JP2002248220A - Game ball shooting mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce shooting force in a game ball shooting mechanism used in a game machine in which a game ball is shot into an erected game board to play the game. SOLUTION: This shooting device 3 of a pachinko game machine 1 is disposed on a game board 13. When the game ball is shot, the game ball rolls along a guide route 7 for making about 3/4 turn on the game board to reach the game board 13. The shooting device 3 is thus disposed on the pachinko game machine 1, whereby a part of speed required for the game ball to reach the game board can be obtained from the gravitational acceleration, so that small shooting force required by the shooting device 3 will be sufficient. Thus, the shooting device 3 can be reduced in size and consumption energy can be lowered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game ball launching mechanism used in a game machine for playing a game by driving a game ball into a standing game board.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a pachinko machine, a game ball (a so-called pachinko ball) is fired from a firing device arranged at a lower portion of the game board to send the game ball into the game board, and the game board is provided with the ball. Various elaborate games can be played by entering the formed winning opening or passing through a gate. The position at which the game ball sent into the game board reaches can be changed by adjusting the twist angle of the firing handle.

[0003]

However, according to the above-mentioned prior art, a very large firing force is required because the gaming ball must be launched with a strength reaching the upper part of the gaming machine. For this reason, the size of the launch device has been increased, and an increase in power consumption cannot be avoided. In addition, since a strong force is applied to the firing hammer, the state of the firing hammer changes, causing uneven firing, and it may be necessary to readjust.
A similar problem occurs similarly in a gaming machine that plays a game by driving a game ball into a standing game board.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a game ball launching mechanism according to claim 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as a launching mechanism) provides a launching mechanism that requires a small launching force for a launching device. It is intended to be. A second aspect of the present invention aims at simplifying the firing device.

[0005] Still further, the firing mechanism according to claim 3 is characterized in that:
The present invention proposes a mode suitable for a pachinko machine. The object of the present invention is to prevent the player's expectation until the game ball reaches the game board.

The object of the present invention is to prevent the guide route and the game board from being stained. An object of the present invention is to enable a player to know the number of game balls possessed by the player.

The object of the present invention is to make it possible to play with the same feeling as a conventional pachinko machine.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention A game ball launching mechanism according to a first aspect of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, drives a game ball into a standing game board. A launching device that is disposed at an upper portion of a gaming machine for playing a game and that launches the gaming ball, a guiding path that is disposed from the launching device at least over a lower portion of the gaming board, Speed control means for changing the speed of a game ball driven into the game board via a path.

According to the firing mechanism configured as described above,
By arranging the launching device above the gaming machine, a part of the speed required for the game ball to reach the inside of the game board can be obtained from the gravitational acceleration. Therefore, the launching force required for the launching device can be reduced, and the launching device can be reduced in size and energy consumption can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the game ball launching mechanism according to the first aspect, the speed control means changes the curvature of the guide path to drive the game ball into the game board. It is characterized in that the speed is changed. According to the firing mechanism configured as described above, since the firing intensity is constant, it is not necessary to control the firing speed of the firing device, and as a result, the firing device is simplified.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the game ball launching mechanism according to the first or second aspect, the gaming machine is a pachinko machine, and the launching device is disposed at the upper right of the gaming board. The guide route is arranged from the upper right of the game board to the upper left position of the game board along the periphery of the game board.

That is, the pachinko balls enter the game board by making a three-quarters round around the game board along the guidance route. Moreover, the entry position is almost the same as that of the conventional pachinko machine. According to the launching mechanism configured as described above, except for the launching position, it is almost the same as the conventional pachinko machine, but has the effect of the above-described launching mechanism.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the game ball launching mechanism according to the third aspect, at least a part of the guide path is a wall-shaped rail erected on the game board. It is characterized in that a player can visually recognize a game ball rolling on a rail portion.

According to the firing mechanism configured as described above,
Since the player can see the shot game balls rolling on the rails, the sense of expectation until the game balls reach the game board is not spoiled. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the gaming ball launching mechanism according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the gaming machine is a pachinko machine, and the launching device includes a gaming ball from a prize ball tank of the gaming machine. Is supplied.

