JP2002000861A - Game medium delivery device of game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game medium delivery device of short driving time and to suppress heat generation. SOLUTION: For this game medium delivery device 50, since a slider linearly moved back and forth by using a linear reciprocating slider crank mechanism is turned to a movable interruption piece 60, the movable interruption piece 60 is stopped at a closing position I for interrupting a flow-down passage 45 or an opening position II withdrawn from the flow-down passage 45 by the rotation control of a driving motor 53 and the driving motor 53 is made to stand by in a non-drive state until the next transfer drive, it is normally in the non-drive state and the driving motor 53 is not overheated by keeping an operation. Also, since the movable interruption piece can be changed to the two positions by a single drive source (driving motor), constitution is simplified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game medium delivery device for a game machine such as a pachinko game machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, based on a predetermined game result (such as winning a prize on a game board of a pachinko machine) or a predetermined operation of a player (such as a lending operation by a lending unit), it is provided in a downflow passage on the back of the gaming machine. 2. Description of the Related Art A gaming machine configured to supply a game medium to a storage plate in front of the game machine by driving the game medium supply device provided is generally widely known. In such a gaming machine, a solenoid or a motor is used as a drive source of the drive control device to directly open and control a downflow passage for guiding a game medium from above to below.
By the way, when this solenoid is used, it is necessary to always open the downflow passage depending on the energized state of the solenoid during the supply of the game medium. In addition, even when a motor is used, it is necessary to always drive the motor by transmitting a pulse signal to the motor during the supply of the game medium.

[0003]

In the conventional gaming machine described above, for example, when a payout mode called a "big hit" in a pachinko machine occurs,
Since many prizes are generated at one time, the drive control device of the game medium supply device directly controls the opening of the downflow passage in order to pay out the game media accompanying the prize. Have been forced to continue.
For this reason, the Joule heat generated at this time may damage the drive control device itself or damage other devices in the game machine, and in the worst case, there is a risk of causing fire and causing a disaster such as a fire. . In addition, since the drive time becomes longer, the life of the drive control device itself is shortened, and in the case of a popular model that is used for a long period of time, a game medium delivery device is used as compared with other parts of the model. If the pachinko machine breaks down first and must be replaced, or if the model has already been discontinued, the pachinko machine itself must be replaced with another model. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a game medium delivery device that generates less heat using a single drive source, and to solve the above-described problem with a simple configuration.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a movable blocking piece movably held between a closed position for closing a downflow passage for guiding a game medium from above to below and an open position for opening a downflow passage; A drive control device that transfers the movable blocking piece to any of the open and closed positions by the drive, and waits in a non-drive state until the next transfer drive,
The drive control device is configured by connecting a linear reciprocating slider crank mechanism having a linearly reciprocating slider as a movable blocking piece to a drive shaft of a driving motor, and by controlling rotation of the driving motor, moving the movable blocking piece to a downstream passage. A game medium dispensing device for a gaming machine, wherein the game machine is stopped at one of a closed position to shut off and an open position to retreat from the downflow passage, and waits in a non-drive state until the next transfer drive. (Claim 1).

The reciprocating slider crank mechanism is disposed at a position deviated from the drive shaft of the drive motor, and is movable only in a linear direction with a rotation fulcrum that rotates about the drive shaft as the drive motor is driven. And a link whose one end is pivotally supported by a pivot point and whose other end is pivotally supported by the slider (movable blocking piece). The rotation of the drive motor causes the slider (movable blocking piece) to rotate. Is well known to move only in a linear direction. According to the present invention, the movable blocking piece is intermittently transferred by using such a configuration, and the drive motor is kept in a non-drive state except during the transfer.

[0006] Here, when the drive motor rotates, the movable blocking piece is moved by the operation of the reciprocating slider crank mechanism.
The intermittent linear reciprocating movement is performed, the transfer is performed from the closed position to the open position for opening the downflow passage, and the driving is stopped. In the non-drive state of the drive motor, the movable blocking piece maintains the open position. When the drive motor rotates again after the pause, the movable blocking piece moves from the open position to the closed position. Then, by the conversion of the drive motor to the non-drive state, the movable blocking piece maintains the closed position. Thus, the movable blocking piece is changed from one of the positions to the other position each time the drive control device is driven, and the drive control device is driven only when the movable blocking piece is transferred. Then, a non-driving state is set.

