JP2000357253A - Hopper structure for medal discharging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a hopper structure which suppresses a bridge phenomenon of medals without addition of an supplemental device like an agitating roll to smoothly supply medals to a carrying out disk with respect to a hopper which is attached to a medal discharging device and supplies medals to the carrying-out disk. SOLUTION: With respect to inclined parts which are formed on inside wall surfaces facing each other at 180 deg. of a hopper 10 on the basis of a reference axis P perpendicularly extended upward from a center 13a of a lower aperture 13, their angles of inclination are made different from each other or their vertical positions are shifted from each other to avoid a bridge phenomenon of medals, thus smoothly supplying medals toward a medal discharging device 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hopper structure in a medal payout device built in a pachislot machine, a game machine, etc. In addition, the present invention relates to a hopper structure in a medal payout device capable of surely paying out medals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a game machine such as a pachislot machine or a game center installed in a playground has a built-in medal payout device inside the game machine. , A large number of medals are paid out from the medal payout device.

[0003] In this type of medal payout device,
It is necessary to stock a large number of medals for each payout device. For this purpose, a payout device is usually provided with a hopper for supplying medals. For example, JP-A-10-2
Referring to FIG. 6, the hopper 1 inserts a medal (not shown) from a large rectangular upper opening 1a and dispenses a medal from a small circular lower opening 1b. As shown in FIG. 7, the hopper 1 is mounted on the upper surface of the top plate 2 of the dispensing device, and the transport disk 3 is supported on the upper surface of the top plate 2 of the device so as to be intermittently rotatable. The medal M is accommodated in the pocket 4 of the transport disk 3 and the transport disk 3 intermittently rotates, so that a predetermined number of medals are intermittently paid out one by one.

The conventional hopper 1 has a relatively large upper opening 1a for accommodating a large number of medals M. The hopper 1 is formed so that it does not stay inside the hopper 1. The inner wall of the
The shape is set such that the medals M are quickly accommodated in the pockets 4 of the transport disk 3.

[0005]

However, in the conventional hopper 1, since the inclined surfaces 5 formed on the opposed inner walls are set at substantially the same vertical position and at substantially the same inclination angle, the transfer disk 3 Since the medals in the hopper 1 are sequentially dispensed from the lower one by the intermittent rotation operation, when the opposing inner wall surfaces have the same inclination angle, the medals accumulated on the upper side are removed from the left and right sides. It has been pointed out that since the fluid flows almost at the same speed toward the center, a bridging phenomenon is likely to occur, the supply of medals is interrupted, and a problem occurs.

As a countermeasure, there has been proposed a method in which a stirring roller or the like is provided inside the hopper to suppress the bridging phenomenon. However, there are drawbacks in that the structure is complicated and the cost is increased.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in a hopper structure of a medal dispensing device incorporated in a pachislot machine, a game machine, or the like, the inner surface of the hopper is not provided separately without a stirring means. By simply changing the shape, the bridge phenomenon of medals can be prevented as much as possible,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hopper structure in a medal payout device that can smoothly supply medals to the medal payout device.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the inventors of the present invention set the medal supplied from the hopper to the transport disk of the medal dispensing device on the basis of an axis extending vertically above the center of the lower opening of the hopper. In order to complete the present invention, attention is paid to the fact that medals flow in a spiral shape, medals are supplied, and the bridge phenomenon does not particularly occur when the opposed inner wall surfaces of the hopper are not symmetrical with respect to the reference axis. Reached.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medal payout apparatus which supports a transport disk for transporting medals along a medal transport path so as to be intermittently rotatable, and has a built-in control device and drive mechanism therein. A medal dispensing device including a main body and a hopper for supplying medals to the transport disk, wherein the hopper has a large upper opening and a substantially circular and small-diameter lower opening, and is provided from a center of the lower opening. On the inner wall surfaces of the hoppers that face each other by 180 ° based on a reference axis extending vertically upward, inclined portions that are respectively inclined inward are formed, and the inclination angles of the two inclined portions are different.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
On the basis of a reference axis extending vertically upward from the center of the lower opening, the inclined portions provided on the 180 ° facing surface of the inner surface of the hopper have different inclination angles. The flow speed is high, the flow speed of the medals is slow on the inner wall surface having a gentle inclination angle, and the load applied from the accumulated medals is different on both inclined portions, so that the bridge phenomenon is unlikely to occur.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medal dispensing device main body which supports a transport disk for transporting medals along a medal transport path so as to be intermittently rotatable and has a control device and a drive mechanism built therein. A hopper for supplying medals to the transfer disk, wherein the hopper has a large upper opening and a substantially circular and small-diameter lower opening, and extends vertically upward from the center of the lower opening. The inner wall surfaces of the hoppers that are opposed to each other by 180 ° based on the reference axis extending in the vertical direction are respectively formed with inwardly inclined portions, and the up and down positions of the two inclined portions are different.

