JPH0422775Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial field of application) The present invention has a suction ring equipped with a magnet on the bottom side of the periphery of the open opening on the top side of the tile washing hopper. In a tile supply device for an automatic mahjong table, mahjong tiles are conveyed by the periphery of a rotary table whose bottom part is supported with an inclined axis of rotation, and are suctioned by this suction ring before being supplied to a tile alignment device. The present invention relates to an improvement in a mahjong tile attitude control device for supplying mahjong tiles attracted to a ring to a tile supply device while aligning them in a constant attitude.

(Prior Art) In the above-described automatic mahjong table tile supply device, the means for aligning the mahjong tiles suctioned to the lower surface of the suction ring in a constant posture was previously developed by Jikae Sho.
As stated in Publication No. 59-53087, a guide plate is placed below an adsorption ring having magnets arranged in a ring on its underside, and which crosses the rotation locus of the mahjong tiles that are adsorbed to the underside of the adsorption ring and rotate together with the adsorption ring. is installed so that when a mahjong tile that is attracted to the suction ring and rotates collides with this guide plate and is separated from the suction ring, the mahjong tile is held so that its longitudinal direction is along this guide plate. I try to do this by aligning them.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) This means uses one guide plate to simultaneously control the posture of the mahjong tiles suctioned to the suction ring and remove the mahjong tiles from the suction ring. Although the mechanism is simpler, if the mahjong tiles adsorbed by the suction ring come into contact with the guide plate and are detached first, the posture control will be insufficient, and the mahjong tiles will not be adsorbed to the suction ring. When a mahjong tile is correctly perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the guide plate, one of the front and rear end surfaces of the mahjong tile comes into contact with the guide plate in parallel, which changes the posture. There is a problem that the vehicle may be guided to leave without being controlled.

The present invention solves this problem by controlling the posture of the mahjong tiles that are attracted to the suction ring. All of the mahjong tiles to be released from the suction ring are aligned in the correct posture by ensuring that the mahjong tiles are moved by force and that the mahjong tiles whose postures are not controlled do not move toward the release position. The purpose is to make it a reality.

(Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve this object, in the present invention, the magnets arranged in an annular manner on the lower surface of the adsorption ring are arranged so that one magnetic pole is connected to the other in a pair. A pair of divided magnetic poles is installed in a state in which the other magnetic pole of the annularly arranged magnet is located on both sides of the inner and outer sides in the radial direction of the attraction ring, and At the lower part facing the starting end of the conveyor for carrying out the detached mahjong tiles, which is arranged on the side of the suction ring, there is a guide path that crosses below the suction ring and goes toward the starting end of the conveyor. proposed a means for configuring an attitude control device by forming and arranging the mahjong tiles so that the width between the left and right sides is narrower than the front-to-back length of the mahjong tiles and wider than the width between the left and right sides, and fixedly supporting them on the machine frame. It is something to do.

(Example) Next, an example of implementation will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automatic mahjong table A in which the present invention can be implemented. In the figure, a is a machine frame formed in the shape of a square flat box, and 1 is an opening above the machine frame a that can be opened and closed. A mahjong table 10 is installed to cover the mahjong table 1, and the mahjong tiles that have been played for one game on the top surface of the mahjong table 1 are placed in the tile washing hopper 2 (Figs. 2 and 3) in the machine frame a. A droplet 11 is provided in the center of the mahjong table 1 to allow the mahjong machine to be dropped into the machine, a cover plate 11 is provided on the droplet 10 so as to be openable and closable in order to keep the droplet 10 normally closed, and 12... is a machine. A lift 13 that pushes up the mahjong tiles aligned by the tile alignment device b (FIG. 2) provided in the frame a to the top surface of the mahjong table 1...
shows a cut-out window hole formed in the mahjong table 1 following the shape of the lifts 12 .

Next, FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing a tile supply device c and a tile alignment device b installed in the machine frame a, with the mahjong table 1 of the automatic mahjong table A described above removed.

The tile supply device c includes a drum-shaped tile washing hopper 2, a suction ring 3 provided on the periphery of an open opening on the upper side of the tile washing hopper 2, and the tile washing hopper 2.
The rotary table 4 is provided at the bottom of the rotary table 4 with its axis of rotation inclined. The tile alignment device b also includes a conveyor 50 that takes over and carries out mahjong tiles that are sucked to the lower surface of the suction ring 3 and carried out, and a conveyor 50 that carries out the mahjong tiles that are carried out by the conveyor 50 and stacks them in two stages on a pedestal 51. A feeding device 53 feeds mahjong tiles to be stacked onto the upper surface of a starting end 52a of a conveying path 52 arranged in a substantially square frame shape surrounding the tile washing hopper 2; A carrier 54 transports the mahjong tiles by a predetermined distance to the terminal end of the transport path 52 when the number of mahjong tiles reaches a predetermined number, and a lift 12 in a lowered position moves the mahjong tiles aligned at a predetermined position on the transport path 52.
... an extrusion device 55 that extrudes toward the upper surface...
...and so on.

