JP2006305189A - Game ball feeder for slot game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game ball feeder for a slot game machine which allows the number of the game balls to be accurately counted, and the game balls to be fed speedily and can cope with occurrence of power interruption etc. <P>SOLUTION: The game ball feeder 1 for the slot game machine consists of: a flow-down path 2 for making the game balls fall down and pass through; three shutters 3<SB>1</SB>, 3<SB>2</SB>and 3<SB>3</SB>projecting inside of the flow-down path 2 for closing the flow-down path 2; and four sensors 4<SB>1</SB>, 4<SB>2</SB>, 4<SB>3</SB>and 4<SB>4</SB>for detecting the game balls P. When the power source of the slot game machine 51 is ON, the first shutter 3<SB>1</SB>is closed to accumulate the game balls in the flow-down path 2. When the fourth sensor 4<SB>4</SB>detects the fifteenth game ball P15, the third shutter 3<SB>3</SB>is closed to prevent the sixteenth game ball and the game balls after this from advancing to a side under this. When a feeding button 59 is depressed, the first shutter 3<SB>1</SB>is opened, and the fifteen game balls P accumulated in the flow-down path 2 fall to be fed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a game ball supply device that is applied to a game ball throwing-in device, a payout device, and the like that counts a predetermined number of balls as one unit in a revolving game machine that uses a game ball to play.

In recent years, a number of spinning-type gaming machines that use game balls have been developed in place of the spinning-type gaming machines that play using game medals. In this spinning-type game machine, five game balls are used as equivalent to one game medal.
In addition, in the conventional swing type gaming machine, the maximum number of game medals that can be used in one game is defined as three, so when converted into game balls, five, ten, and fifteen in one game. One game ball can be used.

  Therefore, in a gaming ball throwing device that throws gaming balls to play a game, five gaming balls can be counted as one unit, and five, ten, and fifteen gaming balls can be counted reliably. Also, it is necessary to provide a game ball supply device that can quickly supply game balls so that the player can continue to play without getting bored.

  As a game ball supply device 201 that achieves such an object, as shown in FIG. 12, as shown in FIG. Proposed is a game ball counting / discharging device 203 comprising a solenoid 205 for restricting the rotation of the body 204 and a sensor 206 for detecting the game ball P passing through the ball cutting body 204. (See Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-177457 A

However, since the game ball supply device 201 described in Patent Document 1 detects by the sensor 206 while the game ball P is moving, the number of the game balls P cannot always be counted reliably.
Further, since the game balls P pass one by one after being inserted into the recesses 204a of the ball cut body 204, the game balls P cannot be supplied so quickly.
Furthermore, when a power failure or the like occurs, the number of game balls P that have passed is unknown due to its structure, and the game balls P cannot be reliably supplied.

  The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and can reliably count the number of game balls, supply game balls quickly, and cause a power outage or the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a game ball supply device for a swivel type gaming machine that can reliably supply a game ball even in such a case.

  In order to achieve the above object, a game ball supply device for a spinning-reel game machine according to the present invention includes a flow-down passage for allowing a game ball to drop and pass, and a plurality of shutters protruding into the flow-down passage and closing the flow-down passage And a plurality of sensors for detecting a game ball. When the plurality of shutters protrude into the flow-down passage and the flow-down passage is closed, one unit of game is placed in the flow-down passage between the plurality of shutters. In addition to accumulating balls, the plurality of sensors detect one unit of game balls accumulated in the flow-down passage.

  A pair of shutters in the plurality of shutters may alternately project into the flow-down passage and close the flow-down passage.

  The game ball supply device for a swivel type gaming machine according to the present invention also includes a downflow passage through which the game ball is dropped and passed, three shutters protruding into the downflow passage and closing the downflow passage, and a game ball The first shutter protrudes into the flow-down passage and is arranged so that the first game ball is positioned on the upper side when the flow-down passage is closed. The second shutter protrudes into the flow-down passage, and when the flow-down passage is closed, the second shutter is arranged so that one unit number of game balls are positioned on the lower side, and the third shutter is disposed in the flow-down passage. When projecting inward and closing the flow-down passage, it is arranged so that a plurality of unit number of game balls are located on the lower side, and the first sensor is arranged directly below the first shutter, The second sensor is directly above the first shutter Arrangement, and the third sensor is positioned to detect the one unit of the number of game balls, fourth sensor is characterized in that arranged at a position for detecting the game balls of the number of multiple units.

  Here, it is preferable that the shutter has a U-shaped tip so that it can be smoothly inserted between the game balls and escaped.

