JP2005211155A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily transfer tokens from a token tray to a token storage box. <P>SOLUTION: A slot machine 10 is provided with a plurality of rotatable drum reels on which symbols are plotted and the token tray 31 for receiving the medals discharged from a main body 11 when the symbols are matched by the rotation of the drum reels. The token tray 31 comprises: a bottom plate 34; both side plates 35 and 36; a front plate 37 where a discharge part 38 for discharging the tokens is formed; an opening / closing plate 39 provided on the front plate 37 so as to rotationally open and close the discharge part 38; a torsion spring 40 for energizing the opening / closing plate 39 in the direction of closing the discharge part 38; a ratchet mechanism 41 for holding the open state of the opening / closing plate 39 opened against the torsion spring 40; and a release shaft 42 for releasing the state of holding the opening / closing plate 39 in the open state by the ratchet mechanism 41. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine such as a slot machine, and more particularly to a gaming machine that facilitates transfer of medals from a medal tray to a medal storage box.

  Generally, in a gaming machine, for example, a slot machine, when a player operates a start lever, each spinning reel, which is a rotating body of three horizontal rows in which a large number of symbol marks made of a plurality of patterns are drawn in the outer peripheral rotation direction, is rotated. After that, when the player presses each of the three stop buttons at an appropriate timing, the spinning reels corresponding to the buttons are sequentially stopped according to the timing of the pressing, and each spinning reel is prepared. When a predetermined pattern of the symbol marks matches, it becomes “winning” and a large number of game medals (hereinafter simply referred to as “medals”) are discharged to the medal tray. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-275372 A (see FIGS. 1 to 3)

  By the way, the medal tray is formed relatively small. The reason for this is that, in a game store where a large number of slot machines are arranged, each row where a plurality of slot machines are arranged is arranged in parallel, and as many slot machines as possible are deployed using the space in the game store effectively. In other words, it seems that the number of game medals paid out from the slot machine appears to be large, and appeals the service of the store.

  On the other hand, a slot machine in recent years is configured to discharge, for example, about 350 to about 400 game medals when a special role called a big bonus is made once during a game. If such a big bonus is hit consecutively, a relatively small medal tray as described above will fill up quickly with a large number of discharged game medals, and the medals will overflow from the medal tray and be scattered on the floor. There is a fear. In such a case, the player has transferred the medals to a medal storage box (so-called dollar box) before the game medals overflow from the medal tray. In order to transfer medals, while holding the medal receiving box with one hand, the other hand frequently moves the medal in the medal tray past the front plate of the medal receiving tray and transfers it to the medal receiving box. It was necessary and it took time to transfer, and the game had to be interrupted.

  In addition, since the medal storage box can generally store only about 1000 cards, it was easy to fill up in a relatively short time when continuously winning big bonuses. For this reason, after placing the medal storage box with the medals transferred on the floor of the amusement store or in the box storage space above the slot machine, the player moves the medals again to another medal storage box. It had to be repeated, and in this case, it took time to transfer and the game had to be interrupted.

  Further, when the so-called assist time (AT) is hit, the medals are continuously discharged, so the player must frequently transfer medals to the medal storage box. Similarly, it took time to transfer, and the game had to be interrupted. In particular, when a player plays a role such as the AT just before closing the store, the player will have a lot of time to transfer the medals to the medal storage box, and the medals will be transferred from the medal tray to the medal storage box. Hurry and rushed to drop a medal on the floor, or in the worst case, the hand holding the medal storage box slipped and dropped the medal storage box to the floor.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine that facilitates transfer of medals from a medal tray to a medal storage box so that a player can concentrate on the game.

The invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that a plurality of rotatable rotating bodies (21) on which a pattern is drawn, and medals discharged from the main body (11) when the patterns are aligned by the rotation of the rotating body (21). In a gaming machine equipped with a medal tray (31) to receive,
The medal tray (31)
A front plate (37) formed with a bottom plate (34), both side plates (35, 36) and a discharge portion (38) from which the medals are discharged;
An opening / closing plate (39) provided on the front plate (37) so that the discharge portion (38) can be rotated and opened;
A biasing means (40) for biasing the opening / closing plate (39) in a direction to close the discharge portion (38);
Holding means (41) for holding the open state of the open / close plate (39) opened against the biasing means (40);
Release means (42) for releasing the state in which the holding means (41) holds the opening / closing plate (39) in an open state;
A gaming machine (10) characterized by comprising:

  In the invention according to claim 2, the discharge portion (38) is formed at a lower portion of the front plate (37), and the opening and closing plate (39) rotates at the lower end side around the upper end side to rotate the discharge portion ( 38) The gaming machine (10) according to claim 1, wherein the gaming machine (10) is opened and closed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the discharge portion (38) is formed at a lower portion of the front plate (37), and an upper surface of the bottom plate (34) is formed on an inclined surface (34a) inclined downward toward the front side. The gaming machine (10) according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing plate (39) pivots on the lower end side about the upper end side to open and close the discharge part (38).