For this reason, even in the case of the continuous opening state such as the prize ball operation at the time of the above-mentioned big hit, the driving control device is in the non-driving state, so that the driving time is remarkably shortened. As a result, it is possible to minimize the time required for applying a load to the drive control device, and to prevent heat generation due to maintaining the flow passage for a long time.

Here, the downflow passage has a portion in which a standby passage having a gentle inclination and a substantially vertical supply passage are continuous with each other, and a movable blocking piece is disposed between the standby passage and the supply passage. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the downflow pressure of the game medium connected to the downflow passage upstream of the movable blocking piece can be reduced, the stress when the movable blocking piece advances and retreats, and smooth operation can be performed. Become.

The drive control device transfers the movable blocking piece from the closed position to the open position based on detection of a winning detection device that detects establishment of a predetermined game mode. Can be. For example, in a pachinko gaming machine, when a winning ball is generated, the winning ball is detected by a winning ball detection switch (winning detection device), and the movable blocking piece is transferred to an open position to win the ball.

Further, the drive control device transfers the movable blocking piece from the closed position to the open position based on the detection of the game medium lending detecting device for detecting a predetermined operation by the player. can do. For example, in a pachinko game machine, it is used for a ball rental device attached to each machine.

Here, the drive control unit may move the movable blocking piece from the closed position to the open position when the power supply becomes abnormal due to a power failure or the like (claim 5). That is, in the conventional game medium dispensing device, during the dispensing, the device is always driven by the operation of the electric drive control device, and if the power supply becomes abnormal such as a power failure, the driving is immediately stopped. However, in this configuration, during the delivery, the electric drive control device is not in the driving state, so in the event of an unexpected situation such as a power failure, the delivery state will be maintained, The offering is excessive. Therefore, the movable blocking piece held at the open position is transferred to the closed position. In this case, the drive control device may be driven by the standby power source to transfer the movable blocking piece held at the open position to the closed position (claim 6).

[0012] Further, the drive control device detects the game medium to be delivered along with the opening of the flow-down passage, and the movable blocking piece based on the detection of the predetermined number of deliveries.
It can be transferred from the closed position to the open position (claim 7). With this configuration, a predetermined number of game media can be reliably delivered.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described by taking a pachinko machine as an example. FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of one embodiment of a pachinko machine according to the present invention. Here, the pachinko machine 1 has a machine frame 2 having front and rear surfaces opened as shown in FIG.
A frame-shaped front frame 3 rotatably attached to the machine frame 2 by a hinge; a glass storage frame 4 attached to the front frame 3 so as to be openable and closable; Opening / closing panel 5 also mounted to be openable / closable
And a glass plate 6 held in the glass storage frame 4 behind the front frame 3, and a game board 7 fixed to the glass plate 6 with a certain interval.

An upper tray 9 for temporarily storing a large number of game balls is provided on the front surface of the opening and closing panel 5, and game balls supplied one by one from the upper tray 9 at a lower rear portion of the front frame 3. A ball launching device (not shown) for hitting the ball is provided.
0 and a lower tray 11 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the front surface of the game board 7, a game area 8 partitioned by a partition member such as a guide rail 12 for guiding a hit ball fired by the hit ball launching device to an upper portion of the game board 7 is provided. Is formed. A special symbol display device 1 using a liquid crystal display is provided substantially at the center of the game area 8.
5 is arranged, and above the display device 15, a normal symbol display device 16 using three LEDs is arranged. A special symbol memory display LED 17 and a normal symbol memory display LED 18 are provided on the left and right of each of the display devices 15 and 16 respectively.
Are provided two by two.

Below the special symbol display device 15, an ordinary electric accessory 20 is disposed, and the entrance thereof is a first-type starting port 21 also serving as a winning opening. In addition, a large winning device 22 is provided below the normal electric accessory 20, and the large winning opening 23 is controlled to be opened and closed by an opening / closing lid 24 that opens and closes vertically. In addition, various prize holes as prize areas are provided at appropriate positions on the board.

In addition, the left and right gates 25, 25 are provided with a normal symbol operation switch for generating a signal for starting a normal symbol change. In addition, an out port 29 for collecting a hit ball that did not win the winning area behind the game board 7 is provided substantially at the lowermost end of the center of the game area 8 so as to penetrate the back of the game board 7.

