JPH07428U - Tea up device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Objective] To provide a tee up device for a golf ball capable of raising and lowering the tee and supplying the ball with one driving source. In a tee-up device in which a ball supply mechanism and a tee lifting mechanism are arranged below a floor surface, the tee lifting mechanism 21 is an endless type in which the tee lifting mechanism 21 is vertically arranged and a tee is connected to a part of the tee lifting mechanism 21. Lifting belt 24 and lifting belt 2
The ball supply mechanism 11 can be alternately projected into the supply passage 14 and the driven lever 12 that rotates in synchronization with the vertical movement of the tee 26. Since the cutting lever 13 is provided with two cutting pins 13c and swings in synchronization with the rotation of the driven lever 12, the tee can be raised and lowered and the ball can be supplied by one driving source, and the device structure can be simplified. And downsizing can be achieved.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a tee-up device for teeing up a golf ball to an arbitrary height.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 BACKGROUND ART As a tee-up device for a golf ball installed in a golf driving range or the like, there is a tee-up device in which a ball supply mechanism and a tee lifting mechanism are arranged under a hitting mat. This tee-up device takes out one by one golf balls sent from the ball stocker into the supply passage (hereinafter simply referred to as balls) and supplies them onto the tee in the lowered position, and the tee after the ball is supplied to a predetermined height. The golf ball can be raised to a certain position so that the golf ball can be projected from the hitting mat, and after hitting, the tee can be lowered to continuously perform the above-mentioned ball supply and tee-up.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the above-mentioned conventional tee-up device, since separate driving sources are used for the tee lifting and the ball supply, respectively, there is a problem that the device structure becomes complicated and large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tee up device for a golf ball, which can raise and lower the tee and supply the ball with one driving source.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 has a ball stocker for accommodating a large number of golf balls and a golf ball sent from the ball stocker into the supply passage one by one to be carried out on a tee in a lowered position. It is equipped with a ball supply mechanism that supplies the ball and a tee lift mechanism that raises the tee after the ball has been supplied to a predetermined height position to cause the golf ball to protrude from the striking mat. In the tee-up device arranged below, the tee lifting mechanism comprises an endless lifting belt, which is vertically arranged and has a tee connected to a part of the tee lifting mechanism, and a rotation for rotating the lifting belt forward and backward. In addition to the drive source, the ball supply mechanism is provided with two driven levers that rotate in synchronization with the vertical movement of the tee and two balls that can alternately project into the supply passage. It is composed of a cutting lever which swings in synchronization with the rotation of the driven lever comprises a output pin.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the tee lifting mechanism and the ball lifting mechanism in the tee-up device according to the first aspect are attached to the same plate, and one end of the plate is pivotally attached to the ball stocker.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ball stocker in the tee-up device according to the first or second aspect, in which a box-shaped stocker main body having an input port and a passage width corresponding to two balls are provided in the stocker main body. The storage passage is arranged obliquely, and the passage width of the portion facing the oblique end of the storage passage is changed from two balls to one and the end of the passage is connected to the guide passage connected to the base end of the supply passage. It consists of.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an eccentric cam is provided in an extension portion of the drive shaft of the rotary drive source or the shaft rod of the lifting belt in the tee-up device according to the third aspect, and the eccentric cam is provided in the storage passage. It is in contact with the supporting leg member.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, a disk is rotatably arranged in the guide passage of the tee-up device according to the fourth aspect, and the disc is rotated by using the vertical vibration of the storage passage as a driving force. A motion conversion mechanism is provided.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the tee-up device according to any one of the third to fifth aspects, one end of a swingable action lever is arranged so as to be capable of abutting on the leg member, and the other end is a stocker. It is projected from the body to the outside.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, the tee in the tee-up device according to the first aspect is formed of a translucent material, and a light source for irradiating the tee with light is provided.

[0012]

[Action]

 According to the invention of claim 1, the tee can be moved up and down by rotating the elevating belt forward and backward by the rotary drive source, and the up-and-down movement of the tee can be used to rotate the driven lever. Ball can be supplied by swinging the cutout lever.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, both the mechanisms can be exposed at the same time by lifting the plate to which the tee lifting mechanism and the ball supply mechanism are attached upward with the pivot point as the fulcrum. Other functions are similar to those of the first aspect of the invention.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the golf balls thrown into the stocker can be distributed and stored in the plurality of storage passages, and the golf balls dispersedly stored in the respective storage passages are arranged in a line in the guide passages. Can be fed to the supply passage. Other functions are similar to those of the invention of claim 1 or 2.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the vertical vibration can be applied to the storage passage from the eccentric cam through the leg member by utilizing the turning force of the rotary drive source when the tee is raised and lowered. Other functions are similar to those of the invention of claim 4.

