JP2012121693A - Ball conveyor belt and ball conveyor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball conveyor belt in which free balls are made large and can be disposed highly densely, wear and damage of an article and a conveyor are hardly generated even when the article having high weight is loaded, smooth conveyance is made possible and separate maintenance of individual free balls is made possible with simple operation.SOLUTION: In the ball conveyor belt 100 running and driven while rotatably supporting a large number of free balls 120 with upper ends thereof partially protruded, both end parts of a ball unit 110 formed by connecting a plurality of unit bodies 111 individually housing the free balls 120 are connected to driving chains 140 disposed in parallel.

Description

  The present invention relates to a conveyor and a ball conveyor device suitable for loading and transporting a box-like or plate-like article having a flat bottom surface.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a ball conveyor belt for loading and transporting articles, a ball conveyor belt and a ball conveyor device that are driven to travel by partially protruding the upper end of a free ball so as to rotate are known.

  For example, a large number of chain links formed by integrally forming a plurality of hinge portions protruding in a staggered manner from the front edge and the rear edge are connected in the longitudinal direction of the chain via hinge pins, and free balls are sandwiched between a pair of upper and lower retainers. There is known a ball conveyor belt in which the ball units held in the above are respectively mounted from the longitudinal direction of the chain in unit mounting regions provided between the hinge portions of the chain links (see Patent Document 1, etc.).

Japanese Patent No. 4173151 (all pages, all figures)

  However, the known ball conveyor belt as described above has a limitation in the size of the unit mounting area because the chain link itself needs to be a strength member in the tensile direction when it is driven around the sprocket. There is a problem that it is difficult to increase the size of the free ball or to increase the density.

  For this reason, when the traveling speed of the ball conveyor belt is increased, the number of rotations of the free ball increases, the rattling is caused by wear, the life is shortened, and the article is deformed when a heavy article is placed. There is a problem in that it adversely affects the surface, the bottom surface slides with the chain link and is damaged, and the conveyance is hindered.

  Further, a ball conveyor belt for holding a free ball directly on the chain link itself is also known, and compared with the known ball conveyor belt described in Patent Document 1, the size and density of the free ball are reduced. Then it becomes advantageous.

  However, since the chain link itself becomes a strength member in the tensile direction, the size and density of the free ball are limited, and the work for separately maintaining each free ball becomes complicated, and the chain link There was also a problem that the wear itself occurred.

  The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, that is, the object of the present invention is to increase the size of a free ball, arrange it at a high density, and load a heavy article. An object of the present invention is to provide a ball conveyor belt and a ball conveyor device that can cause smooth wear and damage of articles and conveyors, can be smoothly conveyed, and can maintain individual free balls separately by simple operations.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a ball conveyor belt that is driven to run by partially supporting the upper ends of a large number of free balls so as to rotate freely, and is provided with a support recess that individually accommodates the free balls. A unit unit, and a ball unit formed by connecting a plurality of unit bodies, wherein the unit body is above and below the support recess, and has an upper opening partly protruding from the upper end of the free ball, and the free ball A lower opening partly projecting the lower end of the ball, and a through-hole penetrating in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction in which the free ball projects at a position that does not overlap the support recess, A drive chain that is constituted by a plurality of connecting shafts that are inserted through through holes provided in the unit body, and in which both end portions of the ball unit are arranged in parallel. By becoming linked, it is obtained by solving the above problems.

  In the ball conveyor belt of the invention according to claim 2, in addition to the configuration of the ball conveyor belt according to claim 1, a connection fitting is fixed to the both ends of the ball unit by the connection shaft, The problem is solved by being fixed to the link plate of the drive chain.

  A ball conveyor belt according to a third aspect of the present invention is the ball conveyor belt according to the second aspect, wherein the link plate of the drive chain has an L-shaped mounting base on the upper surface, However, it is configured to be mounted and fixed from above the mounting base, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem.

  In addition to the configuration of the ball conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the ball conveyor belt of the invention according to claim 4 is provided with two through holes in parallel to the unit body, The said subject is solved by the two said through-holes being located in the both sides which pinched | interposed the support recessed part.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the ball conveyor belt according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the free ball has a plurality of sub-spheres in the support recess of the unit body. The above-described problems are solved by being configured to be supported via the above.

