JP2003079936A - Mechanism for adjusting gripping force of arm in game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mechanism capable of easily adjusting a gripping force of an arm for gripping a premium by sandwiching it in between. SOLUTION: In this mechanism for adjusting the gripping force of the arm 9 of a game machine, the arms 9 for gripping the premium are supported openably/closably on an arm bracket 21 in a state of being urged in the direction of gripping the premium. The mechanism is characterized as follows: a coil spring 38, which urges the arm 9 in the direction of closing the arm 9, is interposed between the arm 9 and the arm bracket 21; and a post bolt 36 for a spring, which can adjust a mounting length L of the coil spring 38 by means of a butterfly nut 39, is provided between the coil spring 38 and the arm 9 or the arm bracket 21.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an arm gripping force adjusting mechanism in a game machine, and more particularly to a device for finely adjusting the gripping force of a prize in multiple stages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a crane game machine is widely known as a prize acquisition game. This crane game machine moves a gripping pawl device to a position above a target prize in a case where a plurality of prizes are arranged, and then lowers the gripping pawl device to grip the prize by a claw member of the grip pawl device. Then, it is raised and the gripped prize is carried to the outlet to win the prize.

For example, in the crane game machine described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-15585, a pair of gripping pawls facing each other is pivotally supported so as to be openable and closable, and a prize is gripped by opening and closing these gripping pawls. However, by providing a coil spring that urges the gripping pawl in the closing direction,
A prize is grasped by the biasing force of the coil spring. Further, as described in Japanese Patent No. 2566453, there is a device in which a pair of gripping claws are urged in a gripping direction of a prize by a torsion spring provided on a support shaft so as to be openable and closable.

[0004]

As described above, a crane game machine generally has a structure for pinching a prize to win a prize. However, if the pinching force is too large, the prize acquisition rate will increase. There is a problem that it becomes too high and profitability deteriorates. On the other hand, if the gripping force is too small, the prize acquisition rate will decrease, so profitability will increase at the beginning, but since the possibility of acquiring prizes will decrease, the number of players playing the game will decrease and the utilization rate will decrease. There is a problem of decrease.

However, in the former case of the above-mentioned prior art, in order to make such a delicate adjustment of the clamping force, the coil spring must be removed each time and a coil spring having a different spring constant must be replaced. There is a problem that it takes. Further, in the latter of the conventional techniques, in order to remove the torsion spring provided on the support shaft of the grip claw, the grip claw itself may need to be removed in some cases, which is a problem in that the work is troublesome. Therefore, the present invention provides an arm gripping force adjustment mechanism in a game machine that can easily adjust the gripping force of an arm that holds a prize.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in claim 1 is such that a plurality of arms (for example, the right arm 9b and the left arm 9a in the embodiment) for holding a prize are prizes. An arm gripping force adjustment mechanism of a game machine, which is supported by an arm support part (for example, an arm bracket 21 in the embodiment) so as to be openable and closable in a state of being urged in a direction of gripping, An elastic member (for example, the coil spring 38 in the embodiment) is interposed between the elastic member and the arm or the arm support portion, and a lock member (for example, a wing nut in the embodiment). 39), an adjustment rod (for example, the spring post bolt 36 in the embodiment) capable of adjusting the attachment length of the elastic member is provided. With this configuration, the adjustment rod is displaced by the lock member to adjust the attachment length of the elastic member provided between the arm and the arm support portion, so that the elastic force of the elastic member acts on the arm. The gripping force for clamping can be finely adjusted.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the lock member has a lever portion for tightening (for example, the lever portion 40 in the embodiment). The lever portion is received to rotate the lock member. It is characterized in that a stopper member (for example, the stopper member 41 in the embodiment) that regulates is provided. With this configuration, even if the lock member tries to rotate due to vibration or the like, the rotation of the lock member is restricted by the stopper member, the position of the adjusting rod set by the lock member is held, and the set arm grip is set. It can prevent the power from changing.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the lock member has a lever portion and a nut portion, the lever portion has a full width (for example, the full width L2 in the embodiment) larger than that of the nut portion, and the stopper member. The inner width (for example, the inner width L3 in the embodiment) is set smaller than the entire width of the lever portion. With this configuration, the lock member is reliably stopped by the stopper member.