According to the invention of claim 5, the disc can be rotated by using the vertical vibration of the storage passage as a driving force to apply a pressing force from the disc to the ball in the guide passage. Other functions are similar to those of the invention of claim 4.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, by swinging the protruding end of the action lever by stepping on it with a foot or the like, the tip of the lever can be brought into contact with the leg member to impart vibration to the storage passage. Other functions are similar to those of the inventions according to claims 3 to 5.

According to the invention of claim 7, the translucent tee can be emitted by irradiating the tee with the light of the light source. Other functions are similar to those of the first aspect of the invention.

[0019]

【Example】

 1 to 12 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a tee-up device, FIG. 2 is a side view of the tee-up device, and FIG. 3 is a ball supply mechanism and a tee lifting mechanism. FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view, FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view, FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view, FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of a ball stocker, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 6, and FIG. FIG. 9, FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an electric system circuit, FIG. 10 is a flowchart of tee-up control, and FIGS. 11 and 12 are operation explanatory diagrams of tee-up. In the following embodiments, the front side of FIG. 1 will be referred to as the front or the front, and the opposite side will be referred to as the back or the rear.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tee-up device of this embodiment comprises a ball stocker 1, a ball supply mechanism 11 and a tee lifting mechanism 21. The bottom plate 31 of the ball stocker 1 is placed on the floor surface Y. It is fixed.

One end edge of an opening / closing plate 32 is pivotally attached to the bottom plate 31 of the ball stocker 1 via a hinge 33, and the ball supply mechanism 11 and the tee lifting mechanism 21 are attached to the lower surface of the opening / closing plate 32. It is arranged in a cavity Ya formed on the floor surface Y. Further, a hole 32a larger than the ball diameter is formed in the opening / closing plate 32 corresponding to the tee position, and a hitting mat M having a similar hole M1a is laid on the opening / closing plate 32. The hitting mat M is formed by laminating an artificial grass mat on a soft mat such as rubber, and a batting mat M2 made of rubber is laid on the floor surface Y adjacent to the hitting mat M1.

The opening / closing plate 32 can be rotated upward with the hinge 33 as a fulcrum with the hitting mat M1 removed (see the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 2). The supply mechanism 11 and the tee lifting mechanism 21 can be maintained and inspected.

The specific configurations of the tee lifting mechanism 21, the ball supply mechanism 11, and the ball stocker 1 will be described below in order.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the tee lifting mechanism 21 includes a pulse motor 22, an endless drive belt 23 including a timing belt, a similar lifting belt 24, a slider 25, and a tee 26. , And a guide rail 27.

The pulse motor 22 is fixed to an L-shaped bracket 32b vertically provided on the lower surface of the opening / closing plate 32 in a frontal direction, and a drive pulley 22b is attached to a rotation shaft 22a thereof. Further, at the position above the pulse motor 22 of the bracket 32b, a long shaft rod 28 having driven pulleys 28a and 28b at the front part and an eccentric cam 28c (see FIG. 7) at the rear end is provided on the rotary shaft 22a. A drive belt 23 is wound around a driven pulley 28a near the motor and a drive pulley 22b in parallel with and rotatably. Further, a short shaft rod 29 having a driven pulley 29a is rotatably arranged below the driven pulley 28b, and the lifting belt 24 is wound around the driven pulley 29a and the driven pulley 28b in the vertical direction. It has been turned.

The slider 25 is made up of a member having a U-shaped cross-section, the central portion of which has a narrow width, and the left end of which is fixed to the lifting belt 24. A block-shaped guide member 25a is provided in the slider 25 at a position close to the elevating belt 24, and a rear end portion of the guide member 25a is slidable in a vertical direction on a guide rail 27 fixed to a bracket 32b. Engaged. Further, a recess 25b having a U-shaped cross section is formed on the right side surface of the guide member 25a, and a slide plate 25d having a U-shaped cross section having stopper pieces 25c at the upper and lower ends is slidable in the vertical direction. Moreover, the sliding range thereof is regulated by the long hole 25e and the pin 25f. Furthermore, on the front surface of the slider 25, a height sensor that detects the lower limit position of the slider 25 in cooperation with a position sensor such as a magnetic sensor using a Hall element or a transmissive photoelectric switch (see reference numeral 42 in FIG. 9). 25g of the size detection piece is provided.

The tee 26 is formed of a flexible material such as synthetic rubber or silicone rubber into a cylindrical shape. A lower end of a screw rod 25h projecting upward on the right portion of the slider 25 uses a nut 25i. And is detachably attached to the opening / closing plate 32, and is positioned inside an elevating cylinder 32c that is vertically installed in a hole 32a. A taper surface 26a for receiving a ball is provided inside the upper end of the tee 26.

In this tee lifting mechanism 21, the lifting belt 24 can be rotated in the same direction through the drive belt 23 by the forward and reverse rotations of the pulse motor 22, which allows the slider 25 to move along the guide rail 27. The tee 26 can be moved up and down by moving in the vertical direction.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the ball supply mechanism 11 is composed of a driven lever 12, a cutting lever 13, and a supply passage 14.