  In addition to the configuration of the ball conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the unit main body includes a main body base having the lower opening, and the ball conveyor belt according to the sixth aspect of the invention. A main body lid portion having an upper opening, and the amount of protrusion of the free ball from the lower opening is less than the amount of protrusion of the free ball from the upper opening. .

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the ball conveyor belt according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the unit main body projects in the vertical direction in which the free balls protrude. The problem is solved by forming the shape to be rectangular and providing the through hole parallel to one side of the rectangle of the unit body.

  In addition to the configuration of the ball conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the unit body is formed of a synthetic resin material. The problem is solved.

  A ball conveyor device according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is the ball conveyor belt according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, a plurality of sprockets that endlessly suspend the drive chain of the ball conveyor belt, Drive means for driving any of the sprockets, and in a section in which the ball conveyor belt runs horizontally, by having a planar member that rolls in contact with the lower end of the free ball of the ball conveyor belt, It solves the problem.

  In addition to the configuration of the ball conveyor device according to claim 9, the planar member travels in the same direction or intersecting direction independently of the ball conveyor belt. By being configured to be drivable, the above-described problems are solved.

  The ball conveyor belt according to the first aspect of the present invention is a ball conveyor belt that is driven to run by partially supporting the upper ends of a large number of free balls so as to rotate freely, and is a support recess that individually accommodates the free balls. A unit body, and a ball unit formed by connecting a plurality of the unit bodies. The unit body has an upper opening partly projecting the upper end of the free ball above and below the support recess, and a free ball The unit has a lower opening partly protruding from the lower end, and has a through-hole penetrating in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction in which the free ball protrudes at a position that does not overlap the support recess, and the ball unit is provided in the unit body By being connected by multiple connecting shafts inserted through the through holes, individual free balls can be removed and replaced separately for each unit body. Maintenance can become.

  In addition, since it is possible to align multiple unit bodies in the height direction simply by assembling the connecting shaft into the through-hole, the upper ends of the free balls are aligned at the same height with a simple operation. Can be arranged.

  Furthermore, by connecting both ends of the ball unit connecting the plurality of unit bodies to a drive chain arranged in parallel, the drive chain is used as a strength member in the tensile direction when driven around the sprocket. Therefore, it is not necessary to increase the strength of the ball unit in the pulling direction, it is possible to increase the free balls and arrange them at high density, and even if heavy items are loaded, the wear of items and conveyors can be reduced. There is little occurrence of damage and smooth conveyance becomes possible.

  In the invention according to claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 1, the connecting bracket is fixed to both ends of the ball unit connecting the plurality of unit bodies by the connecting shaft, and the connecting bracket is driven. By being fixed to the link plate of the chain, it becomes possible to disassemble and assemble each ball unit in which a plurality of unit bodies are connected, and maintenance can be performed with simple work.

  In the invention according to the third aspect, in addition to the effect of the invention according to the second aspect, the link plate of the drive chain has an L-shaped attachment base on the upper surface, and the connecting bracket is placed from above the attachment base. It is possible to easily disassemble and assemble the ball unit that connects multiple unit bodies and the drive chain from above, and to perform maintenance with simpler operations. Become.

  In addition to the effects of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the invention according to claim 4 has two through holes provided parallel to the unit body, and the two through holes are supported. By being positioned on both sides of the recess, multiple unit bodies can be aligned more precisely in the height direction by assembling the connecting shaft into the through hole, and the change in position due to load and wear is reduced. be able to.

  The invention according to claim 5 is configured such that the free ball is supported by the support concave portion of the unit main body via a plurality of subspheres in addition to the effect exhibited by the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4. As a result, the rotational resistance of the free ball can be reduced, so that even when a heavy item is loaded, the rotational resistance of the free ball is further prevented from being increased, and the wear of the support recess and the secondary sphere is prevented. And damage can be prevented.

