JPS6096281A - Detection of pie posture in automatic mah-jongg table - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention sequentially detects the postures and front and back states of tiles transferred after being mixed, and converts tiles other than face-down tiles into city wall tiles (required for face-down tiles). The present invention relates to a method for detecting the posture of tiles at an automatic mahjong table used for correcting them to the face down state necessary for forming a state in which the tiles are stacked in two levels.

Automatic mahjong tables are already well known that automate a series of operations in which tiles are mixed on a turntable, all of the mixed tiles are turned face-down, and castle wall tiles are formed using the face-down tiles.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application No. 57-215503 filed by the present applicant
The invention in issue involves changing the orientation of all the tiles mixed on the turntable to a position other than standing tiles, and at the same time correcting the orientation.
These tiles are sent from the turntable onto a transfer conveyor, and the tiles that are being transferred in either a sideways position or a horizontally facing position can be corrected into the face-down or face-down state required to form castle wall tiles. Posture correction devices have been proposed. This posture correction device detects the posture of the transferred tiles in advance, and based on this detection, corrects the tiles other than the face-down tiles to the face-down posture, and transfers the tiles to the next action section (standby table). It is configured so that it can be sent out sequentially.

Therefore, the present invention provides a method for detecting the posture of tiles in an automatic mahjong table, which is used to accurately detect the posture of the tiles transferred to the posture correcting device and to control the operation of the posture correcting device based on this detection. The purpose is to transfer the tiles that are in a sideways posture or horizontally to the side of the posture correction device in a line vertically, and the tiles are transferred in a position in front of the posture correction device. A reflective optical sensor receives the light reflected from the tiles and converts it into an electrical signal, and a transmissive optical sensor detects the tile being transferred in a horizontal position by blocking the optical path of the transmissive optical sensor. This is achieved by a posture detection method configured to detect the posture of the tile and the orientation of the front and back surfaces by a combination of the output signal from the sensor and the output signal from the light received by the reflective optical sensor.

Embodiments of the method of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conveyor 4 for transporting the tiles 1 is provided between a turntable 2, which is a member for mixing the tiles 1, and a basket 3, which is a component of the posture correction device.
A guide frame 5 is attached to this transfer conveyor 4, so that the tiles 1 sent out from the turntable 2 can be reliably transferred to the basket 3 side. The rotating shaft 6 of the basket 3 is connected to a motor (not shown), and its rotation angle in forward and reverse directions is controlled by the motor. As shown in FIG. 2, the basket 3 has two open faces, one for receiving the tiles 1 and the other for sending out the tiles, and the face for receiving the tiles is normally connected to the delivery end 4 of the transfer conveyor 4.
It is controlled so that it can stop at a position opposite to a, and a detection section 7a is provided to detect that position. Furthermore,
The basket 3 is provided with a sensor 7b for detecting that the tiles 1 are stored in the basket 3. In addition, 8 in the figure
A door 8 is rotatably provided on each of the two surfaces of the basket 3 through which the tiles 1 are sent out to prevent the tiles from falling off, and this door 8 is held by a holding spring 9.

Next, a method for detecting the posture of the tiles sent out onto the above-mentioned transfer conveyor 4 (the posture of the tiles lying sideways or horizontally and the orientation of their front and back surfaces) will be explained. In FIG. 3, a transmission type optical sensor 11 and a reflection type optical sensor 12 are provided in the passage of the tiles 1 traveling on the transfer conveyor 4, located in front of the basket 3 mentioned above. Transmissive optical sensor 1
1 is composed of a light emitting diode 11,a and a phototransistor llb mounted opposite to the side wall of the guide frame 5, and this transmission type optical sensor 11 has an optical path blocked by a tile traveling in a horizontal position. , it is placed at a height that will not be blocked by tiles lying horizontally. On the other hand, the reflective optical sensor 12 is attached to the side wall of the guide frame 5 at a height position where it can receive the reflected light from the back side of the transferred face-down tile. By combining the 11 output signals, the posture of the tile 1 and the orientation of its front and back surfaces are all detected.

