JP2003236210A - Pinball game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem of a conventional pinball game machine wherein noise by static electricity caused by a discharge when a charged game ball passes a magnetic proximity sensor of a prize hall or the like is directly applied to a control board through wiring of the sensor to cause malfunction of the control board. <P>SOLUTION: In this game machine, a relay board 28 connected with the wiring 29 for transmitting a detection signal of the magnetic proximity sensor 12s provided inside an attacker 12 is provided with a capacitor 31. The capacitor 31 has impedance allowing passage of a signal of a frequency band of the noise by the static electricity. Even if the noise by the static electricity is just about propagating through the wiring 29 by the discharge of the static elasticity charged in the pachinko ball when the charged pachinko ball prize in the attacker 12 passes the sensor 12s, the noise is almost removed through the capacitor 31 provided in the relay board 28 and is hardly transmitted to a main control board 25. <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 ball game machine having a magnetic proximity sensor for detecting passage of a game ball.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional ball game machine of this type, there is a pachinko machine, for example.

In conventional general pachinko machines, pachinko balls are used as game balls. In the pachinko game, the handle is operated by the player, and the pachinko ball staying in the upper plate is shot on the game board surface. The pachinko ball that was launched flows down the board surface while being hit by obstacle nails and windmills that are planted on the board surface, and the pachinko balls that did not win any of the prize holes are discharged from the out port at the bottom of the board while flowing down. . When a prize is won in the general winning port on the way down, a predetermined number of prize balls are paid out. In addition, when the start winning a prize is won, the special symbol game is played by the special symbol display device provided in the center of the board. In this special symbol game, a jackpot occurs when a predetermined symbol is stopped and displayed, and a special winning opening called an attacker is opened. While the attacker is open, a lot of pachinko balls can be expected to win, and a lot of prize balls can be expected.

The winning of a pachinko ball to various winning openings in such a pachinko machine is detected by a magnetic proximity sensor provided for each winning opening. Also, the winning of the attacker is detected by the magnetic proximity sensor provided inside the attacker. As shown in FIG. 1, the magnetic proximity sensor s detects the passage of the magnetic flux m generated in the coil c by the pachinko ball p passing through it, and changes the output level from the high level to the low level. This low level detection signal is output to a control board on which an electronic circuit for controlling a game process is formed, and the control board controls a payout device to pay out a prize ball. Balls to be paid out for prize balls and ball lending are pachinko balls stored in a ball tank provided at the upper rear part of the base door to which the game board is attached. It is done by being paid out to.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned pachinko machine, static electricity is generated due to friction between metal pachinko balls or friction between the resin ball passage and the pachinko ball. In the above-mentioned attacker or the like in which a large number of pachinko balls are gathered, since the balls often rub against each other, static electricity is particularly likely to occur. In the above conventional pachinko machine,
When the noise due to the generated static electricity reaches the control board, it may cause a malfunction in the game control processing by the control board.

In order to prevent such a malfunction, there has been a pachinko machine in which the board case of the control board is formed of a metal plate or the like and electrostatically shielded. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-155995 discloses a ball game machine in which a ball tank, a ball passage and the like are formed of an antistatic persistent resin. According to this ball-and-ball game machine, static electricity is not charged on the mechanism plate on the back of the game machine due to friction caused by the circulation of the pachinko balls.

However, when the board case is formed of a metal plate or the like, the control board inside the case becomes invisible, and the control board is tampered with. Becomes harder to find. For this reason, in order to prevent fraud, the substrate case has to be formed of a transparent resin, and conventionally, sufficient measures against static electricity have not been taken.

Further, even if the substrate case is made of a metal plate or the like, or the ball tank or the ball passage is made of an antistatic persistent resin, a statically charged pachinko ball is provided at the winning opening or the attacker. When passing through the magnetic proximity sensor s,
The charged static electricity may be discharged to nearby members or the magnetic proximity sensor s itself. Therefore, the noise due to the electrostatic discharge may affect the magnetic proximity sensor s, and the noise may directly reach the control board via the lead wire.

If a mechanical (contact type) sensor or a photo sensor other than the magnetic proximity sensor is used for a ball passing sensor such as a winning opening or an attacker, noise due to static electricity affects the magnetic flux of the proximity sensor and leads wires. The problem of noise going directly to the control board via is improved. However, in the case of the contact type sensor, there is a problem in that it becomes gradually difficult to detect due to wear of the portion in contact with the pachinko ball. Further, in the case of the photo sensor, there is a problem that dust cannot adhere to the sensor portion to detect it. For this reason, since the importance of reliably detecting the winning of a pachinko ball is emphasized, it is required to use a magnetic proximity sensor with few detection errors as a sensor such as a winning opening or an attacker. In particular, in an attacker in which a large number of pachinko balls are won in a short time, the magnetic proximity sensor is most suitable as a ball passage sensor because the reliability of surely detecting the prize is more strongly required.