  Moreover, since it is possible to suppress an increase in the rotational resistance of the free ball even if the diameter of the free ball is set large, it is possible to reduce the impact at the time of contact between the end of the loaded article and the free ball. It becomes possible to convey smoothly.

  In addition to the effects of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the invention according to claim 6 includes a main body base having a lower opening and a main body lid having an upper opening. The amount of protrusion from the lower opening of the free ball is smaller than the amount of protrusion from the upper opening of the free ball, thereby ensuring an area for sliding and supporting the free ball by the support recess on the lower end side. Thus, the contact area between the free ball and the loaded article can be secured.

  As a result, even when the loaded article's lower surface is deformed downward, it can reliably contact the free ball and can prevent contact with the main body lid, and it can be smoothly done with less wear and damage to the article and conveyor. It can be transported.

  In the invention according to claim 7, in addition to the effect of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the unit body is formed so that the projected shape in the vertical direction from which the free ball protrudes is rectangular. In addition, since the through hole is provided in parallel with one side of the rectangular shape of the unit main body, it is possible to firmly fix the plurality of unit main bodies only by inserting and tightening the connecting shaft into the through hole. A plurality of unit main bodies can be arranged with simple top operations so that the upper ends of the free balls are aligned at the same height, and changes in position due to load and wear can be reduced.

In addition to the effects of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the invention according to claim 8 makes the unit main body formed of a synthetic resin material so that the loaded article contacts the unit main body. Even so, the impact and sliding resistance can be reduced, and damage to the article can be prevented.
Further, the size and weight can be reduced, and at the same time, the degree of freedom in shape design is improved.

  A ball conveyor device according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is the ball conveyor belt according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, a plurality of sprockets that endlessly suspend the drive chain of the ball conveyor belt, And a driving means for driving one of the sprockets, and a plane member that rolls in contact with the lower end of the free ball of the ball conveyor belt in a section in which the ball conveyor belt runs horizontally. Even when a large article is loaded, the support recess does not receive all the weight, and the rotation resistance of the free ball is prevented from increasing, and the support recess and subsphere can be prevented from being worn or damaged. .

  In addition to the effect of the invention according to the ninth aspect, the invention according to the tenth aspect can rotate the free ball independently of the running of the ball conveyor belt. It is possible to carry or change the posture on the ball conveyor belt.

The top view of the ball conveyor apparatus which is 1st Example of this invention. The side view of the ball conveyor apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a partially exploded plan view of a ball conveyor belt according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of FIG. 3. The perspective view from the upper part of the unit main body of the ball conveyor belt shown in FIG. The perspective view from the lower part of the unit main body of the ball conveyor belt shown in FIG. Sectional drawing of the unit main body shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the unit main body shown in FIG. 3.

  The present invention is a ball conveyor belt that is driven to run by partially projecting the upper ends of a large number of free balls, and a unit main body provided with a support recess for individually accommodating the free balls; A ball unit formed by connecting a plurality of the unit bodies, wherein the unit body has an upper opening partly projecting the upper end of the free ball above and below the support recess, and a part of the lower end of the free ball; A through-hole penetrating in a direction perpendicular to the up-and-down direction from which the free ball protrudes is provided at a position that does not overlap the supporting recess, and the ball unit is provided in the unit body. A plurality of connecting shafts are connected by connecting shafts inserted through the through-holes, and both end portions of the ball unit are connected to a drive chain arranged in parallel. -The balls can be made larger and placed at a high density, and even when heavy items are loaded, wear and damage to the items and conveyors are reduced. Smooth transfer is possible, and individual free balls can be easily operated. As long as they can be maintained separately, the specific mode may be any.

That is, the number of free balls, unit bodies, and ball units disposed on the entire ball conveyor belt of the present invention may be any number.
Further, the free ball, the unit main body, and the auxiliary sphere may be made of any material as long as the free ball is stably supported so as to be rotatable.

  For example, one of the free ball and the unit body is made of polyacetal and the other is made of polyamide or polyester, so it has excellent self-lubricating properties and is in contact with dissimilar materials. The coefficient can be reduced and sliding wear can be suppressed.