  In addition, if the power of the spinning machine is turned off due to an unexpected accident such as a power failure, the lowest shutter immediately protrudes into the flow-down passage, closes the flow-down passage, and restarts the counting operation. It is preferable to be ready for execution.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the lowest shutter can be opened and closed in a short time so that one game ball can be supplied at a time.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a game ball supply device for a spinning cylinder type gaming machine of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a spinning-reel type gaming machine 51 that uses a game ball has three reels 53, 53, 53 arranged coaxially on the upper part of a housing 52. In addition, a display plate 54 is fixed to the peripheral surface of each reel 53. The display board 54 is divided into a plurality of pieces 55, 55,... At equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and a symbol 56 is appropriately displayed on each piece 55.

  Three display windows 57, 57, 57 are formed on the front upper portion of the housing 52, and a part of the display plate 54 of the reel 53 can be visually recognized from each display window 57.

  In the lower front portion of the housing 52, there are an upper plate 58 for storing game balls, an input button 59, a start lever 60, three stop buttons 61, 61, 61, a cancel button 62, and a lower plate 63 for collecting game balls. It is arranged.

Here, if the insertion button 59 is pressed, the game ball P stored in the upper plate 58 rolls on the upper plate 58 and is supplied to the game ball input device 64. The ball throwing device 64 is equipped with the game ball supply device 1 of the present invention.
If the player wishes to end the game on the way, the player can press the cancel button 62 without sending the game ball P stored in the upper plate 58 to the game ball throwing device 64. It can be collected in the lower plate 63.

As shown in FIG. 3, the game ball supply device 1 of the present invention includes a downflow passage 2 through which the game ball P is dropped and passed, and three shutters 3 that protrude into the downflow passage 2 and close the downflow passage 2. ₁ , 3 ₂ , 3 ₃ and four sensors 4 ₁ , 4 ₂ , 4 ₃ , 4 ₄ for detecting the game ball P.

The shutters 3 ₁ , 3 ₂ , 3 ₃ are formed from a highly rigid material such as stainless steel, and as shown in FIG. 4, the tip 3 a is formed in a U shape, and when the flow-down passage 2 is closed, It can be smoothly inserted between the game balls P and P, and when the flow passage 2 is opened, it can be smoothly escaped from between the game balls P and P.

As shown in FIG. 5, the shutter 3 _1, projects into the rundown path 2, (when closing the shutter) when closing the rundown path 2, as one th game balls P1 is positioned on the upper side It is arranged.
Shutter 3 _2, 3 _3, projects into the rundown path 2, (when closing the shutter) when closing the rundown path 2, respectively on the lower side, 5 th game balls P5,15 th game of It arrange | positions so that the sphere P15 may be located.

The sensors 4 ₁ , 4 ₂ , 4 ₃ , and 4 ₄ detect that the game ball P exists or passes through the flow-down passage 2, and an optical sensor, a magnetic sensor, or the like can be adopted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the sensor 4 _1, when the shutter 3 ₁ is closed, in a position to detect immediately below the shutter 3 _1, the sensor 4 _2, disposed at a position for detecting the game balls P1 of 1 th It is.
Sensor 4 _3, when the shutter 3 ₁ is closed, in a position to detect the 5 th of game ball P5, the sensor 4 ₄ is arranged at a position to detect the game ball P15 of 15 th.

  Next, the case where the operation of the game ball supply device 1 of the present invention is applied to the game ball insertion device 64 will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 5 (A), when the power supply of the rotating game machine 51 is OFF, as shown by the arrows, the three shutters 3 ₁ , 3 ₂ , 3 ₃ are closed, and the flow-down passage 2 is closed, The game ball P cannot pass through the flow-down passage 2.

When the power of the reel-type gaming machine 51 is ON, as shown in FIG. 5 (B), the shutter 3 ₁ has a directly closed but the shutter 3 _2, 3 ₃ is opened, rundown path 2 The game balls P, P,... Are accumulated inside.
Also, game balls P in rundown path 2, P, · · · is gradually accumulated, the sensor _{4 4} detects a game ball P15 of 15 th, as shown in FIG. 5 (C), the shutter _{3 3} Is closed so that the 16th and subsequent game balls P do not enter the lower side.

In a normal time, 15 game balls P are used by pressing the input button 59 once in one game.
During normal, the player presses the turned button 59 once, as shown in FIG. 5 (D), the shutter 3 ₁ is opened, 15 game balls P accumulated in the rundown path 2 may fall It comes to be supplied.

On the other hand, in the case of a bonus game or the like, it may be sufficient to use the five game balls P by pressing the insertion button 59 once in one game.
To a bonus game or the like, the player presses the turned button 59 once, as shown in FIG. 6 (C), the shutter 3 ₂ is closed, on its underside six subsequent game balls P so as not to enter, then, as shown in FIG. 6 (D), the shutter 3 ₁ is opened, five game balls P accumulated in the rundown path 2 is adapted to be supplied and falls Yes.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to a bonus game or the like, and an appropriate number of game balls P such as 15, 5 may be supplied by pressing the insertion button 59 once.