Next, FIG. 3 shows details of the aforementioned tile supply device c. In the same figure, 4 is a drum-shaped tile-washing hopper 2 so that it becomes a floor plate of the tile-washing hopper 2.
The rotary table installed at the bottom of the
A transmission belt 4 is loosely supported by a diagonal support shaft 61 fixed to a floor plate 60 of a machine frame a, and is passed around a pulley groove 41 provided on the circumferential surface of the boss portion 40.
2, it rotates in one direction (clockwise in FIG. 4) with an oblique axis of rotation (Z-Z). At the periphery of the rotary table 4, a support shelf 4a is formed with a width approximately corresponding to the width of the mahjong tiles P. It has been done.

In addition, the suction ring 3 disposed around the periphery of the open opening on the upper side of the tile washing hopper 2 is made of a synthetic resin material 31.
The flange portion 3a provided on the periphery of the flange portion 3a is rotatably supported by supporting wheels 62 disposed around the tile washing hopper 2. Among the supporting wheels 62... desired support ring 62a of
By driving the rotary table 4, it is rotated at substantially the same speed and in the same direction as the support shelf 4a, and the iron pieces or magnets buried inside the mahjong tiles P are attracted to the underside of the support shelf 4a. Magnets F for adsorbing and holding the mahjong tiles P on the lower surface of the suction ring 3 are installed in a circular arrangement, and the support shelf 4a on the periphery of the rotary table 4 is carried up. The mahjong tiles P are attracted with their front and back sides aligned in a predetermined direction, and are conveyed by rotational operation toward a position where the starting end side of the conveyor 50 of the tile alignment device b faces. is similar to the suction ring of the previous means.

When the magnets F are arranged in an annular manner on the lower surface of the adsorption ring 3, it is made of a magnetized metal material such as an iron plate, and is formed into a downward channel shape as shown in FIG. ring main body 3
0 in the radial direction of the suction ring 3.
The width W of the spacing between the outer side walls 30a, 30a approximately corresponds to the width W of the left and right sides of the mahjong tiles P (Fig. 6), and
A block-shaped magnet F is formed on the inner cavity side of the ring main body 30, which is formed to be somewhat narrower than the front and rear length l of the mahjong tiles P (Fig. 7).
One of the magnetic poles N is the top plate 30 of the ring main body 30
The ring main body 3 is inserted facing b.
0, and the one magnetic pole N is joined to the inner surface of the top plate 30b of the ring main body 30, and in this state, the integrated adsorption ring 3 is formed by insert molding with a synthetic resin material 31. As a result, the magnets F arranged in an annular manner are aligned with their other magnetic poles S facing the lower surface of the adsorption ring 3, and one magnetic pole N is attached to the ring superimposed thereon. The direction of the magnetic pole N is changed by the main body 30, and the ring main body 30 is divided into pairs at each free end of the inner and outer side walls 30a, 30a. The other magnetic pole S facing the lower surface in the center is located on both sides of the radial direction of the suction ring 3.

The magnet F, which is arranged in a ring shape with uniform magnetic properties, and the ring main body 30, which has a channel-shaped cross section made of a magnetized metal material, are divided into a pair by changing the direction of one magnetic pole N of the magnet F, as described above. This is to do so. Therefore, when the magnets F are arranged in an annular shape, they may be arranged in close contact with each other in the circumferential direction of the ring main body 30 without any interval, or they may be formed in an integral continuous ring shape. Top plate 30b of ring main body 30
In some cases, the material is polymerized on the inner surface of the material.

In addition, in the mahjong tiles P used in conjunction with the suction ring 3, the suction piece 7 made of an iron piece buried inside the mahjong tile P may be replaced with a magnet. In that case, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the magnetic attraction piece 7 has an upper surface that is a magnetic pole N opposite to the magnetic pole S on the lower surface of the magnet F provided on the attraction ring 3, and a lower surface that is opposite to the magnetic pole S on the lower surface of the magnet F provided on the attraction ring 3. It is buried so that the magnetic pole S is opposite to the magnetic pole N.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the tile supply device c with the suction ring 3 removed, and the suction ring 3 is shown by an imaginary line. In the same figure, the rotary table 4 provided at the bottom of the tile washing hopper 2 has a supporting wheel 62a having a large diameter and serving as a driving wheel among the supporting wheels 62, and the supporting wheel 62a is on the upward slope side.
The opposite side of a is the downward slope side. and,
The rotary table 4 rotates clockwise in the figure.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 8 denotes a guideway, which is formed in the shape of a gutter by a floor plate 80 and left and right side walls 81, 82, and extends from the lower position of the suction ring 3 on the inclined downward side of the rotary table 4. , a breakaway mahjong tile P arranged below the suction ring 3 and at a lateral position and tangentially to the suction ring 3 in plan view.
The end of the floor plate 80 on the exit 8a side of the suction ring 3 is disposed so as to suck the suction ring 3 toward the inner edge of the starting end side 50a of the conveyor 50 for carrying out the conveyor 50. The inner side wall 81 thereof faces the side edge of the conveyor surface, and the inner side wall 81 crosses diagonally below the suction ring 3, and the end on the outlet 8a side is connected to the inner guide wall 50b of the conveyor 50. The end of the outer side wall 82 on the outlet 8a side protrudes above the conveyance surface of the conveyor 50, thereby allowing the mahjong tiles P attracted to the lower surface of the suction ring 3 to be transported. The starting end side 5 of the conveyor 50 is received from the entrance portion 8b of the guideway 8.
While being guided to 0a, it is made to separate from the lower surface of the suction ring 3 during this guidance.