The invention described in claim 4 is characterized in that the stopper member is provided with a slit (for example, the slit 44 in the embodiment) for restricting the movement of the lever portion. With this configuration, the slit can reliably regulate the movement of the lever portion.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is an overall perspective view of a crane game machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a gripping device. In this embodiment, two crane game machines 2 are provided on the left and right in one housing 1, but one housing 1
One or three or more crane game machines 2 may be provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the lower half of the housing 1 is provided with operation buttons 3 of the crane game machine 2 and a coin slot 5 at the upper part of the front surface, and a prize outlet 4 is provided at the lower part of the front surface. ing. The left side of the operation button 3 is a forward switch SW1, the middle is a left arm switch SW2, and the right side is a right arm switch SW3.

A front surface and a side surface of the upper half of the housing 1 are covered with a transparent case 6, and a partition 7 provided in a central portion in the left-right direction divides two crane game machines 2 into regions. The transparent case 6 is provided so that the front surface portion 6b and the both side portions 6a can be opened so that the prize can be taken in and out also from the side of the housing 1. Therefore, in some cases, it is possible to supplement the prize during the game.

A prize is arranged on each floor 8 in the transparent case 6, and a gripping device 10 for gripping the prize on the floor 8 by two arms 9 by operating the operation button 3 above the prize. Is provided so that it can be raised and lowered. The floor 8 is formed with an outlet 11 communicating with the prize outlet 4 in the entire width direction. Where S is a removable partition wall,
The partition wall S functions as a barrier that must be crossed when moving the prize grasped by the arm 9 to the prize outlet 4. The partition wall S is made of a transparent resin or the like to ensure the visibility of the prize. Further, the floor portion 8 may have a structure such that it is illuminated by an underfloor illumination device, and the design effect may be enhanced by the illumination effect.

As shown in FIG. 2, the gripping device 10 comprises a rail unit 20, a left arm 9a and a right arm 9b. The left arm 9a and the right arm 9b are movably supported on a rail 12 provided horizontally on the rail unit 20, and the left arm 9a and the right arm 9b are movably supported.
The prize is pinched and released by moving away from and approaching b. A claw 13 is attached to the tip of each arm 9a, 9b. Here, the rail unit 20 is covered with a cover 14A, and the front surface of the cover 14A is
A plurality of LED lamps 15 are arranged. Each arm 9 is also covered with an arm cover 14B. The gripping device 10 is supported via the wires 17 in the two telescopic cylinders 16 so as to be able to move up and down by an ascending / descending movement device (not shown) described later and to be movable in the depth direction of the housing 1.

FIG. 3 shows a gripping device 1 taken along the line AA of FIG.
0 shows a front sectional view of 0. The rail unit 20
Includes a rail 12 and an arm bracket 21.
The arm bracket 21 can move both arms 9 away from each other,
Moreover, it is swingably supported. Specifically, via the rollers 22 provided on the arm brackets 21 and 21,
The arm brackets 21 and 21 are provided so as to be movable along the rails 12, and both arms 9 are swingably supported with respect to the arm brackets 21 and 21 via pins 28 described later.

The rail 12 is provided with stepping motors M1 and M2 on the right end side and the left end side, and a drive pulley 24 (only the right side is shown) fixed to the shaft of the stepping motor M1 and the left end portion of the rail 12. A driven pulley 26 rotatably supported on the side is linked via a timing belt 25 wound around the driven pulley 26 and the driven pulley 26. This stepping motor M1 allows the left arm 9a to move left and right. Similarly, the right arm 9b can be moved left and right by the stepping motor M2 and the like. Then, each arm bracket 21 is fixed to each timing belt 25 via a fixture 27. Therefore, when the timing belts 25 rotate, the arm brackets 21 move, and the left arm 9a and the right arm 9b independently operate.
Move along 2 and pinch the prize as shown by the dashed line in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4A by taking the arm 9b as an example, a spring bracket 29 having an L-shaped cross section is attached to the upper right wall of the arm 9b by bolts 30 and nuts 31. The spring bracket 29 is provided with a locking portion 32, and the locking portion 32 is arranged so as to project inward from a hole 33 in the upper right wall of the arm 9. On the other hand, the arm bracket 21 has a spring bracket 2
The mounting bracket 34 is mounted at a position opposed to 9.

