JP2009153929A - Ball putout device of game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball putout device capable of being reduced in size, requiring only one ball detection device to simplify wiring and reduced in manufacturing costs. <P>SOLUTION: A supply passage 17 is bent into an L with a vertical gutter section 19a and a lateral gutter section 19b so that they may enclose a drive motor 21, an exhaust passage 20 to which a front edge of a lead screw 27 intervenes is formed in the end of each lateral gutter section 19b, the outer circumference face at least front side of a lead screw 27 is tapered to narrow gradually toward the front edge, a passage wall 32 in the exhaust passage 20 slopes along the gradient of the tapered face section 29a of the lead screw 27 and an exhaust port 34 is established to the lower end, an attachment space S is formed below the inclined passage walls 32, 32 of the exhaust passage 20, and, a ball detection machine 35 electrically detecting the game ball losing support of a ball supporting part 30 of the lead screw 27 is located in the attachment space S. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a ball dispensing device for a gaming machine, and more particularly to a ball dispensing device for a downsized gaming machine.

  Conventionally, as a ball payout device of a pachinko gaming machine which is a kind of gaming machine, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. In this ball dispensing device, a lead screw is disposed between two supply passages provided on the left and right, and a ball support portion for supporting a game ball is spirally provided on the outer peripheral surface of the lead screw. A support portion faces both the supply passages. Then, by driving the drive motor and rotating the lead screw, the game balls connected to both supply passages are discharged one by one to the lower discharge passages communicating with the respective supply passages. In each discharge passage, a ball detector for electrically detecting a falling game ball is arranged.

  By the way, recently, many electronic parts, wiring boards, wirings, etc. have been attached to the mechanism plate on the back of the pachinko machine as the size of the variable display device and the sophistication of the game have increased. There is a strong demand to reduce the size of multiple parts in consideration of space and installation work. However, in the ball dispensing device of Patent Document 1, the vertical dimension is relatively long, and it is difficult to meet the demand for downsizing. As a response to this requirement, there is a ball payout device disclosed in Patent Document 2, for example. In this ball dispensing device, a drive motor is disposed above the lead screw, the lead screw is fixed to the motor shaft of the drive motor, and a plurality of juxtaposed supply passages surround the drive motor. And a discharge passage is formed at the end of each supply passage so as to communicate with each supply passage and surround the lead screw. Further, a ball detector that electrically detects a game ball falling in each discharge passage is disposed in each discharge passage.

Japanese Patent No. 3310958 (page 2-4, FIG. 3, FIG. 4) Japanese Patent No. 3841443 (page 3-4, FIG. 2, FIG. 5)

  Although the apparatus can be reduced in size by using the configuration of the ball dispensing device of the cited document 2, a ball detector is provided in each discharge passage, so that a plurality of ball detectors are required. Become. For this reason, there is a problem that the wiring process becomes complicated and the troublesome work is forced, and not only the workability is inferior, but also the production cost of the ball dispensing apparatus becomes expensive.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and enables downsizing and simplification of wiring processing by reducing the number of sphere detectors to one, so that the workability is low and the manufacturing cost is low. It is an object of the present invention to provide a gaming machine ball payout device.

  In order to achieve this object, a ball payout device for a gaming machine according to the present invention includes a drive motor disposed above a lead screw, the lead screw fixed to a motor shaft of the drive motor, and a supply passage formed by rotation of the lead screw. In which a plurality of passages are juxtaposed side by side and a vertical saddle portion and a recumbent portion so as to surround the drive motor. The game ball is formed to be bent in an L-shape and guided to the lead screw side through each of the recumbent portions. The end of each recumbent portion communicates with each recumbent portion of the reed screw. A discharge passage in which the tip side intervenes is formed, and an outer peripheral surface of at least the tip side of the lead screw is formed in a tapered surface shape gradually narrowing toward the tip, The road wall is inclined with a gradient along the tapered surface portion of the lead screw, and a discharge port is opened at the lower end thereof, and a mounting space is formed below the inclined passage wall of the discharge passage, and the mounting is performed. A ball detector for electrically detecting a game ball that has lost support from the ball support portion of the lead screw is positioned in the space.

  At this time, the lead screw is composed of a columnar portion located on the proximal end side and a conical portion located on the distal end side, and a ball support portion for supporting the game ball is spirally provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and the cylinder It is preferable that the boundary line between the part and the conical part and the upper end position of the outer peripheral edge of the ball support part be below the center of the game ball located at the terminal opening of the lateral flange part.

