JP2007283033A - Shootor of game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a higher operability of a handle in a shooting unit of a game machine by making the handle freely operable and returnable completely to a prescribed position when released off a hand. <P>SOLUTION: In the playing, a return moment B generated by an energizing force of a coil spring 53 works on a rotary ring 22 to turn on a touch switch 23 and a solenoid 10 moves a weight 9 to a position away from the center of a rotating spindle 8 by a signal from a control circuit 12. As a result, a rotary moment during the playing grows larger than that during the stoppage so that a rotary moment M<SB>2</SB>is generated in the direction opposite to that of the return moment B to cancel the return moment B of the shooting handle. During the stoppage of the shooting, a rotary moment M<SB>1</SB>by the gravity W of the weight 9 becomes smaller than the moment during the playing while the touch switch 23 is turned off and the solenoid 10 moves the weight 9 to a position near the center of the rotating spindle 8 by a signal from the control circuit 12, thereby making the rotary moment by the gravity even smaller than that during the playing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a launching device for a gaming machine that launches gaming balls for gaming that have been thrown into the gaming machine onto a gaming board.

A launch device of a gaming machine is for launching a game ball supplied from a ball feeding device, and mainly includes a launch handle, a handle shaft, a spring, a drive motor, a hitting hammer, and the like. In general, in a long-time game, the handle is often felt to be heavy and tired. As measures for this, there are inventions (Patent Documents 1 to 3) in which a handrest of the launching handle is provided without changing the spring mechanism, and inventions (Patent Document 4) that reduce the feeling of fatigue by modifying the launching handle itself. Has been made. In addition, there are an invention (Patent Document 5) in which the handle rotation direction is both directions, and an invention (Patent Document 6) in which the firing intensity is changed by a computer.
JP 2001-204900 A JP 2003-225380 A JP 2005-278833 A JP-A-8-52259 JP-A-2005-7003 JP 2006-6694 A

However, regarding the invention of providing a hand rest, the player's feeling of fatigue will be eliminated to some extent, but it does not improve the operability of the launching handle itself, and there is still a problem that the operability is not sufficient. .
Regarding the invention for changing the firing strength, Patent Document 5 aims to reduce the fatigue of a left-handed player and does not improve the spring itself of the launching device. Moreover, since patent document 6 changes the strength of the launch intensity by a computer, the operability is uncomfortable and there is still a problem in operability. In addition, there is a problem that the configuration is complicated because it is controlled by a computer.
Therefore, the present invention solves the disadvantages that the player feels that the firing handle is heavy by a simple means, and when the firing handle is released, the handle is easily returned to improve operability, It is an object to improve a player's handle operability.

  In view of the above problems, the invention of claim 1 is characterized in that a receiving shaft to which a handle shaft of a launching handle is attached, a hitting ball part that reciprocates in order to launch a game ball, and the hitting part are urged in the hitting direction. An elastic device connected to the receiving shaft via a linkage mechanism; and a drive source for driving the elastic device against the biasing force of the elastic device to generate a striking force on the hitting ball portion and launch the game ball. And a rotating shaft for adjusting a biasing force attached to the handle shaft, the receiving shaft, or the shaft portion of the elastic device or the linkage mechanism in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the handle shaft. A weight attached to move along the axial direction of the rotating shaft, an actuator for moving the position of the weight in the axial direction, and a signal for detecting the rotation state of the firing handle A launching handle detection device, wherein a position of the weight is moved so as to cancel a moment caused by a biasing force of the elastic device with reference to a signal from the launching handle detection device. A launcher.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the firing handle detection device is a touch sensor. For example, there is an example in which the position of the weight is slid on the rotation axis in accordance with ON / OFF of the touch sensor.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the firing handle detection device is a rotation amount detection sensor. For example, an example in which the position of the weight is slid on the rotation axis in proportion to the rotation amount detected by the rotation amount detection sensor is given.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, when operating the firing handle, the distance between the weight and the rotating shaft is increased by moving the weight to a position far from the shaft. The rotational moment due to gravity increases and the handle can be turned with a light force. That is, during the game, while the launch handle is being operated, the return handle B generated by the biasing force of the elastic device acts on the launch handle, and the launch handle must be held by hand against the return moment B. Since the rotation moment M ₂ due to the gravity W of the weight 9 acts in a direction opposite to the return moment B of the launching handle, the return moment B of the launching handle is canceled out and the launching handle is simply held lightly by hand. Well, the player's fatigue can be greatly reduced. On the other hand, when the handle is returned to its original position, the weight is moved closer to the axis, and the distance from the axis of rotation of the weight becomes closer. To completely return the firing handle to a predetermined position. That is, when the firing is stopped, the rotational moment M ₁ due to the weight W of the weight is smaller than that during the game, so this rotational moment M ₁ does not prevent the return of the launching handle to the original position, and the operability at the time of return is improved. It becomes higher than in the game.

