JP2008080056A - Ball flowing down structure of game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball flowing down structure of a game machine in which the opening area of the back face side in a body frame can be made large as much as possible and game balls can stably flow down in the body frame. <P>SOLUTION: The ball flowing down structure 10 of the game machine 1 having a hitting ball supplying tray and an auxiliary receiving tray has a ball dispensing unit 43 dispensing game balls, a ball dispensing path 5 guiding game balls from the ball dispensing unit 43 to the hitting ball supplying tray, and an overflow path 6 guiding game balls overflowing from the hitting ball supplying tray to the auxiliary receiving tray in the back face side of the body frame 2. A falling down opening hole 52 constituting an entrance portion of the overflow path 6 is formed in the bottom face in the downstream side of the ball dispensing path 5, a falling down ball receiving face 53 landing and flowing down game balls flying over the falling down opening hole 52 is formed in the downstream side of the falling down opening hole 52. A coupling partitioning wall 54 partitioning the falling down opening hole 52 and the falling down ball receiving face 53 is coupled to the downstream side of the partitioning wall 511 in the ball dispensing path 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a ball flow down structure of a gaming machine having an upper and lower tray structure of a hit ball supply tray and an auxiliary tray.

In a gaming machine such as a pachinko gaming machine, a player operates a control handle to fire a game ball into a gaming area to play a game. When a game ball wins a winning opening or the like in the game area, the ball payout device is activated to pay out a predetermined number of game balls as a winning ball to the hitting ball supply tray.
In addition, there is a pachinko gaming machine having an upper and lower tray structure in which an auxiliary tray (lower tray) is provided below the hitting ball supply tray (upper tray). In this pachinko machine, when a large amount of game balls are paid out and the hitting ball supply tray becomes full, the game balls overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray are led to the auxiliary receiving tray via the overflow passage. .

  In such a pachinko gaming machine having a top and bottom dish structure, an overflow passage is formed, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1. In Patent Document 1, a drop opening of a prize ball discharge passage (overflow passage) is opened in the middle of a bowl member that guides a game ball to an upper plate. When the upper plate is not full, the premium sphere flowing down the saddle member jumps over the drop opening of the premium sphere discharge passage and is guided to the upper plate.

However, in the said patent document 1, the eaves member is formed toward the front-back direction of a pachinko gaming machine. Therefore, in the gaming machine, no contrivance has been made for forming a large opening area in which a large liquid crystal screen or the like can be disposed at a part where the gaming area is formed.
In other words, in Patent Document 1, the saddle member is configured to flow the game ball from the rear to the front of the pachinko gaming machine, and the drop opening of the prize ball discharge passage opens in the vertical direction. Is formed. Therefore, the vertical dimension of the lower frame portion provided with the ball tray is increased, and the opening area is reduced. Along with this, the installation area of the board parts below the game area is narrowed, and the degree of freedom of arrangement of game parts such as a winning device is reduced. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to dispose a large image display device or the like.

  Moreover, in patent document 1, the device for paying out a game ball to an upper plate (hit ball supply plate) stably is not made. That is, in order to stably pay out a predetermined amount of game balls to the upper plate, it is possible to pay out in two or more rows. However, if the game balls are simply paid out in two or more rows, the game balls collide with each other, and the game balls that have to be paid out to the upper plate accidentally flow down to the outlet of the overflow passage. It becomes impossible to pay out to the upper plate stably.

JP-A-8-38721

  The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and it is possible to increase the opening area on the back side of the main body frame as much as possible, and to allow the game ball to flow down stably in the main body frame. It is intended to provide a ball flow structure.