Therefore, the taxiway 8 is located inside and outside (left and right)
The width of the gap between the side walls 81 and 82 of the mahjong tiles P is wider than the width of the left and right sides of the mahjong tiles P, and the width is narrower than the length of the front and back of the tiles. Among the mahjong tiles P that are revealed, only the mahjong tiles P that are suctioned with their longitudinal direction along the circumferential direction of the suction ring 3 are accepted, and the mahjong tiles P are placed in a position where their longitudinal direction crosses the suction ring 3. The mahjong tiles P marked with are dropped into the tile washing hopper 2 and returned.

81a is a projecting piece that projects forward from the front end of the side wall 81 inside the guideway 8;
An operation in which mahjong tiles P, which are protruded to the right (in the figure) and are attracted and carried in a posture in which the aforementioned longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the attraction ring 3, fall off at the entrance portion 8b of the guideway 8. This acts so that the movement is carried out without being obstructed by the floor plate 80 of the guideway 8.

In addition, 9 pushes the mahjong tiles P, which are carried by suction on the lower surface of the suction ring 3 with the longitudinal direction perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the suction ring 3, toward the inside of the suction ring 3 and deflects the mahjong tiles P. With the guiding member that
The tile washing hopper 2 is mounted below the suction ring 3 and in front of the guiding path 8, and is arranged so as to substantially follow the outer side wall 30a of the ring main body 30 of the suction ring 3 in plan view. The mahjong tiles P, which are fixedly supported on the surrounding wall 2a and are in contact with the guide member 9, are deflected inward, so that the two divided poles (side walls 30a, 30a) of the magnet F of the adsorption ring 3 for the mahjong tiles P in the above posture It acts to disrupt the balance of the repulsive action by each free end of the mahjong tiles P and to ensure the turning operation of the mahjong tiles P by the split poles. The guide member 9 has an outer side wall 8 of the guide path 8.
2, a portion facing the protruding piece 81a protruding from the above-mentioned inner side wall 81 also serves as the outer side wall 82 of the guide path 8, and this guide member 9 and the protruding piece The distance between the mahjong tiles 81a and the mahjong tiles P is also narrower than the length of the mahjong tiles P in the longitudinal direction.

(Operation) The embodiment device constructed as described above operates as follows.

When the mahjong tiles P are attracted to the magnet F provided on the lower surface side of the attraction ring 3, with the longitudinal direction perpendicular to the width direction of the attraction ring 3,
The free ends of the inner and outer side walls 30a, 30a of the ring main body 30, which are the two divided poles of the divided magnetic poles N of the magnet F, are moved by the other magnetic pole S of the magnet F to the widthwise central portion of the lower surface of the attraction ring 3. By pushing out both ends of the mahjong tile P in the longitudinal direction that are attracted to the mahjong tile P, the mahjong tile P is rotated using the central part as a fulcrum so that the longitudinal direction is along the circumferential direction of the suction ring 3.
In this position, it becomes stable as it is positioned between the inner and outer side walls 30a, 30a.

Therefore, the mahjong tiles P that are absorbed by the magnet F and attracted to the lower surface of the attraction ring 3 are immediately aligned in a posture in which the longitudinal direction is along the circumferential direction of the attraction ring 3 at the stage of being attracted to the lower surface of the attraction ring 3. The aligned mahjong tiles P enter the guide path 8 with the entrance portion 8b facing the center position in the width direction of the lower surface of the suction ring 3, and are guided to the conveyor 50 by the guide path 8. During this time, it comes into contact with the inner surface of the inner side wall 81 of the guideway 8, or is detached by other means.

