and sends a ball one by one by a spiral roller, and a ball sending portion. A counter unit that counts the number of balls to be used, a control unit that sets the number of balls to be rented and stops the ball delivery when the count value of the counter unit reaches the number of balls to be lent.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a large number of balls accommodated in the ball accommodating portion are surely delivered one by one by the spiral roller provided at the ball supply port of the ball accommodating portion, and counted by the counter portion in advance. When the number of rented out preset parts set by the owner of the driving range is reached, the control part stops the supply of balls.

[0009]

1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
1 is a side view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a front view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 1 is shown in a slightly enlarged manner compared to FIGS. In these figures, 200 is a hard ball such as a golf ball, 100 is a ball lending machine, 1 is a base, 2 is a leg, and 3 is a ball accommodating portion for accommodating the ball 1. A mouth 5 is formed. Inside the base 1, a motor 7 and a shooter 8 for taking out the ball 200 are placed on a motor support 6. Reference numeral 9 is a drive gear, 10 is a tray, and 11 is a cover.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a ball feeding portion provided on the tray 10, to which a pair of roller support bases 13 are attached, bearings 14 are fitted, and the ball receiving portion 5 is provided.
A pair of spiral rollers 1 carrying a ball 200 supplied from
5, each having a spiral projection 16 and a roller shaft 17 formed therein. Each roller shaft 17 has a bearing 1
4 and the interlocking gears 18 are attached to the extension portions of one end thereof, respectively.

Reference numeral 19 is a driven gear coaxially attached to the interlocking gear 18 on the one roller shaft 17, 20 is an interlocking chain stretched between the interlocking gears 18, and 21 is a driven gear 9 and the driven gear 9. A drive chain 22 stretched between the gear 19 and a counter unit 22 for counting the balls 1 is composed of a light projector 23 such as an LED and a light receiver 24 such as a phototransistor. Reference numeral 25 denotes a shutter portion that controls the taking-out of the ball 1, and is composed of a solenoid 26, a shaft 27, a mounting member 28, and a shutter 29. A control unit 30 controls the start operation of the shutter unit 25 and the ball delivery unit 12 and the ball delivery end operation when the counter unit 22 detects the required number of balls delivered.

Further, the control section 30 is provided with a preset section 34. In the preset section 34, the owner of the driving range is provided in the preset section 34 to set the reference number of balls selected by the payment device 31. It can be easily done with a dip switch (not shown).

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the present invention. In FIG. 4, 31 is a payment device for selecting and paying the number of balls to be lent, 32 is a display unit, 3
Reference numeral 3 denotes a ball number selection switch. Further, 300 indicates a prepaid card, and S1 to S6 indicate various signals described later.

Next, the operation will be described. For example, a large number of balls 200 that have undergone the washing and drying processes are sequentially stored in the ball storage portion 5, and these balls 200 accumulate in the tray 10.

On the other hand, a person who borrows the balls 200 inserts the prepaid card 300 into the payment device 31 and sets the number of the balls 200 by the ball number setting switch 33, for example, 50, 100, 150. Select the number of rental items for multiples. Then, the payment device 31 confirms the frequency of the inserted prepaid card 300,
The following operation is performed.

If the frequency of the prepaid card 300 is insufficient, the shortage of the remaining frequency is displayed on the display unit 32 of the payment device 31, and the prepaid card 300 is ejected. When the prepaid card 300 has a frequency, the frequency (money amount) corresponding to the rented number selected by the ball number selection switch 33 is subtracted, and the control unit 30 of the ball renting machine 100 receives the lending machine operation signal S1. ,
The lending number data signal S6 selected by the ball number selection switch 33 is transmitted. The payment device 31 is a type that uses the prepaid card 300, but the payment device 31 is not limited to this, and any payment device can be used as long as it can accept cash (banknotes, coins) or special coins. There is no problem.

In the control unit 30, the shutter opening signal S2 for opening the shutter unit 25 of the ball lending machine 100 and the ball sending signal S3 for operating the ball sending unit 12 for sending the ball 200 are simultaneously sent by the lending machine operation signal S1. To do. In addition, the preset unit 34 in the control unit 30
Then, the lending number counted by the counter unit 22 is determined by the lending number data signal.

In the shutter section 25 of the ball lending machine 100, when the solenoid 26 is driven by the shutter open signal S2, the shaft 27 fixed to the solenoid 26 is pulled up, and is attached to the shaft 27 via the mounting member 28 of the shaft 27. The fixed shutter 29 is opened. Further, in the ball sending unit 12, when the motor 7 is driven by the ball sending signal S3, the drive gear 9 attached to the drive shaft 7a of the motor 7 rotates and the one spiral roller 15 of the one spiral roller 15 passes through the drive chain 21. The driven gear 1 fixed to the roller shaft 17
9 is driven, and the spiral roller 15 is driven. At this time, since the interlocking gear 18 is fixed to the roller shaft 17 of the other spiral roller 15 as well as the one spiral roller 15, the interlocking gears 18 are mutually driven through the interlocking chain 20. It

The rotation of the spiral convex ridges 16 loosens the mass of the balls 200, and the spiral convex ridges 1
The ball 2 on the tapered portion 15a of the spiral roller 15 along
00 is guided and carried one by one to the shooter 8 through the gap formed by the tapered portions 15a. And ball 2
00 rolls on the slope 8a of the shooter 8 and the counter 22
The ball 200 is housed in a basket (not shown) placed outside the shooter 8 by interrupting the transmission of the count signal S4 to the control unit 30.