[0010]

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a magnetic proximity sensor for detecting passage of a game ball and a detection output of the magnetic proximity sensor are input to a game. A ball game machine is configured by including a control board on which an electronic circuit for controlling processing is formed and a capacitor provided on a wiring for transmitting a detection output to the control board.

In such a structure, even if static electricity charged on the game ball is discharged when passing through the magnetic proximity sensor and noise due to static electricity propagates through the wiring, this noise is provided in the middle of the wiring. Almost removed through the capacitor.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the capacitor is provided on the relay board for connecting the transmission of the detection output to the control board.

In such a configuration, the capacitor is arranged at a position closer to the magnetic proximity sensor than when it is provided on the control board. Therefore, the noise trying to propagate through the wiring is efficiently removed by the capacitor near the noise source.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the capacitor has an impedance for passing a signal in a noise frequency band.

In such a structure, only the noise is promptly removed by the capacitor, and the detection signal of the magnetic proximity sensor propagates through the wiring and is transmitted to the control board.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment in which the ball game machine according to the present invention is applied to a pachinko machine will be described.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the external appearance of the pachinko machine 1 according to this embodiment. A game board 3 is attached to a base door 2 on the front of the pachinko machine 1. An upper plate 4a and a lower plate 4b are provided below the game board 3, and a handle 5 is provided on the right side of the lower plate 4b.

At the center of the board surface of the game board 3, a special symbol display device 6 composed of a liquid crystal display device is provided, and an ordinary symbol display device 7 is provided above it. Further, a start winning opening 8 is provided below the special symbol display device 6, and general winning openings 9 and 10 are provided in pairs on the left and right thereof. A start gate 11 is provided below the start winning opening 8, and an attacker 12 which is a big winning opening is provided below the starting gate 11.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the game board 3. Game board 3
Behind the respective winning openings 8, 9, 10 and the attacker 12 provided on the board surface, a ball passage 13 for collecting the paid pachinko balls p is provided. Each prize hole 8, 9, 10,
A magnetic proximity sensor 8 for detecting passage of a pachinko ball is provided at the introduction portion of the attacker 12 into the ball passage 13.
s, 9s, 10s, and 12s are provided, respectively.
Further, the magnetic proximity sensor 11 is also provided inside the starting gate 11.
s is provided.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of the attacker 12. The above-mentioned two magnetic proximity sensors 12s, 12s are provided on the inner bottom of the attacker 12 whose door 12a is opened during a jackpot game described later. The magnetic proximity sensor 12s on the left side of the figure detects a pachinko ball p that has won a prize inside the attacker as it passes, and outputs a detection signal for counting the number of prizes. The magnetic proximity sensor 12s on the right side has a pachinko ball p passing through it,
It outputs a V winning detection signal that keeps the door 12a openable up to a predetermined number of times during one big hit game.

FIG. 5 is a rear view showing the structure behind the base door 2. A ball tank 21 that stores pachinko balls is provided on the upper rear surface of the base door 2. The pachinko balls stored in the ball tank 21 are the payout ball passages 2
2 through the dispensing device 23, the upper plate 4a or the lower plate 4
be paid out to b.

In the center of the back surface of the base door 2, there is provided a main control board 25 having an electronic circuit for controlling the game processing of the pachinko machine 1. Above the main control board 25, a symbol control board 26 for performing display control of symbols displayed on the special symbol display device 6 in the special symbol game is provided. Further, below the main control board 25, there is provided a prize ball control board 27 for controlling the payout of prize balls. In addition, on the back of the main control board 25, the magnetic proximity sensors 8s, 9s, 10s, 11s, 12s described above are provided.
A relay board for relaying the transmission of the detection output of the above to the main control board 25 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 6, on the relay board 28, the wiring 29 for transmitting the detection output of the magnetic proximity sensor 12s provided in the attacker 12 to the main control board 25 is provided.
Connected by 0. The magnetic proximity sensor 12s is operated by a power source of 12 [V], and is +12 [V].
The wiring 29 on the side is grounded via the capacitor 31 on the relay board 28. The capacitor 31 is provided in a frequency band 100 of noise due to static electricity generated in the pachinko machine 1.
It has impedance to pass a signal of [MHz] to 500 [MHz].

