JP2003236096A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine provided with a shooting apparatus which is less likely to tire a player and which never shoots a foul ball. <P>SOLUTION: A pachinko machine 1 is provided with a rotary solenoid 20 connected with a shooting handle 40 and a shooting hammer 51. When a shooting lever 44 is in a no-rotated state, the shooting hammer 51 is rotated by hammering so as to hitting out a game ball to the upper position of a center case 9. When the shooting lever 44 in the no-rotated state is rotated clockwise, the game ball is hit out to the right compared with the upper position of the center case 9. When the shooting lever 44 in the no-rotated state is rotated counterclockwise, the game ball is hit out to the left compared with the upper position of the center case 9. Thus, the angle of the hand operating the shooting lever 44 is varied during a game, so that fatigue is not built up and the chain of foul balls never occurs when shooting of the ball is started. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gaming machine that provides a player with a predetermined profit when predetermined requirements are satisfied, and more particularly to a launch handle for hitting a game ball on a game board surface. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pachinko game machine is provided with a launching device for launching a game ball onto a game board surface. In this launching device, a launching handle is provided at a lower portion of the front of the gaming machine, and a launching lever is pivotally supported so as to be manually rotatable. Then, to this launch lever, a launch coil spring linked to a launch hammer that presses the game ball is connected, and in the state where the launch lever is not operated, the standard with which the biasing force of the launch coil spring is minimized. In position. Furthermore, this firing lever
A rotation preventing member provided inside the firing handle prevents rotation in the counterclockwise direction from the reference position.

When the firing lever is started to rotate in the clockwise direction, the game ball starts to be pressed. When it is further rotated, a game ball having an increased speed is shot as the rotation angle is gradually increased. Then, the player rotationally adjusts this firing lever so as to be able to launch the game ball at the optimum position on the game board surface, holds it at the rotation angle considered to be optimal, and continues the ball hitting operation. Becomes

[0004]

However, if the game time is long and the player keeps the same hand angle or posture, the player feels tired. Further, when starting the rotation of the above-mentioned firing lever from the reference position, since the firing strength is weak up to a predetermined rotation angle, the game ball often fails to reach the game area and becomes a foul ball. Then, the foul ball that has returned to the firing position again collides with the game ball that has been fired next time, and a chain of foul balls has occurred. Therefore, the flow of the game is obstructed. In addition, in order to avoid such a chain of foul balls, when the launch lever is set to the maximum turning angle at once and the game ball launch is started, the game ball thus launched is extremely unlikely to win the prize. Was supposed to waste game balls.
Further, since such operation of the firing lever is well known to the player and is obsolete, a firing device having a novel structure has been demanded. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine which can solve the above-mentioned problems and which is provided with a launching device having a novel structure for the player, in which the player is less likely to get tired and a foul ball is not generated.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a projection lever provided on a front surface of a gaming machine and pivotally operating a firing lever pivotally supported reversibly rotatable from a non-rotational reference position. A firing handle equipped with a touch sensor capable of detecting contact of a player's hand, and with the rotation of the firing lever,
In a gaming machine provided with a launching device having a launching force control mechanism for controlling a firing hammer that strikes a game ball forward with a predetermined pushing force intensity, the striking force control mechanism includes a firing lever. The detection means for detecting the rotation direction and the rotation angle from the reference position, and the pressure adjusting device for pressure-rotating the firing hammer in the front-rear direction with a predetermined pressure are provided. When the firing hammer is started to be pressed and rotated, and when the firing lever is at the reference position, the firing hammer is to be pressed and rotated at a reference pressure strength that enables at least the game ball to be launched into the game area. When the firing lever is rotated in the forward direction from the reference position, the hammering pressure intensity of the firing hammer is gradually increased from the reference hammering force intensity as the rotation angle detected by the detecting means is gradually increased. The firing lever is rotated in the opposite direction from the reference position. In this case, the gaming machine (claim 1) is provided with a launching device for controlling the hammering strength of the hammer to gradually decrease from the reference hammering strength as the turning angle gradually increases. .

In such a configuration, when the player adjusts the hitting pressure of the game ball so that the hitting position is a desired hitting position, the firing lever is rotated from the reference position in any circumferential direction, The pressure will be adjusted. Also, the standard pressure strength is
At least when the player starts the rotation of the firing lever, the pressure strength of the game ball is small at the start of firing when the player has started the rotation of the firing lever. It is possible to eliminate the chain of foul spheres that do. The forward direction, which is the rotating direction of the firing lever, may be the clockwise direction or the counterclockwise direction.