  According to the second aspect, when the touch sensor is ON, the handle can be turned with a light force by moving the position of the weight far from the axis. On the other hand, when the touch sensor is OFF, the handle is easy to return.

  According to the third aspect, when the rotation amount of the rotation amount detection signal is large, the handle can be rotated with a light force by moving the weight position far from the shaft. On the other hand, when the rotation amount of the rotation amount detection signal is small, the handle is easily returned. Further, the position of the weight can be finely adjusted depending on the degree of rotation.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the launching device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a handle bearing portion 3 to which the firing handle 2 is attached, a hitting ball portion 4 that reciprocates to launch a game ball, and a rotation of the launching handle 2. An elastic device 5 for urging the hitting ball portion 4 with an urging force adjusted according to the degree of rotation in the moving direction, a linkage mechanism 6 for linking the elastic device 5 and the firing handle 2, and an urging force for the elastic device 5 And a drive source 7 that generates a striking force on the hit ball portion 4 by driving the elastic device 5 against the above. When the hand is released from the firing handle 2, the firing handle 2 returns to the original position by the biasing force. Further, a rotation shaft 8 attached to the elastic device 5 in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the handle bearing portion 3, a weight 9 attached to be movable to the rotation shaft 8, and the weight 9 in the axial direction of the rotation shaft 8. And a fixing device 11 for fixing the solenoid 10 to the rotary shaft 8 and a control circuit 12 for inputting various signals and controlling the drive source 7 and the solenoid 10 and the like. Hereinafter, each configuration will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the launching device 1 includes a mounting board 18 and a plurality of mounting holes 19 formed in the mounting board 18. The firing handle 2 includes a firing stop switch 20 that temporarily stops firing, a handle shaft 21 that protrudes to the back side, a turning ring 22 that can be turned clockwise by hand in the drawing, and a turning ring. A touch switch 23 for detecting contact with the rotation ring 22 and a rotation amount detection switch 25 for detecting the rotation amount of the rotation ring 22 as necessary. By rotating the rotation ring 22 clockwise from its initial position, the urging force of the elastic device 5 is changed, and the strength of hitting the ball is adjusted. On the back side of the firing stop switch 20, a terminal portion (not shown) having touch detection signals, firing stop signals, firing amount signals, and common terminals is disposed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the handle bearing portion 3 is formed on the base body 30, a receiving shaft 31 pivotally supported by the base body 30, and a front surface portion of the receiving shaft 31, and the handle shaft 21 is fitted in the axial direction. And a bearing hole 32 to be fixed. The handle shaft 21 and the receiving shaft 31 rotate integrally in the axial direction. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4, the receiving shaft 31 protrudes also on the back surface side. A pinion 33 and a stopper 34 that restricts the movement of the pinion 33 and stops the rotation ring 22 at the origin are provided on the back side of the mounting substrate 18.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the hitting ball portion 4 is fastened with a hitting rod 40, a pivot 41 that fits and rotates integrally with the base of the hitting rod 40, and a pivot 41 fitted into a support hole at the lower end of the hitting rod 40. And a striking spring 43 provided at the tip of the striking rod 40. Further, receiving portions 44, 45, 46 for restricting the reciprocating motion of the striking rod 40 are provided on the mounting substrate 18.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the elastic device 5 is rotatably attached to the mounting substrate 18 and has a gear 50 a that meshes with the gear 62 and a stopper 50 b that restricts the rotation range, and a urging force adjusting rotating body 50. A drum 51 rotatably provided integrally with the pivot 41, a circular movable spring receiver 52 fixed to the end of the drum 51, and a coil spring 53 that is an elastic body wound around the drum 51. , A spring end 54 formed as an end bent in an L shape at the lower end of the coil spring 53, a locking portion 55 formed on the peripheral surface of the urging force adjusting rotator 50, and a circumference of the locking portion 55 A plurality of locking grooves 56 formed in the radial direction at the end in the direction, a cam engaging member 57 formed integrally with the movable spring receiving member 52, and an engagement provided at the lower portion of the cam receiving member 57 The rotation of the pin 58 and the stopper 50b is the same as that of the rotation ring 22. Has a, a stopper 59 to regulate in a position corresponding to. The striking rod 40 is constantly biased in the direction toward the firing position by the biasing force of the coil spring 53. The drum 51, the movable spring receiving body 52, and the