In such a configuration, when a game ball enters the first type starting port 21, the special symbol display device 15 changes. If the stop symbols are in a predetermined combination, the special winning opening 23 is opened and a big hit occurs, and a series of special winning openings 2 is formed.
A number of winning balls are generated by the opening and closing operation of 3. With this, prize balls are paid out continuously. The present invention, as described later, relates to a game medium supply device that can be applied to such a prize ball payout device, a ball rental device, and the like.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, a winning ball detection switch S is provided on the back of the game board 7. The prize ball detection switch S (prize detection device) detects a game ball (game medium) that has won a prize from the various prize ports provided on the game board 7, and outputs a detection signal of the game ball (game medium) to be described later.
Send to 0. As shown in FIG. 3, a lending detection device (lending unit) 30 is provided on the right side of the back of the gaming machine. The lending detection device 30 detects a predetermined operation by the player on condition that the valuable storage medium inserted by the player has valuable storage, and outputs a signal related to the detection to a delivery control device on the lower left of the back of the gaming machine. Send to 40. As described above, the delivery control device 40 outputs a drive signal based on the winning ball detection switch S and the valuable storage medium detected by the lending detection device 30. The delivery control device 40 includes a power supply such as a power failure. A capacitor is provided for supplying a backup power supply to a drive motor 53 described later when the supply becomes abnormal.

Next, the main part of the present invention will be described. On the right side of the back of the gaming machine in FIG. 3, a downflow passage 4 that guides game balls (game media) x supplied from a game store downward from above.
5 is provided, and a delivery unit 41 is provided at an appropriate position in the downflow passage 45. This supply unit 4
1 is a game medium delivery device 50 for delivering game media based on a part of the flow-down passage 45 and a drive signal output by the delivery control device 40, and a delivery detection device for detecting the game medium delivered from the game medium delivery device 50. 44 and the like are provided integrally.

On the other hand, a part of the flow-down passage 45 is a part of the supply unit 41, and as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the flow-down passage has a gently inclined standby passage 45a, and a substantially vertical supply passage flow-down passage 45b. However, the movable blocking piece 60 communicates through a transverse notch 46 provided so as to be movable in the transverse direction. Here, since the standby passage 45a is provided with a gentle inclination,
The load caused by the load of the game ball (game medium) x on the movable blocking piece 60 is reduced, and the movable blocking piece 60 described later can be easily and smoothly moved back and forth.

5 and 6 show an embodiment of the drive control device 51 of the game medium supply device 50 according to the present invention.

The drive control device 51 includes a drive motor 53
The linear reciprocating slider crank mechanism 55 is connected to the drive shaft 54 of the first embodiment. That is, the linear reciprocating slider crank mechanism 55 is configured such that the other end of an arm 58 having one end connected to the drive shaft 54 is used as a rotation fulcrum 56,
At the position where the rotation fulcrum 56 is deviated from the drive shaft 54 by the drive of 3, the rotation is made around the drive shaft 54. Instead of the arm 58, a rotating disk or the like provided with the rotating fulcrum 56 at a position eccentric from the drive shaft 54 can be applied. One end of a link 57 is pivotally supported by the pivot 56 so as to be swingable.

On the other hand, a sliding guide plate 65 having movable blocking pieces 60 formed with regulating edges 66, 66 on both side edges is disposed on the side of the transverse notch 46. The movable blocking piece 60 is supported by and is movably disposed in a linear direction. A link 5 is provided on the trailing edge of the movable blocking piece 60.
7 is pivotally supported, and when the drive motor 53 is driven, the well-known reciprocating linear motion of the linear reciprocating slider crank mechanism 55 is generated by the guide action of the sliding guide plate 65, and the movable blocking piece Reference numeral 60 moves on the sliding guide plate 65 in the front-rear direction. Then, at the 180 ° rotation position of the drive shaft 54, the movable blocking piece 60 enters the closing position I where it enters through the transverse notch 46 and blocks the flow-down passage 45. When the drive shaft 54 is again rotated by 180 ° after stopping at the closed position I, the movable blocking piece 60 is at the open position II where it is retracted to the side of the transverse notch 46.

