JP2006141865A - Putout unit of game ball - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a ball guide member from inadvertently rotating when a drive means is turned off and further to prevent game balls from falling down. <P>SOLUTION: A putout unit 19 is constituted of a putout unit body 21, ball paths 28, 31 formed in the putout unit body 21, a ball guide body 22 arranged rotatably relative to the putout unit body 21, and a motor 39. The ball guide body 22 has a first and second ball guide members 36, 37, the ball guide members 36, 37 has an uneven outer peripheral shape, and the outer peripheral portion drives the ball paths 28, 31 in series by the rotation. The outer surfaces of the ball guide members 36, 37 are formed in tilted surfaces 40, 41 tilted relative to the central line of the rotary axis of the ball guide members 36, 37. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a game ball payout device including a ball guide member that is rotationally driven by a drive means in a payout device body.

  2. Description of the Related Art A game device, for example, a payout device for a pachinko machine, is interposed in a passage from a ball tank of the pachinko machine to a game ball tray, and is used to pay out a predetermined number of game balls. As this payout device, there is a configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  In this apparatus, as shown in FIG. 9, a ball passage 2 having a ball inlet 2a at the upper end and a ball outlet 2b at the lower end is formed in the dispensing device main body 1. The payout device main body 1 is rotatably provided with a ball guide member 3 that is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown). The spherical guide member 3 has an outer peripheral portion formed in an uneven shape. That is, the convex portions 3a and the concave portions 3b between the convex portions 3a are alternately provided, and the convex portions 3a and the concave portions 3b sequentially move in the spherical passage 2 by the rotation in the direction of the arrow A. A sensor 4 for counting the number of passing spheres is provided at the sphere outlet 2b portion.

In the above configuration, when a payout command is output to the motor, the motor is rotationally driven to rotate the ball guide member 3. In this case, while the game ball 5 is received by the convex portion 3a of the ball guide member 3, it flows down the ball passage 2 as the convex portion 3a moves, and is guided in the direction of the ball outlet 2b. At this time, the post-rotation convex portion 3 a receives the next game ball 5. When the ball guide member 3 rotates within a certain angle range, the game ball 5 received by the convex portion 3 a passes through the ball passage 2.
JP 2004-267276 A

  By the way, in the above-described payout device, when the motor is turned off in the state shown in FIG. 9 when the pachinko store is closed, the load (ball pressure) of the game balls 5 group above the ball guide member 3 is changed to the ball guide. The ball guide member 3 is slightly rotated on the outer periphery of the member 3, and the game ball 5 in the ball passage 2 may fall from the payout device and be paid out to the tray. The number of spilling game balls is almost one, but in this case, the employees must collect the game balls in the tray before opening the next day.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a game ball payout device in which a game ball does not fall down even when driving means such as a motor is turned off. .

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 comprises a payout device main body, a ball passage formed in the payout device main body, having a ball inlet at one end and a ball outlet at the other end, A ball guide member that is rotatably provided in the payout device main body, has an outer peripheral portion that has an uneven shape, and the outer peripheral portion sequentially moves along a ball path by rotation; and a driving unit that rotationally drives the guide member; The game balls that are entered from the entrance are individually guided in the direction of the ball exit by the outer peripheral portion of the concave and convex portions of the ball guide member, and the game balls are dispensed, and at least the convex portions at the outer peripheral portion of the ball guide member The outer surface of the part is formed as an inclined surface that is inclined with respect to the rotation axis center line of the spherical guide member.

In the first aspect of the present invention, the game balls entered from the ball entrance are individually received by the outer surface of the convex portion of the ball guide member, and the ball guide member is rotated by the rotation of the ball guide member (movement of the convex portion). Move in the direction. As a result, the game balls are paid out individually.
When the power of the driving means is turned off in a state where the game ball is received on the outer surface of the convex portion of the ball guide member, a load of a plurality of game balls is applied to the outer surface of the convex portion, and this load will rotate the ball guide member. May act as a force.

In this case, according to the invention of claim 1, since the outer surface of the convex portion is formed as an inclined surface inclined with respect to the rotation center line, the load of the game ball in contact with the outer surface of the convex portion is reduced. The force component in the direction in which the ball guide member is rotated by being divided by the inclined surface is reduced. As a result, the ball guide member can be prevented from rotating carelessly when the driving means is turned off, and the game ball can be prevented from falling down.
In addition, the inclined surface may be composed of a surface that is linearly inclined in one direction (invention of claim 2). In this way, the inclined surface can be easily formed. In addition, you may comprise an inclined surface from a curved surface (invention of Claim 3).