Further, the reference striking force strength when the firing lever is at the reference position is a striking force strength with which the game ball can be shot out to a substantially upper center position of the game area (claim 2).
Is proposed. In such a configuration, if the player wants to hit the game ball further away from the hitting ball position hit in the center of the upper part of the game area, the firing lever is rotated in the forward direction from the reference position, When it is desired to launch in the near direction, it is necessary to rotate in the opposite direction. Therefore, the angle of the hand that rotates the firing lever during a game will change significantly compared to the conventional configuration, and the player will be able to properly move the body even during a long-time game, so that fatigue is unlikely to occur. Become.

In addition, a pressure adjusting device for pressing and rotating the firing hammer is used to control the rotation speed of the armature plate which rotates in the in-plane direction in which the firing hammer is arranged, based on the detected rotation angle of the firing lever. A rotary solenoid that changes and fires a launching hammer with a predetermined hammering strength (Claim 3)
By striking the game ball at the reference position of the firing lever with the reference striking strength, and rotating the firing lever in either circumferential direction, the striking strength is gradually increased or gradually reduced from the reference striking strength. It becomes possible.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a front view of a pachinko gaming machine 1. An openable and closable front frame 2 is attached to the outer frame of the pachinko gaming machine 1, and a game board 3 is disposed behind and above the front frame 2. At the center position of this game board 3,
A center case 9 having the symbol display device 6 inside is arranged, and below the center case 9, a special winning opening 8 and the like are provided.

When a game ball is launched from the lower left of the game board 3, the game ball is delivered to the game area by the guiding action of the launch rail 28 (see FIG. 3). Then, when the game ball enters the special operation area 7 provided in the game board area, the symbol display device 6 is driven. Furthermore, when a game ball passes through this special operation area 7 continuously, winning memory can be stored up to a predetermined number, and the symbol display device 6 is driven by the exhaustion of this winning memory. When the symbols displayed on the symbol display device 6 form a predetermined combination, the special winning opening 8 is opened, and the big hit operation is generated.

An upper tray 4 is attached below the front frame 2, and a lower tray 5 is attached below the upper tray 4. On the right side of the lower tray 5, a firing handle 40 forming a part of the firing device according to the present invention.
Is provided so as to project.

Next, the launching device will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 2, the firing handle 40 is composed of a handle base 41 covering the base side and a handle head 42 covering the front side. A firing lever 44 and a touch sensor 43 are provided between the handle base 41 and the handle head 42 in this order from the base side. The firing lever 44 is supported by the firing handle 40 so as to be reversibly rotatable in the circumferential direction by a connecting shaft (not shown) fitted in the center. The firing lever 44 according to the present invention is reciprocally supported in any circumferential direction from the reference position at the rotation position in the non-rotation state, and in any circumferential direction. A rotation preventing member (not shown) is provided in the firing handle 40 so that the rotation angle becomes impossible after the rotation angle reaches a predetermined rotation angle, and the rotation angle is limited to a certain range. Has been done. In addition, the touch sensor 43 can detect the contact of the hand of the player who rotationally operates the firing lever 44.

On the other hand, on the back side of the front frame 2 corresponding to the mounting position of the firing handle 40, as shown in FIG. 3, the firing hammer 51, the rotary solenoid 20 connected to the firing hammer 51, and the rotation of the firing lever 44. An angle detection sensor 23 that detects a moving angle, a pressure control board 26 that processes a detection signal of the angle detection sensor 23, and the like, a power transmission unit 21 that electrically connects the pressure control board 26 and the rotary solenoid 20, and the like. A supporting substrate 48, a rectifier 30 for supplying game balls, and the like are provided. The firing hammer 51, the rotary solenoid 20, the angle detection sensor 23, and the pressure control board 2
6 and the power transmission unit 21 constitute a hammering control mechanism according to the present invention, in particular, the angle detection sensor 23 constitutes a detecting means, and the firing hammer 51 and the rotary solenoid 20 constitute a hammering pressure adjusting device.

Next, the rotary solenoid 20 will be described. The rotary solenoid 20 is fixed to the support substrate 48 via a solenoid fixing member 39 so that the firing hammer 51 can rotate in the front-back direction. And
By bringing the lower end of the launching hammer 51 into contact with the stopper 22, the forward turning position on the upper end side is set as a pressure position where the game ball is pressed by the launching hammer 51.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the rotary solenoid 20 comprises a disc-shaped armature plate 31 and a cylindrical case 33. On the board surface of the armature plate 31 on the side of the support substrate 48, a shooting hammer 5
1 is arranged, and on the other side, a ball race 35a around which a bearing ball 36 rolls is formed on the board surface.
Further, the armature plate 31 is rotatably supported on the case 33 by a shaft 37 fitted in the center thereof so as to be reversibly rotatable. Further, a ball race 35b is formed on the inner surface of the case 33 so that the armature plate 31
Ball race 35a and case 33 ball race 35
The bearing balls 36 are sandwiched by b and the bearing balls 36. The case 33 has a coil 3
2 is built in, and when a voltage is applied to the coil 32, the armature plate 31 is pulled toward the case 33 side, and the intervening bearing ball 36 causes the ball race 35 to move.
The armature plate 31 rotates as it rolls along a and 35b. A publicly known one is preferably used as the rotary solenoid 20, and the detailed mechanism is omitted.