The drive motor 53 employs a stepping pulse motor, and is controlled so as to rotate by 10 ° in response to one pulse signal from the delivery controller 40. In other words, one rotation is performed by the 36 pulse signal, and the motor is rotated by 180 ° and stopped by the 18 pulse signal. When the drive motor 53 is driven to rotate, the link 57 linked to the arm 58 is moved forward and backward by the revolution of the rotation fulcrum 56, the movable blocking piece 60 is brought to the open position II, and the drive stops. In addition, a standby passage 45a is opened from the opened downstream passage 45.
When a predetermined number of the game balls x have flowed down, the drive shaft 54 starts driving again, and the movable blocking piece 60
Is in the closed position I, and the game ball x is supported by the movable blocking piece 60 and stops driving. Therefore, the movable blocking piece 60 is changed from one position to the other position every time the drive control device 51 is driven, and the drive control device 51 is driven only when the movable blocking piece 60 is transferred. In the normal state, it is in a non-driving state. Here, the movable blocking piece 60
A slanted guide edge 61 is formed at the insertion end of, to facilitate insertion into the downflow passage 45.

The operation will be described with reference to FIGS. In a state where the movable blocking piece 60 is held at the closed position I, as shown in FIG.
Drive motor 53 stands by in a non-drive state where no load is applied. In this state, the game ball x in the flow-down passage 45 is supported by the movable blocking piece 60 so as not to flow down.

Next, when the player starts the game and the game ball x wins the winning opening provided on the game board surface, the winning ball detection switch S (winning detection device) provided on the back of the game board changes the game ball x. It detects and outputs a signal to the delivery control device 40. Alternatively, when the player performs a lending operation on the lending detection device (lending unit) 30, the lending detection device 30 provided on the back of the gaming machine detects the operation signal and outputs a signal to the supply control device 40. And based on such signal input,
The delivery control device 40 computes and stores the number of deliveries, and continuously sends a pulse signal to the drive motor 53 once every 3 ms. The motor receiving the pulse signal rotates by 10 ° per pulse. And the movable blocking piece 60 is in the open position.
The output of the pulse signal is stopped at the substantially 180 ° rotational position of the drive shaft 54 arriving at II.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the movable blocking piece 60 is maintained in the open position II, and in this state, the drive motor 53 is in a non-drive state in which no load is applied and stays in the standby passage 45a. The played game ball x will flow downward. Thereby, the movable blocking piece 60 is maintained at the open position II, and the flow-down passage 45 is in this open state.

The flow-down passage 45 which has been opened is moved to the game ball x.
Flows, one by one is detected by the delivery detection device 44 provided on the right side wall of the downflow passage immediately above the movable blocking piece 60, and based on the detection signal, the delivery number stored and stored in the delivery control device 40 is sequentially determined. The subtraction is performed, and as a result, the drive motor 53 is driven as soon as the stored delivery number becomes zero.

As a result, the drive shaft 54 is driven, and at about its 180 ° rotation position, the movable blocking piece 60 enters the flow-down passage 45 from 46 and reaches the closed position I to prevent the game ball x from flowing down. I do. After this rotation, the supply of electricity to the drive motor 53 is immediately stopped, and the drive motor 53 enters a non-drive state. When the driving of the drive motor 53 is released in this manner, the movable blocking piece 60 is maintained at the closed position I as shown in FIG.

As described above, only when the movable blocking piece 60 is transferred, it is driven by the drive motor 53 to be driven. In a steady state, a non-drive state in which no load is applied is maintained. For this reason, the drive time to the drive motor 53 is significantly reduced, and the heat generation is suppressed.

Here, if a signal is detected by the prize-ball detecting switch S or the lending detection device 30 before the stored number of deliveries becomes "0", it is immediately calculated and stored in the supply control device 40. It is added to the supplied number, and is subtracted from the added stored number by the detection signal detected by the supply detection device 44. In other words, a pulse signal is output from the delivery control device 40 to the drive motor 53 as long as the detection by the winning ball detection switch S or the lending detection device is repeated and the stored number of deliveries does not become “0” even if it is subtracted. Never.

Here, when a power supply abnormality such as a power failure occurs, the drive motor 53 is driven to move the movable blocking piece 60 held at the open position to the closed position. In other words, in the present configuration, the driving motor 53 is not in the driving state during the supply of the game ball x, and in the event of an unexpected situation such as a power failure, the supply state is maintained. The offering is excessive. Then, the movable blocking piece 60 held at the open position is transferred to the closed position. In this case, a capacitor for supplying a reserve power to the drive motor 53 is provided, and the closure drive device 70 is driven by the reserve power to transfer the movable blocking piece 60 held at the open position II to the close position I. Thus, even when an unexpected situation such as a power failure occurs, the supply can be stopped immediately without maintaining the supply state.