In the present invention, a hitting ball supply tray for supplying game balls to the ball launcher and an auxiliary receiving tray for storing game balls overflowing from the hit ball supply tray are arranged on the front side of the main body frame formed with the opening region. In the ball flow down structure of the gaming machine that is installed,
On the back side of the main body frame, a ball supply passage extending in the vertical direction of the side portion of the main body frame, and a ball payout device which is connected to a lower end outlet portion of the ball supply passage and pays out game balls And a ball payout passage extending from the ball payout device to the hitting ball supply tray, and a game ball overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray with the auxiliary And an overflow passage leading to the tray,
The ball payout passage is provided with a partition wall for allowing the game balls discharged in a two-row state from the ball payout device to flow down without being merged, and on the bottom surface on the downstream side of the ball payout passage, A drop opening hole that forms the inlet of the overflow passage is formed, and a falling ball receiving surface is formed on the downstream side of the drop opening hole for landing and flowing down the game ball jumping over the drop opening hole. And
On the downstream side of the partition wall, a connection partition wall that partitions the drop opening hole and the falling ball receiving surface is connected,
A foul ball that is returned from the ball launching device to the ball supply tray, but returns to the hitting ball supply tray while returning from the ball without reaching the game area of the game board disposed on the main body frame. A passage is formed adjacent to the foul ball passage, the foul ball passage configured to flow into the ball receiving port;
On the back side of the hitting ball supply tray, a ball receiving port for receiving a game ball is provided facing the downstream side of the falling ball receiving surface,
The hitting ball supply tray is configured to be openable and closable with respect to the main body frame,
A junction passage is formed at a position below the ball receiving port for receiving the game balls spilled from the ball receiving port and joining the overflow channel when the hitting ball supply tray is opened with respect to the main body frame. And
The overflow passage is formed with a flow-down guide portion for preventing the game ball flowing down from the drop opening hole from flowing into the merge passage and flowing down. (Claim 1).

In the present invention, in a ball flow down structure of a gaming machine having an upper and lower tray structure of a hitting ball supply tray and an auxiliary receiving tray, the degree of freedom of arrangement of game parts such as a winning device disposed in the game area of the game board is improved. In addition, in order to arrange a large image display device or the like on the game board, a device is devised to form a large opening area on the back side of the main body frame.
That is, in the present invention, the game ball is moved from the ball payout device connected to the lower end outlet of the ball supply passage to the ball payout passage extending substantially horizontally in the left-right direction of the lower side portion of the main body frame. Can be discharged at a stable speed. Thereby, the installation dimension of the up-down direction of a ball | bowl delivery path | pass can be made small, and the downward opening area | region of the back surface side in a main body frame can be enlarged as much as possible. In addition, this makes it possible to improve the degree of freedom of arrangement of game parts such as a winning device arranged in the game area of the game board, and it is possible to arrange a large image display device or the like in the opening area.

Further, in the ball flow down structure of the gaming machine of the present invention, the structure of the ball payout passage for stably guiding the game ball from the ball payout device to the hitting ball supply tray is devised.
That is, the ball discharge passage of the present invention is divided into two passage components by a partition wall, and a connecting partition wall for partitioning the drop opening hole and the falling ball receiving surface is connected to the downstream side of the partition wall. is there.

  The game balls paid out in a two-row state from the ball payout device are divided in a flow-down state by a partition wall, and flow down the ball pay-out passage in a two-row state without joining each other. Then, the game balls flowing down the respective passage components of the ball payout passage jump over the drop opening hole and flow down by landing on the falling ball receiving surface while being prevented from interfering with each other by the connecting partition walls. .

  Thereby, the game ball flowing down through one passage component does not collide with the game ball flowing down through the other passage component. In addition, the ball payout passage is formed in a substantially horizontal shape (a gentle slope shape), so that it is possible to prevent the turbulence of the flow of the game ball that occurs when the game ball collides, and the game ball collides Thereafter, the turbulence of the flow caused by the low restoring force of the game ball (due to the gentle slope) can be prevented.

  Therefore, it is possible to stably flow down the game balls flowing down each passage component to the falling ball receiving surface and the ball receiving port. In addition, since the game balls flowing down the passage components do not collide with each other, it is possible to prevent the game balls from accidentally falling into the drop opening hole. The game balls paid out from the ball payout device can maintain the two-row state and flow down the ball payout passage, and can be stably discharged to the hitting ball supply tray.

