Question: My mission, should I accept it, is to design & build a marble
lift by lunchtime.
Comments and ideas welcome.
See below.
_________

As part of a (stunningly impressive) Christmas related display I have been
given the task of making a "marble lift" to take plastic marbles from the
exit of a ball fall system and return them to the top.
I was given this task "if I wanted it" at about 1am.
I'ts 3am Thursday .
I am about to go to sleep.
This needs to be working by midday Thursday OR at least by that stage
certain to work.
Display opens friday.
If I pass the magic set builder man will probably come up with something
that works in no time flat.
Maybe not.

Marbles, plastic, lighter and smaller than std glass marbles. Can measure
but should not be needed.
Vertical lift ~=3D 2 metres.

_______________

Have windscreen wiper motor with reciprocating action and also with rotary
at 45 and 60 rpm.

Can have air from 12v COMPRESSOR OR MAINS COMPRESSOR.
cAN DO AIR SOLENOIDS BUT TIME LIMITED FOR PLAYING.

Can do motors, solenoids, maybe flickers, blowers, lifts ... ?

______________

Balls may ascend in batches or in 1's. Rate of ball flow said not to be
very critical but I suspect having N balls in play at once is desirable so
ascent flow rate ~ >=3D descent probably.

Space limited if possible.  ie a wheel or sloped conveyer not desirable.

Extra points if ascent is visible and impressive in its own right.


___________

Note" Archimedes screw does not work as most people think it does - it must
be inclined and there are always "buckets" within the screw that hold fluid
even when stopped.
So a vertical screw is not suited to archimedes screw use. Not really
enough room here for inclined screw. Probably. COULD angle across front of
multi shelf ball fall on outside inside clear tube.

 - Solenoid flicker - use more energy than needed and a deflector plate at
top.

 - Motor turns and winds up then releases a spring lever to flick ball.

 - Air blow - batch or single.

 - Vacuum

 - Angled bristles against a shark tooth plate (sawtooth wave shape -
bristles move up and down and balls catch in sawtooth to give mainly
upwards flow.
Some version of this may work well and be "not to hard".

 - Buckets on endless loop.

 - Bucket with direction change.

 - Most certain:

Length of wood (say) is reciprocated vertically.
There are 3 possible columns that balls may be in.
Channels in moving wood or in base plate can move balls between columns -
slight down slope.

Inject ball at 1.
Column has 1->2 channel. Ball is in 2.
Ball thus cannot roll out again into 1 entry hole.
Move column vertical to 1st channel in base plate =3D 2->3.
Ball leaves column and enters base channel and rolls to 3.
Column descends and channel in column descends down to ball.
Channel is 3->1 . Ball enters column and rolls to 1.
Lift column - exist into 1->2  in base plate
....

Stroke >=3D vertical spacing of holes.
Determinate action.

3:27am. Sleep calls.


Russell
--=20
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