In the above-described embodiment, the pachinko gaming machine has been exemplified, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented as appropriate without changing the configuration described in the claims. For example, in this embodiment, two solenoids are provided as a drive control device, but a system in which one solenoid is used for both opening and closing may be considered. Further, a motor or the like may be used as the drive control device. Further, in the present embodiment, a pachinko machine is disclosed as an example, but the present invention can be appropriately applied to a gaming machine such as a slot machine, an arrangement ball, and a sparrow ball.

[0035]

The game medium dispensing device of the present invention uses a linear reciprocating slider crank mechanism to make a linearly reciprocating slider a movable shut-off piece, and shuts off the movable shut-off piece by a rotation control of a drive motor. Since the drive motor is stopped at one of the closed position and the open position retracted from the downflow passage, and the drive motor waits in the non-drive state until the next transfer drive, the drive control device is normally maintained in the non-drive state. You. For this reason, even in the case of the continuous opening state such as the prize ball operation at the time of a big hit, the drive control device can be maintained in the non-drive state, and the drive time can be significantly shortened. Therefore, there is no heat generation due to long-time driving of the drive control device. Therefore, even if a situation occurs in which many game media must be paid out at once, the heat generated by long-time continuous driving may damage the drive control device itself, or damage other devices in the game machine, All situations such as causing a disaster such as a fire can be avoided. Furthermore, since the drive time is shortened, the life of the drive control device itself is prolonged, and in the case of a popular model that is used for a long period of time, a game medium is used as compared with other parts in the model. It is also possible to avoid that the dispensing device is broken first.

Further, since the present invention is capable of converting the movable blocking piece into two positions by a single drive source (drive motor), the configuration is simple.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pachinko gaming machine to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the game board 7;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the gaming machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the game board 7 according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part during supply standby.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part being supplied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 loan detection device (rent unit) 41 supply unit 44 supply detection device 45 downflow passage 50 game medium supply device 51 drive control device 53 drive motor 54 drive shaft 55 linear reciprocating slider crank mechanism 56 rotation fulcrum 57 link 60 movable blocking piece

Claims (7)

[Claims] A movable blocking piece movably held between a closed position for closing a downflow passage for guiding game media from above to below and an open position for opening a downflow passage, and the movable blocking piece is opened and closed by driving the movable blocking piece. A drive control device for transferring to any position and waiting in a non-drive state until the next transfer drive, wherein the drive control device is provided with a linearly reciprocating slider on a drive shaft of a drive motor. A linear reciprocating slider crank mechanism that is a movable blocking piece is connected to stop the movable blocking piece at one of a closed position to block the downflow passage and an open position to retreat from the downflow passage by controlling the rotation of the drive motor. A game medium dispensing device for a game machine, wherein the drive motor is in a non-drive state until the next transfer drive. 2. The downflow passage includes a standby passage having a gentle inclination,
2. The game medium dispensing of a gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein a substantially vertical dispensing passage has a continuous portion, and the movable blocking piece is disposed between the standby passage and the dispensing passage. apparatus. 3. A drive control device according to claim 1, wherein the movable cut-off piece is set on the basis of detection of a winning detection device for detecting establishment of a predetermined game mode.
The game medium delivery device for a gaming machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the game medium is transferred from a closed position to an open position. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive control device transfers the movable blocking piece from the closed position to the open position based on detection of a game medium lending detection device that detects a predetermined operation by the player. A game medium delivery device for a gaming machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The drive control device according to claim 1, wherein when the power supply is abnormal due to a power failure or the like, the drive control device transfers the movable blocking piece from the closed position to the open position. Item 5. A game medium delivery device for a gaming machine according to any one of Items 4. 6. A drive control device which is driven by a standby power supply to transfer a movable blocking piece from a closed position to an open position when a power supply abnormality such as a power failure occurs. The game medium delivery device for a gaming machine according to claim 5, wherein 7. A drive control device transfers a movable blocking piece from an open position to a closed position based on a predetermined number of supply detections by a supply detection device that detects game media discharged as the flow-down passage is opened. The game medium delivery device for a gaming machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: