JP2006247286A - Ball sending apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball sending apparatus which is invented to solve the problems, is compact and can execute a high-speed ball sending. <P>SOLUTION: The ball sending apparatus executes the ball sending by driving the ball 1 kept by a stopper 2 for keeping the ball which is arranged at a terminal section of a ball arraying rail 10 with an electromagnetic member 3 and by making the ball get over the stopper 2, wherein a steep slope 13 having an inclination angle of 20° or more is disposed at an end section of the ball arraying rail 10 at the side of the stopper 2. The height of the stopper 2 from the steep slope 13 is lower than a diameter of the ball 1 and exceeds a radius of the ball. Since the height of the stopper is made low and the steep slope is disposed, the travel distance necessary for the ball to get over the stopper is made very short so that the quick ball sending becomes to be possible. Since the ball on the steep slope presses down the ball kept by the stopper, the ball does not bounce out even when a vibration exists in spite of making the height of the stopper low. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a ball cutting device for supplying game balls one by one in a gaming device such as a pachinko machine.

  In gaming devices such as pachinko machines, it is necessary to send out the balls one by one in order to supply the balls to the ball launcher and to pay out the prize balls. For this purpose, ball cutters are used. Different ball cutting devices were used for supplying to the ball launching device and for paying out the prize balls. As shown in FIG. 6, the former has a stopper 2 for stopping the sphere 1 at the end of the sphere alignment rail 10, which is normally formed with a gentle slope of about 5 °, and the sphere 1 stopped by the stopper 2 is arranged. What is used to get over by driving by the electromagnetic member 3 is used, the latter in a state where the spheres are spaced one by one by rotationally driving a cam formed with a plurality of recesses into which the sphere fits on the outer peripheral portion. What was sent out continuously was used.

  Although what was shown in FIG. 6 is what was shown by patent 2968693, in this thing, although a ball cutting device can be made small, it is required for the ball stopped by the stopper to get over the stopper For awarding a prize ball that requires a faster ball cutting even if it can respond to the supply to the ball launcher, which has a long moving distance and therefore the number of ball launches is limited to 100 shots per minute It cannot be used for.

  On the other hand, the latter is capable of high-speed ball cutting, but the ball cutting device 4 is inevitably large due to the use of a motor and a cam. Therefore, as shown in FIG. When the ball 1 sent from the ball tank 6 arranged at the upper part through the ball alignment rail 10 is installed in the prize ball path to be sent downward, it must be arranged beside the game board surface 9, Therefore, the space on the board surface 9 must be reduced.

Here, if the height of the stopper 2 in the one shown in FIG. 6 is lowered and the moving distance when the ball 1 gets over the stopper 2 is shortened, the ball cutting can be made faster. Therefore, the ball 1 stopped at the stopper 2 is subjected to some vibration because the pressure of the ball 1 aligned with the alignment rail 10 is constantly applied to the ball 1 stopped at the stopper 2. When it floats even a little, the situation where it pushes out with the pressure of the ball | bowl 1 currently located in a line with the alignment rail 10, and gets over the stopper 2 arises.
Japanese Patent No. 2998693

  The present invention has been invented in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a ball cutting device that is compact and capable of high-speed ball cutting.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a ball cutting device according to the present invention drives a ball stopped by a ball stopper disposed at the end of a ball alignment rail with an electromagnetic member to get over the stopper. In the cutting, a steep slope having an inclination angle of 20 ° or more is provided at the end on the stopper side of the sphere alignment rail on which the spheres are arranged, and the height of the stopper from the steep slope is smaller than the diameter of the sphere and It is characterized in that it exceeds the radius. Since the height of the stopper is low and a steep slope is provided, the moving distance of the sphere necessary to get over the stopper is very short due to the existence of the steep slope, and thus the fast ball cutting In addition, the ball on the steep slope in the ball alignment rail presses the ball stopped by the stopper. There is no such thing as popping out.

  And if a bent passage portion is provided in front of the steep slope, the pressure applied to the spheres aligned with the sphere alignment rails on the spheres stopped by the stopper will be dispersed. The force applied to the ball stopped by the stopper is not so great that it causes another problem.

  The electromagnetic member is an electromagnet composed of a yoke having opposite end faces and a coil wound around the yoke, and the opposite end faces of the yoke are arranged at positions where the stopper is overridden in the movement path of the sphere. Can be suitably used. Since there is no inertial movable member, it is advantageous for high-speed ball cutting.

  In the present invention, the height of the stopper is lowered and a steep slope having an inclination angle of 20 ° or more is provided at the end of the ball alignment rail on the stopper side, so that it is necessary for the ball to get over the stopper. The moving distance is very short, high-speed ball cutting is possible, and it can be applied to the payout of prize balls, and the presence of the steep slope becomes a problem when the height of the stopper is lowered. It also prevents the ball from inadvertently popping out when vibration is applied, and it also has the advantage of small size in the one using a stopper and electromagnetic member, so even if the board surface of the gaming machine is not reduced It can be used to pay out prize balls.

  In order to prevent the force applied to the spheres aligned with the sphere alignment rail from being applied to the spheres stopped by the stopper if the bent passage portion is provided just before the steep slope in the sphere alignment rail. Therefore, the driving force required for the electromagnetic member is small.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings. The illustrated example is a ball cutting device 4 for paying out a prize ball, and a ball alignment rail for aligning and feeding balls supplied from a ball tank 6. A direction changing portion 11 that changes the ball feeding direction from the lateral direction to the front-rear direction is provided at the terminal end portion 10, and a stopper 2 for stopping the ball 1 is disposed after the direction changing portion 11. Further, the alignment rail 10 from the direction changing portion 11 to the stopper 2 is a steep slope 13 whose inclination angle θ is 20 ° or more, preferably 30 ° or more. In addition, a bent passage portion 14 is provided immediately before the direction changing portion 11 so that the pressure applied by the spheres 1 arranged on the alignment rail 10 to the sphere 1 stopped by the stopper 2 does not become too large. ing. Further, the stopper 2 has a height H (height from the surface of the sphere 1 on the steep slope 13 of the alignment rail 10 that contacts the bottom) that is slightly lower than the radius of the sphere 1.

