JP2003320077A - Token ejecting device and game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a token ejecting device and a game machine having a token clogging release function for easily releasing token clogging from the outside for restoration even at the occurrence of token clogging at a token ejecting slot part by providing an opening/closing means for dividing to open a slot opening part of the token ejecting slot for ejecting one token at a time. <P>SOLUTION: This token ejecting device provided with a token storage part for ejecting a plurality of thrown-in token one by one from a token ejecting slot opened long and narrow for ejecting one at a time, is provided with an opening/closing means allowing one wall surface of the token storage part of a portion corresponding to the token ejecting slot, to be opened/closed for the batch ejecting of token to make the slot space of the token ejecting slot openable. <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 discharge device incorporated in, for example, a slot machine installed in a game hall, and more specifically, a plurality of inserted medals (coins) one after another. The present invention relates to a medal ejection device and a gaming machine having a medal clogging height elimination function that can easily eliminate a medal clogging that occurs when ejecting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, gaming machines such as slot machines are
There is known a gaming machine in which a plurality of medals can be collectively inserted in order to enhance the game usability (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-
279575).

As a current medal ejecting device for ejecting the inserted medals to the latter stage, a rotating body that rotates along the inner peripheral surface of the drum is provided at the bottom of the standing drum, and one medal worth of medal is provided. The circumference of the rotating body is stepped down by the diameter and height, and a plurality of pins having a height about the thickness of the medal are arranged along the circumference in the stepped down part, and the standing position is set. The lowest medal among the medals stored in the drum is sandwiched between the pins to rotate the rotating body, and the medals are fed out one by one from the medal discharge groove opening on the circumference thereof.

By the way, in such a medal discharge device, since a plurality of medals are arranged and rotated in a plane on the circumference of the rotating body, it has a diameter of a size capable of arranging a plurality of medals. Since a drum is required, it is difficult to mount the drum in the limited space near the medal slot of the game machine. Further, since the medal inserted from above is ejected from the bottom, there is a problem that the medal clogging is likely to occur.

[0005]

For this reason, a cylindrical medal storage unit is formed in the inside of the laterally inverted tubular body, and the medal is pushed up by the rotating body that circulates the inner periphery of the medal storage unit. There is a medal ejecting device for feeding the medal to the medal ejecting groove one by one (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-23871 of the prior application).
4).

However, in this case, when one medal is taken out into the medal discharge groove, if the foreign medals or foreign matter are mixed in, or if the medals are interfered with each other, the pushing force of the rotating body remains unbalanced. When it is extruded in response to this, it may cause clogging of medals.

In the medal clogging phenomenon at this time, the medal is caught between the medal discharge groove and the pushing-up portion of the inner rotating body and falls into a locked state, resulting in medal clogging. Also, when the motor stops during this medal jam,
If the rotation torque of the motor is large, there is a possibility that part of the device may be damaged or the motor may burn.

Further, when the locked state occurs, the medal cannot be ejected and the medal ejecting device is stopped.
When this medal ejecting device stops, the hall staff member must open the inside of the defective slot machine each time to recover the clogging of medals.As a result, the operating rate of the slot machine decreases and On the other hand, there is a problem that the game is interrupted and the player feels uncomfortable.

Therefore, according to the present invention, by providing an opening / closing means for dividing the medal discharge groove for taking out one medal so as to open the groove opening portion, even if a medal clogging occurs in the medal discharge groove portion, it can be An object of the present invention is to provide a medal discharging device and a gaming machine having a medal clogging releasing function that can easily clear the clogging of medals and restore the medals.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a medal ejection device having a medal storage unit for ejecting a plurality of inserted medals one by one from a medal ejection groove that is elongated and opened for ejecting one medal. Further, an opening / closing means is provided for opening the groove space of the medal discharging groove, and permitting opening / closing of one wall surface of the medal storage portion corresponding to the medal discharging groove for collective discharging of medals.

Here, the medals are, for example, disk-shaped medals used in games, and coins such as circulating coins are also included.

The medal discharge groove can be formed by forming an elongated opening space that allows passage of only one medal.

The medal storage section may be formed of a laterally inverted cylindrical body having an internal space capable of storing a plurality of medals.

The opening / closing means can be configured by freely opening and closing the wall surface of the apparatus main body so that the medal storage section inside the apparatus can be opened and closed so that a plurality of medals can be collectively discharged.