By accident such as power interruption, when the power of the reel-type gaming machine 51 is turned OFF immediately, the shutter 3 ₁ is closed, a state capable of performing counting again.
Then, when the power is turned on again, processing before the power is turned off is executed. For example, if eight game balls P are already supplied when the power is turned off, the remaining seven game balls P are supplied when the power is turned on again. .

  In the above description, the case where the flow-down passage 2 of the game ball supply device 1 is arranged in the vertical direction has been described. However, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the game ball P can smoothly roll downward by its own weight. In this case, the downflow passage 2 may be inclined at an appropriate angle.

Moreover, by opening and closing the shutter 3 ₁ in a short time, the inside of the flow-down passage 2 one by one game balls P may be able to supply to fall.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, when the shutter 3 ₃ is closed, in a position to detect the 16 th of game balls P16, may be arranged the sensor 4 _5.
According to such a configuration, the upper side of the shutter 3 ₃ by the sensor 4 ₅ detects whether the game ball P16 exists, if not, notifying the player that the game ball to be supplied is not present can do. Also, to prevent the operation of opening the shutter 3 ₃ is performed wastefully, making it possible to save labor.

Next, the case where the operation of the game ball supply device 1 according to the present invention is applied to a game ball dispensing device will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the case of a game ball payout device, a plurality of game ball supply devices 1, that is, a plurality of flow-down passages 2 are arranged in parallel because of the need to rapidly supply a large number of game balls P. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, if five game ball supply devices 1 are arranged, a maximum of 75 game balls P can be supplied simultaneously.

In the time of payout stand, as shown in FIG. 6 (B), the game ball supply device 1,1, it closes the shutter _{3 1} ..., each rundown path 2,2, the game in the ... Spheres P, P,... Are accumulated.
Each rundown path 2,2, game balls P in · · ·, P, · · · is gradually accumulated, the sensor _{4 2} detects one th game ball P1, the sensor _{4 3} 5 th When detecting the game balls P5, as shown in FIG. 6 (C), the shutter 3 ₂ is closed, has on its underside six subsequent game balls P so as not to enter.

At the time of payout request, first, the number of used game balls, the number of payouts, and the number of payouts of the game ball supply device 1 are set corresponding to the number of payout requests for the game balls P. For example, when the number of payout requests is 25, the number of used bases is set to 5, the number of payouts is set to 1, and the number of payouts is set to 5.
Then, by setting the payout flag to ON, the game ball supply apparatus 1 the shutter 3 ₂ is closed, a payout process is started.

Be in a payout process, the shutter 3 ₁ is opened, fall accumulated in the rundown path 2 game balls P, and supplies. When the number of payout requests is 25, the shutters 31 of the five game ball supply devices ₁ are opened, and 25 game balls P are paid out simultaneously.
Further, by executing the timer interrupt processing at predetermined time intervals, each rundown path 2,2, each sensor 4 ₁ installed in ... is to detect the game ball P, go up the dispensing piece count.

Each time five or one game ball P is paid out from each game ball supply device 1, it is determined whether or not the number of game balls P to be paid out has been reached.
When the payout number count reaches the requested number, the payout flag is set to OFF and the payout request is reset.

It is in a payout process, with open shutter 3 _1, when the sensor 4 ₁ does not detect the 2 seconds game balls P may as game balls P does not pass, not paid out, Perform error handling.
In the error processing, it is confirmed that the game ball P is not clogged in the flow-down passage 2, and when there is no abnormality, the game ball P is set to the payout correction number and returned at the time of payout waiting. For example, when the number of payout requests is 25 and the payout number count is 20, and the error process is executed, the payout correction number is set to 5 and the payout process is executed again.

Further, each executing the timer interrupt process, when the power supply is determined whether or not a OFF, power is turned OFF, in the during the payout process, the shutter is closed 3 _1, sensor 4 ₁ When the game ball P is detected, the payout number count is increased.

If the payout flag is OFF when the power is turned ON again, the processing is restarted from the stage immediately before the power is turned OFF.
When the power is turned ON again, when the payout flag is ON, open the shutter 3 ₁ executes payout processing pays out game balls P remaining. When the payout number count reaches the requested number, the payout flag is set to OFF and the payout process is terminated.