In such a structure, prior to the game,
When the player inserts the prepaid card into the card unit, the pachinko balls stored in the ball tank 21 are paid out to the upper plate 4a by the payout device 23 through the payout ball passage 22. Subsequently, when the player operates the handle 5, the pachinko balls staying in the upper plate 4a are played on the game board 3
Be driven into the game area. When a pachinko ball that has flowed down the board surface of the game board 3 wins the general winning openings 9 and 10, a detection signal is output from the magnetic proximity sensors 9s and 10s that detect this. When the main control board 25 receives this detection signal via the relay board 28, it sends a command to the prize ball control board 27 to pay out a predetermined number of prize balls. In response to the command, the prize ball control board 27 drives the payout device 23 and pays out a predetermined number of pachinko balls stored in the ball tank 21 as prize balls to the upper plate 4a or the lower plate 4b through the payout ball passage 22. Let

When the pachinko ball passes through the starting gate 11, a detection signal is output from the magnetic proximity sensor 11s, and the pattern control board 2 is input from the main control board 25.
A normal symbol game start command is sent to 6. When the symbol control board 26 receives this command, the ordinary symbol display device 7
To start the display of the normal symbol game. When a winning occurs in the normal symbol game, the ball receiving opening of the starting winning opening 8 is expanded for a certain period of time, so that the pachinko ball can easily win.

When a pachinko ball wins the starting winning opening 8, a detection signal is output from the magnetic proximity sensor 8s and the prize ball is paid out as described above, and the main control board 25 causes the symbol control board. A special symbol game start command is sent to 26. When the symbol control board 26 receives this command, it controls the special symbol display device 6 to start the display of the special symbol game. When a predetermined symbol is stopped and displayed in the special symbol game, a jackpot prize is generated and the attacker 12
It is possible to play a jackpot game that is opened for a predetermined time. In the present embodiment, during the big hit game, 10 pachinko balls are won in the attacker 12 or the door 12a is 30.
When it is opened for a second, one round is completed and the door 12a is closed. When the above-mentioned V winning detection signal is generated during this round, the next round is subsequently performed, and the jackpot game is continued up to 15 rounds.

The pachinko ball that has won the attacker 12 is detected by the magnetic proximity sensor 12s, and a detection signal is output. The main control board 25 inputs this detection signal to count the number of winning prizes and sends a prize ball payout command to the prize ball control board 27. In response to this command, the prize ball control board 27 drives the payout device 23, so that a predetermined number of prize balls are provided on the upper plate 4.
a or lower plate 4b. During the jackpot game,
Pachinko balls enter the attacker 12 one after another, so a large number of prize balls can be obtained.

The pachinko machine 1 according to the present embodiment as described above
In the above, the pachinko ball that has won the attacker 12 is charged and discharged when passing through the magnetic proximity sensor 12s, and the noise due to static electricity affects the magnetic flux generated by the magnetic proximity sensor 12s, and the wiring 29 is connected. Even if an attempt is made to propagate, most of the noise flows to the ground via the capacitor 31 provided on the relay board 28 in the middle of the wiring 29,
Almost removed.

7 (a) and 7 (b) show power supply voltages VDD and RES of the CPU (central processing unit) of the main control board 25.
It is a graph which shows the noise measurement result performed by the synchronous measurement with an ET terminal. The horizontal axis of each graph represents time [minutes], and the vertical axis represents power supply voltage VDD [V].

The measurement was performed by driving pachinko balls into the game board 3 at a rate of about 100 shots per minute with the door 12a of the attacker 12 open, and continuing this for 60 minutes. In addition to the configuration of this embodiment in which the capacitor 31 is provided on the relay board 28 in the middle of the wiring 29, the capacitor 3
The measurement was also performed on the conventional configuration in which 1 was not provided. CP
Since the power supply voltage VDD of U is 5.0 [V], 5.0 ± 2
Those exceeding [V], that is, 7.0 [V] or more and 3.0
[V] The following measured values were regarded as noise.

The graph shown in FIG. 5A shows the measurement result in the case of the conventional configuration in which the wiring 29 is not provided with the capacitor 31, and the measured value is 7.0 during the measurement time of 60 minutes.
A noise of [V] or more and 3.0 [V] or less appears 21 times in total. On the other hand, the graph shown in (b) of the figure shows the measurement result in the case of the present embodiment in which the capacitor 31 is provided on the relay board 28 in the middle of the wiring 29, and during the measurement time of 60 minutes, The measured value is 7.0 [V] or more and 3.0
Noise that is less than [V] appears only 5 times in total.