The prize ball tank is a place where game balls washed by a lifting device or the like in a pachinko island stand are supplied through a supply gutter, and there is the cleanest game ball in a pachinko machine when viewed in a pachinko machine. Place. In this regard, the conventional launching device receives the supply of game balls from the upper plate installed in the pachinko machine.
In this case, while the game ball is on the upper plate, there is a high possibility that the ball will be stained with cigarette smoke or hand marks. Therefore, according to the firing mechanism of claim 5, a clean ball in the winning ball tank is fired,
It is possible to prevent the guide route and the game board from becoming dirty.

However, usually, the player cannot know the number of game balls in the prize ball tank. Even if the player can do so, the number generally does not match the number of balls actually possessed. It is necessary to inform the player of the number of game balls possessed. To this end, it is considered that the number of game balls is stored in a memory of a computer provided in the pachinko machine, and the numerical value is displayed on some display device (a liquid crystal display, a 7-segment display device, etc.) to notify the player. I get it. Also,
A sixth aspect may be adopted.

That is, according to the present invention described in claim 6, in the game ball launching mechanism according to claim 5, a discharging means for discharging the game ball of the upper plate of the pachinko machine to the out path, and discharging by the discharging means. Discharge number detecting means for detecting the number of game balls that have been ejected, wherein the launching device fires game balls by the number of game balls detected by the discharge number detecting means.

According to the firing mechanism configured as described above,
The player can know the number of game balls held by looking at the upper plate. Nevertheless, since the balls hit into the game board are balls in the prize ball tank, it is possible to prevent the guide route and the game board from being soiled.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the game ball firing mechanism according to the sixth aspect, the discharging means discharges the game balls on the upper plate of the pachinko machine to the out path one by one. The launching device launches the game ball in synchronization with the detection of the game ball by the discharge number detecting means.

According to the firing mechanism configured as described above,
Since the game balls consumed from the upper plate and the game balls fired by the firing device are synchronized with each other, a game feeling similar to that of the conventional pachinko machine can be enjoyed.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing a pachinko machine 1 to which the present invention is applied. The pachinko machine 1 is provided with the game ball launching device 3 in the upper right portion of the pachinko machine 1. The launching device 3 receives the supply of game balls from the prize ball tank 5 arranged in the upper back of the pachinko machine 1 and fires the game balls toward the guidance route 7. The guide path 7 includes a pipe 9 in the vicinity of the launching device 3 and a rail 11 connected to the pipe 9. . Symbol 15
Denotes an upper plate, in which game balls held by the player are stored. Reference numeral 17 denotes a launch handle, and when the player twists the handle clockwise, the launch device 3 launches a game ball. This firing is synchronized with the discharge of the game ball to the out route 20 by the ball face 19. In this figure, the ball cutting face 19 is seen through the pachinko machine 1.

When the firing handle 17 is twisted, the rail 11
Is changed. This is shown in FIG. 2 which is a perspective view of the lower right portion in the pachinko machine 1. Wires 23 and 25 are attached to the rotation shaft 21 of the firing handle 17, and the wire 23 is attached via a pulley 27 to an ear piece 29 fixed to the rail 11. When the firing handle 17 is twisted, the wire 23 is pulled, and the rail 11 is, for example, a rail 11 'shown by a broken line.
The curvature is deformed as follows. Rail 1 when you stop twisting
Due to the elasticity of 1, it returns to its original shape.

On the other hand, the wire 25 is connected to an upper right portion of the pachinko machine 1 via a pulley 31. This part is shown in FIG. The wire 25 is further passed through a pulley 35,
It is attached to a ring 37 fixed to the pipe 9. A tension spring 39 is attached to a portion of the ring 37 opposite to the wire 25, and the other end of the tension spring 39 is fixed to the pachinko machine 1. When the firing handle 17 is twisted, the wire 25 is pulled, and the curvature of the pipe 9 is changed, for example, as shown by a pipe 9 'shown by a broken line. When the twisting is stopped, the original shape is restored by the tension of the tension spring 39. In this figure, the launching device 3 is also shown.