According to the present invention, even if a medal clogging occurs in the medal discharge groove portion, that portion can be opened by the opening / closing means, so that the clogging force of the clogged medal can be released and immediately released.

As a preferred embodiment, one end of the collapsed tubular body is formed in a closed shape, a medal insertion slot is formed at the other end, and a medal discharge groove is formed on the side portion for opening one elongated medal. It has a formed medal storage part and a rotating body having a rotating piece that rotates along the inner peripheral surface of the medal storage part, and the rotating piece contacts the edge part of the medal fallen in the medal storage part. A push-up side that contacts and pushes it up along the inner peripheral surface of the medal storage portion is formed, and when the rotating piece approaches the medal discharge groove, the medal is pushed out in a substantially axial direction of the tubular body. The locking side is formed so as to intersect the push-up side in a three-dimensionally intersecting manner at an acute angle, the groove space of the medal discharge groove can be opened, and the medal storage portion of the portion corresponding to the medal discharge groove is provided. A lid that allows opening and closing of one wall surface corresponding to the circumferential direction of the rotating body When, it is possible to configure a notification means for notifying the clogging medals in the medal storage portion, the medal discharge device provided with closing means for opening and closing the lid receives the broadcast information of said notifying means.

According to such a structure, when a single medal is to be taken out, the three-dimensional rotary feed-out system in which the medal is pushed up by the push-up side along the inner surface of the collapsed cylindrical body to take out one medal, It is possible to efficiently rotate and take out one coin in a small internal space as compared with the case where one vertical medal is laid down and vertically rotated and one coin is taken out.
Further, since the pushing-up side, which rotates integrally with the rotating body, and the engaging side fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the medal storage unit are configured to take out one coin into the medal discharge groove, the medal is counteracted against inertia. It can be discharged one by one at high speed without having to.

Further, since the medal storage unit is a fallen tubular body, the medals can be stored in a flat state inside the medal storage unit, and the medal storage unit can be prevented from standing in the radial direction. Therefore, the storage state is suitable for sending one medal at a time, and the medal ejecting device can be downsized and efficiently attached to a small empty space. Further, since the distance from the medal storage position to the medal discharge groove is short, it is suitable for high-speed feeding of a plurality of medals.

Further, since the opening / closing means for opening / closing the lid of the medal storage portion is provided, the opening portion of the medal discharging groove can be opened by the opening / closing means even if the medal clogging occurs, so that the medal discharging groove portion can be opened. The clogging of medals can be cleared immediately.

When the clogging of medals is to be eliminated, it is possible to open or close the medal clogging detection signal automatically or manually in conjunction with the medal clogging detection signal.

As another mode of the present invention, a specific example of the opening / closing means may be provided with an opening / closing mechanism for opening the medal storage unit in conjunction with a manual operation from the outside of the apparatus.
With such a configuration, when the clogging of medals occurs, the user can easily perform the opening operation from the outside of the device through the opening / closing mechanism, so that the clogging of medals can be immediately released. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of calling a staff member each time a medal jam occurs as in the current situation, and it is also possible to omit the maintenance work by the staff member to restore the device.
Therefore, the user himself / herself can recover the clogging of the medals, so that the user can always enjoy comfortable use.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a medal is connected through a medal return passage from an opening portion of the medal storage portion that is opened when the opening / closing means is opened to a return opening provided on a customer service surface of the apparatus main body. An ejector can be constructed.

According to this structure, every time the medal discharge groove is opened, all the medals in the medal storage unit can be returned to the return port in a lump. Therefore, it is possible to immediately return and recover medals such as circulating coins that have been mistakenly inserted, and foreign objects, which can be used with high reliability and serviceability, and also lead to protection of the inside of the device.

As another embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned medal discharging device can be incorporated into a gaming machine, such as a slot machine, for playing a game by inserting medals.

In this case, since the medal ejecting device has a medal clogging release function, when the medal clogging occurs, the medal clogging can be immediately canceled and the gaming machine can be restored. In particular, the opening / closing means may be opened / closed by interlocking with the return button from the outside of the device, and in this case, the medal clogging can be easily released from the outside by manpower. Therefore, since the user can perform the recovery operation without calling the attendant, there is no risk of the device stopping, and the troublesome maintenance work of opening the inside of the medal ejecting device by the attendant to clear the clogging of medals can be omitted. Therefore, it is possible to promote a highly reliable medal game which is excellent in self-management performance of putting out one medal.

