JPS61106185A - Automatic mah-jongg apparatus - 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] L1 Kamigosara Kaiyu 1 The present invention relates to an automatic mahjong device that can automatically stir the tiles, change them in a predetermined direction, line them up, set them at a predetermined location on a table, etc. be.

Generally, an automatic mahjong machine has a tile drop opening provided on the tabletop, a platform that stirs the tiles that are dropped from the opening, and a platform that picks up tiles in a predetermined orientation from the platform and transfers them to a tile alignment table. It consists of a tile transfer means, a means for transferring the completed tile castle wall on the tile arrangement table to a predetermined location on the table, and the like.

Conventionally, there was such an automatic mahjong device as shown in Figure 10 (Special Publication No. 55-23628).
. This automatic mahjong machine is equipped with an inclined disk 04 on a base plate 01 that rotates at an angle with respect to the horizontal plane, and tiles dropped from a tile drop opening on a table are stirred on this inclined disk 04. It is designed to move in a predetermined direction. A suction ring 09 is disposed horizontally above the inclined disk 04 and rotates in synchronization with the inclined disk 04.

A large number of magnets 010 are attached to this attraction ring 09, and an iron plate is embedded in the tile 020 at a position close to one surface thereof. Therefore, the tiles that are stirred by the inclined disk 041 and oriented in a predetermined direction, and that have reached the upper attraction area A as the inclined disk 04 rotates, are attracted to the magnet 010 of the attraction ring 09.
The tiles are picked up by suction and conveyed to a tile alignment area (not shown).

However, the conventional device as described above has various disadvantages and disadvantages as follows.

That is, since the tiles are attracted to the suction ring from below and suspended from the suction ring, the attraction force of the magnet must be made quite strong to overcome the weight of the tiles.

Moreover, tiles that are attracted with their longitudinal direction perpendicular or oblique to the attraction ring must be made to fall due to their own weight, so it is necessary to select the attraction force of the magnet, the shape, direction, and position of the iron plate embedded in the tiles. requires close attention.

In addition, in order to ensure that the tiles are suctioned and picked up from the inclined disk to the suction ring in the suction area A, the rotational speeds of the inclined disk and the suction ring must be approximately the same and at an appropriate rotation speed. be. Therefore, the tile processing speed is limited by the rotational speed, and the tile processing cannot be accelerated beyond a certain limit.

Furthermore, since the tilted disk simultaneously stirs the tiles, arranges them, and transfers them to an upper position, the structure is complicated and its operation is delicate.

. In order to solve the above problems, the automatic mahjong device of the present invention has the following features:
A base plate that stirs tiles that are magnetic or have a magnetic substance incorporated therein and pushes them in a predetermined orientation, a tile alignment area provided above the base plate, and a suction board for the tiles that are oriented in the predetermined orientation. a magnetic tile conveying means for conveying the tiles to the tile alignment area, the tile conveying means extending along the periphery of the base plate and having one end of its diameter at the height of the base plate. It is constituted by an annular rotary member whose other end is inclined at approximately the same level as the tile alignment area.

In the present invention, the tiles are stirred on a platform and oriented in a predetermined direction, and are attracted and placed on the upper surface of the rotating member by magnetic force at one end of the diameter of the rotating member. The rotating member has an annular shape surrounding the periphery of the base plate, and is inclined upward with one end of the diameter at the bottom, so that the tiles attracted to the upper surface of the rotating member are rotated as the rotating member rotates. The tiles rise around the base plate, are ejected from the rotating member at the other end of the diameter, or at the top, and are transferred to the tile alignment area.

1 凰1 FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the interior of an automatic mahjong machine according to an embodiment of the present invention with the front panel removed, and FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same automatic mahjong machine. This automatic mahjong machine has a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped casing 1 and a table mold 2 which covers the upper opening of the casing 1 so as to be openable and closable, and the game is played on the table mold 2. A tile dropping opening 3 that can be opened and closed is provided in the center of the table 2, and each time the game ends, this opening 3 is opened as shown by the broken line in the figure, and the tiles on the table 2 are dropped. Drop it onto board 4.