  In addition, it is preferable that a ball outlet is provided at the bottom surface of the horizontal flange in the supply passage, and a ball outlet valve that opens and closes the ball outlet is mounted on the ball outlet.

  The ball payout device for a gaming machine according to the present invention has a supply passage juxtaposed with a plurality of passages and bends in an L-shape by a vertical saddle portion and a recumbent portion so as to surround the drive motor, The ball is formed so as to be guided to the lead screw side, and a discharge passage where the tip side of the lead screw intervenes is formed at the end of each lateral flange, and at least the outer peripheral surface of the lead screw is gradually narrowed toward the tip. It is formed in a tapered surface, and the passage wall in the discharge passage is inclined with a gradient along the tapered surface portion of the lead screw, and a discharge port is opened at the lower end thereof, and is attached below the inclined passage wall of the discharge passage. A space is formed, and a ball detector that electrically detects a game ball that has lost support from the ball support portion of the lead screw is positioned in the mounting space. In this way, the outer peripheral surface of at least the tip side of the lead screw is formed in a tapered surface shape gradually narrowing toward the tip, and the passage wall in the discharge passage is inclined with a gradient along the tapered surface portion of the lead screw. In addition, a discharge port is opened at the lower end thereof, a mounting space is formed below the inclined passage wall of the discharge passage, and a game ball that has lost support from the ball support portion of the lead screw is electrically detected in the mounting space. Since the sphere detector is positioned, the sphere detector can be accommodated within the lateral width of the supply passage. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the ball dispensing device. In addition, the game balls that have lost support from the ball support section gather and fall to the center along the inner surface of the inclined passage wall, so it is sufficient to detect these game balls in order, and as a result, a single ball detector is used. That's it. As a result, the wiring process is simplified, the workability is excellent, and the production cost can be reduced.

  At this time, the lead screw is composed of a cylindrical portion located on the proximal end side and a conical portion located on the distal end side. If the upper end position of the outer peripheral edge of the part is located below the center of the game ball located at the terminal opening of the horizontal part, the inflow site where the game ball flows in the discharge passage is compared with the game ball. It doesn't become mischievous. In addition, even if the upper end of the outer peripheral edge of the ball support portion of the lead screw comes into contact with the game ball flowing into the discharge passage, it contacts the outer peripheral surface below the center of the game ball. Therefore, the game ball flowing into the discharge passage is supported by the ball support portion while being in contact with the cylindrical portion of the outer peripheral surface of the lead screw, so that the ball hardly dances and falls smoothly and stably. As a result, there is no effect on the ball payout operation, and there is an effect that the high-speed payout can be sufficiently handled.

  In addition, if a ball outlet is opened on the bottom surface of the horizontal flange in the supply passage and a ball outlet valve for opening and closing the ball outlet is mounted on the ball outlet, the ball can be removed from the ball dispensing device. Thus, as compared with the conventional case where a ball outlet is provided above the upper surface of the curved rail, for example, the bottom surface of the curve rail and the ball is extracted therefrom, the ball extraction between them can be omitted. Thereby, a part of the back mechanism is simplified, and an installation space corresponding to that is simplified, so that an effect of facilitating the layout of many electronic components, wiring boards, wirings, and the like can be achieved.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a ball payout device for gaming machines according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings. The present invention is applied to a gaming machine such as a pachinko gaming machine, an arrangement ball gaming machine, a sparrow ball gaming machine, and a parrot machine (rotating type gaming machine using a pachinko ball as a gaming medium). A case where the present invention is applied to a pachinko gaming machine will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a rear view of a pachinko gaming machine to which the present invention is applied. This pachinko gaming machine P has a vertically long rectangular machine casing 1, and a main body frame 2 in which a gaming board 3 is arranged on the front side of the machine casing 1 is pivotally attached. A synthetic resin mechanism plate 4 is pivotally mounted on the back side of the main body frame 2 so as to cover the back surface of the game board 3 so as to be freely opened and closed. A ball tank 5 is disposed above the mechanism plate 4, and a ball guide rail 6 is disposed below the mechanism plate 4 for guiding the game balls discharged from the ball tank 5 to the downstream side. A ball dispensing device 8 is connected to the lower end of the ball guide rail 6 via a curve rail 7. In addition, on the downstream side of the ball payout device 8, the game balls paid out from the ball payout device 8 are paid out to a ball tray (not shown) on the front surface of the pachinko gaming machine P as a prize ball or a rental ball. A ball payout basket 9 and a ball discharge basket 10 for discharging the game balls stored in the ball tank 5 and the ball guide rail 6 to the outside of the pachinko gaming machine P when the balls are removed after the end of business are provided. .