That is, a horizontally fallen tile can be detected by the output signal from the transmissive optical sensor 11 (no signal is emitted when a tile that has fallen horizontally passes), while the reflective optical sensor 12 can detect a tile that has fallen horizontally by detecting the strength of the reflected light received from the tile. Since the orientation of the front and back sides of the tiles can be detected by changes in the output signals, these detected output signals are input to the computer, and according to instructions from this converter, the above-mentioned basket 3 is given the required rotation, and the inside of the basket 3 is The posture of the housed tile 1 can be corrected to the normal face-down tile state. For example, when a sideways tile is transferred, the optical path of the transmission type optical sensor 11 is blocked by the sideways tile, and a signal due to this optical path interruption is outputted from the transmission type optical sensor 11 and sent to the basket 3 side. Give instructions to rotate by a predetermined angle. With this instruction, the basket 3 is set in a position that can accept the fallen tiles, and at the same time, that information is stored in the converter, and this information and the reflective optical sensor 1
In combination with the output signal from 2, the posture of the tiles is detected, and the required rotation instruction (9
Give instructions for rotating the audience. In addition, when a tile is transferred in a horizontally fallen position, the path of the counterfeit sensor 11 is likely to be blocked, so no signal is output from the sensor 11. Therefore, since the basket 3 is placed in a non-rotating state and the information is stored in the converter as it is, the orientation of the front and back sides of the tiles is determined by the combination of this information and the output signal from the reflective optical sensor 12. is detected, and if it is a normal face down tile, no rotation instruction is given to basket 3,
In the case of a tile lying face up horizontally, a rotation instruction (180 rotation instruction) is given to correct the posture of this tile to a normal face down tile.

Next, to specifically explain the detection example of each tile, Fig. 4 (
In the case of the tile shown in b) lying on its left side in the figure, the optical path of the transmissive optical sensor 110 is blocked, and the reflected light received by the reflective optical sensor 12 is weak. In the case of the tile shown in FIG. 4B lying on its right side, the optical path of the transmissive optical sensor 11 is blocked, and the reflected light received by the reflective optical sensor 12 is strong. In the case of a normal face-down tile shown in the same figure (c), the transmission type optical sensor 11
Since the optical path is open, the reflected light received by the reflective optical sensor 12 is weak. Further, in the case of the tile shown in the figure (=) lying face up horizontally, the optical path of the transmissive optical sensor 11 is open, and the reflected light received by the reflective optical sensor 12 is strong.

Therefore, based on each data detected as described above, that is, the transmission type optical sensor 11 and the reflective type optical sensor 12
It is possible to reliably detect the posture and front and back orientation of each tile 1 being transferred by combining the output signals from the tile 1, and it is possible to correct all tiles other than the normal face-down tiles to the normal face-down tile posture. becomes.

In addition, in FIGS. 3 and 4, one reflective optical sensor 13 is shown in addition to the above-mentioned two sensors 11. , 1.2 is shown. This added third reflective optical sensor 13 receives the reflected light from the tile 1 at a position different from that of the previous reflective optical sensor 12, and detects the advancing tile 1.
This is provided to more reliably detect the orientation of the front and back surfaces of the reflective optical sensor 12 through cooperation with the reflective optical sensor 12.
Basically, either one of the reflection type optical sensors 12 and 13 may be used in combination with the transmission type optical sensor 11. In the figure, 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5a are window holes provided in the guide frame 5.

The present invention is as described above, and if the present detection method is adopted in an automatic mahjong table, it will be effective in quickly correcting individual tiles transferred after being mixed into a normal face-down tile posture. This has the effect of further improving the original functions of the automatic mahjong table.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] Fig. 1 is a side sectional view of the apparatus implementing the method of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the upper basket portion of the same, Fig. 3 is a front sectional view of the attitude detection portion of the above Figures 4(a) to 4) are explanatory diagrams of the detection state. In the figure, 1 is a tile, 3 is a basket which is a component of the posture correction device, 4 is a transport conveyor, 11 is a transmission type optical sensor, and 12 and 13 are reflective type optical sensors. 1-Tari 1 =-” r-Ikko 1-- 1!

Claims (1)

[Claims] The tiles that are in a sideways or horizontal position are transferred to the side of the tile posture correction device in a vertical line, and a reflective optical sensor detects the reflected light from the transferred tiles at a position in front of the posture correction device. receives light and converts it into an electrical signal,
A tile transferred in a horizontal position is detected by blocking the optical path of a transmissive optical sensor, and the tile is detected by combining the output signal from the transmissive optical sensor resulting from this detection with the output signal from the light received by the reflective optical sensor. A method for detecting the posture of tiles at an automatic mahjong table, which is characterized by detecting the posture of tiles and the state of their front and back orientations.