Further, in the ball flow down structure of the gaming machine of the present invention, the overflow passage structure for guiding the game ball overflowing from the hit ball supply tray to the auxiliary tray is devised.
That is, in the present invention, the drop opening hole forms the inlet portion of the overflow passage. Then, when the game ball in the hitting ball supply tray becomes full and the game ball overflows to the ball receiving port, the game ball flows down to the overflow passage from the drop opening hole opened in the bottom surface of the ball payout passage. As a result, the game ball overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray naturally falls from the drop opening hole opened in the predetermined area on the bottom surface of the ball payout passage, so that the passage through the overflow passage is prevented while preventing the occurrence of ball clogging at that portion. And can be stably guided to the auxiliary tray.

  Further, in recent gaming machines, a function of paying out a game ball at a high speed to a ball payout device has been required in order to quickly pay out a game ball as a winning ball when a winning ball is generated by winning. . When the game balls overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray are led to the overflow passage when performing this high-speed payout, there is a possibility that a ball clogging (game ball run-up phenomenon) occurs at the overflow branch point (near the drop opening hole). is there. On the other hand, in the present invention, by providing a drop opening hole having a predetermined area on the bottom surface of the ball payout passage, ball clogging at the overflow branch point (game ball run-up phenomenon) can be prevented promptly. The game ball can flow down toward the overflow passage.

Further, in the ball flow down structure of the gaming machine of the present invention, when the hitting ball supply tray is opened with respect to the main body frame during maintenance or the like, the gaming ball does not fall from the ball receiving port to the outside of the gaming machine. A device is devised to appropriately return the game ball that has fallen from the ball entrance to the player side.
That is, the main body frame of the present invention is formed by forming the junction passage at a position below the ball receiving port. Thereby, when the hitting ball supply tray is opened with respect to the main body frame, the game ball spilled from the ball receiving port can be received by the merge passage, and the game ball can be merged into the overflow passage.

  In the ball flow down structure of the gaming machine of the present invention, the flow down guide portion is formed in the overflow passage. By this flow-down guide portion, it is possible to stably guide the downstream of the overflow passage while preventing the game ball overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray and flowing down from the drop opening hole into the overflow passage toward the merge passage. Can do. For this reason, it is possible to prevent clogging of the ball in the vicinity of the merge path, which may occur when the game ball erroneously flows into the merge path.

Furthermore, in the ball flow down structure of the gaming machine according to the present invention, the structure of the foul ball passage for returning the foul ball falling without reaching the game area to the hitting ball supply tray is also devised.
That is, the foul ball passage of the present invention is formed adjacent to the ball payout passage. Thereby, in the main body frame, the foul ball passage can be formed in a space efficient manner, and the opening area in the main body frame can be maintained as large as possible.
Further, the foul sphere flowing down the foul ball passage can directly flow into the ball receiving port without falling onto the falling ball receiving surface. As a result, the foul sphere flowing down the foul sphere passage does not accidentally fall into the drop opening hole.

  Further, the foul ball passage is not formed in the middle of the ball payout passage. As a result, a foul ball collides with a game ball flowing down the ball payout passage and a ball clogging occurs, or a game ball flowing down the foul ball and the ball payout passage accidentally falls into the drop opening hole. There is no. Therefore, the foul ball can be stably returned to the hitting ball supply tray.

  Therefore, according to the ball flow down structure of the gaming machine of the present invention, the opening area on the back side of the main body frame can be increased as much as possible, and the game ball can flow down stably in the main body frame, Appropriate measures can be taken for high-speed payout flow.

