GB2231804A

GB2231804A - A method of and an apparatus for continuously cleaning and polishing game balls

Info

Publication number: GB2231804A
Application number: GB8911110A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Takatoshi Takemoto; Kazunari Kawashima
Original assignee: Ace Denken KK
Current assignee: Ace Denken KK
Priority date: 1989-05-15
Filing date: 1989-05-15
Publication date: 1990-11-28
Anticipated expiration: 2009-05-15
Also published as: GB8911110D0; GB2231804B

Abstract

Soiled and dirty game balls 1 are subjected to mixing and agitation for transferring the dusts or dirts on the game balls onto the surfaces of the polishing materials 2 in a polishing machine 3. The so cleaned game balls 1 are separated from the now soiled polishing materials 2 by a filter 14 and the game balls are returned to a game machine. The soiled polishing agent are subjected to reclaiming process in a reclaiming device 6 comprising scraping which mechanically removes the dirty surface layers of the soiled polishing materials. The resulting dust is expelled and collected at 18 separated from the reclaimed polishing materials which are recycled to the polishing process at 12. <IMAGE>

Description

A METHOD OF AND AN APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY CLEANING AND POLISHING GAME BALLS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for cleaning and polishing dirty game balls such as those used for pin ball games, and more particularly to a method of and an apparatus for cleaning and polishing game balls which have become dirty or soiled due to dust or dirt in the game shop adhering thereto and through manual handling thereof, by transferring such dust or dirt adhering to the game balls onto surfaces of polishing particles, scraping the surfaces of the polishing particles to remove their surface layers which have now been soiled by the transferred dust or dirt, and continuously recycling both the cleaned balls and the polishing particles in this polishing system.

Prior Art Heretofore, several techniques relating to an apparatus for polishing soiled game balls such as those used for pin ball games and a polishing material for use with the apparatus have been disclosed in KOKAI 51(1976)08043 (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 197608043), KOKAI 58(1983)-92379 (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No.1983-92379) and KOKAI 48(1973)-21268 (Japanese Patent Examined Publication for Opposition No.1973-21268).

In the conventional apparatuses for polishing balls for a pin ball game, however, the surfaces of the polishing materials used for cleaning and polishing the balls, would eventually become dirty, lowering the cleaning capacity after they have been used for polishing a certain number of balls. Attempts have been made to solve this problem. More particularly, the deteriorated polishing materials may be replaced with new ones as disclosed in KOKAI 51(1976)-08043 or to the dirty or soiled balls may be washed using a cleanser or a detergent as disclosed by, KOKAI 58(1983)-92379 and KOKAI 48(1973)-21268. However, the former solution of replacing the deteriorated polishing materials with fresh ones will waste resources.The latter solution of washing the balls will require not only a cleanser, but also additional facilities for drying the balls after washing them and for draining the used liquid. This makes the whole entire system massive and of a largescale.

This invention has been made with a view to obviating the problems encountered in the prior arts, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of and an apparatus for polishing game balls, which is capable of reclaiming the used polishing materials by scraping their dirty surface layers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention features a method of polishing game balls in a repeated manner, which comprises the steps of; mixing game balls with polishing materials and agitating them together, transferring dusts and dirts on the game balls onto the surfaces of the materials through the mixing and agitation to clean the game balls; separating cleaned game balls from the polishing materials; subjecting a part or whole of the so separated polishing materials to reclaiming treatment comprising a scraping zone for scraping the stained surface layers of the polishing materials to reveal their fresh surfaces, a separating zone for separating the so refreshed polishing materials from cut chips and a dust collecting zone, for collecting the so separated cut chips; and recycling the so refreshed polishing materials into the polishing treatment.