However, if the longitudinal direction of the mahjong tiles P to be sucked is correctly orthogonal to the circumferential direction of the suction ring 3, and the central part of the mahjong tiles P in the longitudinal direction is located at the center in the width direction of the suction ring 3, In some cases, the mahjong tiles P are balanced and the turning operation by the split poles is not performed.
remains in that position as it heads toward the entrance 8b of the taxiway 8, but the width of the taxiway 8 from side to side is narrower than the front and back length of the mahjong tiles P, and wider than the width of the left and right sides of the mahjong tiles P. The mahjong tiles P in a posture perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the suction ring 3 are located at the entrance portion 8b of the guideway 8.
, the front end of the side wall 81 of the guideway 8 (the protruding piece 8
1a) and fall off, returning to the tile washing hopper 2.

(Effects of the invention) As explained above, the mahjong tile attitude control device in the tile supply device for an automatic mahjong table according to the invention has the following features:
By configuring as described above, the mahjong tiles P that are attracted to the lower surface of the attraction ring 3 are moved to the attraction ring 3 by the pair of split poles N, N of the magnets F arranged in an annular manner on the attraction ring 3. At the same time as the mahjong tile P is attracted to the lower surface, the longitudinal direction of the mahjong tile P is rotated to a position along the circumferential direction of the suction ring 3 and stabilized, and the mahjong tile P that has been suctioned to the suction ring 3 is released. However, since the guide path 8 for conveying to the conveyor 50 is designed to accept only mahjong tiles P whose longitudinal direction is along the circumferential direction of the suction ring 3, the mahjong tiles P that are suctioned by the suction ring 3 are Before the release position, the mahjong tiles P are aligned in a certain posture when they are attracted to the suction ring 3, and the mahjong tiles P whose posture has not been controlled are placed in the tile washing hopper 2 before the guideway 8. It was decided that he would be returned.
The mahjong tiles P are removed from the suction ring 3 within the guideway 8 only for the mahjong tiles P whose posture control has been completed.

Therefore, the posture of the mahjong tiles P sent to the tile alignment device b can be controlled reliably, and the mahjong tiles P removed from the suction ring 3 after the posture control will not be disturbed in their posture, and the mahjong tiles P can be smoothly controlled. The tiles can then be sent to the tile alignment device b.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an automatic mahjong table capable of implementing the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic plan view of the same mahjong table with the same removed, Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view of the same tile supply device, and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the above tile supply device with the suction ring removed, FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same suction ring, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanations showing the relationship between the suction ring and the mahjong tiles. It is a diagram. Explanation of drawing symbols, A... Automatic mahjong table, a... Machine frame, b... Tile alignment device, c... Tile supply device, 1...
...Mahjong table, 10...Dropout, 11...Lid board, 12
... Lift, 13 ... Window hole, 2 ... Tile washing hopper, 3 ... Suction ring, 3a ... Flange part, 3
0... Ring main body, 30a... Side wall, 30b...
Top plate, 31...Synthetic resin material, 4...Rotary table, 4a...Support shelf part, 40...Boss part, 41...
...Pulley groove, 42...Transmission belt, 50...Conveyor, 50a...Starting end, 50b...Guide wall, 51...Base, 52...Conveyance path, 52a...
Starting end, 53... Feeding device, 54... Carrier, 55... Extrusion device, 60... Floor plate, 61...
Support shaft, 62, 62a...Support wheel, 7...Adsorption piece,
8... Taxiway, 80... Floorboard, 8a... Exit, 8
b...Inlet part, 81a...Protruding piece, 81, 82...
...Side wall, 9...Guiding member, 90...Fixing tool, F...
...Magnet, N...one pole, S...other pole, P...
...Mahjong tiles, Z-Z...rotation axis, W...interval width,
lol...The width of the mahjong tiles.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A suction ring 3 with a magnet F arranged in an annular manner on the bottom side is rotatably supported on the periphery of the open opening on the top side of the tile washing hopper 2, and an inclined rotation axis is provided at the bottom of the tile washing hopper 2. In a tile supply device for an automatic mahjong table which is provided with a rotary table 4 that rotates with Z, the magnets F arranged in an annular manner on the lower surface of the suction ring 3 are connected to one magnetic pole N. is divided into a pair and a pair of divided magnetic poles N, N
is installed in such a way that it is located on both sides of the inner and outer sides in the radial direction of the suction ring 3 with respect to the other magnetic pole S of the annularly arranged magnet F, and below the suction ring 3, the suction At a position facing the starting end of the conveyor 50 for discharging detachable mahjong tiles, which is arranged on the side of the ring 3, there is provided a guiding path 8 from below the suction ring 3 toward the starting end of the conveyor 50. A tile feeding device for an automatic mahjong table, which is formed and arranged so that the width of the interval between the inner and outer side walls 81 and 82 is narrower than the front-rear length of the mahjong tiles P and wider than the left and right widths of the mahjong tiles P, and is fixedly supported on the machine frame a. A posture control device for mahjong tiles.