  The polyacetal may be any of a homopolymer, a copolymer, or a block copolymer, the polyamide may be nylon 6, nylon 66, or the like, and the polyester may be polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate ( PBT) or the like may be used.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ball conveyor apparatus 150 according to an embodiment of the present invention has drive chains 140 on both sides in the width direction of the ball conveyor belt 100 arranged in parallel to both sides in the width direction. The article is placed on a section where the upper ball conveyor belt 100 travels horizontally by being hung around the drive sprocket 151 and the driven sprocket 152.
The drive sprocket 151 is rotationally driven by a drive motor 153.

  In the section in which the upper ball conveyor belt 100 travels horizontally, a flat member 154 that rolls in contact with the lower end of the free ball 120 of the ball conveyor belt 100 is provided and placed on the ball conveyor belt 100. The article receives the rotational force of the free balls 120 and is conveyed at a speed twice the traveling speed of the ball conveyor belt 100.

  The planar member 154 is, for example, a belt conveyor that is driven to travel, and can be driven in the same direction or different directions independently of the travel of the ball conveyor belt 100, or as a rotary table, configured to be rotatable in a horizontal plane, The article may be conveyed to the side of the ball conveyor belt 100, or the posture of the article may be changed on the ball conveyor belt 100.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the ball conveyor belt 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of unit main bodies 111 that partially protrude and freely support the upper end and the lower end of the free ball 120 to form a ball unit 110. A plurality of ball units 110 are provided, and a large number of free balls 120 are arranged in multiple rows and columns.

  A ball unit 110 composed of a plurality of unit main bodies 111 in each row is fixed by fixing nuts 132 between connecting metal fittings 130 arranged at both ends through two connecting shafts 131. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the drive chain 140 is fixed.

  The drive chain 140 has a large number of link plates 141 arranged in parallel alternately inside and outside, and is connected to the front and rear sides of the drive chain 140 so as to be bendable. The connection pin 142 is connected to the drive sprocket 151 and the driven sprocket 152 described above. The driving force is transmitted by meshing.

  The structure of the connecting pin 142 part may be a so-called bush chain in which a hollow bush and a connecting pin are fitted, or a roller chain in which a roller is externally fitted to the bush or the pin.

  An attachment base 143 formed in an L shape is provided on the upper surface of the link plate 141 on one side of the drive chain 140 that is arranged in parallel. A mounting hole 144 is provided for fixing in the above.

The connection fitting 130 fixed to both ends of the ball unit 110 composed of a plurality of unit main bodies 111 has a side surface portion 135 through which the two connection shafts 131 penetrate and an upper surface portion 133 extending outward from the upper surface thereof. .
The upper surface portion 133 of the coupling metal 130 is placed on the attachment base portion 143 on the upper surface of the link plate 141 of the drive chain 140, and screws or the like passing through the fixing hole 134 provided in the upper surface portion 133 and the attachment hole 144 of the attachment base portion 143. As a result, the attachment base 143 on the upper surface of the connection fitting 130 and the link plate 141 is fixed.

  That is, the ball unit 110 composed of a plurality of unit bodies 111 is fixed in a row by the two connecting shafts 131 together with the connecting fittings 130 at both ends, and these are arranged side by side, The ball conveyor belt 100 is configured by being fixed so as to be placed on the attachment base 143 on the upper surface of the link plate 141.

  With the above configuration, when the unit main body 111 including the individual free balls 120 is removed, only the ball units 110 in the row can be detached from the drive chain 140 and removed. Even when the subsphere 121 or the like to be replaced is replaced due to damage or wear, it is possible to disassemble and replace only the ball unit 110 of the defective unit body 111.

  Further, since the upper surface portion 133 of the connecting metal fitting 130 is placed and fixed on the mounting base portion 143 on the upper surface of the link plate 141, the disassembly / assembly operation of the ball unit 110 is assembled from above with the ball conveyor device 150 being incorporated. It can be easily performed, and maintenance can be performed with simple work even at the site after installation.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the unit main body 111 includes a main body base portion 112 and a main body lid portion 116, and a free ball 120 supported via a plurality of subspheres 121 is received in the support recess 113 of the unit main body 111. Have.
The main body lid portion 116 has an upper opening 117 that partially protrudes from the upper end of the free ball 120 above the support recess 113.