  According to the present invention, the ball guide member can be prevented from rotating carelessly when the driving means is turned off, and the game ball can be prevented from falling down.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a rear view of a pachinko machine that is a gaming machine. The pachinko machine 11 includes a front frame 12, a game board 14 that is detachably attached to the back surface of the front frame 12 via an attachment frame 13, and the game board 14. A mechanism plate 15 made of synthetic resin is rotatably mounted on the back surface.

  A game ball tank 16 is provided on the mechanism plate 15. Below the tank 16 is provided a guide passage 18 through which the game balls 17 (see FIGS. 1 and 8) are aligned. The guide passage 18 is composed of a tank rail 18a and a curve rail 18b, and is configured to guide the game balls 17 to flow down in two rows (two rows). A game ball payout device 19 is provided at the lower end of the guide passage 18, and below the payout device 19, the payout game ball 17 is placed on a ball tray (not shown) on the front surface of the front frame 12. ) Is provided.

  The dispensing device 19 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 7. The payout device 19 includes a payout device main body 21, a ball guide body 22, and a motor 39 serving as a driving unit. The dispensing device main body 21 is configured by connecting a right case 23 made of a synthetic resin, an intermediate case 24, and a left case 25. The dispensing device main body 21 includes a first spherical passage 28 having a spherical inlet 26 at the upper end as one end and a spherical outlet 27 at the lower end as the other end, and a spherical inlet 29 at the upper end. A second spherical passage 31 having a spherical outlet 30 is formed at the lower end as an end portion, and a sensor arrangement portion 32 is formed at the spherical outlets 27 and 31 of the spherical passages 28 and 29.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the first ball passage 28 includes a passage portion 28 a of the right case 23 and a passage portion 28 b of the middle case 24. The second ball passage 31 includes a passage portion 31 a of the middle case 24 and a passage portion 31 b of the left case 25. Further, the sensor placement unit 32 includes a placement unit 32a of the right case 23, a placement unit 32b of the middle case 24, and a placement unit 32c of the left case 25 (see FIG. 1). The middle case 24 is formed with a ball guide body arrangement space 34 for arranging the ball guide body 22.

The ball guide body 22 is configured by providing a first ball guide member 36 and a second ball guide member 37 which are ball guide members, respectively, on the body portion 35. Since the first and second ball guide members 36 and 37 have basically the same configuration, the first ball guide member 36 will be described. The outer circumference of the first ball guide member 36 has an uneven shape. That is, three convex portions 36a, 36b, and 36c are formed on the outer peripheral portion, and the concave portion between the convex portions 36a, 36b, and 36c has an arc concave shape. Each convex part 36a, 36b, 36c has comprised the nail | claw shape.
The second spherical guide member 37 has the same suffix as the first spherical guide member 36 in the same portion. However, the second ball guide member 37 is in a relationship shifted by 60 degrees with respect to the first ball guide member 36.

  The above-described ball guide body 22 is configured to be rotatably supported by the shaft hole 23a of the right case 23, the connecting bush 38, and the shaft portion 25a of the left case 25, and the body portion 35 has the space portion 34 for arranging the ball guide body. Is arranged. The rotation axis center line (virtual center line) of the sphere guide 22 is indicated by the imaginary line C in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the spherical guide member 36 of the spherical guide body 22 has part of the convex portions 36 a, 36 b, 36 c located in the arc-shaped portion of each spherical passage 28, and the arrow Due to the rotation in the R direction, the convex portions 36a, 36b, and 36c move along the spherical passage 28 from the top to the bottom. Further, the second spherical guide member 37 has a part of the convex portions 37 a, 37 b, 37 c located in the arc-shaped portion of the spherical passage 31.

  Here, in the first spherical guide member 36, an inclined surface 40 is formed on the outer surface of the entire outer peripheral portion including the convex portions 36a, 36b, 36c. Further, in the ball guide member 37, an inclined surface 41 is formed on the outer surface of the entire outer peripheral portion including the convex portions 37a, 37b, and 37c. The inclined surfaces 40 and 41 are flat surfaces inclined with respect to the rotation axis center line (the imaginary line C shown in FIG. 1) of the respective ball guide members 36 and 37. In this case, the inclined surface 40 has a right downward inclination in FIG. 1, and the inclined surface 41 has a left downward inclination.

  The motor 39 is attached to the outer surface of the right case 23, and a rotating shaft 39a (see FIG. 1) of the motor 39 is connected to the ball guide 22 through the bush 38. The sensor placement unit 32 is provided with ball sensors 42 and 43 that detect the passage of the game ball 17.