As a result, when applied to a game machine, the game is not interrupted for a long time due to clogging of medals, the operating rate of the game machine is improved, and the player does not feel uncomfortable. It is possible to promote comfortable game use.

[0027]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a slot machine 1 installed in a game hall. This slot machine 1 has three operation switches 5b arranged side by side in the center of the front face, and a drive lever 5a on the left side thereof. There is.

On the right side of the front center of the slot machine 1, there is provided a container-shaped insertion slot 2 for receiving about 30 medals M used for games, and a return button 3 is provided adjacent to the right side thereof.

A return port 7 is provided at the center of the lower part of the slot machine 1. For example, when the player presses the return button 3,
The medal M is returned from the return port 7.

FIG. 2 shows an inner surface state of the door in which the front door 1a of the slot machine 1 is opened in a single-opening manner, and a reel 16 for rotating and playing a game is provided on an upper portion of the opened slot machine body 1b. A hopper 17 for taking in medals, a medal return passage (not shown), and a power supply device 8 are provided in the lower portion.

On the other hand, on the inner surface side of the front door 1a, the reel cover 1 which visibly covers the reel 16 from the upper side.
5. Select whether the medals are appropriate or not, and take in the medals of regular size inside, and return the medals of inappropriate size to the external return port 7
The medal selector 19 for returning the medals M and the return port 7 for returning the medals M, and a medal ejecting device 3 for ejecting the medals M one by one in front of the medal selector 19 (on the left side in the drawing).
1 is provided.

With such a configuration, a plurality of medals inserted at one time from the above-mentioned insertion slot 2 are guided to the medal ejecting device 31 for taking out one coin, and sent out one by one to the medal selector 19. Recognize regular size medals,
A game is allowed by operating the drive lever 5a and the operation switch 5b.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the control circuit of the slot machine 1. The control unit 20 stores a CPU 21 for executing arithmetic processing and control processing, a control program for performing each processing, and a non-rewritable nonvolatile memory. Sex ROM22,
Volatile RAM 2 for recording data required for control operation
3. A communication interface 24 that allows transmission / reception to / from a management device (not shown) or a stand machine (not shown) is provided.

Connected to the control unit 20, the power supply device 8,
A game drive device 4 which is a drive system of the reel 16 (FIG. 2), a game operation device 5 which is a game operation system, and a medal counting device 6 are provided.

The operation of each of the above devices will be described below.
The power supply device 8 converts power supplied from the outside into operating power and supplies the operating power to the above-mentioned devices. The game drive device 4 drives the reel 16 under the control of the control unit 20.

The game operating device 5 outputs game signals such as rotation start and rotation stop of the reel 16 to the control section 20 by the player operating the drive lever 5a and the operation switch 5b.

The medal counting device 6 includes a medal selector 19
The medals of the regular size selected in (1) are counted, and the count signal is output to the control unit 20.

With the above structure and each operation, the slot machine 1 counts the regular size medals M selected by the medal selector 19 among the medals M inserted into the insertion slot 2 with the medal counting device 6, and the counted value. According to the control unit 2
Drive the reel 16 by the game drive device 4 by controlling 0,
And the reels 16 are stopped by the game operating device 5 to allow the game.

Next, the structure of the medal ejecting device 31 will be described. FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the medal ejecting device 31, which shows a medal storage unit 40 for temporarily storing medals, a rotating body 50 that rotates to push up medals, and the medal storage unit 40.
6 that also functions as a lid, a medal slot, and a medal discharge groove
0, a motor 7 as a drive source for rotating the rotating body 50
0, and a power transmission unit 80 that transmits the driving force of the motor 70 to the rotating body 50.

The medal storage unit 40 is provided with a cylindrical body 41 in which the front surface of a cylindrical member which is laid down in a substantially horizontal state is formed in a large-diameter tapered shape, and the rear surface is formed in a vertically long substantially rectangular plate shape. The back cover 42 is closed at the top. A shaft hole 42a for the rotating body 50 is provided in the upper center of the back cover 42, and a motor shaft hole 42b is provided in the lower center.

On the left lateral side surface of the medal storage section 40, a medal ejection section 43 for ejecting medals substantially in the front direction is provided. The medal ejecting portion 43 has a sloped locking side 43a on the upper portion.
Is provided to lock the upper portion of the medal pushed up from below, the details of which will be described later.

