My Shower Moment

[wrkey]

I tend to do my most 'unusual thinking' in the shower. This morning was no exception. An image came into my brain and I've recreated it below.

A pachinko clock! The image shows the time to be between 10:15 and 10:29. Each tulip pocket marks a 15 minute interval. The 'reels' in the center show the hour (hmmm... maybe an AM/PM indicator is needed). The 'shooter' is controlled from the back with a battery operated motor. At the 15 minute mark, a ball shoots and goes to the far right and opens the 15m tulip. At 30 minutes, the same strength shot and closes the 15 minute but opens the 30 minute. At the 45 minute mark an easy shot is done and the ball opens the 45 minute tulip and closes the 30 minute tulip. At the hour mark, the ball is shot in the middle 'jackpot' pocket which moves the 'reels' one increment and closes the 45 minute pocket. This hour process also rings a bell with a motor and several "clappers" to make a close to authentic jackpot sound. The ball that is shot will always return to the shooter position, thus only one ball is required. Obviously the pins would be arranged to help controll the balls but not so much as to be apparent.

Now, I have the image in my head and shared with you guys, I'd like to get some feed back. How big would be the maximum size you could reasonably want a clock like this? (I don't think the same size as a real machine.) Suggestions on how to 'adjust' the shooter to make the balls shoot consistent enough to go long, go short or go middle. I thought about always having the ball go into the same pocket which would make the process easier, but then it wouldn't react like a real machine. Oh, there would be a switch to 'turn off' the jackpot bell... but maybe have it ring only between certain configurable hours (not during sleep time)?

So.. there it is. Will I build it? I don't know. Depends on time.. which I seem to be short of. Can you build it ... absolutely!

Let me know what you think!

[Bigdog]

Rusty, your first mistake was not getting a patent! Awsome idea!!!but it's also an idea that is way out of my league.

I'd love to see anyone try it...you could probably make a fortune selling them in Japan...come to think of it, you could probably make nearly as much selling them on this board...

[luckydog]

I think we have a couple of members with a clock made from a cell

[Moparformances]

Nice

where to i send my deposit

[Sid]

jano@pachitalk.com

all major forms of payment accepted

[Moparformances]

just because i can still see the taillights of the turnip truck does not mean im a total idiot

is american express ok???

[Sid]

since i am making a reference to something that some of our newer members may not know

Jano, was a Nigerian Email scammer i was sent an email from.

for those that would like a good laugh you can read this thread..
PachiTalk

[johntofva]

Well the tough part would be the consistence. You would have to bend the nails so that you where guaranteed the ball would go into the correct pocket. ...

Or, have the balls shot into a top holding pen, where gravity would feed the ball through a hole (controlled by a slide) at the top. The placement of the hole on the slide at the correct time would drop the ball down the proper side of the machine into the tulip.


Or... just keep all the balls at the top. Having them drop through the same slide towards the correct tulip. Once a ball goes through a tulip, it would activate a sensor that would stop the flow of balls.

Or... have the the shooter controlled by four strength settings. And have it continually shoot balls towards the right tulip until a ball goes through the sensor.


Or...Just take a cell and attach clockworks to it and call it a day.

[luckydog]

and don't forget to get it all patented

[wrkey]

You are exactly right... that's where my idea hangs up the most. I'm thinking that pin placement could do 90% of it.. and have an adjustable catch/release for the hammer to manipulate the ball distance. But, I think I do want to ball to 'fall through' the front in order to more closely emulate a real machine. Great thoughts all... keep'm coming!

Well the tough part would be the consistence. You would have to bend the nails so that you where guaranteed the ball would go into the correct pocket. ...

Or, have the balls shot into a top holding pen, where gravity would feed the ball through a hole (controlled by a slide) at the top. The placement of the hole on the slide at the correct time would drop the ball down the proper side of the machine into the tulip.


Or... just keep all the balls at the top. Having them drop through the same slide towards the correct tulip. Once a ball goes through a tulip, it would activate a sensor that would stop the flow of balls.

Or... have the the shooter controlled by four strength settings. And have it continually shoot balls towards the right tulip until a ball goes through the sensor.


Or...Just take a cell and attach clockworks to it and call it a day.

______________________________________________________
WhenI go to do this (if I do), I will start a new thread where I'm sure the initial post will be a request for parts. (hint hint)

So, hang on to your tulips and flippers and such as I may post a 'beg' for them soon.

later!

[Moparformances]

since i am making a reference to something that some of our newer members may not know

Jano, was a Nigerian Email scammer i was sent an email from.

for those that would like a good laugh you can read this thread..
PachiTalk

that is a funny azz post sid laughed for 9 pages

[takethecastle57]

And Remember to get a Patent for your design and ALSO an OFFERING to the DARK SIDE would be good

[MrGneiss]

It sounds like a really cool project, I hope you can make it happen!!

I'm not sure what size would be best...full size would be impressive for sure...we've had at least 3 members make clocks out of both whole machines and just cells, 1 analog with hands and the others digital added were the screens go..all cool, but nothing as involved as your idea...Sorry, I have no tips for ya, but I really hope you can do it!!

[owennewton]

here is the one I made

[wrkey]

Keep the ideas coming! I like the Star Wars clock.. .really cool and I bet you can see that puppy from across the street!

Here's my first design of how the back mechanics would work. I think it should be pretty easy to configure the pins so that balls launched into the same general vicinity would always end up in the same pocket. Then the trick would be to have the hammer be consistant. I came up with a motor/cam design that I think would work. Each 15min the motor would turn one quarter turn and the various sizes of the cam lobes would set the hammer to the right distance for the desired strength of the strike. Fine tuning could be done with the hammer pull spring just like a normal vintage machine.

I may not patent the idea, but I can say it is copyrighted. If someone wants to build it .. I say go for it. If you start selling them, then we'll need to talk... but I don't think there'd be huge money as the market would be pretty limited.

Anyway... just my brain working overtime on the idea!

later,

Rusty

[dishpan]

I'd say that your key attribute is not rusty at all. Interesting concept.

Just finished watching "Risky Business" (movie held up well over time) and I'm still waiting for my shower moment.

[jwegger]

Perhaps using a series of switches/gates in the back to activate the tulips, so you don't have to get the ball into the tulip to open it, Ball shoots, goes through the out pocket and hits a series of switches/gates to open each pocket in turn. Another option would be to use one of the mechanical slot reels as the clock mechanism. Would require new reel covers but as the balls shoot the hour reel spins around and finally stops at the correct hour.
Due to the size of the components I would say 12 inch face is about as small as you want to go

[compirate]

Have it so that the pins are like normal pachinko pins, lends an aire of randomness. That way, if the ball doesn't go in the tulip, time does not go forward. It could stay 4:45 pm for hours!

[wrkey]

Have it so that the pins are like normal pachinko pins, lends an aire of randomness. That way, if the ball doesn't go in the tulip, time does not go forward. It could stay 4:45 pm for hours!

Actually, that's exactly what I want to do. But I think it would be better to 5pm as its always ... well.. you know...

Anyway, I figured that if the hammer strike could be made consistant then it would not take that much effort to make the pins LOOK like a Matasura gauge and the ball always ends up where it needs to be. I also wanted to to insure that at least the 30 minute ball which would eventually end up in the very bottom pocket) bounces around a little bit. This extra bit of noise would be the indicator of the 1/2 hour while the jackpot bell reserved for the hour mark.

Now... to find the time...

[djcasper_bpm]

why not make balls shot till it lands in the intended pocket which in turn would stop the balls from shooting. only bad part would be at 2am a minor glitch causes balls to shoot till you get out of bed and have to unplug the thing