The driven lever 12 is substantially L-shaped, has an engaging pin 12a that engages with the inside of the stopper piece 25f of the slide member 25d at one end, and a notch that opens downward at the other end. It has 12b. The driven lever 12 is rotatably supported by a bracket 32b at its central portion.

The cut-out lever 13 has a substantially triangular shape, has notches 13a that are opened laterally on both sides of the upper end, and has an engaging pin 13b at the lower end. Further, each notch of the cutting lever 13 is slidably and rotatably engaged with an engaging pin 13d protruding from the lower end of a sharp cutting pin 13c. The cutout lever 13 is engaged with the cutout 12b of the driven lever 12 by engaging the engagement pin 13b thereof with the coil spring 13e stretched between the cutout lever 13 and the supply passage 14 in a state of being biased toward the passage. Further, each cutting pin 13c is inserted and arranged in a guide bush 14b described later.

The supply passage 14 is composed of a U-shaped member having a passage width corresponding to one ball, is fixed to the bracket 32b in a front downward direction, and its front end projects into the elevating cylinder 32c. Further, holes 14a are formed in the front bottom surface of the supply passage 14 at intervals of about one ball in the front and rear, and a guide bush 14b for guiding the vertical movement of the cutout pin 13c is formed below the holes 14a. It is installed.

In the ball supply mechanism 11, the engaging pin 12e of the driven lever 12 is pushed up and down by the vertical stopper piece 25c of the slide member 25d that moves up and down as the tee 26 moves up and down to rotate the lever 12. As a result, the cutting lever 13 is swung back and forth, and the cutting pins 13c are alternately projected into the supply passage 14 to carry out the balls B of the supply passage 14 one by one and move them to the lowered position. It can be served on a tee 26.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the ball stocker 1 is composed of a stocker body 2, two storage passages 3 and a guide passage 4.

The stocker body 2 is in the form of a flat box, has a charging port 2a in a part of its upper surface, and has a compartment 2b containing a control box S on the right side of the charging port 2a. Further, on the right side surface of the stocker main body 2, there is provided an operation panel 2e having an ascending button 2c and a descending button 2d for adjusting the tee height, and a power switch 2f, a power lamp 2g and a ball breakage at the lower right of the front. A display panel 2i having a lamp 2h is provided. The stocker body 2 is erected on the bottom plate 31 via the leg cylinder 2j.

Each of the storage passages 3 has a passage width for two balls and is composed of a long U-shaped member having an inverted V-shaped bottom surface shape, and the legs provided on the left and right positions on the bottom plate 31. The members 3a and 3b are arranged in the stocker main body 2 at an interval in the vertical direction so as to be inclined leftward and downward. The upper storage passage 3 is formed shorter than the lower storage passage 3, and the right portion of the lower storage passage 3 faces the inlet 2a. The right leg member 3a is erected on the bottom plate 31 and pivotally supports each storage passage 3 via pins. On the other hand, the left leg member 3b slidably engages a vertically elongated hole 3c at the center with a support pin 3c provided upright on the bottom plate 31, and a roller 3e provided at the lower end is attached to the peripheral surface of the eccentric cam 28c. Abutting. The upper end of the leg member 3b is rotatably connected to a lower pin of a link 3f that connects the two storage passages 3 via a pin.

In other words, the left leg member 3b can be moved up and down along the vertically elongated hole 3c by the rotation of the eccentric cam 28c, so that both storage passages 3 are connected to the shaft of the right leg member 3a via the link 3f. It swings up and down around the fulcrum.

The guide passage 4 includes a U-shaped vertical passage 4 a whose passage width is changed from two balls to one and a U-shaped horizontal passage 4 b having a passage width of one ball. The guide passage 4 is fixed to the stocker main body 2 with the wide portion of the vertical passage 4a facing the left ends of the two storage passages 3, and the right end of the horizontal passage 4b is located above the rear end of the supply passage 14. .

In the ball stocker 1, the balls B thrown into the stocker body 2 through the throwing port 2 a are dispersedly stored in the upper and lower two storage passages 3 and flow into the guide passages 4 from the respective storage passages 3. Can be fed into the supply passage 14 in line.

Next, an electric circuit of the tee-up device will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 41 is a control circuit of a microcomputer configuration including a well-known CPU, memory and input / output interface. Reference numeral 42 is a position detection sensor that detects the lower limit position of the tee 26 in cooperation with the position detection piece 25g, and is provided at the lower end of the bracket 32b. Reference numeral 43 denotes a ball breakage detection sensor composed of a transmissive photoelectric switch that detects the presence or absence of a ball between the cutout pins 13c of the supply passage 14, and is arranged opposite to the side surface of the supply passage 14. Reference numeral 44 denotes a percussion detection sensor such as a transmissive or reflective photoelectric switch that detects the presence or absence of a ball on the tee 26 when the tee is raised, and is arranged on the front surface of the stocker body 2.