When the counter unit 22 sends out the balls 200 for the number of pieces to be rented, the control unit 30 simultaneously sends a shutter closing signal S5 for closing the shutter unit 25 and a ball sending signal for stopping the operation of the ball sending unit 12. Then, the shutter unit 25 is closed and the ball delivery unit 1
Stop the operation of 2.

In the above embodiment, the two spiral rollers 15 are arranged side by side, but the number may be one or more. Depending on the case, if the balls 200 are stacked in multiple stages and supplied in parallel, the supply time can be shortened. Further, as the counter unit 25, a micro switch or another proximity switch can be adopted.

Further, in the present embodiment, the setting of the reference number is changed so that the change of the lending number can be dealt with. However, the payment device 31 in which the user can set the lending number may be used. In this case, the reference number data from the payment device 31 is sent to the preset unit as it is, so that the user can set the desired number of lending items.

[0023]

According to the present invention, there is provided a ball feeding portion of a ball accommodating portion for sequentially feeding the balls one by one by a spiral roller, and a counter portion for counting the balls fed from the ball feeding portion. And a control unit for setting the number of pieces to be rented and stopping the ball delivery when the count value of the counter unit reaches the number of pieces to be lent,
Since the ball is delivered while the ball delivery unit having the spiral roller is used to loosen the jam of the ball, it is possible to reliably deliver the ball. Moreover, the number of balls to be sent out is performed until the number of balls to be rented is set by the control unit, so that the required number can be arbitrarily set by changing the set value. Also, when various services are implemented, it can be easily dealt with by changing the program of the control unit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a main part for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 3 Ball Storage Section 5 Ball Supply Port 8 Shooter 10 Tray 12 Ball Delivery Section 15 Spiral Roller 16 Spiral Convex 17 Roller Shaft 22 Counter Section 23 Emitter 24 Light Receiver 25 Shutter Section 26 Solenoid 29 Shutter 30 Control Section 31 Payment device 32 Display unit 33 Number of balls setting switch 34 Preset unit 100 ball lending machine 200 balls 300 Prepaid card

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] June 21, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0009

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0009]

1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
1 is a side view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a front view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 1 is shown in a slightly enlarged manner compared to FIGS. In these figures, 200 is a hard, such as a golf ball ball, 100
Reference numeral 1 denotes a ball lending machine, 1 is a base, 2 is a leg, 3 is a ball accommodating portion for accommodating the ball 200 , and a ball supply port 5 is formed on the lower bottom 4 side. Inside the base 1, a motor 7 and a shooter 8 for taking out the ball 200 are placed on a motor support 6. Reference numeral 9 is a drive gear, 10 is a tray, and 11 is a cover.

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0010

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Reference numeral 12 denotes a ball feeding portion provided on the tray 10, to which a pair of roller supporting bases 13 are attached, bearings 14 are fitted, and the ball receiving portion 3 is provided.
A pair of spiral rollers 1 carrying a ball 200 supplied from
5, each having a spiral projection 16 and a roller shaft 17 formed therein. Each roller shaft 17 has a bearing 1
4 and the interlocking gears 18 are attached to the extension portions of one end thereof, respectively.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0011

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0011] 19 driven gear attached coaxially with the interlocking gear 18 relative to the one of the roller shafts 17, 20 is the interlocking chain which is stretched between the interlocking gear 18, 21 and Doha wheel 9 drive the A drive chain 22 stretched between the driven gear 19 and a counter unit 22 for counting the balls 200 is composed of a projector 23 such as an LED and a light receiver 24 such as a phototransistor. Reference numeral 25 is a shutter portion for controlling the take-out of the ball 200 .
Mounting only member 28, a shutter 29.
A control unit 30 includes a shutter unit 25 and a ball delivery unit 12
And the ending operation of ball delivery when the counter section 22 detects the required number of balls to be delivered.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0013

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the present invention. In FIG. 4, 31 is a payment device for selecting and paying out the number of balls 200 to be lent, 32 is a display unit, and 33 is a ball number selection switch. Also, 30
0 indicates a prepaid card, and S1 to S6 indicate various signals described later.

[Procedure Amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0020

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

When the counter unit 22 sends out the balls 200 for the number of pieces to be rented, the control unit 30 simultaneously sends out a shutter closing signal S5 for closing the shutter unit 25 and a ball sending signal S3 for stopping the operation of the ball sending unit 12. Then, the shutter unit 25 is closed and the operation of the ball sending unit 12 is stopped.

[Procedure correction 6]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

FIG.

[Procedure Amendment 7]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 2

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Fig. 2]

[Procedure Amendment 8]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 3

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 3]

[Procedure Amendment 9]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Fig. 4

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 4]

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A ball delivery unit provided at a ball supply port of a ball storage unit for sequentially delivering balls one by one by a spiral roller, a counter unit for counting the balls delivered from the ball delivery unit, and a number of rentals. And a control unit that stops the ball delivery when the count value of the counter unit reaches the number of pieces to be lent, the ball lending machine.