  In addition, the code | symbol in a parenthesis is attached | subjected for convenience and making it easy to contrast with drawing, Comprising: The structure of this invention is not limited at all.

  Since the gaming machine according to claim 1 can open and close the discharge part by the opening and closing plate, the medal can be easily transferred from the discharge part to the medal storage box in a short time. Thus, the game interruption time can be shortened and the playability can be improved.

  In the gaming machine according to claim 2, the discharge portion of the medal tray is formed in the lower portion of the front plate, and the opening and closing plate opens and closes the discharge portion with the lower end side being rotatable around the upper end side. Therefore, the medal can be discharged from the lower part on the near side of the medal tray, and the medal can be easily transferred to the medal receiving box.

  In the gaming machine according to the third aspect, since the upper surface of the bottom plate is inclined downward toward the front side, the medal can be easily scraped from the discharge portion using the inclined surface.

  Hereinafter, as an embodiment of the gaming machine of the present invention, a slot machine installed in a game arcade will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a slot machine as an embodiment of the gaming machine of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the medal tray. FIG. 3 is a diagram of a ratchet mechanism. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. FIG. 5 is a view showing a state where the opening / closing plate is opened from the state of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state where the opening / closing plate is opened and the medal is received by the medal receiving box. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the release shaft 42 and the ratchet pawl 47. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the medal tray corresponding to FIG. 5 when the bottom plate is inclined.

(Description of slot machine structure)
As shown in FIG. 1, the slot machine 10 includes a main body 11 and a front door 12 that is attached to one side end of the main body 11 so as to be freely opened and closed and faces the player.

  The front door 12 has an operation panel 13 at a substantially central portion in the vertical direction in FIG. 1, and has a liquid crystal display panel 14 and a medal tray 31 above and below the operation panel 13, respectively. The medal tray 31 is provided at a position facing the medal discharge port 22.

  Above the liquid crystal display panel 14, there is provided a game state display unit 15 for displaying the number of credits, the number of bets (BET), the state of medal discharge, and the like. The operation panel 13 has a bet button 17 and a medal slot 18 on the top, and a start lever 19 and three stop buttons 30 on the front. It should be noted that the horizontal three rows of reel reels 21 that can be seen from the transparent window 16 to the inside of the liquid crystal display panel 14 are rotated and stopped so that the symbols and the like that are revealed can be clearly seen through the transparent window 16 from the player side. It has become. In addition, the outer peripheral rotation surface on which the symbols of the three horizontal reel reels 21 are drawn is disposed so as to face the rear surface side of the transmission window 16. The transmission window 16 is formed of a transparent hard plastic plate or the like so as to reliably protect the rotating reel 21 from the outside. A lower panel 29 displaying the name of the game is provided between the transmission window 16 and the medal tray 31.

(Explanation of slot machine operation)
In the slot machine 10, when a player inserts a medal into the medal insertion unit 18 and operates the start lever 19, the spinning reels 21 that are three horizontal rows of rotating bodies start rotating, and then the player appropriately When each of the three stop buttons 30 is pressed at the timing, the spinning reels 21 corresponding to the buttons 30 are sequentially stopped, and among the symbol marks provided on each spinning reel 21, When the predetermined patterns match each other, it becomes “winning”, and a large number of game medals (hereinafter simply referred to as “medals”) are discharged from the discharge port 22 to the medal tray 31.

(Description of medal tray structure)
As shown in FIG. 2, the medal tray 31 rotates and opens and closes the discharge plate 38 and the front plate 37 formed with a bottom plate 34, both side plates 35 and 36, and a discharge portion 38 (see FIG. 5) from which medals are discharged. An opening / closing plate 39 provided on the front plate 37 is possible. The medal tray 31 is a torsion spring 40 that is an urging unit that urges the opening / closing plate 39 in a direction to close the discharge unit 38, and a holding unit that holds the open state of the opening / closing plate 39 against the torsion spring 40. A ratchet mechanism 41 and a conical release shaft 42 that is a release means for releasing the state in which the ratchet mechanism 41 holds the opening / closing plate 39 in the open state are provided.

  The opening / closing plate 39 is provided on the front plate 37 so that the discharge portion 38 can be opened and closed by a rotating shaft 43. A torsion spring 40 is provided on the rotating shaft 43. A knob 44 is provided at the outer end of the rotating shaft 43.