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to a ball flow down structure of a gaming machine of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the ball descending structure 10 of the gaming machine of this example supplies the game ball 8 to the ball launching device (not shown) on the front side of the main body frame 2 formed with the opening region 30. The hitting ball supply tray 22 is provided, and an auxiliary receiving tray 24 for storing the game balls 8 overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray 22 is provided. Here, the ball launching device launches the game ball 8 to the game area formed on the front side of the game board 21 attached to the main body frame 2.
Further, a mechanism plate 3 constituting a part of the main body frame 2 is provided on the back side of the main body frame 2. The mechanism plate 3 has a frame shape with an upper side portion 301, a pair of side side portions 302 and 303, and a lower side portion 304. And the opening area | region 30 of the main body frame 2 of this example is formed inside the mechanism board 3. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mechanism plate 3 on the back side of the main body frame 2 has a sphere supply passage 42 extending in the vertical direction H of one side portion 302 of the mechanism plate 3, and the sphere. A ball payout device 43 that is connected to the lower end outlet portion 421 of the supply passage 42 and pays out the game ball 8, and extends substantially horizontally toward the left-right direction W of the lower side portion 304 of the mechanism plate 3. A ball payout passage 5 for guiding the game ball 8 from 43 to the hitting ball supply tray 22 and an overflow passage 6 for guiding the game ball 8 overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray 22 to the auxiliary tray 24 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ball payout passage 5 is provided with a partition wall 511 for allowing the game balls 8 paid out in a two-row state from the ball payout device 43 to flow down without being merged. By this partition wall 511, the ball payout passage 5 is partitioned into two passage constituent portions 51. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the bottom surface of the ball discharge passage 5 on the downstream side is formed with a drop opening hole 52 that constitutes the inlet portion of the overflow passage 6, and on the downstream side of the drop opening hole 52. A falling ball receiving surface 53 is formed for landing and flowing down the game ball 8 jumping over the drop opening hole 52.
Further, on the downstream side of the partition wall 511, a connection partition wall 54 that partitions the drop opening hole 52 and the falling ball receiving surface 53 is connected. In addition, the partition wall 511 and the connection partition wall 54 can be formed separately, and can also be formed integrally.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the ball payout passage 5 has a foul ball 8 </ b> A that is launched from the ball launching device but returns without reaching the game area on the game board 21 disposed in the main body frame 2. The foul ball passage 55 for returning the ball to the hitting ball supply tray 22 is formed adjacently. The foul ball passage 55 is configured to directly flow the foul ball 8A into the ball receiving port 231.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a ball receiving port 231 for receiving the game ball 8 is provided on the back side of the hitting ball supply tray 22 so as to face the downstream side of the falling ball receiving surface 53. Further, the hitting ball supply tray 22 is configured to be openable and closable by a structure in which the left side portion is pivotally supported with respect to the main body frame 2 when viewed from the front side of the gaming machine 1 and the right side portion is opened. As shown in FIGS. 1, 6, and 8, on the back surface side of the main body frame 2, the ball receiving port 22 is located below the ball receiving port 231 when the hitting ball supply tray 22 is opened with respect to the main body frame 2. A merging passage 56 for receiving the game ball 8 spilled from 231 and merging into the overflow passage 6 is formed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the overflow passage 6 is formed with a flow-down guide portion 61 that prevents the game ball 8 flowing down from the drop opening hole 52 from flowing into the merge passage 56 and flowing down in the front-rear direction. It is.
In this example, the front side means the front side of the gaming machine 1 facing the player, and the back side means the opposite side of the front side. In FIG. 4, the front-rear direction of the gaming machine 1 is indicated by D, and the front side is indicated by D1.

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the ball flow down structure 10 of the gaming machine of this example will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the ball payout passage 5 of the present example has a drop opening in a state where the game balls 8 flowing down the respective passage constituting portions 51 are prevented from interfering with each other by the connecting partition walls 54. The game ball 8 that overflows from the hitting ball supply tray 22 falls through the ball receiving port 231 and is configured to jump over the hole 52 and flow down to each receiving surface area 53A in the falling ball receiving surface 53. It is configured to flow down from the opening hole 52 to the overflow passage 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the gaming machine of this example is a gaming machine 1 that performs a pachinko game, and the ball flow down structure 10 of this example constitutes a main body frame 2 and a part of the main body frame 2 in the gaming machine 1. It is formed on a mechanism plate 3 as a back mechanism part.
As shown in FIG. 3, the gaming machine 1 is configured such that the main body frame 2 including the game board 21 is openable and closable with respect to the outer frame 11. Further, the hitting ball supply tray 22 and the auxiliary receiving tray 24 are arranged side by side on the front panel 20 disposed so as to be openable and closable with respect to the main body frame 2.

