JPS6317507Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to the structure of a hopper ring for picking up tiles and controlling the posture of an automatic mahjong table as described below, by sucking tiles in a predetermined direction. .

Automatic mahjong tables using the hopper ring according to the present invention are well known. This automatic mahjong table uses two sets of tiles with iron pieces embedded near the back, and one set of tiles is used to hold the other tile during the game using turns placed at an angle inside a hopper, which is a fixed cylinder. The tiles are washed by stirring appropriately on the table to form four sets of castle wall tiles in a predetermined number of two stacks, and are kept on standby.When the game ends, the tiles in the game are stored in a predetermined position, for example, in a hopper. After that, the waiting castle wall tiles will be raised to a gameable state. Such operations require configurations corresponding to each operation. In other words, wash the tiles. -Hoppers and tilting turntables.

Take out the tiles and arrange them face down. - Hopper ring with built-in magnet that rotates above the tilting turntable.

Move the tiles in a predetermined direction and line up a predetermined number of tiles. - A rubber belt conveyor that rotates around the table, a transfer mechanism that transfers tiles to the conveyor, a stopper that selectively stops tiles on the conveyor, and a detection device that detects when a predetermined number of tiles are lined up.

A predetermined number of tiles are stacked in two stacks. - A lifter for raising and lowering tiles arranged along the conveyor, a pusher that pushes out a predetermined number of tiles on the conveyor onto the lifter, and then pushes out the upper tiles after the lifter has descended by the thickness of one tile. Note that the lifter will eventually lift the two-tier stack of tiles onto the tabletop.

Store the game end tiles in a predetermined position and repeat the steps. -Includes an opening/closing lid at the top of the hopper, and various other members for performing each operation. The operation of each of the above-mentioned constituent members is mainly driven by appropriately disposed electric motors, and sequence control is performed partly by utilizing gravity.

Such an automatic mahjong table allows rapid game progress because one set of tiles automatically forms a castle wall with the other tiles during the game, and because it is stirred in a closed state, there is less noise. It is widely used because it has the advantage of preventing fraudulent activities such as teasing during games.

In the above operation, the tiles after the game are agitated on the tilted turntable in the hopper and are sequentially arranged face down on the periphery thereof. A hopper ring with approximately the same diameter as the turntable was installed horizontally on the hopper, rotating in the same direction as the turntable, and placed slightly away from the height of the tiles at the highest point of the tilted turntable. The arranged tiles are successively attracted by the magnets below the hopper ring. The thus-adsorbed tiles are then conveyed to an appropriate position by a conveyor that rotates around the table through an appropriate conveyance transfer mechanism.

Conventionally, a hopper ring having such a structure has been manufactured by attaching a required number of ferrite magnets to a ring-shaped acrylic resin plate using an adhesive. Such hopper rings have the disadvantage that the magnets may peel off during use due to repulsive forces between the magnets or imperfections in the adhesion process, resulting in inconvenience in operation. Furthermore, the number of magnets used was large, the weight was high, and there were also difficulties in terms of process and cost.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved hopper ring structure that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by a hopper ring having the structure described in the claims of the utility model registration.

The hopper ring according to the present invention has the advantage that there is no peeling of the magnet, the number of magnets is reduced, the cost is reduced, and the magnetic circuit of the iron ring increases the attraction force.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a hopper ring 1 according to the present invention, and the buried structure is shown with broken lines. Inside the hopper ring 1 is a ring 2 made of iron plate that forms part of the magnetic circuit.
Ferrite magnets (anisotropic) 3, 3' are arranged on the top at appropriate intervals so as to have alternating polarity.
Glued as necessary. It is preferable that the distance between the centers of the magnets 3 and 3' be wider than the width of the mahjong tiles and approximately equal to their length. The ring 2 and the magnet groups 3, 3' thus formed are integrally molded so as to be surrounded by a suitable resin 4. In the side view of the resin-molded hopper ring 1, it is formed in two stages as shown in FIG. 2 in this embodiment, but other structures are also possible.

According to FIG. 3, which shows a - arrow view in FIG. 1,
The arrangement of an iron plate ring 2 and a magnet 3 is shown, and both are entirely surrounded and molded with resin 4.

A magnetic circuit 9 formed by the hopper ring 1 according to the present invention and the tile 8 in which the iron piece 7 is embedded
is as shown in Figure 4. According to this configuration, the iron plate 7 in the tile is attracted by both magnetic poles N and S in the state shown in the figure, where the attraction force is strongest, and is always kept vertically long and in substantially the same posture.

It is preferable that a polyurethane pawl 6 is fixed to the hopper ring 1 according to the present invention with a fixing fitting 5 through a small hole penetrating the resin 4 as shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 5. This is because the conveyance can be assisted when the tiles are separated from the attraction force of the magnets 3, 3' of the hopper ring 1 and moved to the next conveyance path. That is, hopper ring 1
When there are a large number of mahjong tiles adsorbed to the bottom surface of the mahjong tiles, they exert a great force together with the following tiles, so the mahjong tiles are forcibly transferred even if there is a little more resistance when moving to the next stage. However, when the number of tiles is small, such as the last or two remaining, the mahjong tiles do not move even if there is a slight resistance, and they slide while adsorbed to the bottom surface of the hopper ring 1, causing the mahjong tile takeout cycle to be interrupted. A situation may arise where the process does not finish for a long time. Therefore, a pawl 6 is provided on the lower surface of the hopper ring 1 to prevent a small number of mahjong tiles from sliding and to push the tiles forward. This pawl 6 is arranged at an appropriate position between the magnets in the hopper ring 1 so that its tip slightly protrudes from the bottom surface of the hopper ring 1 and comes into contact with the mahjong tile 8 shown by the chain line (Fig. 5). . Also, since it wears out with use, it can be replaced as needed.

With the above-described configuration, the drawbacks of the hopper ring according to the prior art can be overcome, and a hopper ring that is advantageous both in terms of process and cost can be obtained.

Although only preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a hopper ring according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the magnetic circuit. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of the tile conveyance assisting pawl. The correspondence of main reference symbols in the figure is as follows.
1: Hopper ring, 2: Iron plate ring, 3,
3': Magnet, 4: Resin, 5: Claw fixing metal fitting, 6:
Tsume.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A ring made of an iron plate that forms part of a magnetic circuit and a ring that is in contact with the ring in order to adsorb mahjong tiles in which iron pieces are embedded to take out the tiles and control the posture of the tiles. In a hopper ring for an automatic mahjong table having a plurality of magnets arranged, the plurality of magnets are arranged with alternating polarity, and the mounting interval between the centers is wider than the width of the mahjong tiles and the length in the vertical direction. selected approximately equal to
A hopper ring for an automatic mahjong table, characterized in that the hopper ring is entirely surrounded by synthetic resin, and has a claw made of synthetic resin slightly protruding from the lower surface of the hopper ring.