  In the figure, reference numeral 3 denotes an electromagnetic member for applying a force to the ball 1 so that the ball 1 stopped by the stopper 2 gets over the stopper 2, which is the same as that shown in Patent Document 1, that is, a C-shaped yoke. 30 and a coil 31 wound around this, both opposing end faces of the yoke 30 are in the position where the stopper 2 gets over the moving path of the sphere 1. The ball 1 stopped by the stopper 2 is pulled up by electromagnetic attraction between the opposite end surfaces of the yoke 30 and the excitation is stopped when the ball 1 reaches between the both end surfaces and gets over the stopper 2. . The ball 1 that has passed over the stopper 2 then falls by its own weight.

  Here, since the height H of the stopper 2 is low, the moving distance L of the sphere 1 required to get over the stopper 2 is shortened. Since the stopped sphere 1 is on the steep slope 13, the angle is further shorter than when the angle is small, and is equal to or less than ¼ of the circumference of the sphere 1. For this reason, high-speed ball cutting is possible. Actually, when the steep slope θ is 30 ° and the height H of the stopper 2 is slightly larger than the radius of the ball 1, 600 or more ball cuttings per minute are possible. It was possible. If the ball 1 stopped by the stopper 2 starts moving to get over the stopper 2, the ball 1 pushed on the steep slope 13 by the previous ball 1 is also advantageous for high-speed ball cutting. .

  When the height H of the stopper 2 is lowered, the sphere 1 is pushed out when the vibration is applied due to the pressure of the sphere 1 aligned with the sphere alignment rail 10 formed as a slope as described above, and the stopper 2 Here, the force applied by the previous sphere 1 to the sphere 1 stopped by the stopper 2 due to the steep slope 13 is lower than that of the gentle slope, and the sphere 1 Therefore, the ball 1 does not inadvertently get over the stopper 2 due to this. Incidentally, if the inclination angle θ of the steep slope 13 is 20 ° or more, the sphere 1 will not get over carelessly, but if it is 30 ° or more, the sphere 1 may get over even if considerable vibration is applied. In addition, the moving distance L is further shortened, which is advantageous in terms of high-speed ball cutting.

  In addition, the presence of the steep slope 13 causes other adverse effects due to excessive pressure on the ball 1 that is originally stopped by the stopper 2. Since there is a portion 11 and a bent passage portion 14 and the pressure of all the spheres 1 arranged on the sphere alignment rail 10 is not applied to the sphere 1 stopped by the stopper 2, the pressure is said to be too large. In addition, since the driving force of the sphere 1 required for the electromagnetic member 3 is small, the sphere 1 can be driven by the small electromagnetic member 3. Moreover, the short movement distance L is also the reason why the small electromagnetic member 3 is sufficient. If the inclination angle θ exceeds 45 °, the ball immediately before the ball 1 stopped by the stopper 2 may get over the stopper 2, so that the inclination angle θ is less than 45 °. Is preferred.

  The above-described small and high-speed ball cutting device 4 capable of cutting a ball at a high speed can be disposed at the end of a ball alignment rail 10 for aligning the balls from the ball tank 6, as shown in FIGS. In other words, it is only necessary to secure a space 15 where the ball 1 falls beside the board surface 9. For this reason, a gaming machine having a large board surface 9 can be obtained. In the figure, 19 is a counting means for counting the number of balls 1 that have passed through the ball cutting device 4.

  5 (a) and 5 (b) show other examples of the shape of the ball alignment rail 10 reaching the stopper 2, and the electromagnetic member 3, the steep slope 13 just before the stopper 2, etc. are the same as those in the above embodiment. It is.

  In each of the above examples, as the electromagnetic member 3, the one that pulls up the ball 1 by electromagnetic attraction force to get over the stopper 2, that is, the one that has a high response speed due to lack of inertia, is shown. It goes without saying that a solenoid that gets over the vehicle may be used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It shows an example of an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a front view, (b) is a broken side view. It is a front view of the state which removed the electromagnetic member same as the above. It is a schematic front view of the gaming machine provided with the same ball cutting device. It is a partial front view same as the above. (a) (b) is the fracture | rupture side view of another example, respectively. It is a fracture side view of an example of a conventional ball cutter. It is a schematic front view of a gaming machine provided with another conventional ball cutting device.

Explanation of symbols

1 Ball 2 Stopper 3 Electromagnetic Member 10 Ball Alignment Rail 13 Steep Slope 14 Bent Path

Claims (3)

  In a ball cutting device that performs ball cutting by driving a ball stopped by a ball stopper provided at the end of the ball alignment rail with an electromagnetic member and overcoming the stopper, the stopper of the ball alignment rail in which the balls are lined up A steep slope having an inclination angle of 20 ° or more is provided at the end on the side, and the height of the stopper from the steep slope is smaller than the diameter of the sphere and exceeds the radius of the sphere. .   2. The ball cutting device according to claim 1, wherein a bent passage portion is provided at a portion immediately before the steep slope in the ball alignment rail.   The electromagnetic member is an electromagnet composed of a yoke having opposite end faces and a coil wound around the yoke, and the opposite end faces of the yoke are arranged at positions where the stoppers are moved over the movement path of the sphere. The ball cutting device according to claim 1 or 2.

Images