Further, the game board 21 of this example is attached to the main body frame 2 from the back side. As shown in FIG. 2, the mechanism plate 3 of this example has a right side portion pivotally supported by the main body frame 2 and a left side portion opened and closed with respect to the main body frame 2 when viewed from the back side of the gaming machine 1. In this state, the main body frame 2 is disposed. And after opening the mechanism board 2 with respect to the main body frame, the game board 21 is fixed to an appropriate mounting position in the main body frame 2, and then the mechanism board 3 is closed with respect to the main body frame 2. Attachment to the main body frame 2 can be completed.
As described above, in the gaming machine 1 of this example, the opening region 30 is formed inside the mechanism plate 3.

  When the gaming machine 1 adopts a structure in which the game board 21 is attached to the main body frame 2 from the front side, the ball lowering structure 10 is configured as an integral or separate member on the rear side of the main body frame 2 itself. be able to. In this case, the opening region 30 can be formed in the main body frame 2 itself.

Although not shown, the game board 21 in the main body frame 2 is provided with a large-sized image display device such as a liquid crystal screen and a winning device. As shown in FIG. 2, the mechanism plate 3 has a frame shape including an upper side portion (upper frame portion) 301, a pair of left and right side side portions (side frame portions) 302 and 303, and a lower side portion (lower frame portion) 304. The opening area 30 in which the rear part of the image display device or the winning device can be arranged is formed inside the frame shape.
In addition, a control unit 33 that controls the power supply unit 32 that converts AC power into DC power, a ball dispensing device 43, a ball launching device (not shown), and the like is disposed on the lower side 304 of the mechanism plate 3. .

As shown in FIG. 2, a ball tank 41 for storing the game ball 8 is disposed on the upper side portion 301 of the mechanism plate 3 of this example, and the downstream end of the ball tank 41 is connected to the ball supply passage 42. It is connected to the upper end portion.
In order to increase the opening area of the opening region 30 in the mechanism plate 3, the ball supply passages 42 are formed in two rows (two rows) side by side in the front-rear direction D of the mechanism plate 3 (details are omitted). The two ball supply passages 42 meander in the front-rear direction D of the mechanism plate 3 and are formed with the thickness in the left-right direction W as small as possible. The sphere supply passage 42 is formed in a passage case 420 made of synthetic resin and having a quadrangular cross section.

  As shown in the figure, the lower part of one side part 302 on the back side of the mechanism plate 3 (the corner between one side part 302 and the lower part 304 (the lower left corner of the opening region 30 in front view)). ) Communicates with the lower end outlet 421 of the ball supply passage 42, and the ball payout device 43 is disposed. The ball payout device 43 is configured to rectify and pay out the game balls 8 at the lower end outlet portion 421 of the ball supply passage 42 one by one.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the other side portion 303 of the mechanism plate 3 is formed of a sheet metal 31 (steel plate) in order to ensure the necessary strength and to reduce its thickness in the left-right direction W as much as possible. is there. The sheet metal 31 is provided with a wiring cover 311 that accommodates the electric cable 312.

As shown in the figure, the sphere supply passage 42 is formed from one upper end to the lower end on one side portion 302 of the mechanism plate 3, and the ball payout passage 5 is left and right at the lower side portion 304 of the mechanism plate 3. It is formed in a substantially horizontal shape in the direction W.
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, on the mechanism plate 3 on the back side of the main body frame 2, the game balls 8 (safe balls, out balls, etc.) that have been played on the game board 21 are collected to the outside of the gaming machine 1. A ball discharge passage 44 for discharging is formed.