The present invention further features an apparatus for polishing dirty game balls, which comprises: a polishing machine which polishes game balls by mixing the game balls fed from a game machine with polishing materials supplied and agitating them together to transfer dusts or dirts on the game balls onto surfaces of the polishing materials; a separating machine for separating the polished game balls from the polishing materials; and a reclaiming machine including a scraping means for scraping dusts or dirts-transferred surfaces of the polishing materials, a separating means for separating the so scraped polishing materials from resulting cut chips, and a dust collecting means for collecting the cut chips.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig.1 is a partly fragmented front view of one form of a polishing apparatus for polishing game balls according to the present invention; Fig.2 is a perspective view of a partly cut away reclaiming device shown in Fig.1; and Fig.3 is a cross sectional side view of a dust collector shown in Fig.1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Explanation will now be made on a preferred embodiment of the present invention by referring to the accompanying drawings.

Fig.l shows a polishing apparatus for polishing game balls installed in a pin ball game shop. Numeral 1 denotes balls for use in a pin ball game and 2 denotes polishing materials in the form of particles of a synthetic resinous material. Numeral 3 denotes a polishing machine which polishes balls for the pin ball game by mixing the game balls with the polishing materials and agitating them therein. The game balls are received through a ball inlet and, as will be explained later, the polishing materials are supplied through a polishing material inlet. Numeral 4 is a separator for separating the polished game balls from the polishing materials and 5 is a feed chute for returning the so separated polishing materials to the polishing material inlet 2. Numeral 6 is a device for reclaiming the polishing materials 2. The reclaiming device 6 is interposed between the two feed chutes 5 and 5.

The polishing machine 3 is composed of a tubular member 7 bent at its lower part to form an arc, a motor 8 mounted on an upper end of the tubular member 7 and a helical member 9 mounted within the tubular member 7 and coupled to the output shaft of the motor 8. Disposed near the lower end of the tubular member 7, are an inlet 11 for receiving the game balls 1 and an inlet 12 for receiving the polishing materials 2 fed through the feed chutes 5 and 5. An outlet 13 opens near the upper end of the tubular member 7. With this arranagemnt, the polishing machine 3 is able to agitate the game balls 1 together with the polishing agent 2 which are received through the inlets 11 and 12, respectively, while transporting them upward from the lower portion of the tubular member 7 by the helical member 9 driven by the motor 8.

The separating machine 4 is provided with a screen 14 having a mesh size slightly smaller than the diameter of the game balls but larger than the diameter of the polishing materials. The particles of the polishing materials are allowed to fall down through the screen when the game balls 1 and the polishing materials leaving from the polishing machine 3 travel over the screen 14. Thus, only the balls 1 are fed to the trough 15.

The reclaiming device 6 will now be described in detail, by referring to Fig.2. In Fig.2, 16 is a scraping machine for scraping surface layers of the polishing materials 2, and 17 is a separating machine for separating the so scraped polishing materials from resulting cut chips, and 18 denotes a dust collector for collecting the chips.

The scraping machine 16 consists of a casing 19 which communicates with the feed chutes 5 and 5 and with the separating machine 17, and rotary vanes 21 and 21 which are driven by a motor 20.

Aforesaid separating machine 17 consists of a casing 22 and a sirocco fan 23 disposed in the casing 22 and is driven by the motor 20. The separating machine 17 works to selectively suck up the cut chips by generating air flow. The dust collecting machine or collector 18, as illustrated in Fig.3, is composed of a container 26 having an inlet opening 24, an outlet opening 25, a motor 27 mounted on a side wall of the container 26 and a coil spring 29 fixed to a rotary shaft of the motor 27 for agitating a sol or a liquid 28, such as an oil or water.

With this arrangement, the collecting machine 18 functions to let the cut chips enter the liquid 28 by introducing the air flow carrying the cut chips from the inlet opening 24 and impinging the air flow against the liquid 28 of the collector 18, while discharging cleaned air from the outlet opening 25. Numeral 30 is a supply port for supplying fresh polishing materials 2 into the system.

In the polishing apparatus installed in a ball game shop as mentioned above, the polishing materials 2 soiled by the transferred dust in the polishing machine 3 from the dirty balls 1 are separated from the polished balls by the separating means 4 and then introduced to the reclaiming machine 6 through the feed chutes 5 and 5.