Reference numeral 45 is a drive circuit for the power supply lamp 2g, 46 is a drive circuit for the ball burn-out lamp 2h, 47 is a drive circuit for the buzzer 47 for notifying a ball supply abnormality or a tee lift abnormality, and 49 is a pulse motor 22. Drive circuit. Further, 2f, 2e and 2d are the power switch, the tee raising button and the tee lowering button described above.

The control circuit 41 stores a program relating to tee-up control in the memory, and based on the operation signals of the power switch 2f and the up / down buttons 2e and 2d and the detection signals of the sensors 42 to 44, the program is executed. In accordance with this, control signals are sent to the respective drive circuits 45 to 49 to control the lamps 2g and 2h, the buzzer 47 and the pulse motor 22.

Next, a tee-up control procedure and its operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 10 and FIGS. 11 and 12.

The tee-up device described above is in a standby state when the tee 26 is raised to the ascent limit position (see FIGS. 11 and 12), and the user throws the ball B into the ball stocker 1 in the same state. . The ascending limit position of the tee 26 is controlled by the ascending stroke from the descending limit position, in other words, the number of input pulses from the descending limit position. The balls B thrown into the stocker body 2 are distributed and stored in the upper and lower storage passages 3 and also flow into the guide passages 4 from both storage passages 3 and are aligned in one row and fed into the supply passage 14. The leading ball B comes into contact with the front cut-out pin 13c in the protruding state and its forward movement is restricted.

When the power switch 2f is turned on after the ball is thrown in, the power lamp 2g is turned on, and then the presence or absence of the ball B in the supply passage 14 is determined based on the detection signal of the ball breakage detection sensor 42 (see FIG. 10). Steps S1, S2). As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, in the same state, the leading ball B exists between the cutout pins 13c, and it is determined that there is a ball. If the power switch 2f is turned on before the ball is thrown in, the ball burn-out lamp 2h is turned on until the ball B thrown into the ball stocker 1 is fed into the supply passage 14 (step S3 in FIG. 10).

When the presence of the ball B between the cutout pins 13c of the supply passage 14 is confirmed, the pulse motor 22 is actuated to rotate the elevating belt 24 in a predetermined direction, and as shown in FIGS. The slider 25 and the tee 26 move downward and stop when the position detection piece 25g is detected by the position detection sensor 42 (lower limit position) (step S4 in FIG. 10).

As the slider 25 moves downward, the engagement pin 12a of the driven lever 12 is pressed downward by the upper stopper piece 25c of the slide member 25d, and the driven lever 12 rotates counterclockwise. As a result, the cutting lever 13 swings in the same direction with the rear side engaging pin 13d as an axis, and the front side cutting pin 13c is retracted. At this time, since the rear cutting pin 13c is in a protruding state into the supply passage 14, only the ball B located between the cutting pins 13c is carried forward.

Although not shown, the cut-out lever 13 of the present embodiment is provided with the coil spring 13e in the unloaded state in which each stopper piece 25c of the slide member 25d is separated from the engagement pin 12a of the driven lever 12. When the engaging pin 12a of the driven lever 12 is pressed downward as described above, both the cutting pins 13c project upward into the supply passage 14 by being pulled up by the force, and the engaging pin 12a moves upward. Only when pressed, the one engaging pin 13d is swung to pivot the one cutting pin 13c.

With such an action, only one ball B at the head is carried out and supplied onto the tee 26 in the lowered position, and the second and subsequent balls B are cut by the cutting pin 13c on the rear side. Its forward movement is restricted. Since the descending stroke of the slider 25 is absorbed by the downward sliding stroke of the slide member 25d, the driven lever 12 is not provided with an unnecessary turning stroke.

When the ball B is supplied onto the tee 26, in other words, after a predetermined time, for example, 2 seconds has elapsed after the tee 26 descends to the lower limit position, the pulse motor 22 operates and the lifting belt 24 moves. 11 and 12, the slider 5 and the tee 26 are raised to the upper limit position, and the ball B is projected from the hole M1a of the hitting mat M1 (step S6 in FIG. 10). ). Although the tee height H is read from the memory each time before the tee rises (step S5 in FIG. 10), the tee height H is not stored in the memory when the tee is raised for the first time after the power is turned on. Will rise to the upper limit position (H = 40 mm).

Further, with the upward movement of the slider 25, the engagement pin 12e of the driven lever 12 is pressed upward by the lower stopper piece 25c of the slide member 25d so that the driven lever 12 moves in the opposite direction. When the cutting lever 13 is rotated, the cutting lever 13 swings in the same direction about the front cutting pin 13c as an axis, and the rear cutting pin 13c is retracted. At this time, since the front cutting pin 13c is in the protruding state into the supply passage 14, the second and subsequent balls B move forward until they come into contact with the cutting pin 13c. Since the upward stroke of the slider 25 is absorbed by the upward sliding stroke of the slide member 25b, the driven lever 12 is not provided with a rotation stroke more than necessary.

