JP2007014591A - Opening/closing mechanism of large winning hole of game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a large winning hole opening/closing mechanism of a game machine, capable of efficiently guiding many falling game balls into the inside of the game machine, though the size of a lid body, especially the size in the height direction, is compact. <P>SOLUTION: The opening/closing mechanism comprises a front part where the large winning hole is formed, a movable support part which is movable between a retracted position and a projection position in front of the retracted position under the large winning hole, the lid body oscillatable to the movable support part for opening/closing the large winning hole, and a positioning part for positioning the movable support part either at the projection position or at the retracted position. When the movable support part is moved from the projection position to the retracted position, an abutting part, at least a part of the lower end of the lid body, abuts to the front part, and the lid body is rotated around the rotating shaft while sliding in contact with the abutting part to close the large winning hole. When the movable support part is moved in the direction of projection from the retracted position to the projection position, the lid body is rotated in the direction of projection to open the large winning hole. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an opening / closing mechanism for a special prize opening of a gaming machine, and more particularly to an opening / closing mechanism for a special prize opening provided with a lid that opens toward a falling flow path of a game ball when a specific gaming condition is established.

  In a gaming machine such as a pachinko machine installed in a game hall, when a game ball enters a specific winning opening, a lottery is performed in the central control unit to establish a specific game condition, i.e., `` big hit '' There has been a gaming machine including a big prize opening device that opens a lid toward the falling flow path of a game ball when obtained. The big prize opening device is provided below the central bonus device and has a lid that allows the big prize opening to be opened and closed. In the “hit” state, the lid opens, accepts the falling game ball, and guides it to the grand prize opening. The lid body of such a big prize opening device is generally a substantially rectangular elongated body, and has a rotating shaft extending in the longitudinal direction thereof. The rotating shaft is arranged on the game board surface so as to extend in the horizontal direction. The cover body is in a closed state in which the game board surface and the surface thereof coincide with each other at normal times other than “big hit”. On the other hand, when the “big hit” state is reached, the lid body rotates about the rotation axis toward the front of the game board surface to open a big winning opening on the game board surface. As a result, the falling game ball can be taken into the game machine.

  Here, for example, in a pachinko machine, a game ball launched on the game board surface falls between the game board surface and a transparent glass plate disposed in front of the game board surface while colliding with a nail or the like. That is, the falling flow path of the game ball is a space between the game board surface and the transparent glass plate disposed on the front surface thereof. As described above, in the case where the rotation axis of the lid is arranged on the game board surface, the height of the lid is set to about the distance between the game board surface and the glass plate arranged on the front surface thereof. When the body rotates about 90 degrees, the falling flow path of the game ball can be blocked over the width of the lid.

  By the way, in recent years, the size of the central actor device itself has been increased due to the demand for increasing the size of the liquid crystal panel accommodated inside the central accessory device. Therefore, it is required to make the height of the big prize opening device provided in the downward direction of the central accessory device compact. On the other hand, as described above, if the height of the lid of the big prize opening device is reduced, the game ball cannot be efficiently led to the inside of the gaming machine through the big prize opening.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and a large number of falling game balls can be passed through the big prize opening without increasing the size of the lid, particularly in the height direction. Provide an opening / closing mechanism for the big prize opening of the gaming machine that can be efficiently led to the inside of the gaming machine.

Means for Solving the Invention

  The opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the big prize opening of the gaming machine according to the present invention includes a front portion on which the big prize opening is formed, and a retracted position and a protruding position ahead of the retracted position in the lower part of the big prize opening. A movable support portion that is movably provided between the movable support portion, a lid that is swingably provided with respect to the movable support portion, and that opens and closes the prize winning opening, and the movable support portion that is in the protruding position and the retracted position. And a contact portion that is at least a part of a lower end portion of the lid body, and the movable support portion moves from the protruding position to the retracted position. The lid rotates around the rotation shaft while abutting and sliding on the front surface portion to close the special winning opening, and the movable support portion is in a protruding direction from the retracted position to the protruding position. As the lid moves It rotates towards the serial protruding direction, characterized in that opening the special winning opening.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently guide a falling game ball to the inside of a gaming machine through the big prize opening without increasing the size of the big prize opening device in the height direction. Further, the lid body rotates around the rotation shaft located near one end portion in the axial direction to close the special winning opening, but according to the present invention, the movement amount of the rotation tip portion separated from the rotation shaft can be reduced. Since it can be reduced as compared with a conventional big prize opening device having a big prize opening of the same height, a game ball is sandwiched between the lid and the game board surface when the lid is closed, so-called `` It is possible to reduce "bite biting".

