JP2003299868A - Medal lending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent jamming of a medal in a nozzle. <P>SOLUTION: A medal alignment mechanism is provided at the nozzle 15, which comprises an alignment roller pair, a motor, and a gear string. A first roller 30 and a second roller 31 of the alignment roller pair are rotated in a direction opposite to the putting out direction of the medal 60. When the medal 60 rolling through a medal passage 22 rolls within the range of a gap D between the first roller 30 and the second roller 31, the medal 60 passes through the passage 22 without contacting with the first roller 30 and the second roller 31 and is put out to a prescribed medal reception part. When the medal 60 rolls deviated to the side of a side wall forming the medal passage compared with the gap D, the medal 60 is flipped after being in contact with one of the first and second rollers 30 and 31. Thereafter, when rolling within the range of the gap D, the medal 60 passes through between the first and second rollers 30 and 31. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medal lending machine installed between, for example, a slot machine and paying out a predetermined number of medals stored by inserting a value-added medium such as a bill. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A medal lending machine is installed between a slot machine and a slot machine, and throws a value-added medium such as a 1,000-yen bill from a banknote slot provided at the top to serve as a value-added medium slot. By doing so, a predetermined number (for example, 50) of medals stored inside are paid out. In this medal lending machine, there are a type that pays out paid-out medals to a tray and a type that pays out medals to a medal tray provided on the front surface of the slot machine through a nozzle. In the case of a medal lending machine that dispenses money through a nozzle, it can be dispensed directly to, for example, a medal slot of a slot machine, which is convenient because the player does not need to deposit medals at the start of the game.

[0003]

However, the nozzle of the medal lending machine uses a tapered nozzle with a narrow medal passage on the tip side, and when a plurality of medals paid out from the hopper device run in parallel. However, there is a problem that clogging of medals occurs. The clogging of medals in the nozzle is
For example, when a medal is directly inserted into a slot machine provided with a medal insertion slot for inserting one by one through a nozzle, the convenience of the nozzle that a player can start a game without inserting a medal is lost. The problem is that

An object of the present invention is to provide a medal lending machine capable of preventing clogging of medals in a medal passage when paying out medals through a nozzle.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the medal lending machine of the present invention, when a value-added medium is inserted, the number of medals corresponding to the value-added medium is provided in the nozzle. Is provided through the medal passage, and the nozzle is provided with a medal aligning device for passing the medals rolling in the medal passage one by one, and the medal aligning device is provided in the medal passage in a predetermined manner. It is composed of at least one aligning mechanism projecting from the side surface into the medal passage so as to have a gap between them, and a drive mechanism for driving and controlling the aligning mechanism. The value-added medium is, for example, a bill, a coin, a prepaid card, an IC.
It is a value medium such as a card or credit card that is necessary for purchasing medals or lending medals.

Further, it is preferable that the aligning mechanism is an aligning roller and is arranged so as to face each other through the medal passage and to have the gap. Also,
It is preferable that the alignment rollers facing each other through the medal passage have the same diameter. Further, it is preferable that a rotation direction of the alignment roller is rotated in a direction opposite to a rolling direction of the medal, and a medal rolling outside the gap with respect to a width direction of the medal passage is flipped. . In addition, one of the facing alignment rollers is rotated in the rolling direction of the medal and the other is rotated in a direction opposite to the rolling direction of the medal, and the alignment roller side is rotated in the medal passage in the rolling direction of the medal. It is preferable to tilt to.

[0007]

1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a medal lending machine embodying the present invention. In addition, in this embodiment, the case where the value-added medium is a bill (thousand-yen bill) will be described. The medal lending machine 2 includes a bill identifying unit 4 for inserting a bill 3, and a bill 3 when the bill is inserted.
And a medal payout unit 5 for paying out medals corresponding to

On the front surface of the bill discriminating section 4, there are provided a bill insertion slot 6 for inserting bills 3, and a display panel 7 for displaying the number of medals to be paid out by inserting the bills 3 and whether or not medals can be lent out. ing. The bill identifying unit 4 includes a control device 8 and a bill storage box 9 that stores the inserted bills 3.

The medal payout unit 5 comprises a medal storage box 10 and a hopper device 11. In the medal payout unit 5, a predetermined number of medals are paid out when the banknotes 3 are inserted from the bill insertion slot 6. On the front surface of the medal payout unit 5, there is provided a nozzle 15 that rotates within a predetermined range with the longitudinal direction of the medal lending machine 2 as a rotation axis. The nozzle 15 is composed of a tapered nozzle whose tip end side is thin, and the medals sent from the medal payout section 5 are paid out to a predetermined medal receiving section such as a coin insertion slot or a medal receiving tray via this nozzle. Incidentally, reference numeral 16 is a medal supply port, and the medal storage box 10
It is provided to replenish medals.

As shown in FIG. 2, a storage portion 21 for storing the medal aligning device 20 is formed on the tip side of the nozzle 15, and the cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the medal payout direction is substantially U-shaped. Has been formed. The recessed portion of the storage portion 21 forms a part of the medal passage 22. The storage unit 21 has an open lower surface, and after the medal aligning device 20 is stored, the bottom cover 23 is attached by, for example, a screw.