When the ascending button 2e and the descending button 2e are operated in the ball protruding state, the pulse motor 22 is operated in response to the button operation, and the tee height H is adjusted steplessly with the ascent limit of 40 mm. (Steps S7 and S8 in FIG. 10). The adjusted tee height is stored in the memory each time the adjustment is made (step S9 in FIG. 10).

When it is judged from the detection signal of the batting detection sensor 44 that the tee-up ball B has been hit by a driver or the like and the ball B on the tee 26 has disappeared, the process proceeds to step S 2 and the same procedure is followed. Tea-up is repeated (step S10 in FIG. 10). Since the new tee height H is stored in the memory by the above height adjustment, the next tee lift will be performed based on this. The memory content related to the tee height H can be rewritten whenever the up button 2e and the down button 2d are operated, and after adjustment, the tee height is repeatedly raised at the set tee height H. .

In the above-mentioned tee-up process, since the tee lifting and the ball supply are interlocked, when the tee height H is set lower than the rising limit, the turning stroke required for the ball supply is set. In order to obtain the driven lever 12, the procedure of raising the tee 26 once to the ascending limit and then lowering it to the descending limit position after the completion of striking is performed.

Further, in the same course, when the final ball in the supply passage 14 is supplied onto the tee 26, it is determined that there is no ball based on the detection signal of the ball break detection sensor 42, and the ball break lamp 2h is turned on. It Further, in the same process, when a ball supply abnormality or a tee lift abnormality is detected due to a malfunction of the pulse motor 22 or the like, the buzzer 47 is activated to notify the abnormality.

Further, in the same course, from the eccentric cam 28c (see FIGS. 6 and 7) of the shaft rod 28 which rotates in synchronization with the lifting belt 24, the end of each storage passage 3 is passed through the roller 3c and the leg member 3b. Vertical movement is imparted to the portion, and both storage passages 3 swing up and down (vertical vibration) around the pivotally supported portion of the leg member 3a. Therefore, even if the ball B stored in the storage passage 3 is clogged, this vibration can eliminate it.

As described above, according to the tee-up device of this embodiment, the pulse motor 22 can rotate the elevating belt 24 forward and backward to move the tee 26 up and down, and the vertical movement of the tee 26 can be used to move the slide member 25d. Since the driven lever 12 is rotated via the control lever, and the cutout lever 13 is swung by the rotation of the driven lever 12, the ball can be supplied, so that one pulse motor 22 can raise and lower the tee and supply the ball. Therefore, there is an advantage that the device structure can be simplified and downsized.

Further, the opening / closing plate 32 to which the tee raising / lowering mechanism 21 and the ball supply mechanism 11 are attached is lifted upward by using the pivot point as a fulcrum so that both mechanisms 21 and 11 are exposed at the same time, There is an advantage that inspection can be performed easily.

Furthermore, the balls B thrown into the stocker body 2 can be stored in the upper and lower storage passages 3 in a distributed manner, so that the weight is not added to one place and the balls are not clogged. Further, the balls B dispersedly stored in the respective storage passages 3 can be aligned in a line in the guide passage 4 and fed into the supply passage 14, so that there is an advantage that the balls can be smoothly fed into the supply passage 14.

Furthermore, since the vertical force can be applied to each storage passage 3 from the eccentric cam 28c through the leg member 3b by utilizing the turning force of the pulse motor 22 when the tee is raised and lowered, the ball B stored in the storage passage 3 is provided. Even if the clogs occur, there is an advantage that this can be eliminated by the vibration.

It should be noted that three or more upper and lower storage passages may be arranged in the ball stocker, and a lamp may be used instead of the buzzer for alarm notification. Further, even if the eccentric cam is provided at the drive shaft extension end of the rotary drive source and the eccentric cam is brought into contact with the vibration applying member, the same vibration as described above can be applied to the storage passage.

In the above-described embodiment, the storage passage 3 is vertically vibrated to eliminate the ball clogging in the storage passage 3. However, the mechanism shown in FIGS. 13 to 16 may be adopted. For example, the vibration of the storage passage 3 can be used as a driving force to eliminate the ball clogging in the guide passage 4. The ball clogging elimination mechanism 51 shown in the figure includes a bracket 52, a disk 53, a first one-way lever 54, a second one-way lever 55, a drive lever 56, and an action arm 57.

The bracket 52 has a substantially L-shaped cross section and is fixed to the back side of the guide passage 4 where the tip of the storage passage 3 (one in the figure) faces. A circular hole 4b, which is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the disk 53, is formed in the portion of the guide passage 4 facing the bracket.

The disk 53 has a disk shape, and has a claw piece 53 a on the surface facing the storage passage 3. A shaft 53b is provided at the center of the back surface of the disk 53, and is rotatably supported by the bracket 52 via a bearing 53c.

