JP2000140319A - Premium ball supplying device for pachinko machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the load on the drive motor of a premium ball supplying device, and to enable the device to supply premium balls smoothly and speedily. SOLUTION: This premium ball supplying device consists of ball feeding pathways 15a, 15b to which premium balls are continuously fed, a drive motor 12, and a ball discharge means which discharges premium balls in the ball feeding pathways 15a and 15b to ball discharging pathways 16a and 16b by the rotation of the drive motor 12. The drive motor can be rotated within a prescribed range with the motor shaft 18 as the center of rotation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a prize ball dispensing apparatus for a pachinko machine which pays out a predetermined number of prize balls by rotating a driving motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 7, a lead screw 103 in which a ridge 102 for receiving a prize ball of the leading edge of a prize ball supply passage 101 is spirally provided on an outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical body 100 is driven by a driving motor. There is known a prize ball dispensing device of a pachinko machine that is configured to be rotated by 104 and thereby to discharge the prize balls supported by the ridges 102 one by one to the discharge passage 105 (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 2-169187).

[0003]

However, in the conventional prize ball dispensing apparatus, the ball pressure of the prize ball waiting in the supply passage 101 is always applied to the lead screw 103.
When the driving motor 104 is started or stopped, a large load is applied, and there is a problem that smooth payout of the prize ball is difficult or the ball is bitten.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the load applied to the drive motor when the drive motor starts or stops, thereby reducing the prize ball payout operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a prize ball dispensing device that can be smoothly and quickly operated.

[0005]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a supply passage through which a prize ball is continuously supplied, a drive motor, and a supply passage provided by rotating the drive motor. Discharging means for discharging a prize ball in a passage into a discharge passage, wherein the drive motor is provided so as to be rotatable within a predetermined range around a motor shaft of the drive motor. It is characterized by that.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lead in which the discharge means is provided on the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical body, and a ridge for receiving a prize ball located at the forefront of the supply passage is provided in a spiral shape. It is characterized by being a screw.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the driving motor is started, the driving motor rotates the motor shaft due to a reaction against the acting force of the motor shaft for rotating the prize ball discharging means. Rotate in the opposite direction. For this reason, the motor shaft can rotate easily without receiving an excessive load due to the rotation of the drive motor. On the other hand, when the motor shaft is decelerated or stopped during the prize ball payout operation or when the drive motor is stopped, the drive motor rotates in the same rotation direction as the motor shaft due to inertia. For this reason, the load applied to the motor shaft is buffered, and it is possible to prevent accidents such as damage to the drive motor and ball biting.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the prize balls in the supply passage can be dispensed in a continuous state without interruption, and the prize ball dispensing operation can be sped up.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a rear view of a pachinko machine to which the premium ball dispensing device of the present invention is applied. A mechanism plate 3 is provided on the back of the game board 2 of the pachinko machine 1,
A prize ball collecting gutter 4 for collecting prize balls is formed at a lower portion of a front surface of the mechanism plate 3 opposed to a back surface of the game board 2. The prize ball collecting gutter 4 is configured to flow the prize balls in a line in a row, and is provided with a prize ball detector 5 for detecting a prize ball passing in the middle of the downflow passage. The signal from the prize ball detector 5 is sent to a payout control circuit (not shown) to control the operation of a prize ball payout device 9 described later.

On the other hand, a prize ball tank 6 for storing a prize ball is provided on the upper rear surface of the mechanism plate 3.
There is provided an outlet gutter 7 for aligning and flowing down the prize balls below. A vertical supply gutter 8 is provided downstream of the outlet gutter 7.
The prize ball dispensing device 9 of the present invention is connected to the lower end of the supply gutter 8. Furthermore, a prize ball dispensing device 9
A prize ball discharge gutter 10 for guiding the paid-out prize ball to a ball tray (not shown) in front of the machine is provided below the prize.

Next, the configuration of the premium ball dispensing device 9 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The prize ball dispensing device 9 includes a main body base 11 as shown in FIGS.
, A drive motor 12, a lead screw 13 as a prize ball discharging means, and a cover 14.

