Custom Ball Lifter with worm method

[Drunkenclam]

OK

[mrdummy]

Day 5 (~ 2 hours)

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The lift part is now partially done.

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The base plate with 2 feets is done. It's 48 cm long one.

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Now some parts are ready for the tray. Next day i can build the tray.

[mrdummy]

I have told earlier i have time relay circuit from Conrad ordered.
This circuit has Reset and Start buttons.
The Start part is used for ball lift start, when the ball rolls inside the worm lift below. A optical gate circuit is placed to detect the balls.
It stops after some seconds when no ball is detected.

But it's possible the upper hopper is full of balls. Then the ball cannot roll out the tube in upper lift part. This shall blocks the worm wheel part, which damages the copper parts. Not good.
To prevent it, i add the another optical gate in the tube to detect the balls. It's connected with Reset button on the time relay circuit.
Only difference the reset signal is here delayed because moving balls are good, but when ball stays there, it's wrong.
The delay is here around 1-2 sec before Reset is activated, and thus the whole lift is stopped. Done with another simple delay circuit.

Reset is here master control on time relay circuit.
That makes the lift safe and useful thanks to some electronic control.

[mrdummy]

Oke, continuing build work.

Day 6 (~2 hr):
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Building exit tray for balls from exit hole pachinko. It's made so the balls can roll in one direction. The skewed bottom has small 5 degrees.
It's glued and some screws are used to keep all together.

[mrdummy]

Day 7 (~2,5 hours):
Finally build the lift part.
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Make holes for ball bearings. But i don't drill fully the hole out, so the ball bearings wont fell through.

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Then i make the up and down ends of the lift part straight leveled as possible with grinding carefully. When done, i can now screw them together.

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And the next step is done. You can see now the basic build of the lift.
To do:
- secure the lift part, to prevent breaking off if you bump against it.
- motor mount and gearwork
- ball guide paths
- electronics for motor control

Thus it's almost done

[Drunkenclam]

Looking good. Looks like your almost there

[mrdummy]

Day 8 (~3 hours):

Today i have mounted the motor in the ball lift. But first:
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Securing the lift shaft. Now it's more safer without damage by knocking off.

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Drilling bigger hole (12mm) in one of the gear wheels. It's still possible!
Because max images per post, the story continues in next post...

[mrdummy]

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Make a hole for motor part. Thanks to special tool, it's easy work.

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Sand some wood away to make motor fit in. When done, i can screw it on the place.

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And the one gear wheel is now secured after drilling hole.

I have made video with first run motor. I'm busy with upload, wait a bit and i post in next post.

[mrdummy]

The youtube video is in progress, but i have the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NduJIDFIrfE, or take a look at the video below.
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[mrdummy]

Day 9 (~ 6 hours):

Make collect tray ready for ball path.
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I have checked the collect tray for ball jams.
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Ball jammed very easy with this normal hole. Thus i try add extra plate to it.

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Testing methods to avoid ball jams. Then i see something what the problem is. I must make the hole bigger so 2 balls can roll through it. That is ~22mm height.
Two plates wood doesn't make much difference.

Story continues in next post...

[mrdummy]

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I have to make it bigger.

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One extra layer plate wood seems enough. Now i can continue with build work.

See the video for example ball jam test.


Story continues in next post...

[mrdummy]

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Making two plates for ball in and out lift shaft.

Story continues in next post...

[mrdummy]

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Soldering extra piece copper wire in upper part lift, this shall push the ball out when they're above.
This method is easy and almost 100% working. We shall see it in practical final test, but small tests has proved it's working good.
I have also cut unneeded copper wire away in worm part.

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And make holes in both in/out plates for screws.

Story continues in next post... pretty much pictures... but many things happens in 6 hours.

[mrdummy]

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Bending copper wires...

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The copper wires are soldered to keep 2 long wires in place. They shall guide the balls in de worm lift.
Between 2 wires is 12mm room. I know the ball can fell off, but this part is still in progress. One more wire guide is needed, but i add it when all copper holders are soldered.

This is final (long) post for Day 9. The progress is going smoothly without much problems.
You may now give some comments.

[yose]

It is amasing with the thought and planning ,and the complex building of just trying to get a little steel ball back to the top of a pachinko machine.Bravo in your idea.Can't wait to see it in action.

[Moparformances]

looking good so far...

[Denhomer]

Looks really nice.
But if I were you, I'd test the ball collector with a lot more balls... If you have 200 balls in there, it might create more jamming than with the 15 balls you are testing with.
I ran 2000+ balls through my ball collector solution before deciding it might be ok

[Drunkenclam]

If they start building up. Your be surprised how much they can bind up even over larger holes than yours.

[mrdummy]

Yeah, i have 18 balls received from my friend. I can ask more balls for test, but you know, more balls makes also more "pressure" which pushes ball more forward.
It's possible it's still working. :-) I can always sand more wood away.
Unforntunately, i have not owned a pachinko case. Perhaps one in future, but i'm helping my friend. One pachinko is used for anime convention in the Netherlands (Almelo, named Anime 2011 at 6-8 May) and i build one lift for automatic ball feeding and rotation. It's placed in the gameroom.
This custom lift has complex worm part, but generally it's easy to build if you do it right.

[wibbix]

Hi, mrdummy!

You are doing a great job! We all appreciate your time and efforts, especially with posting your progress so others can learn.

I certainly look forward to the final implementation.