JP2005211265A - Ball delivery mechanism in roulette game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball delivery mechanism in a roulette game machine capable of accurately positioning the tip of a link mechanism which has the possibility that a stop position shifts by the overrun of a rotating body or the like regardless of the dispersion of the stop position of the rotating body. <P>SOLUTION: A ball recovered from the spot stop area of a roulette board is mounted on a table 45. When a link rotary board 37 is rotated by the drive of a ball lifting motor 10, a slide rail 44a is elevated by a link rod 36 and consequently the table 45 is elevated. When it is elevated up to the table housing part of an air flow path, the upper surface of the table 45 is abutted to a stopper at a position slightly before the most elevated position and turned to a normal position. Even when it overruns a peak, the position of the table is held at the normal position by the restoration force of a spring 41. The ball is pushed by an air flow and smoothly accelerated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a ball delivery mechanism that guides a ball collected from a turn area of a roulette game machine to a predetermined position in an air flow path and sends the ball to a roulette field by the pressure of the air flow.

Regarding the roulette game machine, the present applicant has proposed a mechanism for releasing a ball into the field (Patent Document 1).
In this proposal, the ball that has entered the turning area is collected with a scissors, lifted and discharged onto the field by a ball delivery roller.

As another mechanism for releasing the ball onto the field, there is a mechanism that uses a repulsive force such as a spring. Further, as a mechanism that is simple and stable and can discharge a ball at a predetermined speed, one that discharges by the pressure of an air flow has been considered. This mechanism requires that the ball be accurately placed in the passage that delivers the air flow.
Japanese Patent No. 2585714

That is, the collected ball must be lifted in a substantially vertical direction, and the tip of the lifted ball holding portion must be accurately positioned at a predetermined position in the air passage.
However, in a normal link mechanism, there may be a gap between the ball and the passage due to a displacement due to variations in the stop position. In such a case, the pressure of the air flow is released from the displaced gap, and a predetermined speed cannot be applied to the ball.
Also, if the table portion does not rise sufficiently due to misalignment, a step in the convex portion is created in the passage in the firing direction, and even if pushed by the pressure of the air flow, it will be caught and cause ball clogging.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a ball feeding mechanism in a roulette game machine capable of accurately positioning the front end of a link mechanism that may be shifted due to overrun of the rotating body regardless of variations in the stopping position of the rotating body. There is to do.

In order to achieve the above object, claim 1 of the present invention is connected to the other side of the passage by inserting a ball recovered from the field into the ball delivery passage and sending an air flow from one side of the passage. A ball delivery mechanism in a roulette game machine that extrudes into a ball acceleration passage, accelerates to a predetermined speed and sends a ball to a roulette field, and the ball delivery mechanism includes a table on which a ball collected from the roulette field is mounted; A support means for supporting the table, an urging means for imparting movement behavior to the table in the upward direction, a rotating body that rotates by a driving force from the driving means, and one end pivotally mounted near the periphery of the rotating body The link member and the support means are fixed and the other end of the link member is pivotally attached to rotate the rotating body. Slide means for performing a vertical linear motion, and an air flow passage having a table accommodating portion into which the table is inserted, and immediately before the pivotal portion of the link member reaches the top of the rotating body, Until the table on which the upper surface hits the stopper of the table housing portion and the ball is mounted is inserted into the normal position of the table housing portion, and further, the rotating body rotates and the pivoting portion of the link member reaches the apex. Due to the movement behavior of the urging means, the table is held in the normal position, and until the pivoting portion of the link member reaches the predetermined rotation position beyond the vertex of the rotating body, the movement behavior of the urging means The table is held at the normal position.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the support means includes a shaft portion that supports the table and a support plate that supports the shaft portion so as to be movable up and down. The coil spring is inserted into the shaft portion.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a blower is connected to the air flow passage in the first or second aspect of the invention, and the blower is activated before the table reaches the accommodating portion to send out an air flow. It is characterized by that.

According to the present invention, even if the stop position of the rotating body varies, the table position on which the ball is mounted is stopped at the normal position of the air flow passage, and the ball is smoothly accelerated by the acceleration hose by the air flow and roulette. Released into the field.
Further, if the amount of contraction of the table is increased, the rotation speed of the link mechanism can be increased, so that the time from ball collection to ball discharge at the start of the next game can be shortened. Furthermore, a general and inexpensive motor can be used without using an expensive positioning motor such as a stepping motor.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a roulette game machine to which a ball delivery mechanism according to the present invention is applied.
The roulette game machine 1 has six touch panels 3a to 3f that can be played by a maximum of six players, and the player can vote (designate) the winning of the roulette bet on each touch panel. A roulette wheel 5 having a roulette wheel grid area (roulette wheel output area) 2 is arranged in the center. The player can participate in the lottery by inserting medals into the medal insertion unit 4. When the lottery for each time is finished, the balls are collected and lifted to the ball link position by the ball lifting mechanism.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing a form of a ball feeding mechanism of a roulette game machine according to the present invention.
The bowl 31 is a base portion of a mortar-shaped roulette game machine, and has a field 31a around which a ball 46 circulates on the circumferential surface. A through hole 31b is formed in the inner peripheral portion of the bottom. The wheel 8 has a stitch area which is a mesh part, and a through hole 8a is formed in the inner peripheral part of the bottom part. The wheel 8 is rotated by a roulette wheel motor 24.
The cone 6 has a conical shape and covers the inner peripheral portion of the wheel 8. When the ball 46 is collected, the cone 6 is raised by a motor (not shown). The ball 46 rolls and falls into the through hole 8a.

A rail 9 for guiding the falling ball 46 to the ball feeding mechanism is installed at the lower part of the bowl 31. A ball lifting mechanism including a ball lifting motor 10, a link rotating disk 37, a link 36, and the like is provided on the lower side of the roulette game machine.
Further, a link mechanism including a ball detection sensor 35 for detecting that the ball has returned and placed on the table, a slide rail, and the like is provided. Further, there is provided a launching mechanism for sending the ball inserted through the air flow passage to the field 31a.
The ball feeding mechanism is composed of the ball lifting mechanism, the link mechanism, and the firing mechanism.

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view for explaining the movement of ball collection in the roulette game machine.
When the cone 6 rises, the ball 46a that has entered a specific turning area rolls down the wheel 8, falls through the through holes 8a and 31b (ball 46b), and is guided to the rail 9. Since the rail 9 is inclined, the ball rolls (ball 46c), reaches the entrance of the link mechanism (ball 46d), and rests on the table.

FIG. 2C is a top view for explaining a ball firing operation on the roulette game machine.
The passage of the firing mechanism is connected to the acceleration hose 60. The acceleration hose 60 has a length of about 2/3 of the circumference of the field 31a of the bowl 31. During passing through the acceleration hose 60, the ball 46e is pushed by the air flow and accelerated to reach the outlet 7 of the hose 60. It is accelerated to a predetermined speed and sent to the field (ball 46f, ball 46g). When the speed of the ball 46h delivered to the field 31a decreases, the ball 46h comes into contact with the diamond block 31c on the field 31a and suddenly stalls and falls to the roulette wheel section 2.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a ball feeding mechanism of a roulette game machine according to the present invention, showing a ball lifting mechanism and a link mechanism.
The table 45 has a recess 45a in the upper part so that it does not roll down after the ball is mounted, and a receiving part 45b for receiving the ball 46 is connected to the back surface of the table 45. The table 45 is fixed to the upper end of the table shaft 40. A coil spring 41 is inserted into the table shaft 40, the table shaft 40 is inserted into two holes 39a having the guides 43 of the U-shaped support frame 39, and a stopper 40a is locked to the lower end of the table 45. Is attached to the support frame 39. When a downward force is applied to the table 45, the spring 41 contracts and the table 45 can be lowered by the amount of contraction of the spring.

The output shaft of the ball lifting motor 10 is transmitted to the drive shaft 49 via the reduction gear train 48. The drive shaft 49 is connected to a turntable mounting portion 52 attached to the center of the link turntable 37 (see FIG. 5). A shaft 38 is pivotally mounted in the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion of the link rotating disk 37, and the other end of the shaft 38 is pivotally mounted on one end of the link bar 36. Further, the other end of the link bar 36 is pivotally attached to a slide rail 44a guided by the slide rail guide 44b. When the ball lifting motor 10 is driven, the link rotating disk 37 rotates, and the slide rail 44a can be moved up and down by the link rod 36.
The support frame 39 that supports the table 45 is fixed to the slide rail 44a, and similarly moves up and down according to the vertical movement of the slide rail 44a.

4 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the slide rail of the ball delivery mechanism of FIG.
This figure shows a state in which the table 45 is moved down to the position where it accepts the collected balls.
The slide rail guide 44 b is attached to the inside of the slide rail support plate 57. A slide rail cover 47 is attached to the slide rail support plate 57 so as to cover the ascending / descending passage area of the table 45. The lower part of the slide rail cover 47 is provided with a square ball entrance 47a for receiving the collected balls. A transmissive ball detection sensor 35 composed of a light emitting and light receiving element is disposed on the side surface of the ball entrance 47a to monitor whether or not the ball is mounted on the table 45.
The table 45 rises from the upper end of the slide rail support plate 57 to the upper position (see FIG. 8).

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of the link rotating disk of the ball delivery mechanism of FIG. 3, and is a view for explaining an apparatus for detecting the position where the table is most raised and the position where the table is most lowered.
A support plate 62 for rotatably supporting the drive shaft 49 is attached to the fixed platen 53, and the drive shaft 49 is connected to a rotary plate attachment portion 52 fixed to the link rotary plate 37.
A sensor shielding plate 51 is attached to a disk intermediate position of the link rotating disk 37. Further, on both sides of the support plate 62, an optical transmission type upper position detection sensor 50a and a lower position detection sensor 50b including a light emitting element and a light receiving element are arranged.
When the sensor shielding plate 51 enters between the light emitting element and the light receiving element of the upper position detection sensor 50a and shields the light, it is detected that the table 45 has reached the highest position. Similarly, when the sensor shielding plate 51 enters between the light emitting element and the light receiving element of the lower position detection sensor 50b and shields the light, it is detected that the table 45 has reached the lowest position.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the blower provided in the delivery path of the ball delivery mechanism, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the blower with the blower cover removed.
The air flow sent out from the blower 54 passes through the air passage 56, reaches the ball launch port 54 a, and is sent out into the acceleration hose 60. A table accommodating portion 56 a for inserting a table is provided in the air passage 56. In the state where the blower cover 55 is attached, a window 55a is formed so that the table accommodating portion 56a can be seen. A table stopper 61 is attached to the upper surface of the table accommodating portion 56a. The upper surface of the receiving portion 45b of the table 45 rising to the table stopper 61 comes into contact with the table stopper 61.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view for explaining an attached state of the ball delivery mechanism.
A ball lifting mechanism, a link mechanism, and a firing mechanism are attached to the lower side of the roulette game machine main body. This figure shows a state where the table is in the highest position and the ball on the table is in the firing position. The upper end of the table 45 is pressed against the table stopper 61.

FIG. 9A shows a case of a normal link mechanism, and FIG. 9B shows a case of applying a link mechanism according to the present invention, and the difference will be described.
In FIG. 9A, the table has not reached the normal position at the position (a) immediately before the turntable 37A reaches the highest position. When the uppermost position (b) is reached, the upper surface of the table hits the table stopper 61A and becomes a normal position. In the position of (c) where it has slightly overrun, the table stops at a position slightly lowered from the normal position. Here, the normal position is a position where the table is located at the center of the air passage and the ball is sufficiently pushed in the direction of the discharge outlet by sufficiently receiving the pressure of the air flow.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 9B, when the turntable 37 reaches the position (a) immediately before reaching the highest position, the spring 41 is slightly compressed so that the upper surface of the table is in a normal position where it hits the table stopper. . When reaching the highest position (b), the spring 41 is in the most compressed state and is still in the normal position. The upper position detection sensor 50a outputs a detection signal at this highest position or a little earlier timing to stop the ball lifting motor 10, but because of play such as a transmission gear and inertial mass of members of the transmission mechanism, 37 stops at a position slightly beyond the vertex. However, even in this position, the amount of compression of the spring 41 is reduced by the repulsive force of the spring 41, so that it is still in the normal position unlike FIG. 9A (c).

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a circuit of a roulette game machine to which a ball delivery mechanism according to the present invention is applied. This circuit only describes the parts directly relevant to the present invention.
When the ball falls to the exit area and the outcome is determined, the ball control unit 11a of the CPU 11 controls the drive circuit 25c to drive a motor (not shown) to raise the cone. The ball detection sensor 35 detects that the ball collected from the ball collection mechanism is mounted on the table. The optical sensor control unit 32 controls each sensor. When a detection signal is sent from the ball detection sensor 35, this information is transferred to the CPU 11. Thereby, the ball control unit 11a controls the drive circuit 25a to activate the ball injection / circulation blower, and also drives the roulette wheel motor 24. When the ball lifting motor 10 is activated and the upper position detection sensor 50a detects the highest position of the table, the ball lifting motor 10 is stopped. When the ball orbiting optical sensor 30 detects the ball, the ball control unit 11a detects that the ball has been sent out to the roulette field, activates the ball lifting motor 10 again, and lowers the table. When the lower position detection sensor 50b detects the lowest position of the table, the ball lifting motor 10 is stopped.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the roulette game machine from the ball collection to the launch.
In order to collect the ball, the ball control unit 11a performs the rising control of the cone 9 (step (hereinafter referred to as “S”) 001). As a result, the ball passes through the ball collection mechanism and is placed on the table. The ball control unit 11a determines whether or not the ball detection sensor 35 has detected a ball (S002). When the ball is detected, the cone 6 is controlled to descend (S003).
Then, the drive circuit 25a is controlled to activate the ball injection / circulation blower, and the roulette wheel motor 24 is also driven (S004).