The rotary body 50 includes a disk-shaped back body 51 formed on the back surface, and a plate-shaped rotary blade 52 having a thickness of about one medal, which is arranged on the circumference of four substantially vertically. A substantially link-shaped escape prevention link 53 provided at the front end of the rotary wing 52 facing the rear body 51 and the escape prevention side 53a, and a rotary shaft 54 protruding from the center of the rear body 51.
It consists of and. In this case, the back body 51 is the medal storage unit 4.
It becomes a member that closes the inner part of 0.

When the rear protruding portion of the rotary shaft 54 is inserted into the shaft hole 42a of the medal storage unit 40 and rotated about this rotary shaft 54, the outer periphery of the rear body 51 and the escape prevention link 53, and the rotary wing 52 are rotated. Rotates along the inner surface of the tubular body 41.

The lid portion 60 is a plate portion 61 having a square shape in a front view.
A medal slot 62 with a triangular side view is opened at the center of the upper part of the medals, and a notch is made on the left side of the plate part 61 from the center of the left side to the lower right in front view, and a long and narrow medal is opened. A discharge groove 63 is provided.

The lid portion 60 is attached so as to close the front opening portion of the cylindrical body 41 provided in the medal storage portion 40 so that the medal ejection groove 63 substantially coincides with the medal ejection portion 43.

The motor 70 has a rotary shaft 71 protruding rearwardly rotatably inserted into a motor shaft hole 42b provided in the medal storage unit 40 and fixed to the back cover 42.

The power transmission section 80 includes a rotary body side pulley 81a fitted to the rotary shaft 54 provided on the rotary body 50 and a motor side pulley 8 fitted to the rotary shaft 71 provided on the motor 70.
A rubber belt 82 is stretched between the portions 1b to couple them so that the driving force can be transmitted.

The above-mentioned respective components are combined to form a medal discharge device 31 shown in FIG. The medals M inserted from the medal insertion slot 62 are diffused by the rotating shaft 54 and temporarily stored in the medal storage unit 40. At this time, the rotational force of the motor 70 is transmitted to the rotary body 50 via the power transmission unit 80, and when the rotary body 50 rotates clockwise in a front view, the medal M1 in which the rotary wings 52 are tilted is transferred to the cylindrical body 41. The medals M are pushed up along the inner surface of the medals, the medals M are sandwiched by the locking sides 43a and the rotary wings 52, and the resultant force causes the medals M to be ejected one by one from the medal ejection grooves 63. When a plurality of medals (M1 and M2) are to be ejected from the medal ejection groove 63 in a state of being overlapped with each other, the tubular body 41 is prevented by the escape prevention side 53a.
The medal M2 on the inner side is prevented from coming out, and only the outermost medal M1 in the tubular body 41 is ejected.

Next, the ejection control operation of the medal ejection device 31 will be described with reference to the control circuit block diagram shown in FIG. The motor 70 is provided with a switching device 33 from the power supply device 8.
A power supply is supplied via the and the rotary motion is executed.

The switching device 33 is a device for switching the positive / negative of the power supplied from the power supply device 8, and switches the positive / negative of the power supplied to the motor 70 according to the control signal of the control section 20.

The current detection device 34 monitors the current of the motor 70, and sends a detection signal to the control unit 20 when detecting an overcurrent.

The power supply unit 8 and the control unit 20 are shown in FIG.
Since it is the same as the operation described in the above, detailed description will be omitted.

With the above-described structure, the motor 70 receives power from the power supply device 8 and executes a rotary motion, thereby rotating the rotating body 50 and causing the medal M to engage the locking side 43a of the medal ejecting portion 43 and the rotating body. It is sandwiched between the upper and lower faces of the rotary blade 52 of the rotary vane 52, and the resultant force of the medal M causes the medal discharge groove 63.
To be discharged from. When the medal M is jammed, an overcurrent is detected by the current detection device 34, and the control unit 20 causes the switching device 33 to switch the power source between positive and negative, and the motor 70 is rotated in the reverse direction so that the medal clogging can be released. There is.

Next, the medal M is attached to the rotary wing 52 and the locking side 43.
Fig. 7 shows the operation of pinching with a and discharging with the resultant force.
This will be described with reference to (A) to FIG. 7 (D). Medal storage 40
The medal M falling along the inner surface of the cylindrical body 41 of
When it is pushed up clockwise by the rotary wings 52 of the rotary body 50, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), the upper portion of the pushed-up medal M hits the locking side 43 a of the medal ejection portion 43.