The polishing materials relieved of dirty surfaces by scraping treatment reveal Yresh surfaces and are charged again into the polishing machine 3.

Since an air flow is caused in the reclaiming machine 6 as shown by arrows, the reclaiming machine 6 sucks dirty air in the game placer purifying or refreshing the air in the game place.

Although the polishing machine 3 of the embodiments illustrated employs the helical member 9, any other suitable member such as a screw member may alternatively be used.

The soiled polishing materials, either all or partly, may be subjected to polishing treatment by the reclaiming machine. Further, although the scraping machine 16 explained uses the rotary vanes 21, other means such as circular discs having file teeth may also be used so long as they can scrape the soiled surfaces of the polishing materials. The dust collector may alternatively be of a filter type which is made of fiber materials or the dust collector of the embodiment may be used in combination with the filter.

Advantageous Effect of the Invention According to the present invention as described above, dirt on the play media such as game balls can be removed and transferred onto the surfaces of the polishing materials during the mixing and agitation of the play media and the polishing materials, and the resulting soiled surfaces of the polishing materials are scraped off, restoring their fresh surfaces for further polishing treatment of the play media through mixing and agitation of the polishing materials and the media.

Thus, the polishing materials of the present invention can be reclaimed and recycled repeatedly.

In addition, since the method according to this invention is of a dry polishing type using no liquid detergents, the entire system of the present invention can be small-sized and simplified. Further, since the removing of the cut waste chips is carried out by introducing fresh outdoor air, the dirty air in the game place can also be cleaned and purified.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method of polishing game balls in a repeated manner, which comprises the steps of; mixing game balls with polishing materials and agitating them together, transferring dusts and dirts on the game balls onto the surfaces of the materials through the mixing and agitation to clean the game balls; separating cleaned game balls from the polishing materials; subjecting a part or whole of the so separated polishing materials to reclaiming treatment comprising a scraping zone for scraping the stained surface layers of the polishing materials to reveal their fresh surfaces, a separating zone for separating the so refreshed polishing materials from cut chips and a dust collecting zone, for collecting the so separated cut chips; and recycling the so refreshed polishing materials into the polishing treatment.

2. A method of polishing game balls in a repeated manner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said collecting zone comprises a sol or water for collecting the cut chips therein.

3. A method of polishing game balls in a repeated manner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said collecting zone comprises a fiber filter for collecting the cut chips thereby.

4. An apparatus for polishing dirty game balls, which comprises: a polishing machine which polishes game balls by mixing the game balls fed from a game machine with polishing materials supplied and agitating them together to transfer dusts or dirts on the game balls onto surfaces of the polishing materials; a separating machine for separating the polished game balls from the polishing materials; and a reclaiming machine including a scraping means for scraping dusts or dirts-transferred surfaces of the polishing materials, a separating means for separating the so scraped polishing materials from resulting cut chips, and a dust collecting means for collecting the cut chips.

5. An apparatus for polishing dirty game balls as claimed in claim 4, wherein said separating means comprises means for separating the cut chips by a suction force accompanying sucking of outside air.

6. An apparatus for polishing dirty game balls as claimed in 4, wherein said polishing machine comprises a rotatable helical member mounted in a bent arcuated tubular member for transporting the ball games and the polishing materials from one extremity to another extremity, while mixing and agitating them together.

7. An apparatus for polishing dirty game balls as claimed in claim 4, wherein said polishing machine comprises a screw feeder mounted in a bent arcuated tubular member for transporting the ball games and the polishing materials from one extremity to another extremity, while mixing and agitating them together.

8. An apparatus for polishing dirty game balls as claimed in claim 4, wherein said scraping means comprises at least a rotary vane type scraper.

9. An apparatus for polishing dirty game balls as claimed in claim 4, wherein said scraping means comprises at least a cutting blade having file like teeth capable of scraping soiled surfaces of the soiled polishing materials.

10. A method of polishing game balls substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. An apparatus for polishing game balls subtantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.