The first and second one-way levers 54, 55 have built-in one-way bearings (not shown) inside, and are fitted to the protruding portions of the disc shaft 53b with an angle difference of 90 °. The one-way bearings of both levers 54 and 55 are coupled to the disc shaft 53b only when they rotate in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. Further, pins 55a 1 and 55a 2 are provided at the tips of the levers 54 and 55, respectively.

The drive lever 56 is formed by bending a T-shaped plate in a U shape from the center, has grooves 56b at both ends of a horizontal piece 56a, and has a pin 56d at the tip of a vertical piece 56c. The drive lever 56 is rotatably supported by the bracket 52 via a bearing 56f so that a shaft 56e protruding from the center of the horizontal piece 56a is parallel to the disc shaft 53b, and is supported in one groove 56b. A pin 54a of the first one-way lever 54 is slidably inserted and a pin 56d is connected to a pin 55a of a second one-way lever 55 via a link 58.

One end of the action lever 57 is fixed to the side surface of the tip of the storage passage 3, and the other end 57 a is slidably fitted in the other groove 56 b of the drive lever 56.

In the above-described ball clogging elimination mechanism 51, when vertical vibration is applied to the storage passage 3 and the action arm 57 draws a downward trajectory, the drive lever 56 synchronizes with this and the drive lever 56 rotates in the timekeeping direction (D in FIG. 15). Direction), the first one-way lever 54 rotates counterclockwise, and the second one-way lever 55 rotates clockwise, so that only the first one-way lever 54 rotates counterclockwise to the disc shaft 53b. The driving force in the direction (D ′ direction in FIG. 15) is transmitted. On the other hand, when the action arm 57 draws a rising trajectory, the drive lever 56 rotates in the clockwise direction (U direction in FIG. 15) in synchronization with this, and the first one-way lever 54 moves in the clockwise direction and again. The two one-way levers 55 rotate counterclockwise, respectively, and this time only the second one-way lever 55 transmits the driving force in the counterclockwise direction (U 'direction in FIG. 15) to the disc shaft 53b. That is, when vertical vibration is applied to the storage passage 3, the disk 53 rotates in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 15 in both of the vertical trajectories, and as shown in FIG. A directional force is applied, which clears the ball clogging in the guide passage 4.

17 and 18 show another example of the ball clogging elimination mechanism. The mechanism shown in FIG. 17 is useful for eliminating the ball clogging that cannot be broken by vertical vibration due to the eccentric cam 28 described above, and one end of which has an action lever 61 inside the leg cylinder 2j of the stocker body 2. The leg member 3b of the storage passage 3 is provided with a protrusion 3b1 with which the tip of the action lever 61 engages when the tip of the action lever 61 rises. In this mechanism, by pushing the protruding end of the action lever 61 with the foot, the tip of the lever can be brought into contact with the protrusion 3b1 to push up the leg member 3 and both storage passages 3, and by repeating the stepping, both storages can be carried out. It is possible to surely clear the ball clogging of the storage passage 3 by giving a large impact to the passage 3.

In the mechanism shown in FIG. 18, the balls that may occur in the loading opening 2a of the stocker main body 2 are clogged, and more specifically, only a large number of balls in the storage passage 3 part are loaded in a state where a large number of balls are thrown into the stocker main body 2 just before they overflow. Is useful when a ball bridge is generated at the inlet 2a, and one end of a strip-shaped flexible sheet 71 made of Mylar film or the like is fixed to the right side of the inlet 2a and a part of the sheet 71 is stored in a storage passage. It is placed on top of 3. In this mechanism, when the ball in the storage passage 3 flows, the flexible sheet 71 slides in the direction of the arrow in the figure by the ball, and force is applied from the seat 71 to the ball bridge in the insertion port 2a to prevent the clogging. It can be resolved.

19 to 21 show an open cover structure for facilitating a ball throwing operation.

In the same structure, a horizontally long rectangular open cover 81 is openably and closably attached to the loading slot 2a of the stocker body 2, and the open cover 81 has side plates 81a of substantially triangular shape on the back sides of both ends thereof. A vertically long slot 81b is provided at the lower portion, and an arcuate guide hole 81c having vertically long portions at the ends is provided at the upper portion of both side plates 81. On the other hand, the insertion port 2a is notched in a U-shape on the front surface so as to match the open cover 81, and two sets of pins 82 are projectingly provided on the upper and lower inner surfaces thereof so as to face each other. , And the upper pin 82 is slidably fitted in the guide hole 81c of the open cover 81.

According to the above-mentioned open cover structure, in the state shown in FIG. 20, the open cover 81 is lifted upward to move the upper pin 82 from the vertically long portion of the guide hole 81c to the arc portion, and then pull this toward the front side. As a result, as shown in FIG. 21, the cover 81 can be rotated about the lower pin 82 to open the throw-in port 2a widely, and the ball throwing operation can be facilitated. When the opened open cover 81 is pushed into the stocker main body 2 side, the upper pin 82 shifts from the arcuate portion of the guide hole 81c to the vertically elongated portion in the course of rotation and can be returned to the state of FIG.