  The ball control unit 11a activates the ball lifting motor 10 and starts lifting the ball (S005). When the upper position detection sensor 50a detects the highest position of the table (S006), the ball lifting motor 10 is stopped (S007). Next, it is monitored whether or not the ball-circulating optical sensor 30 detects a ball in the field (S008). When the ball is detected, the operation of the blower is stopped (S009). Then, the ball lifting motor 10 is activated (S010), and when the lower position sensor 50b detects the lowest position of the table (S011), the ball lifting motor 10 is stopped (S012).

In the above embodiment, an example in which an optical sensor is used as the ball detection sensor and the upper and lower position sensors has been described. However, sensors such as mechanical detection, magnetic detection, and capacitance detection may be used.
Moreover, although the example which compresses a coil spring as an urging | biasing means was demonstrated, you may use the spring of another shape. For example, movement habits may be given to the table using a tension spring. Furthermore, an elastic member made of a plastic member may be used. Furthermore, although the example which used the disk as a rotary body was demonstrated, the shape may not be a disk shape but a rectangular shape. Although a blower is used as the air flow source, other types of fan motors can be used.

  This is a roulette game machine installed in an arcade game center.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the roulette game machine to which the ball delivery mechanism by this invention is applied. It is sectional drawing which shows embodiment of the ball delivery mechanism of the roulette game machine by this invention. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the movement of the ball | bowl collection | recovery within a roulette game machine. It is a top view for demonstrating the launching operation | movement of the ball | bowl on a roulette game machine. It is a front view which shows the ball delivery mechanism of the roulette game machine by this invention, and shows the ball lifting mechanism and the link mechanism. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the vicinity of a slide rail of the ball delivery mechanism of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of a link rotating disk of the ball delivery mechanism of FIG. 3. It is a perspective view of the blower provided in the delivery path | route of a ball delivery mechanism. It is a perspective view of the blower which removed the blower cover. It is a fragmentary perspective view for demonstrating the attachment state of a ball delivery mechanism. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure to which the delivery path | route of a ball delivery mechanism and the table of a raising mechanism part link. It is a figure for demonstrating the mechanism for stabilizing the table position when linked of FIG. 9A. It is a circuit diagram which shows embodiment of the circuit of the roulette game machine to which the ball delivery mechanism by this invention is applied. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the roulette game machine from ball collection to discharge.

Explanation of symbols

1 Roulette game machine
2 Roulette board
3a-3e Touch panel
4 medal insertion part
5 Roulette wheel 6 Cone 7 Ball exit 8 Wheel 9 Rail 10 Ball lift motor 11 CPU
32 Optical sensor control unit 23, 25a, 25c Drive circuit 24 Roulette wheel motor 26 Ball injection blower 30 Ball orbiting optical sensor 31 Bowl 35 Ball detection sensor 36 Link rod 37 Link rotating disk 38 Axis 39 Support frame 40 Table axis 41 Spring 43 guide
44 Slide rail 45 Table 46 Ball 47 Slide rail cover 48 Reduction gear train 49 Drive shaft 50a Upper position detection sensor 50b Lower position detection sensor 51 Sensor shield plate 52 Rotary plate mounting part 53 Fixed plate 54 Blower 55 Blower cover 56 Air passage 56a Table Housing part 57 Slide rail support plate 61 Table stopper

Claims (3)

A ball collected from the field is inserted into a ball delivery path, and an air flow is sent from one side of the path to push it into a ball acceleration path connected to the other side of the path, accelerating to a predetermined speed and roulette field. A ball delivery mechanism in a roulette game machine for delivering a ball to
The ball delivery mechanism is
A table on which the balls collected from the roulette field are mounted;
Support means for supporting the table;
An urging means for imparting movement habits in the upward direction of the table;
A rotating body that rotates by a driving force from a driving means;
A link member having one end pivotally mounted near the periphery of the rotating body;
A slide means for fixing the support means and pivotally attaching the other end of the link member, and performing a vertical linear motion by rotation of the rotating body;
An air flow passage having a table accommodating portion into which the table is inserted,
Immediately before the pivoting portion of the link member reaches the top of the rotating body, the table on which the upper surface of the table hits the stopper of the table housing portion and the ball is mounted is inserted into the normal position of the table housing portion, Further, the table is held at the normal position by the movement behavior of the urging means until the rotating member rotates and the pivoting portion of the link member reaches the apex, and the pivoting portion of the link member is moved to the rotating body. A ball feeding mechanism in a roulette game machine, wherein the table is held at the normal position by the movement behavior of the biasing means until reaching a predetermined rotational position beyond the top of the roulette game machine. The support means includes a shaft portion that supports the table, and a support plate that supports the shaft portion so as to be movable up and down.
2. A ball feeding mechanism in a roulette game machine according to claim 1, wherein the biasing means is a coil spring fitted into the shaft portion.   3. The ball in the roulette game machine according to claim 1, wherein a blower is connected to the air flow passage, and the blower is activated before the table reaches the housing portion to send out an air flow. Delivery mechanism.

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