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

  An opening / closing mechanism for a special winning opening according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In particular, referring to FIGS. 2 and 6, the big prize opening device 10 is installed by being fitted into the substantially rectangular big prize opening mounting hole 2 provided in the gaming board 1 of the gaming machine from the front side of the gaming board 1. . In the following, the insertion direction of the special prize opening device 10 into the special prize opening attaching hole 2 is referred to as + Z direction, the + Z direction is referred to as the rear, and the −Z direction is referred to as the front. Further, when viewing the prize winning opening device 10 from the front, “left hand” is defined on the left side, “right hand” is defined on the right side, and “upper” and “lower” are defined on the upper and lower sides, respectively. Further, with reference to FIG. 1, the X, Y, and Z axes are defined with the lower left (lower left of the page) when the prize winning apparatus 10 is viewed from the front as the origin.

  In particular, referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, the decorative board 20 constitutes a part of the gaming board 1 when the special prize opening device 10 is attached to the gaming machine. That is, the decorative board 20 has a size larger than that of the big prize opening attachment hole 2 so as to block the periphery of the big prize opening attachment hole 2 from the player's view. In addition, it is preferable to chamfer the corner | angular part of the peripheral edge part of the decorating board 20 so that the game ball which falls on the game board 1 may collide and it may not bounce unnaturally. The decorative board 20 has a substantially rectangular window 21 at the center. A front stopper portion (front portion) 22 that protrudes inward along the inner periphery of the window 21 is integrally formed with the decorative plate 20 on the back side of the decorative plate 20. The front stopper portion 22 is located behind the decorative plate 20 and has a substantially rectangular large winning opening through which a game ball can pass. As will be described later, the front stopper portion 22 engages with the lid body 40 and rotates the lid body 40 to open and close the special winning opening.

  In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, the housing 25 is fixed behind the front stopper portion 22 of the decorative board 20. The housing 25 includes a first side plate 25a, a second side plate 25d facing the first side plate 25a, a top plate 25b, and a bottom plate 25c. On the outside of the first side plate 25a and the second side plate 25d, a pair of fixing members 26 for fixing the special prize opening device 10 to the gaming machine main body are provided so as to extend in parallel with the Z axis. . On the upper surface of the bottom plate 25c, three concave grooves having openings toward the inside of the casing 25 are formed so as to extend in parallel to each other and in a direction parallel to the Z axis. Specifically, a guide groove 27 is formed in the center portion of the bottom plate 25c along the X-axis direction. A first groove 28a and a second groove 28b are formed in the vicinity of the first side plate 25a and the second side plate 25d with the guide groove 27 interposed therebetween. The width of the first groove 28 a and the second groove 28 b is wider than the width of the guide groove 27. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the first concave portion 31 of the movable bottom plate 30, which will be described later, can move along the Z-axis direction in the first concave groove 28 a and the second concave groove 28 b. The groove 28 a and the second concave groove 28 b have a width wider than the width of the lid attachment portion 31.

  In particular, as shown in FIG. 4, the left hand of the housing 25 extends rearward, and a solenoid capable of reciprocating the shaft 29 a back and forth in a direction parallel to the Z axis is provided inside the extending portion. 29 is fixed. The solenoid 29 is driven by being supplied with current under the control of a central control unit (not shown).