On the front surface of the main body base 11, two vertical supply passages 15a, 15b connected to the supply gutter 8 are formed at right and left intervals, and a prize ball is provided downstream of the supply passages 15a, 15b. Discharge passages 16a and 16b are formed respectively. The drive motor 12 is attached to the front surface of the main body base 11 via a motor attachment frame 17, and the lead screw 13 is located below the drive motor 12 and between the supply passages 15a and 15b. It is arranged in.

As shown in FIG. 5, the drive motor 12 integrally has a mounting plate 20 having arcuate guide elongated holes 19 formed around the motor shaft 18 at symmetrical positions. On the other hand, guide pins 21 and 21 protrude from the upper surface of the motor mounting frame 17, and a bearing hole 22 is formed substantially at the center.

The mounting of the drive motor 12 is
The mounting plate 20 is mounted on the upper surface of the motor mounting frame 17, and the guide pins 21 and
Bring 1 Further, the motor shaft 18 is inserted through the bearing hole 22 so as to penetrate and protrude below the motor mounting frame 17, a driving gear 23 is fixed to the protruding end, and the bearing cylinder 23 a on the lower surface of the drive motor 12 is connected to the bearing hole 22. 22. Thus, the drive motor 12 is configured to freely rotate and move around the motor shaft 18 within the range of the guide slots 19.

The drive motor 12 is provided with a buffer spring 31 extending between the motor mounting frame 17 and the mounting plate 20.
As shown by the solid lines in FIG. 4, the force is forced to always be located at substantially the center of the rotatable range regulated by the guide slots 19 and 19 and the guide pins 21 and 21 by a to 31d.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lead screw 13 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 24 with the supply passages 15a, 15a.
5b, a spiral ridge 25 for receiving a state-of-the-art prize ball is formed in a spiral shape. A rotating shaft 26 projecting from the vertical center of the cylindrical body 24 is mounted on the bearing pieces 26, 2 of the main body base 11.
6 so as to be horizontally rotatable. A driven gear 27 that meshes with the driving gear 23 of the motor shaft 18 is fixed to the tip of a rotating shaft 26 that protrudes above the cylindrical body 24, so that the rotation of the motor shaft 18 is transmitted to the lead screw 13. It has become.

The ridge 2 of the lead screw 13
The spiral shape of 5 is selected such that the lead screw 13 makes one rotation so that the leading end prize ball of the supply passages 15a, 15b loses support and falls into the discharge passages 16a, 16b. Further, a ball bearing 28 is mounted on a rotating shaft 26 projecting below the cylindrical body 24 so that the rotation of the lead screw 13 can be smoothly performed.

The supply passages 15a and 15b are provided with ball cut detectors 29a and 29b. When a ball break occurs in any of the supply passages 15a and 15b, the drive motor 12 is stopped to stop the prize ball. The payout operation is not performed. Also, prize ball detectors 30a, 30b are provided in the discharge passages 16a, 16b, and prize balls to be discharged to the discharge passages 16a, 16b by rotation of the lead screw 13 are detected one by one. I have.

Next, the operation of the prize ball dispensing apparatus 9 of the present embodiment described above will be described. When the winning ball detector 5 detects a winning ball, the motor shaft 18 of the drive motor 12 rotates based on the detection signal, and the lead screw 13 rotates horizontally via the driving gear 23 and the driven gear 27. The prize ball which stands by in the supply passages 15a and 15b continuously by the horizontal rotation of the lead screw 13 is a ridge 2
As shown in FIG. 6A, when the lead screw 13 makes one rotation, it descends in a series of spherical shapes without interruption with the movement of 5.
As shown in (d), the leading edge prize balls B1, B2 supported by the ridges 25 are dispensed from the support by the ridges 25 and discharged to the discharge passages 16a, 16b.