The medal aligning device 20 comprises a pair of aligning rollers 24 as an aligning mechanism, a motor 25 as a driving mechanism for the aligning rollers, and a gear train 26. The medal aligning device of the present embodiment is an example, and the medal aligning device is not limited to this, and may be appropriately configured in consideration of the nozzle shape and the like. Further, the installation location of the medal aligning device 20 does not have to be limited to the tip end side of the nozzle 15, and may be provided on the base side of the nozzle 15 when the width of the medal passage is narrow.

The pair of aligning rollers 24 is composed of a first roller 30 and a second roller 31, and a part of the rollers is provided on the side wall surfaces 15a and 15b of the medal passage 22 so as to sandwich the medal passage 22. Through the openings 32, 33 and the predetermined distance D
Are arranged so as to secure the gap 28 (see FIG. 3).

The first roller 30 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a motor holding member 34 which serves as a rotation shaft is inserted into the first roller 30. Under the first roller 30,
The gear 35 is integrally formed, and a gear train 26 described later is formed.
By engaging with the gear 42, the motor 26 is driven to rotate in the direction opposite to the rolling direction of the medal (the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3).

The second roller 31 is arranged with a gap 28 having a predetermined distance D from the first roller 30. The predetermined interval D means the thickness of one medal <D <the medal 2
It is appropriately set so as to have the thickness of the sheet. Second roller 31
Similarly to the first roller 30, a gear 36 is integrally formed in the lower part of the gear 36, meshes with a gear 45 that constitutes the gear train 27, and rotates in the opposite direction to the first roller 30 (see FIG. 3).

The motor holding member 34 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the motor 25 for rotating the pair of aligning rollers 25 is mounted inside. The motor holding member 34 is
The housing 21 and the bottom lid 23 are positioned and fixed by being fitted in grooves formed at predetermined positions. A gear 37 is attached to the rotary shaft 25a of the motor 25 attached to the motor holding member 34, and the gear 37 and the gear 40 of the gear train 26 mesh with each other to rotate the first roller and the second roller, respectively. Let

The gear train 26 is composed of gears 40 to 45, is arranged below the storage portion 21, and is attached to pins 50 to 53 formed on the bottom lid 23, respectively. The gear 41 and the gear 42, and the gear 43 and the gear 44 are integrally formed. The first gear train is composed of gears 40 to 42, and the gear 42 and the gear 34 of the first roller 30 mesh with each other. The second gear train includes a gear 40 and gears 43 to 45, and the gear 3 of the second roller 31.
5 and the gear 45 mesh with each other. The gears are provided so that the gear ratio of the first gear train is equal to the gear ratio of the second gear train. As a result, the rotation speeds of the first roller 30 and the second roller 31 become the same.

Next, the operation of the medal lending machine thus constructed will be described. When a player inserts a bill 3 from the bill insertion slot 6 of the medal lending machine 2 when playing a game on a slot machine, the controller 8 causes the hopper device 11 to operate.
Is driven to pay out a predetermined number (50) of medals from the medals 50 stored in the medal storage box 10.

The control device 8 drives the hopper device 11 and the medal aligning device 20. Motor 26
Rotation of the first gear train and the second gear train causes the first roller 30 to rotate counterclockwise and the second roller 31 to rotate.
Rotate clockwise respectively. The medal 60 sent out from the hopper device 11 rolls in the medal passage 22 provided in the nozzle 15.

As shown in FIG. 3, the medal 60 rolled to the position where the medal aligning device 20 is provided is, for example, the first medal.
Gap 2 formed between the roller 30 and the second roller 31
When rolling within the range of 8 (dotted line in the figure),
The roller rolls in the gap 28 without coming into contact with the roller 30 and the second roller 31, and is paid out from the tip of the nozzle 15 to a predetermined medal receiving portion.

On the other hand, the side wall surfaces 15a, 15a are larger than the range of the gap 28 formed between the first roller 30 and the second roller 31.
The medal 60 (solid line in the figure) rolling on the 15b side contacts either the first roller 30 or the second roller 31. For example, when a rolling medal contacts or hits the second roller 31, the second roller 31 is rotating in the clockwise direction and the contacted medal 60 is flipped in the direction opposite to the medal payout direction. The flipped medal 60 rolls in the direction opposite to the payout direction, the speed gradually decreases due to the inclination of the medal passage 22, and finally the ball starts rolling again in the payout direction. At this time, the medal 60 is transferred to the first roller 30 and the second roller 30.
When rolling within the range of the gap of the roller 31, it passes through the medal alignment device 20 without making contact with the first roller 30 and the second roller 31. In addition, when the medal 60 rolls on the side wall surface side, the first roller 30 or the second roller 3 again.
Played by 1. Then, the medal aligning device 20 can be passed only when it rolls in the range of the gap between the first roller 30 and the second roller 31.