Although not shown in the graph, the magnetic proximity switch 12s was removed from the attacker 12 in the conventional structure in which the wiring 29 is not provided with the capacitor 31, and the same measurement was performed. In this case, the number of times of noise generation measured during 60 minutes was zero. From this, the noise measured by the CPU of the main control board 25 is
It is presumed that this is noise due to static electricity conducted from the magnetic proximity sensor 12s provided inside via the wiring 29. Then, it is clear from the above experimental results that the noise due to the static electricity is mostly removed through the capacitor 31 provided on the relay substrate 28 in the middle of the wiring 29.

Therefore, according to the pachinko machine 1 according to the present embodiment, the noise due to the static electricity generated by the discharge of the pachinko ball winning the attacker 12 is transmitted from the magnetic proximity sensor 12s to the main control board 25 through the wiring 29. There are few things. As a result, there is almost no risk of the main control board 25 malfunctioning due to noise due to static electricity.

Further, according to this embodiment, the capacitor 3
1 is provided on the relay substrate 28. Therefore, the capacitor 31 is arranged closer to the magnetic proximity sensor 12s than when the capacitor 31 is directly provided on the main control board 25. Therefore, the noise transmitted through the wiring 29 is efficiently removed by the capacitor 31 near the noise source.

Further, according to this embodiment, the capacitor 3
1 has an impedance for passing a signal in the noise frequency band. Therefore, only noise is promptly removed through the capacitor 31, and the detection signal of the magnetic proximity sensor 12s propagates through the wiring 29 and is transmitted to the main control board 25.

In this embodiment, the capacitor 31 is provided on the wiring 29 of the magnetic proximity sensor 12s provided in the attacker 12 where the pachinko balls are concentrated. However, other magnetic proximity sensors 8s to 11s are provided. The wiring may be provided with a capacitor respectively. In this case, in addition to the magnetic proximity sensor 12s described above, the main control board 2 is connected from each of the magnetic proximity sensors 8s to 11s via wiring.
Most of the noise due to static electricity that is transmitted to the wiring 5 is removed, and the measures against the noise transmitted through the wiring are almost complete.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a pachinko machine has been described, but the present invention is similarly applied to other ball game machines that detect the passage of a game ball using a magnetic proximity sensor. It can be applied, and in this case also, the same operation and effect as those of the above-described embodiment are exhibited.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the static electricity charged on the game ball is discharged when passing through the magnetic proximity sensor and noise due to the static electricity propagates through the wiring, this noise is generated by the wiring. Almost removed through a capacitor provided in the middle of the. Therefore, noise is hardly transmitted from the magnetic proximity sensor to the control board through the wiring.
As a result, there is almost no possibility that the control board will malfunction due to noise due to static electricity.

Further, when the capacitor is provided on the relay substrate that does not transmit the detection output to the control substrate, the capacitor is arranged at a position closer to the magnetic proximity sensor than when the capacitor is provided on the control substrate. Therefore, the noise trying to propagate through the wiring is efficiently removed by the capacitor near the noise source.

When a capacitor having an impedance for passing a signal in the noise frequency band is used,
Only noise is promptly removed by the capacitor, and the detection signal of the magnetic proximity sensor propagates through the wiring to the control board.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a magnetic proximity sensor of a general pachinko machine.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a pachinko machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the game board of the pachinko machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an attacker of a pachinko machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a rear view showing the configuration of the rear surface of the base door of the pachinko machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a connection diagram between a magnetic proximity sensor and a main control board of a pachinko machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7A is a graph showing a noise measurement result in the case of a conventional configuration in which a pachinko machine has no noise countermeasure, and FIG.
6 is a graph showing a noise measurement result when a capacitor is provided and a noise countermeasure is taken according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Pachinko machine 2 ... Base door 3 ... Game board 6 ... Special symbol display device 7 ... Normal symbol display device 8 ... Starting winning opening 9,10 ... General winning opening 11 ... Starting gate 12 ... Attacker 12a ... Attacker door 8s, 9s, 10s, 11s, 12s ... Magnetic proximity sensor 13 ... Ball passage 21 ... Ball tank 22 ... Dispensing ball passage 23 ... Dispensing device 25 ... Main control board 26 ... Design control board 27 ... Prize ball control board 28 ... Relay board 29 … Wiring 31… Capacitor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic proximity sensor for detecting passage of a game ball, a control board having an electronic circuit for inputting a detection output of the magnetic proximity sensor to control a game process, and the detection output. A ball game machine that is configured to include a capacitor provided in the wiring for transmitting to the control board. 2. The ball game machine according to claim 1, wherein the capacitor is provided on a relay board that connects the transmission of the detection output to the control board. 3. The ball game machine according to claim 1, wherein the capacitor has an impedance that allows a signal in a noise frequency band to pass therethrough.