The base plate 4 is disk-shaped, and its surface is preferably coated with an elastic member to prevent the tiles from being damaged when they are dropped and to suppress impact noise. However, to prevent the tiles from moving easily, avoid creating too much friction on the surface.

A rotating shaft 6 driven by a motor 5 is provided approximately in the center of the table 5184, and four tile stirring arms 7 are attached to this rotating shaft 6, and are placed close to the surface of the table 4 as shown in FIG. It rotates in the direction of arrow a to stir the tiles. As shown in FIG. 1, the tile stirring arm 7 includes a portion 7a extending substantially radially from the rotating shaft 6, and a circumferential portion 7b extending bent in the opposite direction to the rotating direction a at its tip. It consists of a portion 7C that is further bent in the radial direction at the tip of the circumferential portion 7b.

The periphery of the base plate 4 is surrounded by a double vertical wall 8.9, inside and outside, and the upper end of the inner wall 8 runs from the highest point on the right side (tile carry-out area) to the lowest point on the left side (tile carry-in area) in Figure 2. ) B, and an inclined annular portion 10 is formed between the upper end of the inner wall 8 and the wall surface of the outer wall 9. and platform 4
Two grooves 11 and 12 are provided on the surface of the bean holder in series along the inner q8 along the entire circumference. The groove 11 is provided across the inner wall 8 before and after the tile carrying section B,
As shown in FIG. 3, its cross section is V-shaped, consisting of an inner slope 11a and an outer slope 11b, and the tile carrying section B
As it approaches the inner wall 8, the height of the outer slope 11b becomes lower. The groove 12 extends continuously from the groove 11 over the remaining peripheral part and is surrounded by the grooves 12 and 11, but the cross section of the groove 12 also has an inner slope 12a and an outer slope, as shown in FIG. It has a V-shape consisting of a slope 12b. However, the outer slope 12b has a horizontal step 1 in the middle.
3 is provided, and this stepped portion 13 is connected to the inner surface of the inner wall 8. Then, the extension line of the stepped portion 13 and the inner slope 12a
The distance between the intersection C and the inner wall 8 is approximately equal to the width of the tile P.

As shown in FIG. 1, the width of the rear end portion 14 of the groove 11 gradually becomes narrower, and the width of the rear end portion 14 of the groove 11 gradually becomes narrower.
Therefore, the front end 15 of the groove 12 enters the inside of the rear end 14 of the groove 11 to form a first tile return portion 16. Further, the front end 17 of the groove 11 and the rear end 18 of the groove 12 are also gradually formed in the middle, and the front end 17 of the groove 11 is on the inside, and the rear end 18 of the groove 12 is on the outside, so that they fit into each other. , a second tile return portion 19 is formed.

The tiles that have fallen from the tabletop onto the base plate 4 are gradually pushed toward the periphery while being stirred by the tile stirring arm 7, until the tiles are completely filled.
1.12, but when it passes through the first and second tile turning parts 16.19, it reverses and changes direction.

Then, the tiles that are oriented in a predetermined direction when passing through the tile carry-in section B are transferred to the inclined annular portion 10 in the tile carry-in section B, as will be described later.

In the inclined annular portion 10 formed between the upper end of the inner wall 8 and the outer wall 9, a rotating ring (rotating member) 20 having a shallow truncated conical shape is attached to the inclined annular portion 10.
It is installed so that it rotates along the This rotating ring 20 constitutes a tile conveying means, and as shown in FIG. 5, its outer peripheral edge is engaged with the grooves of a plurality of rollers 21, and is rotatably supported by the rollers 21 in an inclined manner. . A driving roller 23 connected to a motor 22 is also pressed against the outer peripheral edge of the rotating ring 20, and the rotating ring 20 has a l! ! The motor 22 through frictional force
Rotationally driven by.

The upper surface of the rotating ring 20 forms a shallow conical surface, and becomes horizontal when it reaches the highest position, and as shown in FIG. and forms the tile conveyance surface.

The rotating ring 20 does not necessarily have to be frustoconical, but may be a flat torus. Further, it is also possible to make the conical shape opposite to that shown in the drawing so that the tile conveyance surface in the tile carry-in section B becomes horizontal. On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
6 is buried. Since the tile P is conveyed across two adjacent permanent magnets 24 as shown in FIG. A line of magnetic force is generated that reaches the N pole of the other permanent magnet, and therefore only the tiles with the display surface 25 facing downward are attracted to the tile conveying surface by this magnetic action.