As shown in FIG. 6, the falling ball receiving surface 53 of this example is formed at a position lower than the downstream end of each passage component 51 in the ball payout passage 5 and away from the downstream end. It is. In this example, the distance w in the left-right direction W from the downstream end of each passage component 51 to the upstream end of each receiving surface region 53A in the falling ball receiving surface 53 is 1.5 to 1.5 for the game ball 8. The distance h in the vertical direction H from the downstream end of each passage component 51 to the upstream end of each receiving surface area 53A in the falling ball receiving surface 53 is a game ball. 8 is formed at a distance of 0.5 to 1 ball.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, in the vicinity of the downstream end of the bottom surface of each passage component 51, the flow of the game ball 8 is appropriately directed toward each receiving surface region 53 </ b> A and the ball receiving port 231. A guide groove 512 for guiding is formed. The guide groove 512 may have various shapes such as a cross-sectional V shape, a cross-sectional arc shape, or a cross-sectional rectangular shape.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the drop opening holes 52 of this example are partitioned by the connecting partition wall 54, so that the two fall opening holes 52 are aligned in the direction perpendicular to the flow-down direction of the game ball 8 (front-rear direction D). It is formed as an opening hole region 52A. Each opening hole region 52 </ b> A is continuously formed in an L shape from a position adjacent to the upstream side of the falling ball receiving surface 53 to a position adjacent to the side of the falling ball receiving surface 53. Each opening hole area 52A is composed of an upstream hole 521 adjacent to the upstream side of the falling ball receiving surface 53 and a side hole 522 adjacent to the side of the falling receiving surface. The upstream hole 521 and the one side hole 522 (in this example, the rear side hole 522) are both formed to have a width that allows the game ball 8 to fall. Note that the other side hole 522 can also be formed to a width that allows the game ball 8 to fall.

  Here, in the ball payout passage 5 of this example, the flow-down direction of the game ball 8 corresponds to the left-right direction W in the gaming machine 1, and the side of the game ball 8 with respect to the flow-down direction is the front-rear direction D in the game machine 1. It corresponds to.

  Further, as shown in the figure, the falling ball receiving surface 53 is partitioned by the connecting partition wall 54, so that the two falling ball receiving surfaces 53 are aligned in the side direction (front-rear direction D) perpendicular to the flowing direction of the game ball 8. It is formed as a receiving surface area 53A. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, each receiving surface region 53 </ b> A of the present example is formed to be slightly inclined downward from the connecting partition wall 54 toward the side hole 522. 7 and FIG. 8, a protruding shape for guiding the game ball 8 toward the ball receiving port 231 appropriately upward is formed at the side end portion of each receiving surface region 53A. Ribs 531 can be formed.

  The game ball 8 overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray 22 can not only flow down from the upstream hole 521 to the overflow passage 6 but also flow down from one side hole 522 to the overflow passage 6. it can. At this time, since each receiving surface area 53A is inclined downward toward the side hole portion 522, even if a ball clogging occurs in the upstream hole portion 521, it overflows from the hitting ball supply tray 22. The played game ball 8 can be caused to flow down to the one side hole 522. Thereby, it is possible to smoothly overflow the game ball 8 from the hit ball supply tray 22 to the auxiliary tray 24.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the ball receiving port 231 of the present example is formed in the curved passage portion 23 disposed on the back side of the hitting ball supply tray 22. The curved passage portion 23 has a curved shape (R shape) that changes the flow direction of the game ball 8 from the left-right direction W to the front. The curved passage portion 23 is configured to cause the game ball 8 flowing down in the left-right direction W to bend and flow down forward on the downstream side of the falling ball receiving surface 53 so as to flow downward. 22 is configured to lead to 22.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the curved passage portion 23 is disposed on the back side of the front panel 20, and the ball discharge port 232 of the curved passage portion 23 is provided on the front panel 20 with the hit ball supply tray 22. The game ball 8 is opened to a position where it flows down. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the outlet 62 in the overflow passage 6 is open to a position on the front panel 20 where the game ball 8 flows down to the auxiliary tray 24.
The curved passage portion 23 of this example is formed as one spherical flow space. On the other hand, a curved partition wall having a curved shape (R shape) can be arranged in the curved passage portion 23 so as to be connected to the downstream side of the connection partition wall 54.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the flow guide portions 61 of the present example are formed in a pair at a position below the connection partition wall 54, and each flow guide portion 61 is located laterally away from the connection partition wall 54 (front and rear). It has a curved surface shape that guides and flows down the game ball 8 in the direction D). Then, the game balls 8 that have flowed down to the respective opening hole regions 52A in the drop opening holes 52 are guided to flow down by the flow down guide portion 61, and the game balls 8 that have flowed down to the respective opening hole regions 52A are not in contact with each other, and The overflow passage 6 can flow down so as not to flow into the merge passage 56 from the merge opening 561.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the flow down guide portion 61 is formed continuously from the connecting partition wall 54 at the upstream position in the overflow passage 6, and the downstream side in the overflow passage 6 falls from the flow down guide portion 61. The game ball 8 to be received is received and flowed down. When the full tank detection switch 63 disposed at the lower end of the overflow passage 6 detects a full tank state, the payout control of the game ball 8 by the ball payout device 43 is stopped.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, the merge passage 56 of this example is formed corresponding to the downstream side of the lower position of the connecting partition wall 54. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, a merge opening 561 of the merge passage 56 is opened on the side wall of the overflow passage 6.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the foul ball passage 55 of this example is formed adjacent to the ball payout passage 5 at a position above the ball payout passage 5. The foul ball passage 55 can be formed at a position where the game ball 8 is higher than the bottom surface of the ball payout passage 5 by a hemisphere portion to a 1.5 ball portion. The foul ball passage 55 is formed continuously from the side of the ball payout passage 5 to the side of the drop opening hole 52, and the downstream end of the foul ball passage 55 extends to the upper center of the ball receiving port 231. An inclined surface 551 for allowing the game ball 8 to flow in is formed.