Further, the coil spring connecting portion 4 which rotates integrally with the firing lever 44 via the connecting shaft of the firing handle 40.
No. 5 projects to the back side of the machine. The coil spring 24 that biases the firing lever 44 to the reference position is connected to the coil spring connection portion 45. One end of the coil spring 24 is connected to the coil spring connecting portion 45, and the other end thereof is the support substrate 4
8, the firing lever 44 is rotated by the player against the biasing force of the coil spring 24, and when the hand is released, the firing lever 44 is returned to the reference position according to the biasing force. . That is, the firing lever 4
When 4 is in the non-rotating state, the coil spring 24 is in the reference position where the biasing force generated in the coil spring 24 is minimum.

Further, the shaft support of the firing lever 44 is
An angle detection sensor 23 capable of detecting the rotation angle of the firing lever 44 from the reference position of the firing lever 44, and a pressure control board 26 are provided. The pressure control board 26, based on the rotation angle detected by the angle detection sensor 23, pressure-rotates the firing hammer 51 with a predetermined pressure intensity,
Control the rotary solenoid 20.

Here, in the present invention, the firing lever 4
Firing strength when 4 is at the reference position (reference striking strength)
Is the striking strength with which the game ball can be launched to a position above the center case 9. In addition, the firing lever 44
However, when it is rotated clockwise from the reference position, the hammering strength of the firing hammer 51 is gradually increased from the reference hammering strength in accordance with the gradually increasing rotation angle. Further, when the firing lever 44 is rotated counterclockwise from the reference position, the hammering strength of the firing hammer 51 is gradually decreased from the reference hammering strength in accordance with the gradual increase of the rotation angle. A voltage is applied to the rotary solenoid 20 by the control of the pressure control board 26 via the power transmission section 21.

A rectifier 30 is mounted on the back side of the upper tray 4, and when the rotary solenoid 20 is driven, a rectifier 30 is attached to the firing rail 28 by the operation of a ball feeding member (not shown) therein. The game balls are supplied one by one from the communication holes. As a result, when the launch hammer 51 strikes the supplied game ball, the game ball is launched from the pressure position to the surface of the game board 3 according to the guiding action of the launch rail 28.

Next, a series of operations of the launching device will be described.
In the above configuration, in order for the player to start the game,
When a hand is placed on the firing handle 40, the touch sensor 43 detects contact of the hand. The contact detection signal is transmitted to the pressure control board 26, and the pressure control board 26 uses the signal to detect the case 3 of the rotary solenoid 20.
A voltage is applied to the coil 32 incorporated in the armature 3, the armature plate 31 is started to rotate, and the firing hammer 51 is started to be pressed and rotated.

As a result, the rotary solenoid 20
Rotates the armature plate 31 intermittently,
The firing hammer 51 is rotated by pressing. Along with this, the game balls are supplied from the rectifier 30, and the game balls are sequentially played on the game board 3
It is pressed to the surface. Here, when the game starts, the firing lever 44
Is in the reference position, the rotary solenoid 20
The firing hammer 51 is rotated so as to press the game ball with the reference pressing strength. That is, at the start of launching, the game ball is launched in the upper position of the center case 9 in the game area.

Further, the player can adjust the hitting position of the game ball hit with the reference hitting strength by rotating the firing lever 44. That is, when it is desired to launch the game ball further to the right from the center case upper position, the firing lever 44 is rotated clockwise from the reference position against the biasing force (see FIG. 6). in this way,
When the firing lever 44 is rotated clockwise, the rotation direction and the rotation angle are detected by the angle detection sensor 23, and the rotary solenoid 20 is controlled to increase the hammering strength by the increased rotation angle. It When the turning angle is too large, the firing lever 44 is turned to the reference position side in accordance with the biasing force of the coil spring 24 to adjust the hitting position.