When the drive motor 12 is started, the driving gear 23 of the motor shaft 18 rotates in the direction of arrow (a) shown in FIG. When the drive motor 12 rotates counterclockwise, the drive motor 12 reacts against the acting force of the motor shaft 18 to rotate the lead screw 13 against the buffer springs 31a to 31d, as shown by the chain line (a) in FIG. The motor rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the motor shaft 18 within the range of 19, 19. Therefore, the motor shaft 1
8, the rotation of the drive motor 12 in the opposite direction serves as a starting point so that the rotation can be started easily. And motor shaft 1
8 approaches the constant speed rotation state, the reaction to the drive motor 12 decreases, and at the same time, buffer springs 31a to 31
The drive motor 12 is returned to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 4 by the restoring force d. As a result, the load applied to the drive motor 12 can be reduced, and a high torque and a high rotation can be obtained from the start, so that the prize ball payout operation can be constantly performed at a high speed in a stable state.

When the rotation of the motor shaft 18 is decelerated due to the dirt of the prize ball or the resistance due to the broken ball, or when the rotation of the motor shaft 18 is stopped upon completion of the payout of the prize ball,
The drive motor 12 has buffer springs 31a to 31d due to inertia.
As shown by the chain line (b) in FIG.
Within the range of 19, the motor shaft 18 rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction. For this reason, the load applied to the motor shaft 18 is buffered, and accidents such as damage to the drive motor 12 and ball biting can be prevented. Then, when the motor shaft 18 returns to the constant speed rotation state or stops completely, the buffer springs 31a to 31d
The drive motor 12 is returned to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG.

On the other hand, the drive motor 12 is shown in FIG.
When rotating to the position of (b), the buffer spring 31
Shock generated at the time of the rotation operation of the drive motor 12 due to the expansion and contraction action by a to 31d is effectively received and buffered.
This prevents damage to the drive motor 12 and
The drive motor 12 is maintained in a state where the drive motor 12 can be smoothly rotated and moved within the range of the guide slots 19 without causing any impact.

In the above embodiment, the bearing cylinder portion 23a of the drive motor 12 is configured to be directly received in the bearing hole 22 of the motor mounting frame 17, but the rotation of the drive motor 12 within a predetermined range. In order to perform the operation smoothly, a ball bearing may be fitted into the bearing hole 22 and the motor shaft 18 may be supported by the ball bearing.

Further, the drive motor 12 is forcibly forced to a substantially central position of the guide slots 19, 19 by the four buffer springs 31a to 31d, but for example, by the two buffer springs 31a, 31b or 31c, 31d. There may be.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, the invention according to claim 1 provides a supply passage through which a prize ball is continuously supplied, a drive motor, and a prize in the supply passage by rotation of the drive motor. A prize ball dispensing device for a pachinko machine, comprising: a discharge means for discharging a ball to a discharge passage, wherein the drive motor is provided so as to be rotatable within a predetermined range around a motor shaft of the drive motor. As a result, the rotation of the motor shaft of the drive motor can be performed smoothly, and the load applied to the motor shaft can be buffered to prevent damage such as damage to the drive motor and ball biting. Can be rotated at a high speed from the start, so that the prize balls can be paid out at a high speed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the prize ball discharging means is provided with a helical ridge for receiving the prize ball located on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and located at the forefront of the supply passage. With this configuration, the prize balls in the supply passage can be dispensed continuously without interruption, and the prize ball dispensing operation can be speeded up.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a pachinko machine to which a prize ball payout device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the premium ball payout apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where the cover is removed.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part for explaining the same operation.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the drive motor portion.

FIGS. 6A to 6D are explanatory diagrams for explaining a prize ball payout operation.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 9 prize ball dispensing device 12 drive motor 13 lead screw 15a, 15b supply passage 16a, 16b discharge passage 18 motor shaft 24 cylindrical body 25 ridge

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A prize ball for a pachinko machine, comprising: a supply passage through which a prize ball is continuously supplied; a drive motor; and discharge means for discharging a prize ball in the supply passage to a discharge passage by rotation of the drive motor. A payout device for a pachinko machine, wherein the drive motor is provided so as to be rotatable within a predetermined range around a motor shaft of the drive motor. 2. The lead screw according to claim 1, wherein the discharge means is a helical ridge provided on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and receiving a prize ball located at the forefront of the supply passage. A prize ball payout device for pachinko machines.