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Peripherator Mark I - August 2017
A multi-stack ball roller based on the very clever elevating device of Robin Schoolar - you can see how it works in the movies. I have retained Robin's name for it, being descriptive of the peripheral paths taken by the balls in travelling around each module.
Three modules in series elevate the ping-pong balls, which are 38 mm in diameter here. The balls can follow more than one path on their way to the top, and all aspects of the travelling balls are self-correcting - a pause in one place, for example, will soon be cleared by newly-arriving balls, and if there are too many being elevated in one region, the excess ball(s) will drop down to begin their travels again from a lower level.
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Graham Jost (at 9:39pm, Sat 2nd Sep, 17) |
Thanks, Robin. I hadn't noticed your message earlier, being preoccupied with Mk II! |
Meccanorak (at 11:26pm, Thu 24th Aug, 17) |
PS Caution to anyone thinking of building one ... expect the paint on your circular discs to suffer a bit! |
Meccanorak (at 11:25pm, Thu 24th Aug, 17) |
My original Peripherator had only an axial spring on the shaft carrying the rotating disk. The non-rotating disk was fixed, and at a slight angle to the rotating one. This had the result that while a ball was being lifted, any further balls waited at the bottom until the first ball left at the top ... which is an effect I quite like. |