The mounting bracket 34 has an insertion hole 3 at a position corresponding to the locking portion 32 of the spring bracket 29.
5 is formed in the insertion hole 35 toward the spring bracket 29, and the penetrating portion 36a of the spring post bolt 36 is formed.
Has been inserted. A locking hole 37 is provided at the tip of the spring post bolt 36, and the locking hole 37 of the spring post bolt 36 and the locking portion 32 of the spring bracket 29 are provided.
A coil spring 38 is stretched between and. That is, the mounting length L of the coil spring 38 is between the locking hole 37 of the spring post bolt 36 and the locking portion 32 of the spring bracket 29.

A wing nut 39 is screwed to the base end of the spring post bolt 36, and the wing nut 39 is attached to the lever portion 4.
By gripping and rotating 0, the attachment length L of the coil spring 38, that is, the elastic force changes, and the gripping force of the arm 9b against the prize can be adjusted.

At the bottom of the mounting bracket 34, a spring post bolt 36, a coil spring 38 and a wing nut 3 are provided.
A stopper member 41 having a U-shaped cross section is detachably attached by a bolt 42 so as to wrap around 9. As shown in FIG. 4B, the lower wall 43 of the stopper member 41 is provided with a slit 44 that receives one lever portion 40 of the wing nut 39 and restricts the rotation of the wing nut 39. The inner width L3 of the mounting bracket 34 is smaller than the overall width L2 of the lever portion, and the lever portion 4 of the wing nut 39.
It is set to be larger than the width of the portion (nut portion) excluding 0.

Next, the operation will be described. When a player inserts a coin into the coin slot 4 and presses the forward switch SW1, the lifting device (not shown) moves the gripping device 10 along the depth direction of the housing 1 to correspond to a desired prize position. When the player releases the forward movement switch SW1 at that position, the player stops at that position.

When the player pushes the switch SW2 for the left arm, the left arm 9a moves to the right by the driving of the stepping motor M1, and when the player releases the switch SW2 for the left arm at the left of the target prize, the left arm is released. 9a stops.
Next, when the player pushes the right arm switch SW3, the right arm 9b is moved leftward by driving the stepping motor M2, and when the player releases the right arm switch SW3 at the right of the target prize, the right arm is released. 9b stops. This allows the player to set both arms 9 at their intended positions.

Then, the right arm switch SW3 is released to stop the right arm 9b, and at the same time, the wire 17 is unwound by the elevating and moving device and the gripping device 10 descends. Then, when the gripping device 10 descends and it is detected that the claw 13 has come into contact with the floor 8, the gripping device 10 stops descending, and both arms 9 move in a direction closer to each other, and a chain line in FIG. As shown in, the gift is formed in a V shape. At this time, as also shown in FIG. 6, the coil spring 38 is deformed in the extending direction by the gripping operation of each arm 9 to have a length of (L + α), so that the elastic force of the coil spring 38 to return is also affected. The prize is surely gripped. After that, after the wire 17 is wound up by the elevating and moving device to raise the gripping device 10, the gripping device 10 is moved onto the outlet 11 and the gripping operation by both arms 9 is released to take out the prize from the prize outlet 4. be able to.

Here, since the prize acquisition rate is too low, it is necessary to adjust the prize acquisition rate when the number of players decreases and the operating rate decreases. In order to increase the prize acquisition rate, the elastic force of the coil spring 38 may be increased to increase the gripping force of the prize, but this can be performed by a simple operation as described below. First, the front portion 6b of the transparent case 6 is opened prior to the work. Next, the bolt 42
Thus, the stopper member 41 is removed to put the wing nut 39 in a free state. Then, the wing nut 39 is rotated by the lever portion 40 to adjust the penetrating portion 36a of the spring post bolt 36 to be long, as shown in FIG. That is, as a result, the mounting length L of the coil spring 38 becomes the mounting length L1 (L1> L).