  In this example, in the ball flow down structure 10 of the gaming machine 1 having the upper and lower tray structures of the hitting ball supply tray 22 and the auxiliary receiving tray 24, the arrangement of game components such as a winning device disposed in the game area of the game board 21 is arranged. In order to improve the degree of freedom and to arrange a large-sized image display device or the like on the game board 21, a device is devised for forming a large opening region 39 on the lower surface side of the mechanism plate 3.

  That is, in this example, the ball payout device 43 connected to the lower end outlet portion of the ball supply passage 5 extends substantially horizontally toward the left-right direction W of the lower side portion 304 of the mechanism plate 3 and is The game ball 8 can be discharged and flowed down to the passage 5 at a stable speed. Thereby, the installation dimension of the up-down direction H of the ball | bowl delivery path | pass 5 can be made small, and the opening area 30 below the back surface side in the mechanism board 3 can be enlarged as much as possible. In addition, it is possible to improve the degree of freedom of arrangement of gaming parts such as a winning device arranged in the game area of the game board 21, and a large image display device or the like can be arranged in the opening area 30. it can.

Further, in the ball flow down structure 10 of the gaming machine 1 of the present example, the structure of the ball payout passage 5 for stably guiding the game ball 8 from the ball payout device 43 to the hitting ball supply tray 22 is devised.
That is, the ball payout passage 5 of this example is divided into two passage components 51 by a partition wall 511, and a connection for partitioning the drop opening hole 52 and the falling ball receiving surface 53 on the downstream side of the partition wall 511. A partition wall 54 is connected.

  The game balls 8 paid out in a two-row state from the ball payout device 43 are partitioned in a flow-down state by a partition wall 511, and flow down the ball discharge passage 5 in a two-row state without joining each other. Then, the game balls 8 flowing down the respective passage constituting portions 51 of the ball payout passage 5 jump over the opening hole regions 52A of the drop opening holes 52 in a state in which they are prevented from interfering with each other by the connecting partition walls 54. Land on the receiving surface area 53A of the falling ball receiving surface 53 and flow down.

  Thereby, the game ball 8 flowing down the one passage constituting portion 51 does not collide with the game ball 8 flowing down the other passage constituting portion 51. Further, since the ball payout passage 5 is formed in a substantially horizontal shape (a gentle slope shape), it is possible to prevent the turbulence of the flow of the game ball 8 that occurs when the game ball 8 collides, and further, the game ball After the collision, it is possible to prevent the turbulence of the flow generated from the low flow restoring force of the game ball 8 (due to the gentle slope).