  In particular, referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, a movable bottom plate 30 is accommodated in the housing 25 as a movable support portion that supports a lid body 40 described later in a swingable manner. The movable bottom plate 30 has a pair of lid attachment portions 31 protruding forward from the left and right end portions at positions separated along the X-axis direction at the front end portion located on the decorative plate 20 side. . The front end portion of the lid attachment portion 31 has a substantially cylindrical engaging portion 31a that extends in the X-axis direction. Attachment holes 31b extending in parallel with the X-axis are respectively squeezed on both sides in the X-axis direction of the engaging portion 31a (see particularly FIG. 2). As will be described later, a columnar protrusion (not shown) of the connecting portion 41 of the lid body 40 is inserted into the mounting hole 31b. That is, the lid 40 is pivotally supported around a rotating shaft 42 extending in parallel with the extending direction of the mounting hole 31b squeezed into the engaging portion 31a at the front end of the movable bottom plate 30. It is. A part of the engaging portion 31a of the lid attaching portion 31 is cut off, and a rotation restricting portion 31c described later is formed. Three protrusions 32, 33a and 33b (not shown) are formed extending from the bottom of the movable bottom plate 30 in the downward direction (−Y direction). Here, the protrusions 32, 33a and 33b (not shown) are slidable in the guide groove 27, the first groove 28a and the second groove 28b formed in the bottom plate 25c of the housing 25, respectively. Therefore, the movable bottom plate 30 can reciprocate on the bottom plate 25c of the housing 25 slidably along the Z axis.

  A game ball guide plate 34 is erected on the movable bottom plate 30. The game ball guide plate 34 is inclined rearward from the left hand end portion of the movable bottom plate 30 toward the + X direction and extends to the vicinity of the protrusion 32. The game ball guide plate 34 is a guide plate for collecting the game balls taken into the special prize opening device 10 through the window 21 at a fixed position behind the game ball guide plate 34. On the rear side of the game ball guide plate 34, a pair of locking plates 35 that are engaged with a disk 29b attached to the tip of the shaft 29a of the solenoid 29 sandwiched from the front and rear are provided. As will be described later, the solenoid 29 functions as a positioning portion that positions the movable bottom plate 30 as a movable support portion at any one of a retracted position and a protruding position ahead of the retracted position.

  In particular, referring to FIG. 1, the lid 40 is a substantially rectangular plate-like body that fits into the window 21, and has a surface 40a that can face the front of the gaming machine and a surface 40b that can face the rear of the gaming machine. Have. There is a pair of connection portions 41 provided at the rear end portion of the lid body 40 so as to be separated from each other along the X-axis direction. The connection part 41 is a substantially rectangular notch having an opening directed rearward. Inside the connecting portion 41, there are columnar protrusions (not shown) that face each other and extend parallel to the X axis. The columnar protrusion is fitted in the lid attachment hole 31 b of the lid attachment portion 31. Thereby, the cover body 40 is rotatable around the rotation axis 42 parallel to the X axis.

  In particular, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 6, the lid 40 has a surface 40 a of the lid 40 on a rotation restricting portion 31 c provided by cutting off a part of the engaging portion 31 a at the front end of the movable bottom plate 30. Can be rotated around the rotating shaft 42 from a position where the surface 40b of the lid body 40 abuts to a position where the surface 40b of the lid 40 abuts against the front stopper 22 in the window 21 (FIG. 6b). is there.

  Here, in particular, with reference to FIG. 6A and FIG. 7A showing the big prize opening device 10 at the protruding position, the engaging portion 31a is located in front of the decorative board 20, and the rotation restricting portion. A state where the surface 40a of the lid 40 is in contact with 31c will be described. As will be described later, the lid body 40 is biased so as to rotate around the rotation shaft 42 toward the front side by its own weight, and the surface 40a of the lid body 40 is formed on the rotation restricting portion 31c of the engaging portion 31a. Stops in contact. In this stop state, the surface 40b of the lid body 40 is inclined downward from the front to the rear. Further, the rotation shaft 42 is located slightly in front of the rear end portion of the lid body 40 in the YZ section of the lid body 40. A corner portion 50 as a contact portion of the rear end portion of the surface 40b of the lid body 40 is located behind and below the rotating shaft 42 and slightly forward of the front stopper portion 22.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 6 (b) and 7 (d), the retracting position where the engaging portion 31 a of the movable bottom plate 30 is located in the vicinity of the big winning opening of the window 21 of the decorative plate 20 and the front stopper portion 22. explain. The lid 40 is arranged so as to extend vertically upward. At this time, the balance of the lid 40 is adjusted so as to rotate around the rotation shaft 42a toward the front. For example, it is preferable to embed a weight for adjusting the center of gravity in the vicinity of the surface 40a of the lid 40 in front of the rotating shaft 42a. According to such a configuration, the lid 40 is opened only by releasing the engagement between the lid 40 and the front stopper 22, so that the mechanism can be simplified. Further, as will be described later, even if a game ball falls on the surface 40b of the lid 40, the lid 40 can be prevented from jumping up due to the weight of the lid 40.