cam engaging body 57 rotate integrally with the pivot 41. Further, the urging force adjusting rotating body 50 is interlocked with the rotating ring 22, but rotates in the opposite direction. The locking groove 56 is provided with several groove holes at predetermined intervals, and the spring end 54 is fitted and stopped in one of the groove holes of the locking groove 56, and the other end is The movable spring receiver 52 is fixed. The basic urging force of the coil spring is adjusted by changing the fitting position of the spring end 54. Thereby, the biasing force of the elastic device 5 is adjusted, and the base amount of the firing force of the striking rod 40 can be adjusted. In addition, since the spring structure of the elastic device 5 is well-known, description is abbreviate | omitted, but refer Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2000-300380, Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2006-61586, etc.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the linkage mechanism 6 is engaged with the pinion 33 at one end and a rack 60 that restricts the rotation ring 22 at the origin and the maximum rotation position, and a mounting substrate 18 for slidably supporting the rack 60. And a gear support 62 that engages with the other end of the rack 60 and is rotatably attached to the mounting substrate 18. The linkage mechanism 6 transmits the torsional force of the rotating ring 22 to the urging force adjusting rotating body 50 and rotates it.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the drive source 7 includes a motor 70 (shown by a dotted line in the figure) as a drive source for reciprocating the striking rod 40, an output shaft 72 to which a cam 71 is attached, a mount 73 of the motor 70, a mount And a plurality of attachment portions 74 for fixing 73 to the attachment substrate 18. The engagement pin 58 is positioned within the rotation locus range of the cam 71. A detection signal of the touch switch 23 by a rotation operation of the rotation ring 22 or a detection signal generated by touching the firing stop switch 20, a rotation amount signal by the rotation amount detection switch 25, and the like are also detected as appropriate. A control board (not shown) is input, and the motor 70 is energized and the cam 71 is driven according to the control of the board. When the cam 71 is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 4, the engaging pin 58 is engaged and rotated with the striking rod 40 in the counterclockwise direction, and the coil spring 53 is compressed to accumulate the urging force. 4 is released from the restraint, and the striking rod 40 is repelled in the right direction in FIG. 4 by the urging force of the coil spring 53 to repel the game ball at the launch position.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the rotating shaft 8 is fixed to the rotating body 50 so as to extend in the radial direction from the rotating body 50 and to be orthogonal to the handle shaft 21 and the receiving shaft 31. And rotate together. The rotation shaft 8 passes through the hole of the weight 9, and the weight 9 is mounted so as to be movable in the axial direction of the rotation shaft 8. Further, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 5, the rotating shaft 8 rotates in the direction opposite to the rotating direction of the rotating ring 22. As shown in FIG. 1, when the rotation ring 22 is rotated during the game, a force W in the rotation direction of the rotation shaft 8 due to gravity W applied to the weight 9 (just equal to W in FIG. 1) is rotated. Gravity W is decomposed into a component force X in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction (rotational direction) and a component force Y in the axial direction at the position when the ring 22 is stopped, and the component of gravity W applied to the weight 9 in the rotational direction. The mounting position and the axial direction of the rotating shaft 8 are set and fixed with respect to the urging force adjusting rotating body 50 so as to be larger than the force X.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the solenoid 10 is a cylindrical solenoid, and is fixed to the rear end portion of the rotating shaft 8 with a fixture 11. A plunger 10 a of the solenoid 10 is fixed to the rear part of the weight 9. During the game, the rotation ring 22 is rotated, the touch switch 23 is turned on, the plunger 10a is attracted by energizing the coil of the solenoid 10, and the weight 9 moves to a position far from the center (the lower part of FIG. 1). (Refer to the position), after the plunger 10a is sucked, it is held by suction. On the other hand, at the stop position of the rotating ring 22, the touch switch 23 is turned off, so that the coil of the solenoid 10 is de-energized, the suction of the plunger 10a is released, and the weight 9 returns to a position close to the center. (See the oblique position in FIG. 1).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the control circuit 12 inputs signals from the rotation amount detection switch 25 (provided if necessary), the touch switch 23, and the firing stop switch 20, and drives firing-related driving such as the solenoid 10 and the motor 70. For this purpose, a drive control signal is output. The control circuit 12 may be any of a launch control circuit, a main control circuit, a launch control / prize ball payout integrated circuit, and the like.