Therefore, according to the second aspect of the present invention,
Based on a reference axis extending vertically upward from the center of the lower opening, the inclined portion formed on the 180 ° facing surface of the hopper inner wall surface is set to be shifted vertically, so that the inclined surface is formed on one inner wall surface. On the other hand, because the inner wall surface on the other side is a vertical surface, when the medals inserted into the hopper flow toward the lower opening, the flow speed of both medals and the load applied from the accumulated medals are different, Bridge phenomenon is reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medal dispensing apparatus main body which supports a transport disk for transporting medals along a medal transport path so as to be intermittently rotatable and has a control device and a drive mechanism built therein. A hopper for supplying medals to the transfer disk, wherein the hopper has a large upper opening and a substantially circular and small-diameter lower opening, and extends vertically upward from the center of the lower opening. On the inner wall surfaces of the hoppers 180 ° opposite to each other based on the reference axis extending inward, inclined portions are formed, each of which is inwardly inclined, and the inclination angles and the vertical positions of both inclined portions are different from each other. I do.

Therefore, according to the third aspect of the present invention,
Based on a reference axis extending vertically upward from the center of the lower opening, the 180 ° opposing surfaces of the hopper inner wall surface are set so that the vertical positions of the inclined portions are shifted, and the inclination angles of the inclined portions are also different. The difference in the flow rate of the medals and the load applied from the medals that accumulate becomes more pronounced,
The occurrence of the bridge phenomenon can be more reliably prevented.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the hopper, the upper opening has a rectangular shape, and the hopper has a different surface shape from a ridge line connecting the four corners of the upper opening to the lower opening.
It is characterized by having two inner wall surfaces.

Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 4,
The upper opening of the hopper has a rectangular shape, and the inclined portions of the inner wall surfaces facing each other have different inclination angles and are set so as to be shifted vertically, so that the bridging phenomenon can be suppressed as much as possible. .

[0017] The invention described in claim 5 of the present application is characterized in that the inclination angle or the vertical position of the inclined portion formed on the adjacent inner wall surface is different from the ridge line as a boundary.

Therefore, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention,
Many medals moving toward the lower opening of the hopper differ in the inclination angle or the vertical position of the inclined part on the adjacent inner wall surface, so that a bridge phenomenon may occur between adjacent inner wall surfaces. Absent.

According to the invention described in claim 6 of the present application, the upper opening of the hopper is set to a polygonal shape of a pentagon or more,
It is characterized by having five or more inner wall surfaces having different surface shapes from a ridge line connecting the corner portion of the upper opening to the lower opening.

Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 6,
The upper opening of the hopper has a polygonal shape, and the inclined portions of the inner wall surfaces facing each other have different inclination angles and are set so as to be shifted vertically, so that the bridging phenomenon can be suppressed as much as possible. .

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a hopper structure in a medal payout apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a medal dispensing device and a hopper attached thereto separately, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the inner shape of the hopper, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the hopper viewed from above, FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the inner shape of the hopper.

In FIG. 1, the hopper 10 is attached to the medal payout device 20. Before describing the structure of the hopper 10, the structure of the medal payout device 20 will be briefly described.
1, a drive mechanism such as a drive motor, a control device, and the like are built in, and a disc-shaped transfer disk 30 is mounted on an inclined top plate 22 mounted on an upper portion of a casing 21 by a rotation shaft of the drive motor in the casing 21. The medal is accommodated from the hopper 10 in six circular medal accommodating pockets 32 provided around the rotation shaft 31 at the center of the transport disk 30, which are supported intermittently rotatable by 31.
Due to the intermittent operation of the transport disk 30, medals are pressed one by one by a pressing piece (not shown) provided on the back surface of the transport disk 30, and one medal is also discharged from a medal payout port (not shown).
It is paid out intermittently one by one.