  A winning ball collecting bowl 11 for collecting winning balls, which are game balls, is formed in the lower front portion of the mechanism plate 4 facing the back surface of the game board 3. The winning ball assembly basket 11 is arranged to flow down the winning balls in a line, and a winning ball detector 12 is provided for detecting the winning balls passing in the middle of the flow-down passage 11a. A signal from the winning ball detector 12 is sent to a payout control circuit (not shown) to control the operation of the ball payout device 8.

  Next, the configuration of the ball dispensing device 8 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the ball payout device 8 includes a payout device main body 13 and a cover body 14 attached to one side of the ball payout device main body 13. In a state where the cover body 14 is attached to the dispensing apparatus main body 13, the entire body has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the payout device main body 13 is generally composed of a synthetic resin front half 15a, a synthetic resin rear half 15b, and a synthetic resin partition wall 16 located in the middle. The The front and rear halves 15a and 15b are assembled by opening the opposing side surfaces to each other and matching the opposing surfaces opened with the partition wall 16 in between. For this reason, the boss hole 15c and the boss 16a fitted to the boss hole 15c are provided opposite to each other on the opposing surfaces of the front and rear halves 15a and 15b and both side surfaces of the partition wall 16, respectively. The front and rear half bodies 15a and 15b are provided with supply passages 17 and 17 adjacent to each other with the partition wall 16 in between. Both supply passages 17 and 17 are juxtaposed in the front-rear direction, and a vertical vertical flange portion 19a having a supply port 18 at the upper end surface and a horizontal horizontal flange portion 19b communicating with the vertical flange portion 19a at the lower end of the vertical flange portion 19a. And bent into an L shape. Accordingly, the dispensing device main body 13 is also substantially L-shaped in front. The end faces on the downstream side of the both lateral flange portions 19b, 19b are open. A discharge passage 20 that communicates with both sides 19b, 19b is formed vertically at the ends of both sides 19b, 19b. Note that the bottom surfaces of the horizontal flange portions 19b, 19b are slightly inclined toward the discharge passage 20 side.

  A drive motor 21 for rotating a lead screw 27 which will be described later is disposed on the upper surface of the dispensing device main body 13 in the vicinity of the supply passages 17 and 17. The drive motor 21 is provided with mounting pieces 22, 22 that are opposed to both sides of the lower surface and project outward. A screw insertion hole 23 is formed in each mounting piece 22. Then, the motor shaft 21 a of the drive motor 21 is directed downward, and the motor shaft 21 a is inserted into the shaft insertion hole 24 formed in the upper surface of the dispensing device main body 13. Further, the screws 26, 26 are screwed into the screw holes 25, 25 provided on the upper surface of the dispensing device main body 13 so as to communicate with the screw insertion holes 23 through the screw insertion holes 23 of both the attachment pieces 22, 22. By combining, the drive motor 21 is arranged and fixed. At this time, the motor shaft 21a is located substantially at the center of the discharge passage 20.

  A lead screw 27 is fixed to the motor shaft 21 a of the drive motor 21. More specifically, the lead screw 27 includes a metal holding member 28 and a synthetic resin screw body 29. The holding member 28 is integrally provided with a circular flange portion 28b at one end of the cylindrical shaft portion 28a, and is integrally provided at the base end portion of the screw body 29 by insert molding. For this reason, an uneven spline (not shown) is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical shaft portion 28a to improve the entanglement with the resin. The diameter of the flange portion 28 b is set larger than the diameter of the screw body 29, and the flange portion 28 b protrudes outward from the outer peripheral surface of the screw body 29. This means that the motor shaft 21a is press-fitted into the shaft hole 28c of the holding member 28. At this time, when a load is applied directly to the synthetic resin screw main body 29 along the axial direction, the screw main body 29 Risk of damage. Therefore, it is necessary to provide the holding member 28 as a presser portion as an alternative.