22 to 24 show a structure in which the above-mentioned abnormality notification is performed by the light emission of the tee itself. In the figure, 91 is a tee, 92 is a reflection ring, 93 is a tee shaft, 94 is a tee spring, 95 is a lamp, 96 is a ball detection lever, and 97 is a ball presence / absence detection sensor.

The tee 91 is formed of a flexible material such as synthetic rubber or silicone rubber into a cylindrical shape, has a tapered surface 91a for receiving a ball inside the upper end, and has a mounting hole 91b in the center of the lower end. ing. The tee 91 may be transparent, semi-transparent, or colored with an appropriate color, but has a light-transmitting property such that at least the upper end can emit light.

The reflecting ring 92 is formed of a metal material into a disk shape having the same outer diameter as the tee 91, has a mounting hole 92a in the center, and has a 45 ° square annular reflecting surface 92b on the outer peripheral edge of the upper surface. is doing. The upper surface of the reflecting ring 92 (including the reflecting surface 92b) is mirror-finished so that light can be guided accurately.

The tee shaft 93 is formed of a metal material in a cylindrical shape, has a small diameter portion 93a at the center of the upper end, and has a male screw portion 93b at the center of the upper end of the small diameter portion 93a. In addition, the small diameter portion 93a has a plurality of light passage holes 93c circumferentially spaced from each other. Further, a spring pin 93d is arranged through the upper part of the main body part, and a stopper ring 93e is fitted on the outer surface of the lower part.

The tee 91 and the reflection ring 92 are fitted on the tee shaft 93 by the nuts 93g which are fitted in the mounting holes 91b and 92a in the small diameter portion 93a and are fastened to the male screw portion 93b via the spring washers 93f and the like. It is fixed. The tee shaft 93 is slidably fitted in circular holes 25j formed in the upper and lower surfaces of the slider 25, and one end of the spring pin 93d is projected from an elevating guide hole 25k formed in the front surface of the slider 25. A tee spring 94 stretched between the lower surface of the slider 25 and the spring pin 93d urges it upward.

The lamp 94 is composed of a colorless, white or chromatic color light bulb, and a mounting plate 94 a thereof is adhered to a step portion inside the tea shaft 93 to position the lamp 94 inside the small diameter portion 93 a. That is, when the lamp is turned on, the light of the lamp 94 is emitted to the lower end of the tee 91 through the hole 93c of the small diameter portion 93a, the light is reflected upward by the reflection surface 92b of the reflection ring 92 and emitted from the upper end thereof through the inside of the tee 91. be able to.

The ball detection lever 96 is swingably supported on the front surface of the slider 25, and one end thereof is located below the protruding end of the spring pin 93. The ball presence / absence detection sensor 97 is composed of a magnetic sensor using a Hall element, a transmissive photoelectric switch, or the like, is fixed to the front surface of the slider 25, and the other end of the ball detection lever 96 is located in the detection area.

According to the above structure, it is possible to light the upper end of the tee 91 in an appropriate color by turning on the lamp 94, and when a ball supply abnormality or a tee rising / falling abnormality occurs in the tee-up process, the lamp is emitted. If 94 is turned on, abnormal light can be notified by the light emission of the tee 91. Further, if two types of light emitting methods, continuous and intermittent, are adopted, it is possible to notify the ball out and the like in addition to the above abnormality notification.

Further, as shown in FIG. 24, the tee 91 and the tee shaft 93 are lowered by the load of the ball B against the urging force of the tee spring 94, and by this lowering, the projecting end of the spring pin 93d causes the ball detection lever. Since the ball 96 can be swung and detected by the ball presence / absence detection sensor 97, the role of the hit detection sensor 44 can be substituted by the sensor 97. The ball presence / absence detection sensor 97 may be composed of a piezoelectric element or the like that is pressed by the descent of the tee 91, the reflection ring 92, the tee shaft 93, or the like.

[0083]

[Effect of device]

 As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the invention, the rotative drive source can rotate the elevating belt forward and backward to raise and lower the tee, and the vertical movement of the tee can be used to rotate the driven lever. Since the ball can be supplied by moving it and swinging the cutout lever by the rotation of the driven lever, the tee can be raised and lowered and the ball can be supplied by one driving source, and the device structure can be made simple and compact. You can

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the plate on which the tee lifting mechanism and the ball supply mechanism are attached is lifted upward with the pivot point as the fulcrum, so that both mechanisms are exposed at the same time for maintenance and inspection. Can be done easily. Other effects are similar to those of the device of claim 1.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the golf balls thrown into the stocker body can be distributed and stored in the plurality of storage passages. In addition, the golf balls distributed and stored in the storage passages can be fed into the supply passages aligned in a line in the guide passages, so that the balls can be smoothly fed into the supply passages. Other effects are similar to those of the invention of claim 1 or 2.