When a non-power failure device is used, instead of the game ball supply device 1, as shown in FIG. The shutters 5 ₁ , 5 ₂ , 5 ₃ , the four sensors 4 ₁ , 4 ₂ , 4 ₃ , 4 ₄ for detecting the game ball P, and the shutters 5 ₁ , 5 ₂ are connected via a connecting rod 6. and, constantly elastically urged to support the shutter 5 ₂ by an elastic member 7, employing a shutter driving mechanism 9 comprising actuating the shutter 5 ₁ by a drive unit 8, the game ball supply device 101 constructed from Good.

The game ball supply device 101 has substantially the same configuration as the game ball supply device 1 except for the shutter drive mechanism 9.
However, the shutter drive mechanism 9, which is projected, enabling opening and closing operation to the shutter 5 _1, 5 ₂ flows down passage 2 alternately.

According to the game ball supply device 101, since the sensors 4 ₁ , 4 ₂ , 4 ₃ , and 4 ₄ detect the game ball P while it is stationary, the number of game balls P can be counted reliably.
In addition, since the game balls P fall and pass at a time with 5 units as one unit, the game balls P can be supplied relatively quickly.

However, in the game ball supply apparatus 101, the shutters 5 ₁ and 5 ₂ are alternately opened and closed to drop the five game balls P as one unit. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. to supply 15 game balls P must take into opening and closing the shutter 5 ₁ 3 times, compared to the game ball supply device 1, it can not be sufficiently quickly supplied game balls P.

On the other hand, in the game ball supply device 101, the shutter drive mechanism 9 having a driving device 8, since opening and closing operation alternately shutter 5 _1, 5 _2, when compared to the game ball supply device 1, the shutter 5 ₂ There is an advantage that the driving device to be operated becomes unnecessary and the power consumption can be reduced.

It is a front view of the spinning cylinder type game machine which uses a game ball. It is a side view of a spinning cylinder type game machine using a game ball. It is a schematic sectional drawing of one Example of the game ball supply apparatus of the swivel type game machine of this invention. It is a top view of the front-end | tip part of the shutter of the game ball supply apparatus shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement at the normal time of the game ball supply apparatus shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement at the time of the bonus game etc. of the game ball supply apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the other Example of the game ball supply apparatus of the swivel type game machine of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which applied the game ball supply apparatus shown in FIG. 3 to the game ball payout apparatus. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the other Example of the game ball supply apparatus of the swivel type game machine of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the game ball supply apparatus shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the game ball supply apparatus shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the game ball supply apparatus of the conventional spinning cylinder type game machine.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Game ball supply apparatus 2 Downflow path 3 ₁ 1st shutter 3 ₂ 2nd shutter 3 ₃ 3rd shutter 4 ₁ 1st sensor 4 ₂ 2nd sensor 4 ₃ 3rd sensor 4 ₄ 4th sensor 5 ₁ 1st shutter 5 ₂ 2nd shutter 5 ₃ 3rd shutter 51 Revolving game machine 101 Game ball supply device P Game ball

Claims (6)

  A falling passage for allowing the game ball to drop and passing; a plurality of shutters that project into the downflow passage to close the downflow passage; and a plurality of sensors that detect the gaming ball; When projecting into the downflow passage and closing the downflow passage, one unit of game balls is accumulated in the downflow passage between the plurality of shutters, and one unit of accumulated in the downflow passage is accumulated by the plurality of sensors. A game ball supply device for a revolving game machine, wherein a number of game balls are detected.   2. The game ball supply device for a revolving game machine according to claim 1, wherein a pair of shutters in the plurality of shutters alternately project into the flow-down passage to close the flow-down passage. .   The first shutter is composed of a downflow passage through which the game ball is dropped and passed, three shutters that project into the downflow passage and close the downflow passage, and four sensors that detect the game ball. Is arranged so that the first game ball is positioned above the downflow passage when the downflow passage is closed by projecting into the downflow passage, and the second shutter protrudes into the downflow passage. Is arranged so that one unit number of game balls are positioned underneath, and the third shutter protrudes into the flow-down passage, and when the flow-down passage is closed, a plurality of The first sensor is disposed immediately below the first shutter, and the second sensor is disposed immediately above the first shutter. The third sensor is one unit of game To position sensing, the fourth sensor, game ball supply device of the reel-type gaming machine, characterized in that arranged at a position for detecting the game balls of the number of multiple units.   4. A game ball supply device for a revolving game machine according to claim 1, wherein the shutter has a U-shaped tip.   When the power of the spinning-reel game machine is turned off due to an unexpected accident such as a power failure, the lowest shutter immediately protrudes into the flow-down passage, closes the flow-down passage, and executes the counting operation again. The game ball supply device for a revolving game machine according to claim 1, wherein the game ball supply device is in a ready state.   6. A game ball supply device for a revolving game machine according to claim 1, wherein the lowest shutter is opened and closed in a short time so that the game balls can be supplied one by one.

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