Then, the slit 44 of the stopper member 41
With the lever part 40 of the wing nut 39 stopped with
Attach the stopper member 41 with the bolt 42 to mount the bracket 3
Fixing to No. 4 ends the adjustment work for increasing the arm gripping force. On the contrary, if the profitability deteriorates because the prize acquisition rate is too high, the spring post bolt 3
It is sufficient to adjust the penetrating portion 36a of 6 to be short, and to adjust the attachment length L of the coil spring 38 to be short.

According to the above-described embodiment, if the wing nut 39 is tightened, the length of the penetrating portion 36a of the spring post bolt 36 becomes longer, which makes the attachment length L of the coil spring 38 longer and the arm gripping force. Can be increased by that amount, and the length of the penetrating portion 36a of the spring post bolt 36 can be shortened by loosening the wing nut 39, which shortens the mounting length L of the coil spring 38, thereby holding the arm. Since the force can be reduced by that amount, it is not necessary to replace the coil spring 38, and the increase or decrease in the gripping force can be finely adjusted steplessly by a simple work.

Even if the wing nut 39 receives a force in the rotating direction due to vibration or the like, the stopper member 41 causes the wing nut 3 to rotate.
Since the rotation of 9 is restricted, the position of the spring post bolt 36 set by the wing nut 39 is held, and the set arm gripping force can be prevented from changing, so that the wing nut 39 can be used even with time. It will not loosen and will be more reliable.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, the wing nut 39 has been described as an example, but the coil spring 38 is adjusted by adjusting the length of the penetrating portion 36a of the spring post bolt 36. The mounting length L of can be adjusted,
Further, the wing nut 39 is not limited as long as the stopper member 41 can prevent the rotation. Further, the spring post bolt 36 may be inserted through the arm 9 side. Further, a rod-shaped adjustment rod is provided in place of the spring post bolt 36, a lock member is provided in place of the wing nut 39 to allow the adjustment rod to be locked at an arbitrary position, and the adjustment is performed by adjusting the lock member to an optimum length. The rod member may be fixed by a lock member so that the attachment length of the coil spring can be adjusted.

[0028]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, the adjusting rod is displaced by the lock member to adjust the attachment length of the elastic member provided between the arm and the arm supporting portion. By doing so, the gripping force that clamps the prize acting on the arm by the elastic force of the elastic member can be finely adjusted in multiple steps and easily, so that it is not necessary to replace the elastic member and the gripping force can be adjusted by a simple operation. There is an effect that can be.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even if the lock member tries to rotate due to vibration or the like, the rotation of the lock member is restricted by the stopper member, and the position of the adjusting rod set by the lock member is held. The set arm gripping force can be prevented from changing, and according to the invention described in claim 3, the lock member is further reliably stopped by the stopper member. According to the invention described in claim 4, Since the movement of the lever portion can be reliably regulated by the slit, there is an effect that the lock member does not loosen even with the use over time and reliability is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a crane game machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the gripping device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

4A is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 3, and FIG. 4B is a view of FIG.
It is sectional drawing which follows the BB line of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 4A, showing a state where the attachment length of the coil spring is adjusted to be long.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part in a state where a prize is held.

[Explanation of symbols]

9 arms 9a left arm 9b Right arm 21 Arm bracket (arm support) 36 Spring Post Bolt (Adjustment Rod) 38 Coil spring (elastic member) 39 Wing nut (lock member) 40 Lever part 41 Stopper member 44 slits

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An arm gripping force adjusting mechanism for a game machine, wherein a plurality of arms for holding a prize are supported by an arm support part so as to be openable and closable in a state of being biased in a direction for holding a prize. An elastic member that urges the arm in the direction of closing the arm is interposed between the arm supporting portion, and an adjusting rod that can adjust the mounting length of the elastic member by a lock member is provided between the elastic member and the arm or the arm supporting portion. An arm gripping force adjusting mechanism in a game machine, which is provided. 2. The lock member has a lever portion for tightening, and a stopper member for receiving the lever portion and restricting rotation of the lock member is provided. An arm gripping force adjustment mechanism in the game machine described. 3. The lock member has a lever portion and a nut portion, the lever portion is wider than the nut portion, and the stopper member is set to have an inner width smaller than the lever portion. The arm gripping force adjusting mechanism in the game machine according to claim 2. 4. The arm gripping force adjusting mechanism for a game machine according to claim 2, wherein the stopper member is provided with a slit for restricting the movement of the lever portion.