  On the other hand, the screw body 29 has a base end side, that is, a side to which the holding member 28 is attached, formed in a columnar shape, and a distal end side formed in a tapered surface shape, that is, a conical shape. The outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 29a and the outer diameter of the circular bottom surface of the conical portion 29b are the same size, and the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 29a is greater than or equal to the radius of the game ball and less than the diameter. Set by. In addition, the tip side may have a truncated cone shape. On the outer peripheral surface of the screw body 29, a ball support portion 30 that supports a game ball is provided in a spiral shape. The horizontal dimensions from the outer peripheral surface of the screw body 29 to the outer peripheral edge of the ball support portion 30 are all set equally. The lead screw 27 is arranged vertically, is positioned at the center of the discharge passage 20, and a conical portion 29 b on the distal end side of the screw body 29 faces the discharge passage 20 from above. And it rotates in a horizontal plane.

  The lead screw 27 will be described a little more. The boundary line L between the base end side cylindrical portion 29a and the conical portion 29b provided on the outer peripheral surface of the screw main body 29 is set to substantially the same height as the bottom surface of the terminal opening 31 of the lateral flange portion 19b as shown in FIG. The game ball B is located below the center O of the game ball B located in the terminal opening 31. Further, the upper end U of the ball support portion 30 on the outer peripheral surface of the screw body 29 is also set so as to be located at substantially the same height as the boundary line L, and is more than the center O of the game ball B located at the terminal opening 31. Located below.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the discharge passage 20 has parallel inner walls 19a, 19a of the supply passages 17, 17 and the inner surfaces of the passage walls 32, 32 facing each other, the lead screw 27 Inclined with a gradient along the conical portion 29b, and the passage width is gradually narrowed as it goes downward. In other words, the inner surfaces of the passage walls 32 and 32 and the conical portion 29b of the lead screw 27 are located approximately parallel to each other with a substantially diametric dimension of the game ball. For example, the inner surfaces of the passage walls 32, 32 have the same gradient as the conical portion 29 a of the lead screw 27. As described above, the passage walls 32a and 32b that constitute the discharge passage 20 and are orthogonal to the horizontal flange portions 19a and 19b of the supply passages 17 and 17 are arranged vertically and are parallel to each other, and also constitute the discharge passage 20. The walls 32, 32 are formed in an inverted C shape. As a result, a mounting space S for positioning a sphere detector 35 to be described later is formed below the both inclined passage walls 32, 32. The game balls flowing out from the terminal openings 31 of both supply passages 17, 17 enter the discharge passage 20 on both sides of the lead screw 27 and descend while being supported by the ball support portion 30. A discharge port 34 is opened at the lower end of the discharge passage 20.

  A ball for electrically detecting a game ball falling on the discharge passage 20 on the outer peripheral surface of the discharge passage 20 on the opposite side of the supply passages 17, 17, that is, on the outer surface of the passage wall 32 a orthogonal to the lateral flange portion 19 b. A detector 35 is arranged. As the sphere detector 35, a planar U-shaped photosensor is used. The main body of the sphere detector 35 is in contact with the outer surface of the passage wall 32a orthogonal to the lateral flange portion 19b, and the light projecting portion 35a and the light receiving portion 35b are respectively provided in the mounting space S so as to face each other. A sphere detector 35 is disposed so as to be fitted to 20a, 20a. As a result, the ball detector 35 can be accommodated within the two passage widths of the supply passages 17 and 17 arranged side by side, and the ball dispensing device 8 can be downsized. In addition, the light projecting unit 35a and the light receiving unit 35b are provided at a position to detect a game ball that has lost support from the ball support unit 30 of the lead screw 27, and at that position, the game ball is centered along the inclined surface. Since they fall together and fall, only one ball detector 35 for detecting a game ball falling in the discharge passage 20 is required. The sphere detector 35 is not limited to the mounting position. For example, as the mounting position, there is the outer peripheral surface of the discharge passage 35 and the outer surface of the passage wall 32b on the supply passages 17, 17 side. In this case, the main body of the sphere detector 35 is in contact with the outer surface of the passage wall 32b, and the light projecting portion 35a and the light receiving portion 35b are positioned in the mounting space S below the passage walls 32 and 32 where the light projecting portion 35a and the light receiving portion 35b are inclined. Further, the main body of the sphere detector 35 is brought into contact with the outer surface of the passage wall 32 below the inclined passage walls 32, 32, that is, in the mounting space S, and the light projecting portion 35a and the light receiving portion 35b are provided. The sphere detector 35 may be arranged so as to abut against the outer surfaces of the passage walls 32a and 32b orthogonal to the recumbent portion 19b. In any of these cases, since the ball detector 35 is arranged using the mounting space S, the ball dispensing device 9 can be downsized.