  Next, the operation of the open / close mechanism of the special winning opening according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In particular, referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 4, FIG. 6 (a) and FIG. 7 (a), a current flows through the solenoid 29 by a signal from a central processing unit (CPU) (not shown) and the shaft 29a moves forward. Extruded. As a result, the movable bottom plate 30 engaged via the disk 29b at the front end of the shaft 29a moves forward on the bottom plate 25c. In the movement of the movable bottom plate 30 in the protruding direction, the engaging portion 31a moves from the vicinity of the front stopper portion 22 to the front of the decorative plate 20 and stops. This position is the protruding position of the engaging portion 31a of the movable bottom plate 30. Therefore, the rotating shaft 42 also moves from the vicinity of the front surface stopper portion 22 to the front of the decorative plate 20, and the engagement between the surface 40 b of the lid 40 and the front surface stopper portion 22 is released. As a result, the lid body 40 rotates so as to fall around the rotation shaft 42 forward, that is, in the protruding direction due to its own weight from the balance of the center of gravity. And it rotates and stops until the surface 40a of the lid 40 contacts the rotation restricting portion 31c of the lid attaching portion 31. This state is the open state of the big prize opening device 10, that is, the “big hit” state. Here, since the balance of the lid body 40 is adjusted so that the lid body 40 can be opened only by releasing the engagement with the front stopper portion 22, no additional mechanism is required for the opening movement. Further, even if the game ball falls on the surface 40b of the lid 40 in a big hit state, the lid 40 is biased by its own weight so as to rotate around the rotation shaft 42 toward the front, so that the lid It is possible to prevent 40 from rotating around the rotation shaft 42 in the direction opposite to the protruding direction and jumping up.

  In particular, referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 6 (b) and FIG. 8 (a), a current is supplied to the solenoid 29 by a signal from a central processing unit (not shown) after a lapse of a predetermined time or when a predetermined game condition is established. Flowing. As a result, the movable bottom plate 30 starts moving backward on the bottom plate 25c. At this time, the engaging portion 31a moves backward in the direction of the front stopper portion 22, and the rotating shaft 42 also moves rearward relative to the decorative plate 20, so that it is behind the lid 40. The corner portion 50 of the surface 40b comes into contact with the front stopper portion 22.

  In particular, referring to FIG. 7C and FIG. 8A, the movable bottom plate 30 further moves rearward on the bottom plate 25c so that the engaging portion 31a is a large winning opening of the window 21 and the front stopper portion 22. While further retreating in the inner direction, the corner portion 50 of the lid portion 40 moves downward along the front stopper portion 22 while being in sliding contact therewith. Accordingly, the lid 40 is rotated around the rotation shaft 42 a until the front end portion of the lid portion 40 located on the opposite side of the corner portion 50 with respect to the rotation shaft 42 contacts the front stopper portion 22 by the “lever principle”. Is rotated. That is, if the corner 50 serving as the power point is located behind and below the rotation shaft 42 a, the corner 50 is moved downward along the surface of the front stopper 22 by bringing the rotation shaft 42 a closer to the front stopper 22. Thus, the lid 40 rotates around the rotating shaft 42a in the direction of closing the window 21.