  The ratchet mechanism 41 is rotatably provided on the ratchet gear 45, the fixed shaft 46, and engages with the ratchet gear 45. The ratchet mechanism 41 rotates and urges the ratchet pawl 47 in the direction of arrow F to engage the ratchet gear 45. The biasing spring 48 is provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, the conical portion 42 a at the tip of the release shaft 42 faces the side portion 47 a of the ratchet pawl 47. The release shaft 42 is urged in a direction away from the Lachat claw 47 by a return spring (not shown).

(Explanation of medal tray usage procedure)
When medals are discharged to the medal tray 31 and a certain number of sheets are accumulated, the player rotates the knob 44 in the direction of arrow B with the other hand while holding the medal container box D with one hand. Then, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the opening / closing plate 39 rotates in the direction of arrow B to open the discharge portion 38. The medal M is discharged from the opened discharge unit 38 to the medal storage box D. Further, when the ratchet gear 45 rotates in the arrow B direction, the engagement position of the ratchet pawl 45 with respect to the ratchet teeth 45 changes. The opened opening / closing plate 39 attempts to return and rotate in the direction of arrow C due to its own weight and the return rotational force of the torsion spring 40. However, the opening / closing plate 39 is held open by the ratchet pawl 45 preventing rotation of the ratchet teeth 45.

  When the remaining medals M are scraped to the near side by the player and discharged from the discharge unit 38 to the medal receiving box D and the medal tray 31 is emptied, the player presses the release shaft 42 toward the right side plate 36. Then, the conical part 42 a of the release shaft 42 rotates the ratchet pawl 47 in the direction of the arrow G against the biasing spring 48 and removes it from the ratchet gear 45.

  When the ratchet pawl 47 is disengaged from the ratchet gear 45, the opened opening / closing plate 39 is rotated back in the direction of arrow C by its own weight and the return rotational force of the torsion spring 40 to close the discharge portion 38. .

  As described above, since the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment can open and close the discharge unit 38 by the opening / closing plate 37, the medal can be easily transferred from the discharge unit 38 to the medal storage box D. It becomes possible to change the game in a short time, shorten the game interruption time, and improve the playability.

  Further, in the throttle machine 10 of the present embodiment, the discharge portion 38 of the medal tray 31 is formed at the lower portion of the front plate 37, and the opening and closing plate 39 is rotatable at the lower end side about the upper end side and is the discharge portion. 37 can be opened and closed, so that medals can be discharged from the lower part on the near side of the medal tray 31 and medals can be easily transferred to the medal receiving box D.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the upper surface 34 a of the bottom plate 34 is inclined downward toward the front side, the medal can be easily scraped from the discharge unit 38.

It is an external perspective view of a slot machine as an embodiment of the gaming machine of the present invention. It is an enlarged view of a medal tray. It is a figure of a ratchet mechanism. It is AA arrow sectional drawing of FIG. It is a figure of the state which opened the opening-and-closing board from the state of FIG. It is a figure of the state which opens the opening-and-closing plate and is receiving the medal with a medal storage box. It is a perspective view of a cancellation | release axis | shaft and a ratchet nail | claw. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the medal tray corresponding to FIG. 5 when the bottom plate is inclined.

Explanation of symbols

10 Slot machines (gaming machines)
11 Body 21 Revolving reel (Revolving body)
22 discharge port 31 medal tray 34 bottom plate 34a inclined surface 35 left side plate 36 right side plate 37 front plate 38 discharge part 39 opening / closing plate 40 torsion spring (biasing means)
41 Ratchet mechanism (holding means)
42 Release shaft (release means)
42a Conical part 43 Rotating shaft 44 Knob 45 Ratchet gear 46 Fixed shaft 47 Ratchet claw 48 Biasing spring

Claims (3)

In a gaming machine comprising a plurality of rotatable rotator bodies on which a pattern is drawn, and a medal tray that receives medals discharged from the main body when the pattern is aligned by the rotation of the rotator body,
The medal tray is
A front plate formed with a bottom plate, both side plates and a discharge portion for discharging the medal;
An opening and closing plate provided on the front plate so as to be capable of rotating and opening the discharge portion;
An urging means for urging the opening and closing plate in a direction to close the discharge portion;
Holding means for holding the open state of the opening / closing plate opened against the biasing means;
Release means for releasing the state in which the holding means holds the open / close plate in an open state;
A gaming machine characterized by comprising:   2. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the discharge portion is formed at a lower portion of the front plate, and the opening and closing plate pivots on a lower end side about the upper end side to open and close the discharge portion. The discharge portion is formed at a lower portion of the front plate, an upper surface of the bottom plate is formed as an inclined surface with a downward slope toward the front side, and the lower end side of the open / close plate rotates about the upper end side to discharge the discharge plate. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the part is opened and closed.

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