  In the supply passages 17, 17, ball outlets 36 for opening the game balls continuously arranged in the supply passages 17, 17 are formed on the bottom surfaces of the horizontal flange portions 19 b, 19 b. On one side of the ball outlet 36, a ball outlet valve 38 that is pivotally mounted by a horizontal horizontal shaft 37 and freely rotates in a vertical plane to open and close the ball outlet 36 is disposed. In the ball valve 38, a valve plate 40 for opening and closing the ball outlet 36 is extended on one side of a shaft tube portion 39 through which the horizontal shaft 37 is inserted, and a weight 41 is arranged on the other side of the shaft tube portion 39. The Thereby, the moment on the weight 41 side is superior to the moment on the valve plate 40 side around the horizontal axis 37, and the valve plate 40 closes the ball outlet 36 in a state where no game ball is placed. The ball relief valve 38 is energized. The valve plate 40 has such a size that four game balls can be placed on both the lateral flange portions 19b and 19b. When a game ball is placed on the upper surface of the valve plate 40 and the ball weight is applied to the valve plate 40, the ball weight overcomes the moment of the weight 41 and the valve plate 40 rotates in a direction to open the ball outlet 36. To move. A stop piece 42 for holding the valve plate 40 at a position where the ball outlet 36 is closed is provided on the lower surface of the valve plate 40.

  A notch 43a is provided at the lower end corner of the outer wall 43 on the supply passages 17 and 17 side in the dispensing device main body 13, and the side wall of the notch 43a extends along a plane perpendicular to the rotation surface of the ball relief valve 38. Thus, the sliding groove 44 is provided. The sliding groove 44 is fitted with a switching operation plate 45 for switching so that the ball outlet valve 38 can be held or opened at a position where the ball outlet 36 is closed. That is, the switching operation plate 45 slides linearly in the front-rear direction within a plane orthogonal to the rotational surface of the ball relief valve 38. The upper end edge of the switching operation plate 45 is positioned above the lower end edge of the stop piece 42 of the ball valve 38, and a recess 46 through which the rotating stop piece 42 can pass is provided at the upper end edge. Further, an operation knob 47 is provided on the outer surface of the switching operation plate 45 so as to slide the switching operation plate 45 in the front-rear direction with a fingertip. The operation knob 47 does not protrude outward from the outer wall 43 on the same side of the dispensing device main body 13 in order to enable downsizing.

  Therefore, the stop piece 42 is switched by sliding the switching operation plate 45 to one side (the side opposite to the mounting surface of the ball dispensing device 8) as shown in FIG. The rotation operation of the ball valve 38 is locked by contacting the inner surface of the operation plate 45, and the ball outlet 36 is closed by the valve plate 40 of the ball valve 38. On the other hand, by sliding the switching operation plate 5 to the other side (the mounting surface side of the ball dispensing device 8) as shown in FIG. Then, the ball removal valve 38 can rotate in a direction to open the ball removal opening 36. As a result, when a game ball is placed on the upper surface of the valve plate 40 of the ball release valve 38, the ball release valve 38 is rotated by the weight of the ball as shown in FIG. The ball is discharged downward from the ball outlet 36. The discharged game balls are discharged downward from a ball drop opening 48 opened on the lower surface of the payout device main body 13.

  The cover body 14 is made of a synthetic resin and has a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped shape in which a side surface and a lower side surface on the dispensing device main body 13 side are opened. A plurality of heat radiating holes 49 for releasing heat released from the drive motor 21 to the outside are provided in the upper surface and one side surface upper portion of the cover body 14. Engagement holes 50 are provided on the opening side below the opposite side walls 14a, 14a of the cover body 14. When the cover body 14 is attached to the dispensing device main body 13 from the outside, the engaging claws 51, 51 provided on both outer surfaces of the dispensing device main body 13 engage with the engaging holes 50, 50, and the cover body 14 is assembled integrally with the dispensing device main body 13.

  The ball payout device 8 assembled in this way is arranged and fixed on a predetermined mounting surface on the back side of the pachinko gaming machine P. The lower ends of the two curved rails 7 are connected to the supply ports 18 and 18 at the upper ends of the supply passages 17 and 17. Further, the upper end of the ball discharge rod 9 is connected to the discharge port 34 at the lower end of the discharge passage 20, and the upper end of the ball discharge rod 10 is connected to a ball drop port 48 communicating with the ball discharge port 36.