When the rotary vane 52 is further rotated, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), the normal force M received from the locking side 43a
The medal M is pushed forward (on the left side in the drawing) corresponding to the medal discharge groove 63 by the resultant force Mc of the b and the vertical resistance Ma received from the rotary wing 52.

According to the rotation of the rotary vane 52, the medal M is pushed out substantially at right angles to the pushing direction as shown in FIG. 7 (C), and then is pushed forward as shown in FIG. 7 (D). Then, the coin is discharged through the medal discharge groove 63 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

In this case, the rotary wing 52 for pushing up the medal M
The push-up side 52a is formed to be slightly thinner than the thickness of the medal M, and the inclined surface 52b is formed on the side surface of the medal M to form the rotary wing 52 to a thickness having a necessary strength. I try to push up only one sheet.

Further, the push-up side 52a and the locking side 4 mentioned above.
3a may have a straight line shape or a curved shape, and the side itself may be a corner side or a curved side. With this configuration,
It is possible to separate a plurality of medals that have been thrown in one by one and discharge them at a high speed, and it is possible to downsize the medal discharging device 31 and install it in a small space. Also, the push-up side 52a
Prevents the medals M from being pushed up along the inner surface of the medal storage unit 40 and stirring other medals to make the medals flat inside the medal storage unit 40 and to stand in the radial direction of the medal storage unit 40. is doing.

Therefore, several tens of medals inserted into the insertion slot 2 (FIG. 1) by the player by hand can be sent to the medal selector 19 one by one by the medal ejecting device 31, so that the player can make 1 There is no need to insert medals one by one.

Further, in the above-mentioned medal ejection device 31, it is suitable that the medal storage portion 40 is formed in a taper shape having a large diameter on the medal ejection side. As a result, the bottom of the medal ejection side is lowered, and the medal M pushed up by the push-up side 52a is moved toward the ejection side by gravity, so that the medal M can easily come out of the medal ejection groove 63 and the ejection efficiency is improved. . In addition, since the medal easily falls due to the tapered shape, the medal does not remain in the cylindrical body in a standing state.

By the way, the above-mentioned medal ejecting device 31 has an opening / closing mechanism 91 having both a medal clogging releasing function and a medal batch returning function. The opening / closing mechanism 9
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, 1 is a medal discharge groove 63.
And a lid 92 for opening and closing a wall surface corresponding to the peripheral surface direction of the tubular body 41 at a portion corresponding to the medal discharge groove 63 so as to open the groove space. 9
2 has a vertically long arc shape along the peripheral surface of the tubular body 41,
The lower side is allowed to open and close in a single-opening manner with the upper pivot shaft 93 as a pivot.

When the lid 92 is opened outward with the pivot shaft 93 as the pivot, the medal discharge groove 63 is divided and largely opened. Therefore, even if the medal clogging occurs in the medal discharging groove 63, the clogging force is released and the medal clogging releasing function for immediately releasing the clogging medal M in the medal discharging groove 63 by opening the opening / closing mechanism 91. Is obtained.

Further, at the time of this opening, all the medals M ... Stored in the medal storage unit 40 are discharged, and a collective return function for collectively returning the medals is provided. Figure 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes a structure in which the player can operate the opening / closing mechanism 91 in synchronization with the pressing operation of the return button (see FIG. 1) 3 provided on the customer service side of the slot machine 1. The return button 3
When is pressed, the inner end portion (not shown) presses the corresponding reject link 94 inward in the device, and the movable projection 95 that moves in conjunction with the movement of the reject link 94 is rotated. The lid 92 is opened based on (see FIGS. 12 and 13).

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a route for returning medals from the medal ejecting device 31. The return port 7 is provided from the opening of the lid of the medal storage unit 40 to below the customer service surface of the slot machine 1.
And the upper and lower sides of these are connected via a medal return passage 96.

In this case, when the player depresses the return button 3 for the purpose of clearing the clogging of the medals or for stopping the game, the medals M which are clogged by the opening operation of the lid 92 are the medal return passages. The medals 96 that have been dropped due to their own weight and returned to the return port 7, and the medals that have been discontinued due to the game being stopped at the same time are also dropped in the medal return passage 96 and returned to the return port 7 and received by the lower plate 97. Be stored.

In addition to this, since it is possible to establish a return function for immediately returning and recovering medals such as coins that have been mistakenly inserted and foreign objects, it is possible to use the slot machine 1 with high reliability and serviceability. It also leads to protection inside the equipment.

FIG. 12 shows a state in which the lid of the opening / closing mechanism 91 is closed, and the tip of the reject link 94 that advances and retracts in the horizontal direction in conjunction with the pressing operation of the return button 3 described above can be pressed against the movable projection 95. Is in contact with.

The movable projection 95 is formed by bending a part of the movable piece 98 arranged along the end surface of the tubular body 41 outwardly for a long time, and fixed to the end surface of the tubular body 41. Fixed plate 9
It is rotatably locked in the opening window 100 of the reference numeral 9.

A horizontally long slider 101 is attached to the upper part of the movable piece 98, and a pressing lever 102 is formed to project from the lower part. In the slider 101, left and right guide pins 103 protruding from the fixed plate 99 are axially supported by slide grooves 104 that are opened in the lateral direction of the slider 101, and normally the lid body 92 is returned by the restoring force of a slider return spring 105. It is in the standby state for pressing against the side.

On the other hand, the upper portion of the lid 92 having an arc shape is pivotally attached to the pivot shaft 93, and is closed by the restoring force of the lid restoring spring 106.

On the upper portion of the lid 92, the slider corresponding piece 1 corresponding to the tip of the slider 101 described above at the closed position.
07 is projectingly provided, and a pressing lever corresponding piece 108 corresponding to the tip end portion of the pressing lever 102 described above is also provided at the lower position in the closed position.
And the lid 92 is normally closed in the open standby state.

FIG. 13 shows a state in which the lid of the opening / closing mechanism 91 is opened. When the return button 3 described above is pressed,
The reject link 94 presses the movable projecting piece 95, and the movable piece 98 integrated with the movable projecting piece 95 has a lower movable fulcrum portion 10.
9 is rotated about the rotation fulcrum, and at this time, the slider 10 on the upper side is rotated.
1 pushes the slider-corresponding piece 107 in the opening direction, and at the same time, the lower pressing lever 102 pushes the pressing lever-corresponding piece 10.
8 is pressed in the opening direction to open the lid 92.

FIG. 14 shows a state in which maintenance of the medal ejection unit 31 for the medal storage unit 40 is permitted.
Can be opened 180 ° outward by reversing the pivot shaft 93 about the rotation fulcrum and pushed up. In this fully opened state, the lid return spring 106 described above is displaced above the pivot shaft 93 and applies a biasing tension in the fully opened direction, so that the fully opened state can be maintained. In this way, the lid 92 can be largely opened during maintenance, so that the clerk can easily perform maintenance on the inside of the medal storage unit 40.

FIG. 15 shows a clogging detection sensor S1 for detecting clogging of medals, such as a photo sensor for detecting the slit interval of the detection disk 111 axially mounted on the driven shaft 110 which is rotated by receiving the drive transmission force of the motor 70. It is possible to detect the occurrence of clogging of medals when the rotation detection signal of the motor 70 is not obtained at the time of driving output of the motor 70.

FIG. 16 shows a block diagram of a control circuit for detecting clogging of medals of the medal ejecting device 31. The control section 20 includes a clogging detection sensor S1, an open / closed detection switch 112, a clogging detection lamp 113, and an alarm sensor S2. I / O is controlled by connecting. The clogging detection sensor S1 described above is shown in FIG.
This is the detection configuration described in, and detects the presence or absence of clogging of medals.

The open / close detection switch 112 can be constituted by a micro switch or the like, and the pressing lever 10 described above is used.
When the pressing lever 102 is turned downward in association with the opening operation of the lid 92, the lever 10
2 presses the open / close detection switch 112 which faces the lower side to switch, and detects that the lid body 92 has opened.

The clogging detection lamp 113 is constructed by providing a pilot lamp or the like on the customer contact surface. When the clogging detection sensor S1 detects clogging of medals, the control unit 20 outputs the detection signal to the clogging detection lamp 113 and lights it. The player is informed that the medal jam has occurred. Further, at this time, it is also possible to guide the player to suggest a recovery operation by voice guidance such as pressing the return button 3 or displaying an arrow.

If the alarm sensor S2 does not recover even if the return button 3 is pressed to clear the clogging, the alarm sensor S2 informs the staff by notifying the non-recoverable information to a lamp dedicated to the staff.

The opening / closing processing operation of the opening / closing mechanism 91 thus configured will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Normally, when the slot machine 1 is available, the lid 92 is closed, the open / close detection switch 112 is turned off, and the medal is accepted.
(Step n1).

If the control unit 20 confirms that the open / close detection switch 112 is OFF and the lid 92 is closed, and that the clogging detection lamp 113 is turned off and there is no clogging of medals, the game is in the permissible state. Therefore (step n2), the control unit 20 drives the motor 70 to stand by in a receiving state in which the medals M can be taken in, and when one or more medals M to be used for a game are collectively inserted, One medal M from the other medal storage unit 40 is sequentially ejected one by one.
It is sent out to the medal selector 19 in the subsequent stage via 3. The medal selector 19 allows the number of games to be played by the number of medals that have been authenticated as regular medals. Also,
The medals identified as unauthorized are returned to the return slot 7 (step n3).

During the game use, the clogging detection sensor S determines whether or not the medal clogging has occurred at the position of the medal discharge groove 63 or the like.
1 is checked (step n4), and if the medal clogging occurs, the rotating body 50 of the medal storage unit 40, its drive system, and the motor 70 stop rotating, and based on this, the clogging detection sensor S1 is turned on. A signal is output (step n5). The control unit 20 receives the detection signal of the clogging detection sensor S1 and turns on the clogging detection lamp 113 to notify the player that clogging has occurred (step n6).

When this clogging occurs, the control unit 20 waits for detection until the lid 92 is opened, and the player visually recognizes that the clogging detection lamp 113 is lit, detects that the medal clogging has occurred, and returns it. When the button 3 is pressed, the opening / closing mechanism 91 opens the lid 92 in conjunction with this (FIG. 13).
reference). When this opening operation is performed, the medal discharge groove 63
The clogging force of the medals clogged in the part is released as the lid 92 is opened, and the clogged medals are immediately released (step n7).

In this way, when a token clogging occurs, the token clogging can be easily released from the outside by a manual operation by the player, so that the token ejection device 31 can be immediately restored. In this case, the released medals M and the other medals M ...
When 2 is opened, it is released to the outside. The medals released are
It is returned to the lower plate 97 from the return opening 7 opened on the front surface of the slot machine 1 through the medal return passage 96. Then, when the player releases the pressing operation force for the return button 3, the clogging of the medals has already been released, the lid body 92 returns to the original closed position and returns to the game standby state, and the motor 7
When 0 is restarted, the clogging detection sensor S1 is turned off, and the clogging detection lamp 113 is turned off to prepare for the next game use (step n8).

By the way, when the player cannot clear the clogging of the medals even if the player pushes the return button 3 to open the lid 92, it is confirmed that the player has retried a predetermined number of times (for example, about three times) (step n9). If the abnormal condition cannot be resolved even after the specified number of recovery operations are tried, the alarm sensor S2 is output to notify the staff (step n10).

In this way, even if the medals are clogged, the player can restore the medal discharging device 31 without calling the clerk. Therefore, the medals discharging device 31 can be easily restored, and the clerk can store the medals. It is possible to promote a highly reliable medal game with excellent self-management performance for putting out one medal, such as saving the trouble of opening the inside of 40 for clearing clogging of medals and reducing staff work.

As a result, the game is not interrupted for a long time due to the clogging of medals, the operating rate of the slot machine 1 can be improved, and the player is not annoyed.
It is possible to promote comfortable game use.

Further, even when the game of the slot machine 1 is to be stopped, if the return button 3 is pressed, all the medals in the medal storage unit 40 are returned to the return port 7 collectively in conjunction with this. You can For this reason, medals such as coins that have been mistakenly inserted and foreign objects can be immediately returned and retrieved, and a game with high reliability and high serviceability with excellent self-management performance for taking out one medal. This also leads to protection of the inside of the slot machine 1.

As described above, since the opening / closing mechanism that can be largely divided so as to open the groove opening portion of the medal discharge groove is provided, even if a medal clogging occurs in the medal discharge groove portion, the player can Can be recovered from the outside by immediately removing the clogging of medals. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of calling a staff member each time a clogging of medals occurs and to recover the clogging of medals by the user himself.

In the correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the configuration of the above-described embodiment, the gaming machine of the present invention corresponds to the slot machine 1 of the embodiment, and hereinafter, similarly, the opening / closing means is the opening / closing mechanism 91. The rotating piece corresponds to the rotary wing 52, and the informing means corresponds to the clogging detection lamp 113 and the alarm sensor S2. However, the present invention can be applied based on the technical idea shown in the claims. However, the configuration is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

For example, the medal ejecting device 31 can be applied not only to the slot machine but also to various gaming machines for inserting a medal to play a game, and can be equipped with any device that uses a medal.

[0092]

According to the present invention, even if a medal clogging occurs in the medal discharge groove portion, the medal clogging can be released by opening the portion and the medal clogging can be immediately restored. For example, when it is applied to a gaming machine such as a slot machine, it can be opened / closed by interlocking with a return button from the outside, and at this time, the clogging of medals can be easily released manually from the outside. Therefore, since the user can easily perform the recovery operation without calling the staff member, it is possible to omit the troublesome maintenance work of opening the inside of the medal discharge device by the staff member each time to clear the clogging of the medal, and to put out one medal. It is possible to promote highly reliable game use with excellent self-management performance.
As a result, the game is not interrupted for a long time due to the clogging of medals, the operating rate of the slot machine is improved, the player is not made uncomfortable, and the comfortable game use can be promoted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a slot machine.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the slot machine with a front door opened.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control circuit of a slot machine.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a medal discharge device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part of the medal discharge device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the medal ejecting device.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view of the medal ejecting device.

FIG. 8 is an external perspective view showing a closed state of the opening / closing mechanism.

FIG. 9 is an external perspective view showing an open state of the opening / closing mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a main part of an opening / closing mechanism that is opened / closed from the outside.

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part showing a medal return state.

FIG. 12 is a side view of an essential part showing a closed state of the opening / closing mechanism.

FIG. 13 is a side view of an essential part showing an open state of the opening / closing mechanism.

FIG. 14 is an external perspective view showing the maintenance support state of the opening / closing mechanism.

FIG. 15 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main portion showing a medal clogging detection structure.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a medal clogging detection control circuit of the medal ejection device.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the opening / closing processing operation of the opening / closing mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Slot machine 3 ... Return button 7 ... Return port 31 ... Medal ejection device 40 ... Medal storage 50 ... Rotating body 63 ... medal discharge groove 91 ... Opening / closing mechanism 92 ... Lid M ... Medal

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A medal ejecting device comprising a medal storage section for ejecting a plurality of inserted medals one by one from a medal ejecting groove which is elongated and opened for ejecting one medal. A medal ejecting device, which is capable of opening a space, and is provided with an opening / closing means for permitting opening / closing of one wall surface of the medal storage portion corresponding to the medal ejecting groove for collective ejection of medals. 2. A medal storage in which one end of a fallen tubular body is formed in a closed shape, a medal insertion slot is formed at the other end, and a medal discharge groove is formed on a side portion to elongate one medal for ejecting one medal. And a rotating body that forms a rotating piece that rotates along the inner peripheral surface of the medal storage portion, and the rotating piece is brought into contact with the edge of a medal that has fallen in the medal storage portion. Forming a push-up side that pushes up along the inner peripheral surface of the medal storage unit,
When the rotating piece approaches the medal discharge groove, a locking side for pushing out the medal in a substantially axial direction of the tubular body is formed so as to face the push-up side so as to intersect with the acute angle three-dimensionally, A lid body which is openable to open a groove space of the medal discharge groove, and which allows opening and closing of one wall surface of the medal storage portion corresponding to the medal discharge groove, the wall surface corresponding to the circumferential direction of the rotating body; Informing means for informing medal clogging in the medal storage section,
A medal discharge device comprising opening / closing means for opening / closing the lid in response to notification information from the notification means. 3. The medal ejecting device according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing means includes an opening / closing mechanism for opening the medal storage unit in conjunction with a manual operation from the outside of the device. 4. The medal return passage according to claim 1, wherein an opening portion of the medal storage portion, which is opened when the opening / closing means is opened, is connected to a return opening provided on a customer service surface of the apparatus main body through a medal return passage. Medal ejection device. 5. A gaming machine which inserts medals and plays a game, and when the medals are returned after the medals have been inserted, the inserted medals are collectively returned to a return port. A gaming machine comprising the medal discharging device according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4.