  Now, the operation of the above configuration will be described. Since both the first ball guide member 36 and the second ball guide member 37 perform the same operation, the operation of the first ball guide member 36 will be mainly described. The game balls 17 that have entered from the ball entrance 26 are individually received by the inclined surfaces 40 that are the outer surfaces of the convex portions 36a, 36b, and 36c of the first ball guiding member 36. 36a, 36b, and 36c), the ball passage 28 is moved in the direction of the ball outlet 27 as shown in FIGS. As a result, the game balls are paid out individually.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 8A, when the power of the motor 39 is turned off in a state where the game ball 17 is received by one convex portion of the first ball guide member 36, for example, 36a, the outer surface of the convex portion 36a. A load of a plurality of game balls 17 is applied to this, and this load may act as a force to rotate the first ball guide member 36.
In this case, according to the present embodiment, the outer surfaces of the convex portions 36a, 36b, and 36c are formed on the inclined surface 40 that is inclined with respect to the rotation center line C. As shown in FIG. 7, the load W of the game ball 17 is divided by the inclined surface 40 into W <b> 1 and W <b> 2 by the inclined surface 40, thereby attempting to rotate the first ball guide member 36. The direction force component decreases from W to W1.
As a result, it is possible to prevent the first ball guide members 36 and 37 and thus the ball guide body 22 from rotating carelessly when the motor 39 is turned off, and to prevent the game ball 17 from falling down.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the inclined surface 40 (41) is formed on the outer surface of the entire outer peripheral portion including the convex portions 36a, 36b, 36c (37a, 37b, 37c) of the ball guide member 36 (37). Therefore, the load of the game ball 17 can be distributed over the entire outer periphery of the ball guide member 36 (37), and the load can be further reduced. In this case, the intended purpose can be achieved by forming an inclined surface on at least the outer surface of the convex portions 36a, 36b, 36c (37a, 37b, 37c) of the ball guide member 36 (37).

  In addition, since the inclined surface 40 (41) is composed of a surface that is linearly inclined in one direction, the inclined surface 40 (41) can be easily formed.

  In this case, the inclination angle of the inclined surface 40 (41) is preferably 5 to 15 degrees, and in this way, the ball guide member 36 (37) can be guided while the game ball 17 is being favorably guided. The load distribution of the game ball 17 on 36 (37) can also be favorably achieved.

  In addition, you may change the Example of this invention as follows. The inclined surface may be composed of a plurality of surfaces that are linearly inclined in a plurality of directions (for example, an inverted V-shaped surface), and the inclined surface may be composed of a curved surface. The payout device may be provided with one ball guide member and one ball passage, or three or more thereof.

JJ sectional view of Drawing 8 (a) showing one example of the present invention. Rear view of pachinko machine Side view of dispensing device Same perspective view Bottom view Exploded perspective view Sectional drawing of the contact part of the 1st ball guide member and game ball for operation explanation (A) Longitudinal side view in the ball passage portion, (b) Longitudinal side view in the ball passage portion in an operation state different from (a). FIG. 8 (a) equivalent diagram showing a conventional example

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 11 is a pachinko machine, 16 is a tank, 17 is a game ball, 18 is a guide passage, 19 is a payout device, 21 is a payout device body, 22 is a ball guide, 26 and 29 are ball inlets, 27 and 30 are Sphere outlets, 28 and 31 are sphere paths, 36 is a first sphere guide member (sphere guide member), 36a, 36b and 36c are convex portions, 37 is a second sphere guide member (sphere guide member), 37a and 37b. 37c are convex portions, 39 is a motor (driving means), and 40 and 41 are inclined surfaces.

Claims (3)

A dispensing device body;
A ball passage having a ball inlet at one end and a ball outlet at the other end;
A ball guide member that is rotatably provided in the payout device main body, the outer peripheral portion has an uneven shape, and the outer peripheral portion sequentially moves in the ball path by rotation;
Drive means for rotationally driving the guide member,
Dispensing game balls by guiding the game balls entered from the ball entrance individually to the ball exit direction by means of the outer peripheral part of the concave and convex shape of the ball guide member,
A game ball payout device, wherein an outer surface of at least a convex portion of the outer periphery of the ball guide member is formed as an inclined surface inclined with respect to a rotation axis center line of the ball guide member. The game ball payout device according to claim 1,
2. A game ball payout device according to claim 1, wherein the inclined surface of the ball guide member is a surface that is linearly inclined in one direction. The game ball payout device according to claim 1,
A game ball payout device, wherein the inclined surface of the ball guide member is a curved surface.

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