The firing device 3 is powered by a solenoid driven based on a command signal from a control device (to be described later). When this is driven, the first link 43 swings about P and thereby the second link 43 rotates. The link 45 is moved left and right, whereby only one game ball 49 is supplied from the ball feed mechanism to the launch unit 51. When a command signal from the control device is input to the launching device 3, the iron core 53 moves rightward in the drawing, hits the game ball 49, and the game ball 49 is fired. The force with which the iron core 53 strikes the game ball 49 is constant regardless of the angle at which the firing handle 17 is twisted. Adjustment of the arrival point of the game ball 49 is performed by changing the curvature of the pipe 9 and the rail 11 when the firing handle 17 is twisted.
That is, when the curvature changes, the resistance applied to the game balls 49 rolling on the guidance path 7 changes, and the arrival point of the game balls 49 on the game board 13 changes despite the firing intensity being constant. That is, the firing handle 17, the wire 2
3, 25 and the tension spring 39 correspond to the speed control means of the present invention. The launched game ball 49 passes through the pipe 9 and further reaches the game board 13 through the rail 11. Reference numeral 55 is a first ball sensor for detecting that the game ball 49 has been fired.

As described above, the firing by the firing device 3 is synchronized with the discharging operation of the game ball 49 by the ball cutting face 19.
FIG. 4 shows the periphery of the ball cutting feather 19. When the firing handle 17 is twisted, the bevel face 19 is rotated at a constant speed around Q by a step motor (not shown). The ball cutting face 19 is formed with four recesses 61 capable of holding one game ball 49, and the portion where the game ball 49 that has rolled from the upper plate 15 and reached the ball cutting face 19 enters (the four recesses 61). A second ball sensor 63 is provided at the back of any one of the above. The second ball sensor 63 detects that the game ball 49 is held on the ball face 19, in other words, that the player still holds the game ball 49. When the game ball 49 cannot be detected by the second ball sensor 63, the rotation of the ball face 19 is stopped even if the firing handle 17 is twisted.

The game ball 49 detected by the second ball sensor 63 is discharged to the out route 20 by rotating the ball face 19 counterclockwise. In addition, the ball face 19
Has a rotation speed of 25 rpm, whereby a maximum of 100 game balls 49 are discharged to the out route 20 per minute. A third ball sensor 65 is provided on the out path 20 and detects that the gaming ball 49 has been ejected. That is, the ball cutting blade 19 corresponds to the discharging means of the present invention, and the third ball sensor 65 corresponds to the discharging number detecting means of the present invention. When the third ball sensor 65 detects one game ball 49, the firing device 3 fires only one. Third ball sensor 6
5 cannot detect the game ball 49, the firing handle 1
Even if 7 is twisted, firing by firing device 3 is not performed. Thereby, the game balls 49 stored in the upper plate 15
The balls of the prize ball tank 5 are fired by the number of times.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the pachinko machine 1 for controlling the above-mentioned firing operation. This configuration is based on the input interface 73 for inputting the respective detection signals from the first ball sensor 55, the second ball sensor 63, and the third ball sensor 65, and the respective detection signals acquired via the input interface 73. And a control device 75 including a CPU for controlling the beveling face 19 and the launching device 3, a ROM storing a control program executed by the CPU, and a RAM for temporarily storing data to be processed by the CPU. Output to output an instruction signal to an amplifier circuit 79 for amplifying a drive signal to the firing device 3 and a motor drive circuit 81 for generating a drive signal to a step motor 77 for rotating the ball cutting face 19 based on the instruction from The interface 82 is configured as a main part.

According to the firing mechanism configured as described above, the arrival point of the game ball 49 can be adjusted by changing the curvature of the pipe 9 and the rail 11.
The firing force of the firing device 3 may be constant, so that the command signal issued by the control device 75 only needs to determine whether or not to fire. Therefore, the amplifier circuit 79 is simplified, and for example, a speed control circuit is not required. This eliminates the need for temperature compensation or the like required for the speed control circuit, and can reduce the cost.
Moreover, since the launching device 3 is installed above the pachinko machine 1, a part of the speed at which the game ball 49 reaches the gaming board 13 can be obtained from the gravitational acceleration, and the launching force of the launching device 3 is small. Thus, the size and power consumption of the launch device 3 can be reduced.

The game balls 49 to be fired are supplied from the upper plate 15 in the past, but are supplied from the prize ball tank 5 in the present embodiment. Thus, the game balls 49 that have been soiled with cigarette smoke or hand marks on the upper plate 15 do not roll on the rails 11 or the game board 13, thereby preventing the game balls 49 from being stained. Since the game balls 49 consumed from the upper plate 15 and the game balls 49 fired by the firing device 3 are synchronized, the player does not feel uncomfortable with the game. By looking at the upper plate 15, the player can know the number of game balls 49 owned by the player.