The main body base 112 has a lower opening 114 that partially protrudes the lower end of the free ball 120 at a lower portion of the support recess 113, and in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction in which the free ball 120 protrudes at a position that does not overlap the support recess 113. A through-hole 115 is provided.
The main body base portion 112 and the main body lid portion 116 receive the free balls 120 and the plurality of subspheres 121 in the support recess 113 and are fixed by the lid portion fixing screws 118.

  The upper opening 117 of the main body lid 116 is formed larger than the lower opening 114 of the main body base 112, and the amount of protrusion of the free ball 120 from the lower opening 114 is larger than the upper opening 117 of the free ball 120. It is formed so as to be less than the protruding amount.

  Thus, an area where the free ball 120 is slidably supported by the support recess 113 on the lower end side can be ensured, and a contact area between the free ball 120 and the loaded article can be ensured on the upper end side. Even when deformed downward, the free ball 120 can be reliably contacted and smoothly transported.

  The plurality of subspheres 121 are accommodated in appropriate numbers so that the free balls 120 can rotate freely in the gap between the support recess 113 and the free balls 120 so that the free balls 120 can smoothly rotate.

  The upper opening 117 of the main body lid 116 and the lower opening 114 of the main body base 112 are provided with edge portions 119 so that the free balls 120 are allowed to protrude while the plurality of subspheres 121 are not dropped.

The distance between the edge 119 of the upper opening 117 and the free ball 120 is preferably as narrow as possible in order to prevent foreign matter from entering the support recess 113.
The distance between the edge portion 119 of the lower opening 114 and the free ball 120 is set as appropriate so that the plurality of subspheres 121 do not fall off and fine foreign matters mixed in the support recess 113 can be discharged.

Moreover, in order to make smooth the free rolling in the clearance gap between the support recessed part 113 and the free ball 120 more smoothly, you may mix the thing of several diameters.
Further, the support recess 113 may be configured to directly support and slide the free ball 120 in a rotatable manner, and may be directly contacted and slid without interposing a plurality of subspheres 121. In that case, of course, it is not necessary to provide the edge portion 119.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the unit main body 111 including the main body base portion 112 and the main body lid portion 116 is configured to have a rectangular outer shape in plan view and a large number of unit main bodies 111 arranged vertically and horizontally. Thus, the number of free balls 120 per unit area is increased.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 8, two through holes 115 extending in parallel with the short sides of the rectangular outer shape are formed on both sides of the support recess 113, in the main body base 112 of the unit main body 111. Yes.

  The through holes 115 are provided at the same position in all the unit main bodies 111, and as shown in FIG. 3, the long sides of the plurality of unit main bodies 111 are adjacent to each other, and two connecting shafts 131 are connected to each through hole 115. Since it becomes possible to align in the height direction by inserting, the upper ends of the free balls 120 can be aligned at the same height with a simple operation.

  The length of the short side of the unit body 111 is the minimum length that can form the support recess 113, and the length of the long side of the unit body 111 is also the minimum length that can form the support recess 113 and the through hole 115. Thus, the diameter of the free balls 120 can be increased without reducing the number of free balls 120 per area.

  In the illustrated embodiment, the connection fittings 130 are provided for each row with the same length as the long side of the unit body 111, but the connection fittings 130 have a length that is an integral multiple of the long side of the unit body 111. A plurality of rows of unit bodies 111 may be fixed to each other.

  Further, the connecting shaft 131 may be a screw shaft provided with a screw thread on the whole, or may be tightened with a fixing nut 132 with a screw thread provided at both ends, and a hook is provided at one end and the other end is provided. Only a screw thread may be provided and tightened by the fixing nut 132.

  Further, the amount of protrusion of the free ball 120 of the ball unit 110 from the lower opening 114 and the amount of protrusion from the upper opening 117 are the weight, size, and material of the article to be loaded, the material of the planar member 154, the surface condition, Depending on various conditions such as the driving speed, the upper and lower parts may be made equal, or the amount of protrusion from the lower opening 114 may be increased contrary to the above embodiment.

  Similarly, regarding the material of the free ball 120 and the unit main body 111, various conditions such as the weight, size, and material of the article to be loaded, the material of the flat member 154, the surface state, the driving speed, Either one or both may be made of metal such as iron or aluminum depending on the presence or absence and its material.

Further, in the above embodiment, the unit body 111 of the ball unit 110 has been described as having a rectangular shape, but a trapezoidal shape may be alternately arranged with long sides and short sides, or may be substantially triangular.
Furthermore, each corner portion may have a large R curve, and may have an oval shape with a large number of the curve portions, or an elliptical shape or a circular shape with a curved entire periphery.

  As described above, according to the ball conveyor belt and the ball conveyor apparatus of the present invention, the free balls can be enlarged and arranged with high density, and even when a heavy article is loaded, wear or damage of the article or the conveyor occurs. The effects are enormous, such as being able to be transported smoothly and with a simple operation and allowing individual free balls to be maintained separately.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Ball conveyor belt 110 ... Ball unit 111 ... Unit main body 112 ... Main body base 113 ... Support recessed part 114 ... Lower opening 115 ... Through-hole 116 ... Main body cover Portion 117 ··· Upper opening portion 118 ··· Lid fixing screw 119 · · · Edge portion 120 · · · Free ball 121 · · · Secondary ball 130 · · · Connection fitting 131 · · · Connection shaft 132 ··· Fixing nut 133 ... upper surface part 134 ... fixing hole 135 ... side part 140 ... drive chain 141 ... link plate 142 ... pin 143 ... mounting base 144 ... mounting hole 150 ... Ball conveyor 151 ... Drive sprocket 152 ... Driven sprocket 153 ... Drive motor 154 ... Planar member

Claims (10)

It is a ball conveyor belt that is driven to run by supporting the upper end of a large number of free balls so as to protrude freely,
A unit main body provided with a support recess for individually storing the free balls, and a ball unit formed by connecting a plurality of the unit main bodies,
The unit body has an upper opening partly projecting the upper end of the free ball and a lower opening partly projecting the lower end of the free ball above and below the support recessed part, and does not overlap the support recessed part A through hole penetrating in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction in which the free ball protrudes,
The ball unit is configured to be connected by a plurality of connecting shafts inserted through through holes provided in the unit body,
A ball conveyor belt characterized in that both end portions of the ball unit are connected to drive chains arranged in parallel. At both ends of the ball unit, a connection fitting is fixed by the connection shaft,
2. The ball conveyor belt according to claim 1, wherein the connecting metal fitting is fixed to a link plate of the drive chain. The link plate of the drive chain has an L-shaped mounting base on the upper surface;
The ball conveyor belt according to claim 2, wherein the connection fitting is configured to be mounted and fixed from above the mounting base. Two through holes are provided in parallel to the unit body,
The ball conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the two through holes are located on both sides of the support recess.   The ball conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the free ball is configured to be supported by a support concave portion of the unit body via a plurality of subspheres. The unit main body has a main body base having the lower opening, and a main body lid having the upper opening,
6. The ball conveyor belt according to claim 1, wherein a protruding amount of the free ball from the lower opening is smaller than a protruding amount of the free ball from the upper opening. The unit body is formed so that the projection shape in the vertical direction from which the free ball protrudes is a rectangle,
The ball conveyor belt according to claim 1, wherein the through hole is provided in parallel with one side of the rectangle of the unit main body.   The ball conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the unit main body is made of a synthetic resin material. A ball conveyor belt according to any one of claims 1 to 8, a plurality of sprockets that endlessly drive a drive chain of the ball conveyor belt, and drive means for driving any of the sprockets. ,
A ball conveyor apparatus comprising a flat member that rolls in contact with a lower end of a free ball of the ball conveyor belt in a section where the ball conveyor belt runs horizontally.   The ball conveyor apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the planar member is configured to be capable of traveling and driving in the same direction or intersecting direction independently of the ball conveyor belt.

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