By the way, the present invention is characterized by the structure of the hopper 10 attached to the medal payout device 20. Even if a large number of medals are thrown into the hopper 10,
The medal accommodating pocket 32 of the transport disk 30 smoothly without the bridge phenomenon occurring in the medal inside the hopper 10.
Can be supplied within the box, and there is no trouble in paying out medals.

The hopper 10 is made of a synthetic resin injection-molded body and has a rectangular and large upper opening 12 having a horizontal surface, since the mounting piece 11 is attached to the top plate 22 of the medal dispenser 20. The opening surface of the substantially circular lower opening 13 forms an inclined surface equal to the inclination angle of the top plate 22.

In this embodiment, a type in which the upper opening 12 has a rectangular shape will be described. First, since the inner wall surface of the hopper 10 has a circular shape slightly larger than the transport disk 30 with respect to the rectangular upper opening 12, the inner wall surface of the hopper 10 The inclined portions are inevitably formed on the four inner wall surfaces 14, 15, 16, 17 formed on the ridge line from the lower opening 13 to the lower opening 13.

At this time, a reference axis P extending vertically upward from the center 13a of the lower opening 13 is set, and based on the reference axis P, the shape of the inner wall face of the hopper 10 that faces 180 ° is considered. As shown in FIG.
16, the inner wall surface 14 on one side extends from the upper opening 12 to the lower opening 13 to form a vertical wall 141, a horizontal wall 1.
42, a vertical wall portion 143, and an inclined portion 144 are formed.

On the other hand, the inner wall surface 16 on the other side is
61 and an inclined portion 162 are formed, and each of the inner wall surfaces 14 and 16 facing each other by 180 ° based on the reference axis P has one side as apparent from FIG. 4 when the inclined portions 144 and 162 are compared. The inclined portion 144 of the inner wall surface 16 on the other side is located lower than the inclined portion 144 of the inner wall surface 14 on the other side, while the inclination angle is gentle and the inclination angle is gentle. And the slope is steep.

Therefore, if a large number of medals are inserted into the hopper 10, some of the medals inserted on the side close to the inner wall surface 14 are partially stored in the horizontal wall 142, and the lower opening from the gentle slope 144 is formed. 13 while the medals inserted on the side close to the inner wall 16 on the other side are
61 is located close to the lower opening 13 and the inclined portion 162 is steeply inclined, so that it is quickly directed to the lower opening 13 without being stored, and
There is no medal bridging phenomenon between 4 and 16.

Further, FIG.
The relationship between the opposed inner wall surfaces 15 and 17 is shown. One inner wall surface 15 includes a vertical wall portion 151, an inclined portion 152, and a vertical wall portion 153, and the other inner wall surface 17 has a lower portion extending from the upper opening 12 to a lower portion. A vertical wall portion 171 and an inclined portion 172 are formed over the opening 13.

Therefore, the inner walls 15, 1 facing each other by 180 °
7 also, when the two inclined portions 152 and 172 are compared, the vertical positions 152a and 152 of the one inclined portion 152 are compared.
b and the vertical position 172a, 172 of the inclined portion 172 on the other side.
b is provided with both upper and lower positions shifted. Further, both inclined portions 152 and 172 have substantially the same inclination angle.

Therefore, when a medal is inserted into the hopper 10, the medal near the inner wall surface 15 moves gently downward at the inclined portion 152. At this time, the medal near the inner wall surface 17 on the 180 ° opposite side is removed. Since the portion corresponding to the inclined portion 152 is the vertical wall portion 171, the portion falls down quickly and the bridge phenomenon due to the substantially equal flow speed does not occur. The medals that move along the inclined portion 172 on the other side do not cause a bridge phenomenon because the vertical wall portion 153 corresponds to the opposing inner wall surface 15.

As described above, based on the reference axis P, 180 °
The inner walls 14, 16 or 1 of the opposing hopper 10
As for the medals 5 and 17, the medals do not flow symmetrically. Therefore, if any of the up and down positions or the inclination angles of the inclined portions provided on the inner wall surfaces 14 to 17 is different, the medals of the medals are different. Since the bridge phenomenon does not occur, the medal dispensing device 20 can be smoothly supplied to the transport disk 30 side, and trouble of the medal dispensing device 20 can be prevented as much as possible.

In the present embodiment, of the inner wall surfaces 14 to 17 of the hopper 10, an adjacent inner wall surface, for example, 1
4 and 15, the vertical positions of the inclined portions 144 and 152,
Due to the difference in the inclination angle, the adjacent inner wall surfaces 14 and 15
The bridge phenomenon does not occur even for the peripheral medals.