For example, when two medals roll in parallel with each other, these medals are repelled by the first roller 30 and the second roller 31, and the gap 28 between the first roller 30 and the second roller 31. The first roller 3 until it rolls in the range
It is repelled by either 0 or the second roller 31. When it rolls within the gap, it passes through the gap between the first roller 30 and the second roller 31. Since the gap D is arranged such that the thickness of one medal <the gap D <the thickness of two medals, one medal is used when two medals roll side by side. Each medal aligner 20
The medals 60 that have passed through and rolled are aligned and paid out. As a result, even when the medal passage 22 formed in the nozzle 15 narrows toward the tip, nozzle clogging can be prevented.

In the present embodiment, the rotation direction of the first roller and the rotation direction of the second roller forming the aligned roller pair are opposite to each other, but the invention is not limited to this.
The rotation direction of the roller and the rotation direction of the second roller may be rotated in the same direction. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the first roller 30 and the second roller 31 are rotated counterclockwise. Then, the medal passage 22 is passed through the second roller 3
Tilt by 1 ° with 1 down. As a result, the medal 61 rolling in the medal passage 22 shifts toward the second roller 31 side and rolls. When the second roller 31 and the medal 61 come into contact with each other, the medal 61 is transferred to the second roller 3
The first roller 30 and the second roller 3 receive the frictional force between the first roller 30 and the second roller 3.
1 is drawn into the gap 28. In addition, when two medals run side by side (in addition to the solid line medal 61 in the figure, the medal 62 runs side by side in the dotted line), the second
The medal 61 rolling on the roller 31 side is similarly drawn into the gap 28 between the first roller 30 and the second roller 31. On the other hand, the medal 6 rolling on the first roller 30 side
The second roller is flipped by the first roller 62 in the direction opposite to the payout direction. As a result, the medals are aligned and rolled by the medal aligning device, and the medals are paid out to a predetermined medal receiving portion.

In the present embodiment, the medal aligning device is driven together with the hopper device. However, when a medal sensor such as a magnetic sensor is attached to a part of the nozzle and a medal is detected by the medal sensor. Alternatively, the medal aligning device may be driven.

In the present embodiment, an example in which the alignment mechanism is composed of a pair of alignment rollers arranged in opposition to each other through the medal passage is taken up, but in addition to this, only one alignment roller is arranged in the medal passage. You may do it. In this case, the gap D between the alignment roller and the side wall surface of the nozzle is arranged so that the thickness of one medal <the gap D <the thickness of two medals. Also, by rotating the alignment roller in the direction opposite to the rolling direction of the medal, the medal rolling on the side of the aligning roller is flipped by the aligning roller, and only the medal rolling on the side wall is passed. It is possible to prevent clogging of medals in the nozzle passage. In addition to the alignment rollers,
The alignment mechanism may be configured by a protrusion that reciprocates parallel to the rolling direction of the medal, a blade that flips in the opposite direction to the rolling direction when the medal comes into contact, and the like.

[0025]

As described above, according to the medal lending machine of the present invention, the medals sent from the hopper device are ejected to the predetermined medal receiving portion, and the medals are rolled one by one in the medal passage. A medal aligning device for passing the medal is provided, and the medal aligning device is provided with at least one aligning mechanism protruding into the medal passage so as to have a gap of a predetermined distance from a side surface forming the medal passage, and the aligning mechanism. Since the drive mechanism is configured to drive and control, it is possible to prevent clogging of medals even in the case of a nozzle that narrows toward the tip.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a medal lending machine embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a medal alignment device provided in a nozzle.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a case where a first roller and a second roller are rotated in different directions.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a case where a first roller and a second roller are rotated counterclockwise.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 medal lending machine 8 control device 11 Hopper device 15 nozzles 20 medal aligner 22 medal passage 24 Aligning roller pair 25 motor 26 gear train 60, 61, 62 medals

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Susumu Iman             1-14-17 Higashi Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Olympia (72) Inventor Kenji Kishi             1-14-17 Higashi Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Olympia (72) Inventor Yoshimune Sekine             1-14-17 Higashi Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo Stocks             Company Olympia F-term (reference) 2C088 BC73 EA44

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A medal lending machine for paying out, when a value-added medium is inserted, a number of medals corresponding to the value-added medium through a medal passage provided in a nozzle, wherein the medal passage is provided in the nozzle. A medal aligning device for passing the rolling medals one by one is provided, and the medal aligning device is provided with at least one of the medal aligning devices protruding from the side surface into the medal passage so as to have a predetermined gap in the medal passage. A medal lending machine comprising: one aligning mechanism; and a drive mechanism that drives and controls the aligning mechanism. 2. The medal lending machine according to claim 1, wherein the alignment mechanism is an alignment roller and is arranged so as to face each other through the medal passage and to have the gap. 3. The medal lending machine according to claim 2, wherein the alignment rollers facing each other through the medal passage have the same diameter. 4. A rotation direction of the alignment roller is rotated in a direction opposite to a rolling direction of the medal, so that a medal rolling outside the gap with respect to a width direction of the medal passage is flipped. The gaming machine according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that. 5. One of the facing alignment rollers is rotated in the rolling direction of the medal, the other is rotated in a direction opposite to the rolling direction of the medal, and the medal passage is rotated in the rolling direction of the medal. The medal lending machine according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the medal lending machine is tilted to the aligning roller side.