The tiles are transferred from the groove 11 to the rotating ring 20 at the lowest point of the inner wall 8, that is, at the tile entry part B, but at this time, only the tiles with the display surface 25 facing the rotating ring 20, like the tile P in FIG. is transferred onto the rotating ring 20 by the attraction force of the magnet 24. The other tiles once pass through the tile carry-in section B along the groove 11, and then move to the 1115 and second tile return section 16.1.
At 9, the direction is changed, and eventually it is moved to the rotating ring 20 in a predetermined direction as shown in FIG.

However, in the early stage of tile agitation, a large number of tiles are piled up on the base plate 4, so a large number of tiles in various orientations are pushed up together on the rotating ring 20 regardless of the attraction force of the magnet 24. Therefore, tile removal members 27 and 28 are provided along the path of the rotating ring 20, and tiles other than those that are attracted to the magnet 24 with the display side facing down will hit these tile removal members and fall onto the base plate 4. A tile that has been dropped and whose display surface is facing down but whose longitudinal direction is not the traveling direction is turned around so that the longitudinal direction is the traveling direction.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the tile removal member 21
Above the permanent magnet 24, there is a lower guide surface 29 that slightly protrudes from the wall surface of the outer wall 9, and an upper guide surface 30 that protrudes greatly. The tiles that are not attracted to the tiles 24 are repelled sideways by the lower guide surface 29 and fall onto the base plate 4. Furthermore, a tile with its side facing downward, such as tile P2, is repelled by the upper guide surface 30 and similarly falls onto the base plate 4.

As shown in FIG. 9, the tile removal member 28
A guide surface 31 that protrudes along the inner peripheral edge of the rotating ring 20 and gradually approaches the rotating ring 20 in the direction of movement of the rotating ring 20.
It is equipped with Therefore, a tile, like the illustrated tile P3, which is attracted to the magnet 24 with its display surface facing down, but which does not advance in the longitudinal direction and protrudes from the rotating ring 20, is regulated by the guide surface 31 and is oriented in the correct direction. can be changed to

In this way, only the tiles with the display surface facing downward and the longitudinal direction being the traveling direction are transported to the highest position, that is, the tile carrying section A, as the rotary ring 20 rotates.

A tile discharging chute 32 is disposed in the tile discharging section A in the tangential direction with respect to the rotating ring 20, and the tiles are transferred to this discharging chute 32 and discharged.

The upper outer edge of the base board 4 is a tile alignment area 31.

There are four belt conveyors 33a, 3 in this tile arrangement area.
3b, 33c, and 33d are arranged in a square shape as shown in FIG. 1, and each moves in the direction of the arrow. Each belt conveyor 33 is provided with a gate 34 that can be opened and closed, and when in the closed position, the tiles traveling together with the conveyor 33 are stopped. Initially, all of these gates 34a to 34d are in the closed position, and the tiles that have passed through the discharge chute 32 are transferred onto the conveyor 33a, conveyed laterally by the conveyor 33a, and stopped upon hitting the gate 34a. Therefore, connected tiles are lined up one after another on the conveyor 33a, and when the number of connected tiles reaches a predetermined number, they are pushed out onto the inner tile alignment table 36a by the extrusion section 135a. Next, the tile arrangement table 36a
As shown by the chain line in the figure, the top surface of the tile on top of it is on the conveyor 3.
Then, the tiles arranged on the conveyor 33a are pushed out onto the tiles on the tile arrangement table 36a, and a predetermined tile castle wall is completed on the tile arrangement table 3Ga.

At the same time, the gate 34a opens, and the subsequent tiles are conveyed to the conveyor 33b through the conveyor 33a, and a tile wall is similarly created on the tile arrangement table 36b.

38 is a guide rail for moving the tiles to the next conveyor 33. In this way, the tile arrangement table 36b.

36c and 36d, the tile wall is completed in order to prepare for the next game, and at a desired time, each tile alignment table 36 is moved from the tile alignment table 36 to a lifting table (not shown), and the elongated hole 39 at the game predetermined position provided in the table mold 2 is moved.
It floats onto the surface type 2 from above.