  The ball dispensing device 8 of the present invention has the above-described configuration, and the operation thereof will be described next. In a normal state, the switching operation plate 45 is slid to the side opposite to the mounting surface side of the ball dispensing device 8 so that the ball outlet valve 38 closes the ball outlet 36. In this state, the game ball guided from the ball tank 5 is supplied into both supply passages 17 and 17 of the ball payout device 8 via the ball guide rail 6 and the curve rail 7, as shown in FIGS. As shown, the most advanced game ball B1 is supported by the ball support portion 30 on the outer peripheral surface of the lead screw 27 in the discharge passage 20 on both sides of the lead screw 27 and stopped. In the ball support portion 30 of the lead screw 27, when the lead screw 27 makes one rotation, the most advanced game ball B1 continuously arranged in each of the supply passages 17 and 17 loses its support and falls to the discharge passage 20 in order. The spiral shape is selected as follows.

  Therefore, for example, when the winning ball detector 12 detects a winning ball which is a game ball, the drive motor 21 starts rotating based on the detection signal, and the lead screw 27 directly connected to the motor shaft 21a rotates horizontally. Thereby, the prize balls, which are game balls waiting in a continuous state in the supply passages 17, 17, descend in order in the discharge passage 20 without interruption as the ball support portion 30 moves. When the lead screw 27 rotates once, the most advanced prize balls (total of two) in each of the supply passages 17 and 17 fall out of the support by the ball support portion 30 and fall. The two prize spheres after being removed from the support of the sphere support part 30 merge alternately and are discharged from the discharge port 34 below the sphere discharge basket 9. During that time, the sphere detector 35 detects and counts the prize spheres one by one. In this way, the prize balls that have fallen on the ball dispensing basket 9 are guided to a ball tray (not shown) on the front surface of the pachinko gaming machine P, and the prize balls that have been paid out become a predetermined number, for example, one winning ball. When the number of prize balls to be paid out (for example, 13) is reached, the drive motor 21 is stopped and a predetermined number of prize balls are paid out accurately.

  When the game balls stored in the ball tank 5 are removed after business, the operation knob 47 of the switching operation plate 47 is moved along the sliding groove 44 from the back side of the mechanism plate 4 to the mounting surface side of the ball dispensing device 8. Slide. Thereby, the engagement between the stop piece 42 on the lower surface of the ball removal valve 38 and the switching operation plate 45 is released, the ball removal valve 38 is rotated and the ball removal opening 36 is opened, and the game balls continuing to the supply passages 17 and 17 are opened. Falls to the ball outlet 36. The dropped game ball flows into the ball punch 10 through the ball outlet 48 and is discharged to the outside of the pachinko gaming machine P.

  As described above, the ball dispensing device 8 of the present invention forms the outer peripheral surface of at least the tip side of the lead screw 27 into a tapered surface shape gradually narrowing toward the tip, and the passage walls 32 and 32 in the discharge passage 20 are formed. The lead screw 27 is inclined with a gradient along the conical portion 27b. Further, an attachment space S is formed below the inclined passage walls 32, 32 of the discharge passage 20, and a game ball that has lost support from the ball support portion 30 of the lead screw 27 is electrically detected in the attachment space S. The sphere detector 35 is positioned. Therefore, since the interval between the detection portions 35a and 35b can be set shorter than the width of the supply passages 17 and 17, the sphere detector 35 can be accommodated within the width of the plurality of supply passages 17 and 17. The ball dispenser 8 can be downsized. In addition, the game balls that have lost their support from the ball support portion 30 gather together in the middle along the inner surfaces of the inclined passage walls 32 and 32 and fall, so that these game balls may be detected in order, resulting in a ball detector. 35 is enough.

  The lead screw 27 includes a cylindrical portion 29a located on the proximal end side and a conical portion 29b located on the distal end side, and a ball support portion 30 is provided around the outer peripheral surface thereof. The boundary line L between the cylindrical portion 29a and the conical portion 29b and the upper end U of the outer peripheral edge of the ball support portion 30 are located below the center O of the game ball B located at the terminal opening 31 of the horizontal flange portion 19b. As a result, the inflow portion into which the game ball flows in the discharge passage 20 does not become unnecessarily wide as compared with the game ball. In addition, even if the upper end U of the outer peripheral edge of the ball support portion 30 in the lead screw 27 comes into contact with the game ball flowing into the discharge passage 20, it comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface below the center O of the game ball. Therefore, the game ball flowing into the discharge passage 20 is easily supported by the ball support portion 30 while being in contact with the cylindrical portion 29a on the outer peripheral surface of the lead screw 27, and the ball is hardly danced and is in a stable state. To descend smoothly.