Further, in the present embodiment, the shape of the upper opening 12 is set to a square shape, but it may be set to a polygonal shape of pentagon or more.
If the inclination angle, the vertical position, or both of the inclined portions of the inner wall surfaces of the hopper 10 that are opposed to each other by 180 ° based on the reference axis P extending vertically upward from the center of the hopper 3, or both, are different from those of the above-described embodiment. A similar effect can be obtained, and smooth payout of medals becomes possible.

[0036]

As described above, according to the hopper structure in the medal payout apparatus according to the present invention, the inclined portion formed on the inner wall surface of the hopper is based on the reference axis extending vertically upward from the center of the lower opening. , 180 on the inner wall of the hopper
° By changing at least the inclination angle of the inclined surface of the facing surface or shifting the vertical position of the inclined portion, the flow of medals is not symmetrical based on the reference axis, and the bridge phenomenon of medals is possible. Medals can be supplied smoothly only with a devise in the hopper without additional equipment such as stirring rollers, and trouble in medal payout can be prevented beforehand, and the reliability of the device can be improved. It has the effect of being able to increase.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a medal dispensing apparatus and a hopper separately showing a hopper structure of a medal dispensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the inner shape of a hopper in the medal payout apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the hopper shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line V-V in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a hopper in a conventional medal payout apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a hopper in a conventional medal payout apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Hopper 11 Mounting piece 12 Upper opening 13 Lower opening 14, 15, 16, 17 Inner wall 144, 152, 162, 172 Inclined part 20 Medal dispensing device 21 Casing 22 Top plate 30 Transport disk 31 Rotation axis 32 Medal accommodation pocket P Reference axis

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yasuo Kasahara, Omron Ichinomiya Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akira Nishida Omron Co., Ltd. 10 Hanazono Dodo-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto (72) Inventor Koichi Itoda 1920 Kami-Koizumi, Oizumi-cho, Ouraku-gun, Gunma Prefecture F-term (in Japanese) Reference) 3E001 AA01 AB01 BA03 CA08 DA14 FA31 FA45

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A medal dispensing device main body that supports a transport disk for transporting medals along a medal transport path so as to be intermittently rotatable and has a control device and a drive mechanism built therein, and a medal on the transport disk. A medal payout device comprising a supply hopper, the hopper having a large upper opening and a substantially circular and small diameter lower opening, and based on a reference axis extending vertically upward from the center of the lower opening. A hopper structure in a medal dispensing device, characterized in that inclined portions inclined inward are formed on the inner wall surfaces of the hoppers facing each other by 180 °, and the inclined angles of both inclined portions are different. 2. A medal dispensing device main body that supports a transport disk for transporting medals along a medal transport path in an intermittently rotatable manner and has a control device and a drive mechanism built therein, and a medal on the transport disk. A medal payout device comprising a supply hopper, the hopper having a large upper opening and a substantially circular and small diameter lower opening, and based on a reference axis extending vertically upward from the center of the lower opening. A hopper structure in a medal payout device, characterized in that inclined portions inclined inward are formed on the inner wall surfaces of the hoppers facing each other by 180 °, and the two inclined portions have different vertical positions. 3. A medal dispensing device main body which supports a transport disk for transporting medals along a medal transport path in an intermittently rotatable manner and has a control device and a drive mechanism built therein, and a medal on the transport disk. A medal payout device comprising a supply hopper, the hopper having a large upper opening and a substantially circular and small diameter lower opening, and based on a reference axis extending vertically upward from the center of the lower opening. A hopper structure in a medal payout device, characterized in that inclined portions inclined inward are formed on the inner wall surfaces of the hoppers facing each other by 180 °, and the inclined angles and the vertical positions of both inclined portions are different from each other. . 4. The hopper, wherein the upper opening has a rectangular shape, and has four inner wall surfaces having different surface shapes from a ridge line connecting the four corners of the upper opening to the lower opening. Item 4. A hopper structure in the medal payout device according to any one of Items 1 to 3. 5. The hopper structure in the medal payout device according to claim 4, wherein the inclination angle or the vertical position of the inclined portion formed on the adjacent inner wall surface is different from the ridge line. . 6. An upper opening of the hopper has a polygonal shape of a pentagon or more, and has five or more inner wall surfaces having different surface shapes from a ridge line connecting a corner of the upper opening to the lower opening. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein:
4. A hopper structure in the medal payout device according to item 5.