Sharing some new cabinet ideas - input welcome

[Mike Briggs]

I built my cabinet a few years ago and love it, but I am tired of the bend and lift to refill the balls, so I bought a ball lifter.

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Now, I have to build a new cabinet, so it is time to design a ball handling system. Plus it was a great way to justify buying a 3d printer!

First I have to design a way to separate the mass of balls into individual streams - in this case single file streams inside 1/2 inch electrical conduit.

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This is the prototype separator. Works great and no jams. (took about 5 prototypes to conquer the jam problem)

The pipes will lead to valves at each machine.

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This are custom sized for each machine and sit on top of the ball hopper. It uses the motion of opening the Frame to open and close the valve. A 1/2 conduit fits into the top, and zip ties in for security.

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When the machine is open the valve closes

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When the machine is closed, the valve opens and the balls flow again. Next I have to catch the balls and get them back into the system. I designed a custom ball drain to get the balls back into a pipe so they could be taken away to the lifter.

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The lifter will lift them back into circulation. I plan on storing the balls on top (about 8000) so the lifter won't have to keep up with a fever.

All that is left is to design and build the actual cabinet to put all the pieces together. The cabinet will also have a chute on the front that you can pour any winnings into once you are done playing. And I am going to make a decorative 3d cover plate for the card readers that say "insert card".

Wanted to share what I was working on. Input or thoughts are welcome.

Mike