In addition, in FIG. 2, in order to simplify the drawing, the elevating table is not shown, and the elongated hole 39 is shown directly above the tile alignment table 36.

As described above, in this embodiment, the tiles that have been stirred and oriented in a predetermined direction on the base plate 4 are attracted to the upper surface of the rotating ring 20, and the tiles are aligned upward while being placed on the ring 20. Since the tiles are transported to the area section 37, the tiles can be transported more reliably than in the conventional device in which the tiles are attracted to the lower surface of the suction ring 09 as shown in FIG.

Further, the rotating ring 20 in this embodiment is not subject to the rotational speed restrictions described above with respect to the inclined disk 04 and the suction ring 09 in FIG. Even if the tiles move to the rotating ring 20, these tiles can be removed midway by the tile removal members 27 and 28, or they can be corrected in the +EL direction, so the tile castle wall can be completed quickly. can.

Furthermore, the tile transportation means is a stand! Since the rotary ring 20 extends around the 84 and is inclined from the height of the table 5134 to the height of the tile alignment area 37, the overall structure of the device can be made compact and simple.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and many modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, an iron plate is embedded in the tiles, but permanent magnets are embedded in the tiles, and the permanent magnets 24 on the rotating ring 20
may be arranged with the same polarity. Alternatively, the rotating ring 20 may be mounted and supported on roller bearings arranged along the inclined annular portion 10, and may be driven by a bevel gear provided on the lower surface of the rotating ring by a bevel gear connected to a motor. .

&Dangokome As described above, the automatic mahjong device of the present invention includes a base plate that stirs tiles that are magnetic or have magnetic substances built in and pushes them in a predetermined direction, and a base plate that is installed above the base plate. a tile alignment area, and a magnetic tile conveyance means for attracting the tiles oriented in the predetermined direction and conveying them to the tile alignment area, and the tile conveyance means is arranged around the base plate. Since it is constituted by an annular rotary member extending along the base plate and having one end of its diameter at the height of the base plate and the other end approximately at the height of the tile alignment area, the tiles are stirred on the base plate and kept at a predetermined level. The tiles oriented in this direction can be reliably and quickly transported to the tile alignment area above, and therefore the tile castle wall ready for the next game can be completed in an extremely short time. Furthermore, since the tile conveying means extends in an annular manner along the periphery of the base, the entire apparatus becomes compact and simple.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention with the front mold removed; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in Fig. 1;
4 and 4 are cross-sectional views of the multi-groove, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the rotating ring (rotating member), FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the rotating ring, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the tile removal member and the rotating ring. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the relationship, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view thereof, FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the relationship between the tile removing member and the rotating ring, and FIG. 10 is a drawing showing a conventional device. 1... Casing, 2... Table mold, 3... Opening part,
4... Base board, 5... Motor, 6... Rotating shaft, 7...
...Tile stirring arm, 8...Inner wall, 9...Outer wall, 10
... Inclined annular portion, 11.12... Groove, 13...
・Step part, 14... Rear end of groove 11, 15... Front end of groove 12, 16... First tile return part, 17... Front end of full 11, 18... Rear end of groove 12 Part, 19... Second tile return part, 20... Rotating ring (rotating member), 21... Roller, 22... Motor, 23... Drive roller, 24...
... Permanent magnet, 25 ... Display surface, 26 ... Iron piece, 2
7.28... Tile removal member, 29... Lower guide surface, 3
0... Upper guide surface, 31... Guide surface, 32... Tile discharge chute, 33... Belt conveyor, 34...
Gate, 35... Extrusion member, 36... Tile alignment stand, 3
7... Tile arrangement area section, 38... Guide rail, 39.
...Long hole.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A base plate that stirs tiles that are magnetic or have a magnetic substance incorporated therein and pushes them in a predetermined orientation, a tile alignment area provided above the base plate, and a suction board for the tiles that are oriented in the predetermined orientation. a magnetic tile conveying means for conveying the tiles to the tile alignment area, the tile conveying means extending along the periphery of the base plate and having one end of its diameter at the height of the base plate. An automatic mahjong machine comprising an annular rotary member tilted with the other end approximately at the height of the tile alignment area.