On the other hand, when it is desired to hit the game ball to the left of the hitting position of the game ball hit at the reference hitting strength, the firing lever 44 is rotated counterclockwise from the reference position against the biasing force. (See FIG. 7). Thus, when the firing lever 44 is rotated counterclockwise, the angle detection sensor 23
Thus, the rotation direction and the rotation angle are detected, and the rotary solenoid 20 is controlled so as to weaken the hammering strength by the increased rotation angle.

In the present embodiment, the reference batting strength is located above the center case 9, but as the base batting strength, at least a batting ball at which a game ball can be launched into the game area is provided. It may be strong. With such a configuration, at the start of the game, it is possible to start hitting the game ball without generating foul balls.

In the embodiment described above, when the firing lever 44 is rotated clockwise from the reference position, the game ball is launched to the right from the center case upper position, and the game ball is rotated counterclockwise from the reference position. When it is rotated in the direction, the player can intuitively understand the operation of the launch lever 44 and the launch direction of the game ball to be launched, because the player is driven to the left from the position. For beginners, ball-hitting is easy and clear.

[0026]

According to the present invention, when the player adjusts a desired hitting ball strength, the firing lever is turned in any circumferential direction from the reference position to adjust the hitting pressure. It is possible to provide a novel rotation operation of the launch lever, which has the effect of stimulating the player's interest. Further, since the reference striking pressure strength is at least the striking strength at which the gaming ball is launched into the game area, it is possible to eliminate the chain of foul balls generated due to the small striking strength at the start of the launch of the gaming ball. Therefore, the flow of the game is not obstructed at the start of the game ball launch.

If the reference batting strength is the batting strength at which the game ball is hit to the upper center position of the game area, the player is farther from the hit ball position hit to the upper center position of the game area. When the player wants to launch a game ball, the firing lever is rotated in the forward direction from the reference position, while when the player wants to launch the game ball in the near direction, it is rotated in the opposite direction. In this way, since the angle of the hand that rotates the firing lever during the game is greatly changed, the player appropriately moves the body even during a long-time game, and an effect that fatigue is less likely to occur is produced. .

Further, when the batting pressure adjusting device is constituted by a rotary solenoid in which a launching hammer is arranged, the gaming ball is struck at the reference position of the firing lever with a reference pressing strength, and in any circumferential direction. As the firing lever is rotated, it becomes possible to gradually increase or decrease the pressing force from the reference pressing force.

[0029]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pachinko gaming machine 1.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a lower portion of the pachinko gaming machine 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear view showing the launching device.

FIG. 4 is a right side view showing a rotary solenoid 20 to which a firing hammer 51 is connected.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a rotary solenoid 20 to which a firing hammer 51 is connected.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the launching device showing a state in which the player has rotated the launching lever 44 in the clockwise direction.

FIG. 7 is a rear view of the launching device showing a state in which the player has turned the launching lever 44 counterclockwise.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Pachinko machine 20 rotary solenoid 23 Angle detection sensor 31 Armature Plate 40 firing handle 43 Touch sensor 44 firing lever 51 launch hammer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A contact of a firing lever protruding from a front surface of a gaming machine and pivotally supported so as to be reversibly rotatable from a reference position in a non-rotating state, and a contact of a player's hand that rotationally operates the firing lever. A firing handle equipped with a touch sensor capable of controlling, and a hammering pressure control mechanism for controlling the firing hammer that hammers the game ball forward with a rotation of the firing lever so as to rotate with a predetermined hammering strength. In a gaming machine equipped with a launching device including, a hammering control mechanism detects a turning direction of the firing lever and a detecting means for detecting a turning angle from a reference position, and a firing hammer with a predetermined hammering force. A pressing force adjusting device for rotating the pressing force in the front-rear direction is provided, and when the firing hammer is started to be pressed by the contact detection of the touch sensor, and the firing lever is at the reference position,
When the firing hammer is rotated at a pressure with a reference pressure strength that enables at least the game ball to be launched into the game area, and when the firing lever is rotated in the forward direction from the reference position, it is detected by the detection means. When the firing lever is rotated in the opposite direction from the reference position, the hammering force of the firing hammer is gradually increased with the increase of the rotation angle. Accordingly, the gaming machine is provided with a launching device for controlling the hammering strength of the hammer to be gradually reduced from the reference hammering strength. 2. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the reference striking strength when the firing lever is at the reference position is a striking strength that enables the gaming ball to be launched to a substantially upper center position of the game area. 3. A hammer pressure adjusting device for hammering and rotating the firing hammer, based on the detected rotation angle of the firing lever, controls a rotation speed of an armature plate in which the firing hammer is disposed and rotates in an in-plane direction. The gaming machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gaming machine is configured by a rotary solenoid that varies and presses and rotates a launching hammer with a predetermined pressing strength.