  Other mechanisms may be used as long as a part of the lid body 40 engages with the front stopper portion 22 and the lid body 40 rotates around the rotation shaft 42a to close the window 21. . For example, as described above, the corner portion 50 is not limited to the rear and lower side of the rotation shaft 42 at the protruding position, and the corner portion 50 may be rearward of the rotation shaft 42 but may be on the upper side. In such a case, when the rotary shaft 42 is moved from the protruding position so as to be close to the front stopper portion 22, the corner portion 50 and the front stopper portion 22 are moved so that the corner portion 50 moves downward. The shape may be selected. As an example, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, an inclined surface 22 a that is inclined downward toward the rear is formed at a contact position of the front stopper portion 22 with the corner portion 50. Further, the corner portion 50 of the lid portion 40 is formed so as to protrude in the thickness direction of the lid portion 40. Thereby, the corner portion 50 is moved downward along the inclined surface 22, and the periphery of the rotation shaft 42 is rotated in the direction in which the lid 40 closes the window 21.

  In particular, referring to FIGS. 6B, 7D, and 8A, when the engaging portion 31a is retracted until it is positioned in the vicinity of the big winning opening of the window 21 and the front stopper portion 22, the lid body 40 is returned. The surface 40b and the front stopper portion 22 come into contact with each other, and the window 21 is closed. Such a state is a closed state of the special winning opening, that is, a normal state.

  As described above, in particular, referring to FIG. 6, in the projecting position (a), since the rotating shaft 42 projects forward from the window 21, the opening length 51 of the special winning opening, that is, from the game board surface. The length from the upper end of the lid 40 to the rotating end 42 and the length 52 from the upper end of the lid 40 to the rotating shaft 42 and the decorative plate 20 of the rotating shaft 42 are as follows. This is a length obtained by adding the forward moving distance 53. On the other hand, in the retracted position (b), the lid body 40 is accommodated in the window portion 21 that is substantially the height of the lid body 40 as in the prior art. In other words, the size in the height direction required when the lid body 40 is accommodated is substantially the same as that of the conventional big prize opening device, but at the time of opening, it is larger than the game board surface by the moving distance 53 described above. The opening length can be obtained.

It is a perspective view of a big prize opening by the example of the present invention. It is a front view of the big prize opening by the Example of this invention. It is a perspective view of the principal part of the big prize opening by the Example of this invention. It is a perspective view of a big prize opening by the example of the present invention. It is a perspective view of a big prize opening by the example of the present invention. It is sectional drawing in the AA line of FIG. It is sectional drawing in the BB line of FIG. (A) It is the elements on larger scale of FIG. (B) It is a figure of the corresponding | compatible part of (a) in the other Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Game board 2 Large prize opening mounting hole 10 Large prize opening device 20 Decorative plate 21 Window (Large prize opening)
22 Front stopper (front)
25 Housing 26 Fixing member 27 Guide groove 28a First groove 28b Second groove 29 Solenoid (positioning part)
30 Movable bottom plate (movable support)
31 Lid attachment part 31a Engagement part 31b Attachment hole 31c Rotation restricting part 40 Lid 41 Connection part 42 Columnar protrusion 50 Corner part (contact part)

Claims (4)

An opening and closing mechanism for opening and closing a big prize opening of a gaming machine,
A front portion on which the big prize opening is formed;
A movable support portion provided movably between a retracted position and a protruding position ahead of the retracted position in the lower part of the big prize opening;
A lid that is swingably provided with respect to the movable support portion and opens and closes the grand prize opening;
A positioning part that positions the movable support part at any one of the protruding position and the retracted position;
The movable support portion moves from the projecting position to the retracted position, and a contact portion that is at least a part of a lower end portion of the lid body abuts on the front surface portion and is in sliding contact with the front surface portion. Rotate around the rotation axis to close the big prize opening,
A large winning opening, wherein the movable support portion moves in a protruding direction from the retracted position toward the protruding position, and the lid body rotates in the protruding direction to open the large winning opening. Opening and closing mechanism.   The open / close mechanism for a special prize opening according to claim 1, wherein the movable support portion has a rotation restricting portion for restricting an angle range of the lid body rotating in the protruding direction.   3. The opening / closing mechanism for a special prize opening according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, in the retracted position, the lid body has a weight located above the rotating shaft and on the protruding direction side. .   4. The opening / closing mechanism for a special prize opening according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion of the lid is located below or above the rotation shaft.

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