Further, it is fired by the firing device 3 and the rail 11
The game ball 49 rolling up can be visually recognized at the outer edge of the game board 13. Therefore, the player can have a sense of expectation before reaching the game board 13 by watching the game balls 49 rolling on the rails 11. As described above, one embodiment to which the present invention is applied has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and can be implemented in various modes.

For example, this firing mechanism may be applied to a ball-and-ball game machine other than a pachinko machine. In order to change the curvature of the rail 11, a mechanical structure such as a wire 25, a pulley 35, and a tension spring 39 is employed. Alternatively, an electric or pneumatic actuator may be used by using an actuator such as a motor or a solenoid. It may be performed in a specific manner.

The guide path 7 may be entirely a pipe 9, or conversely, the whole may be a rail 11. Launching device 3
Has been described as hitting the game ball 49 with a solenoid, but may be another mode (for example, hitting the game ball 49 with a firing hammer). Also in this case, since the firing force is small, the state of the firing hammer is unlikely to change, thereby reducing the occurrence of firing unevenness and the need for readjustment.

The arrival point of the game ball may be changed by a method other than changing the curvature of the guidance route 7. For example, it is conceivable that the angle of the tip 11a (see FIG. 1) of the rail 11 changes in accordance with the twist angle of the firing handle 17. In addition, the firing force of the firing device 3 may be stopped from being fixed, and may be changed. In this case, the command signal of the control device 75 becomes complicated or the amplification circuit 7
Although there is a possibility that the cost of the firing device 9 will increase, the firing force is still small, so that it is possible to prevent the firing device 3 from being enlarged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing a pachinko machine 1 to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a mechanism in which the curvature of the rail 11 changes when the firing handle 17 is twisted.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a mechanism in which the curvature of the pipe 9 changes when the firing handle 17 is twisted.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the game balls 49 of the upper plate 15 are discharged by the ball cutting feathers 19;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a configuration for controlling a firing operation performed by the pachinko machine 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Pachinko machine 3 ... Launching device 5 ... Prize ball tank 7 ... Guidance route 9 ... Pipe 11 ... Rail 13 ... Game board 15 ... Upper plate 17 ... Launching handle 19 ... Ball cutting face 20 ... Out route 23, 25 ... Wire 27, 31, 35 Pulley 29 Ear piece 39 Extension spring 43 First link 45 Second link 49 Game ball 51 Launcher 53 Iron core 55 First ball sensor 63 Second ball sensor 65 Third Ball sensor 73 ... Input interface 75 ... Control device 77 ... Step motor 79 ... Amplifier circuit 81 ... Motor drive circuit 82 ... Output interface

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Makoto Yanagawa 2-102 Mino-cho, Kasugai-shi, Aichi F-term (reference) 2C088 BA07 BA29 BA47 BA49 BA56

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A game machine for driving a game by driving a game ball into an erect game board, and a launching device for firing the game ball, and at least a lower portion of the game board from the launching device. A game path comprising: a guiding path disposed across the vehicle; and speed control means for changing a speed of a game ball fired from the launching device and driven into the game board via the guiding path. Ball launching mechanism. 2. The game ball launching mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the speed control means changes a speed of the game ball driven into the game board by changing a curvature of the guide path. A game ball launching mechanism characterized in that: 3. The game ball launching mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is a pachinko machine, the launching device is disposed at an upper right corner of the gaming board, and the guidance route is A game ball launching mechanism disposed from the upper right of the game board to the upper left position of the game board along the periphery of the game board. 4. The game ball launching mechanism according to claim 3, wherein at least a part of the guide path is a wall-shaped rail erected on the game board, and the ball rolls on the rail portion. A game ball launching mechanism characterized in that the player can visually recognize the game ball. 5. The gaming ball launching mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is a pachinko machine, and the launching device receives a supply of gaming balls from a prize ball tank of the gaming machine. A game ball launching mechanism characterized in that: 6. A game ball launching mechanism according to claim 5, wherein said discharging means discharges the game balls on the upper plate of the pachinko machine to an out path, and detects the number of game balls discharged by said discharging means. A game ball launching mechanism comprising: a number detecting means; and wherein the launching device launches game balls as many as the number of game balls detected by the discharge number detecting means. 7. The game ball launching mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the discharging means discharges the game balls on the upper plate of the pachinko machine one by one to an out path, and wherein the discharging device comprises the discharging device. A game ball launching mechanism for launching game balls in synchronization with detection of game balls by the number detecting means.