The operation of the launching device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. During the game, with the biasing force of the coil spring 53 applied to the striking rod 40, the elastic device 5 intermittently repels the striking rod 40 by the engagement / disengagement of the cam by the continuous rotation of the motor 70. . As shown in FIG. 1, since the player operates the rotating ring 22 during the game, the return moment B generated by the urging force of the coil spring 53 acts on the rotating ring 22. The touch switch 23 is turned on, and the solenoid 10 moves the weight 9 to a position far from the center of the rotary shaft 8 along the axial direction by a signal from the control circuit 12, so that the rotational moment during the game is larger than when the game is stopped. Become. In this way, the rotational moment M ₂ due to the gravity W of the weight 9 is generated in a direction opposite to the return moment B (vertically downward in FIG. 1), so that the return moment B of the rotating ring 22 is canceled out. Therefore, it is only necessary to hold the rotating ring 22 lightly by hand, and the player's fatigue can be greatly reduced.

When the firing is stopped, the rotating ring 22 is returned to the original position by the urging force of the coil spring 53, but the rotational moment M ₁ due to the gravity W of the weight 9 is smaller than the moment during the game, and the touch switch 23 is It becomes OFF, and the solenoid 10 moves the weight 9 along the axial direction to a position close to the center of the rotating shaft 8 by a signal from the control circuit 12, so that it becomes much smaller than the rotational moment during the game, and the return moment B is This increases the operability when the rotating ring 22 is returned.

  In the above description, the touch switch 23 is used, but instead of this, the position of the weight 9 is moved in proportion to the rotation amount of the rotation ring 22 using the rotation amount detection switch 25 shown by the dotted line in FIG. May be adopted. That is, during the game, the more the turning ring 22 is turned, the more the position of the weight 9 is moved from the center of the turning shaft 8, while the more the turning ring 22 is returned, the more the position of the weight 9 is moved. The control circuit 12 may be set so that is moved to a position close to the center of the rotation shaft 8.

  The present embodiment described above is a representative example of creation of a technical idea adopted by the present inventor. These techniques are examples of preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention, and those who belong to this technical field will not depart from the spirit and intended gist of the present invention in view of the disclosure of the present invention. Many improvements, changes, additions, etc. are possible. For example, the actuator is not limited to a solenoid, and may be another type of drive structure such as a motor. Moreover, although the rotating shaft 8 was attached to the elastic device 5, it is not limited to this, For example, if it is shaft parts, such as the handle shaft 21, the shaft of the gear of the linkage mechanism 6, and the receiving shaft 31, attach to them. It is well understood by those skilled in the art, and the description is omitted. The elastic device 5 is not limited to the structure related to the coil spring, but can be applied to various structures such as an extension type and a compression type. The linkage mechanism 6 is not limited to a gear type, and may be a traction type structure including a pulley.

It is explanatory drawing (figure seen from the back side of a game machine) which shows the principle of this invention. It is a front view of the launching device (the state where the launching handle is attached) of the gaming machine of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view of the launch device (state where the launch handle is removed) of the gaming machine of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a reverse view of the same launching device. It is a perspective view of the elastic device of the launching device. It is a block diagram of a control circuit of the launching device. It is a structural diagram explaining the relationship between the actuator of the same launching device, a weight, and a rotating shaft.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Launching device 2 ... Launching handle 3 ... Handle bearing part 4 ... Hitting ball part 5 ... Elastic device 6 ... Coupling mechanism 7 ... Drive source 8 ... Rotating shaft 9 ... Weight 10 ... Actuator 11 ... Fixing tool 12 ... Control circuit 18 ... Mounting board 19 ... Mounting hole 20 ... Launch stop switch 21 ... Handle shaft 22 ... Rotating ring 30 ... Base 31 ... Bearing shaft 32 ... Bearing hole 33 ... Pinion 34 ... Stopper 40 ... Stroke 41 ... Axis 42 ... Nut 43 ... Blow Spring 44, 45, 46 ... receiving portion 50 ... urging force adjusting rotating body 50a ... gear 50b ... stopper 51 ... drum 52 ... movable spring receiving body 53 ... coil spring 54 ... spring end 55 ... locking portion 56 ... locking groove 57 ... Cam retainer 58 ... engagement pin 59 ... stopper 60 ... rack 61 ... rack support 62 ... gear 70 ... motor 71 ... cam 72 ... output shaft 73 ... mount 74 ... mounting part

Claims (3)

A receiving shaft to which a handle shaft of a launching handle is attached, a hitting ball portion that reciprocates to launch a game ball, and an elastic device that urges the hitting ball portion in the hitting direction and connects the receiving shaft to the receiving shaft via a linkage mechanism And a driving source for driving the elastic device against the urging force of the elastic device to generate a striking force in the hitting ball portion and launching the game ball,
In a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the handle shaft, the handle shaft, the receiving shaft, or the rotating shaft for adjusting the biasing force attached to the shaft portion of the elastic device or the linkage mechanism;
A weight attached to move along the axial direction of the rotating shaft;
An actuator for moving the position of the weight in the axial direction;
A firing handle detection device for generating a signal for detecting a rotation state of the firing handle,
A launching device for a gaming machine, wherein a position of the weight is moved so as to cancel a moment due to a biasing force of the elastic device with reference to a signal from the launching handle detection device.   The launcher for a gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the launch handle detection device is a touch sensor.   The launching device for a gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the launching handle detection device is a rotation amount detection sensor.

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