  Further, a ball outlet 36 is opened on the bottom surface of the horizontal flange 19b in the supply passage 17, and a ball outlet valve 38 for opening and closing the ball outlet 36 is mounted on the ball outlet 36. The ball can be removed from 8. Therefore, as compared with the conventional case where a ball outlet is provided above the upper surface, for example, the bottom surface of the curve rail 7, and the ball is extracted therefrom, the ball extraction between them can be omitted.

  In the ball payout device for a gaming machine of the present invention, the screw main body 29 having the shape including the cylindrical portion 29a on the proximal end side and the conical portion 29b on the distal end side has been described, but the shape is not limited to this. It is sufficient that at least the outer peripheral surface on the distal end side is formed in a tapered surface shape that gradually narrows toward the distal end, and the outer peripheral surface on the proximal end side is curved, for example, outward or smaller than the conical portion. It may be formed on a tapered surface that gradually narrows toward the tip side at an inclination angle. Moreover, although the two supply passages 17 and 17 have been described, the present invention can be applied to a three supply passage. In this case, the discharge passage is formed in a conical shape, a lead screw is disposed at the center thereof, and the ball detector is disposed at a position not overlapping the lead screw in the vertical direction.

The rear view of the pachinko machine to which the present invention is applied. The perspective view of the ball dispensing device which disassembled the dispensing device main body and the cover body. The perspective view of the ball dispensing device which disassembled the dispensing device main body. (A) is a front view of a ball dispensing device, and (B) is a plan view of the same. (A) is the bottom view, and (B) is the right side view. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 4B, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line YY of FIG. Front sectional drawing of the ball dispensing apparatus which shows the effect | action of a ball removal valve. The expanded sectional view of the lead screw part in a ball dispensing device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 8 Ball dispensing apparatus 17 Supply path 19a Vertical hook part 19b Horizontal hook part 20 Discharge path 21 Drive motor 21a Motor shaft 27 Lead screw 29a Cylindrical part 29b Tapered surface part (conical part)
30 Sphere Supporting Section 32 Passage Wall 34 Discharge Port 35 Sphere Detector 35a Detection Section (Light Projecting Section)
35b Detection unit (light receiving unit)
36 Ball outlet 38 Ball outlet B Game ball L Boundary line O Center of ball P Game machine (Pachinko machine)
S Mounting space U Upper end of sphere support

Claims (3)

A ball dispensing device in which a drive motor is disposed above a lead screw, the lead screw is fixed to a motor shaft of the drive motor, and the game balls in a supply passage are discharged one by one by rotation of the lead screw. And
The supply passage has a plurality of passages juxtaposed side by side and bends in an L shape by a vertical saddle portion and a recumbent portion so as to surround the drive motor, and the game ball passes through each recumbent portion. Is formed so as to be guided to the lead screw side, and a discharge passage is formed at the end of each of the lateral flanges so as to communicate with the lateral flanges, and the distal end side of the lead screw intervenes, and the outer periphery of at least the distal end side of the lead screw The surface is formed into a tapered surface gradually narrowing toward the tip, the passage wall in the discharge passage is inclined with a gradient along the tapered surface portion of the lead screw, and a discharge port is opened at the lower end. , A ball detection for forming an attachment space below the inclined passage wall of the discharge passage and electrically detecting a game ball that has lost support from the ball support portion of the lead screw in the attachment space Ball dispensing device for the game machine is characterized in that so as to position the.   The lead screw is composed of a cylindrical portion located on the proximal end side and a conical portion located on the distal end side, and a ball support portion for supporting the game ball is spirally provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof. The ball payout device for a gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein a boundary line with a portion and an upper end position of an outer peripheral edge of the ball support portion are located below a center of a game ball located at a terminal opening of the recumbent portion.   The ball payout device for a gaming machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a ball outlet is opened at a bottom surface of the horizontal flange portion in the supply passage and a ball outlet valve is provided at the ball outlet to open and close the ball outlet.

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