According to the invention of claim 4, vertical power can be applied to each of the storage passages from the eccentric cam through the leg members by utilizing the rotational force of the rotary drive source when the tee is raised and lowered. Therefore, the golf ball stored in the storage passages. Even if a jam occurs in the sheet, this vibration can eliminate the problem. Other effects are similar to those of the invention of claim 3.

According to the invention of claim 5, the disc can be rotated by using the vertical vibration of the storage passage as a driving force to apply the pressing force to the golf ball in the guide passage from the disc. Even if the ball is clogged, it can be eliminated by the pressing force. Other effects are similar to those of the invention of claim 4.

According to the invention of claim 6, by swinging the protruding end of the action lever by stepping on it with a foot or the like, the tip of the lever can be brought into contact with the leg member to impart vibration to the storage passage. Therefore, even if the ball clogging cannot be eliminated by the vibration caused by the eccentric cam, it is possible to surely eliminate the impact by giving a large impact to the storage passage. Other effects are similar to those of the inventions of claims 3 to 5.

According to the invention of claim 7, it is possible to cause the light-transmitting tee to emit light by irradiating the tee with the light from the light source. Therefore, the tee emission allows the user to properly detect an abnormal operation, a ball break, or the like. Can be notified. Other effects are similar to those of the device of claim 1.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a tee-up device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the tee-up device.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a ball supply mechanism and a tee lifting mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the same.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of a ball stocker.

7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a guide passage.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an electric system circuit.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of tee-up control

FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory diagram of tee-up.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the same operation.

FIG. 13 is a side view showing another example of the ball clogging elimination mechanism.

14 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 15 is an operation explanatory diagram for clearing clogging.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of the same operation.

FIG. 17 is a side view showing another example of the ball clogging elimination mechanism.

FIG. 18 is a vertical sectional view showing another example of the ball clogging elimination mechanism.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of an open cover.

FIG. 20 is a vertical sectional view of an open cover.

FIG. 21 is an operation explanatory view of opening and closing the cover.

FIG. 22 is a side view showing a tee light emitting structure.

FIG. 23 is a vertical sectional view of a tee light emitting structure.

FIG. 24 is an operation explanatory diagram of ball presence / absence detection.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ball stocker, 2 ... Stocker main body, 2a ... Inlet, 3 ... Storage passage, 3a ... Leg member, 4 ... Guide passage, 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ball supply mechanism, 12 ... Follower lever, 13 ... Cut-out lever, 13c ... Cut-out pin, 14 ... Supply passage, 21 ... Tee lifting mechanism, 22 ... Pulse motor, 24 ... Lifting belt,
26 ... Tee, 28 ... Shaft rod, 28c ... Eccentric cam, 32 ...
Open / close plate, M1 ... Hitting mat, B ... Ball, 51 ... Ball clogging elimination mechanism, 53 ... Disk, 54, 55 ... One-way lever, 56 ... Drive lever, 57 ... Action arm, 61 ... Action lever, 91 ... Tee, 94
…lamp.

Claims (7)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A ball stocker for accommodating a large number of golf balls, a ball supply mechanism for discharging one golf ball sent from the ball stocker to a supply passage one by one, and supplying the golf ball on a tee in a lowered position, and a ball supply. In a tee-up device comprising a tee lifting mechanism that raises a rear tee to a predetermined height position to project a golf ball from a hitting mat, and a ball supply mechanism and a tee lifting mechanism are arranged under the hitting mat. The tee elevating mechanism is composed of an endless elevating belt which is vertically arranged and has a tee connected to a part thereof, and a rotary drive source which rotates the elevating belt forward and backward. , A driven lever that rotates in synchronization with the vertical movement of the tee and two cutting pins that can alternately project into the supply passage And was composed of a cutting lever swings, teed up apparatus according to claim. 2. The tee-up device according to claim 1, wherein the tee lifting mechanism and the ball lifting mechanism are attached to the same plate, and one end of the plate is pivotally attached to the ball stocker. 3. A box-shaped stocker main body having an input port, a storage passage obliquely arranged in the stocker main body having a passage width for two balls,
The path width of the portion facing the oblique end of the storage passage is changed from two balls to one and the end of the passage is composed of a guide passage connected to the base end of the supply passage. The tee-up device according to 1 or 2. 4. An eccentric cam is provided on an extended portion of a drive shaft of the rotary drive source or an axial rod of a lifting belt, and the eccentric cam is brought into contact with a leg member supporting the storage passage. The tee-up device according to claim 3. 5. A motion converting mechanism for rotatably disposing a disc in the guide passage and rotating the disc with vertical vibration of the storage passage as a driving force is provided. The tea-up device described. 6. The swingable action lever is arranged so that one end thereof can come into contact with the leg member, and the other end is protruded from the stocker body to the outside. The tee-up device described in the item. 7. The tee-up device according to claim 1, wherein the tee is formed of a translucent material, and a light source for irradiating the tee with light is provided.