  Therefore, the game balls 8 flowing down the respective passage constituting parts 51 can be stably landed on the receiving surface areas 53A and can flow down from the receiving surface areas 53A to the ball receiving ports 231. In addition, since the game balls 8 flowing down the passage constituting portions 51 do not collide with each other, it is possible to prevent the game balls 8 from being accidentally dropped into the drop opening hole 52. The game balls 8 paid out from the ball payout device 43 can maintain the two-row state and flow down the ball payout passage 5 and can be stably discharged to the hitting ball supply tray 22.

In addition, in the ball flow down structure 10 of the gaming machine 1 of the present example, the structure of the overflow passage 6 for guiding the game ball 8 overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray 22 to the auxiliary tray 24 is devised.
That is, in the present example, the drop opening hole 52 forms the inlet portion of the overflow passage 6. When the game ball 8 in the hit ball supply tray 22 becomes full, and the game ball 8 overflows from the hit ball supply tray 22, the game ball 8 is dropped into the drop opening hole 52 opened at the bottom surface of the ball payout passage 5. Then flows down into the overflow passage 6. As a result, the game ball 8 overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray 22 naturally falls from the drop opening hole 52 opened in a predetermined area on the bottom surface of the ball payout passage 5, while preventing the occurrence of ball clogging at that portion. It can be stably guided to the auxiliary tray 24 via the overflow passage 6.

  Further, in recent gaming machines 1, in order to quickly pay out the game ball 8 as a winning ball when a winning ball is generated by winning a prize, a function of paying out the game ball 8 at a high speed to the ball paying device 43 is required. It has been. When the game ball 8 overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray 22 is led to the overflow passage 6 during this high-speed payout, the ball is clogged at the overflow branch point (near the drop opening hole 52) (the game ball 8 runs up). May occur. On the other hand, in this example, by providing a drop opening hole 52 opened in a predetermined area on the bottom surface of the ball payout passage 43, ball clogging at the overflow branch point (running phenomenon of the game ball 8) is prevented. The game ball 8 can immediately flow down toward the overflow passage 6.

Further, in the ball flow down structure 10 of the gaming machine 1 of this example, when the hitting ball supply tray 22 is opened with respect to the main body frame 2 at the time of maintenance or the like, the gaming ball 8 is inserted into the gaming machine 1 from the ball receiving port 231. A device for preventing the game ball 8 from falling to the outside and a game ball 8 that has fallen from the ball receiving port 231 from being returned to the player side appropriately are provided.
That is, the main body frame 2 of the present example is formed by forming the junction passage 56 at a position below the ball receiving port 231. Thereby, when the hitting ball supply tray 22 is opened with respect to the main body frame 2, the game ball 8 spilled from the ball receiving port 231 is received by the merge passage 56, and this game ball 8 is merged into the overflow passage 6. be able to.

  In the ball flow down structure 10 of the gaming machine 1 of this example, the flow down guide portion 61 is formed in the overflow passage 6. The flow-down guide portion 61 overflows stably while preventing the game ball 8 overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray 22 and flowing down from the drop opening hole 52 to the overflow passage 6 from flowing down toward the merge passage 56. It can be led to the downstream side of the passage 6. For this reason, it is possible to prevent clogging of the ball in the vicinity of the merge passage 56, which may occur when the game ball 8 flows into the merge passage 56 by mistake.

Furthermore, in the ball flow down structure 10 of the gaming machine 1 of this example, the structure of the foul ball passage 55 for returning the foul ball 8A falling without reaching the game area to the hitting ball supply tray 22 is also devised. Yes.
That is, the foul ball passage 55 of this example is formed adjacent to the ball payout passage 5. Thereby, in the main body frame 2 and the mechanism plate 3, the foul ball passage 55 can be formed with high space efficiency, and the opening region 30 in the mechanism plate 3 can be maintained as large as possible.
Further, the foul ball 8A flowing down the foul ball passage 55 can directly flow into the ball receiving port 231 without falling onto the falling ball receiving surface 53. As a result, the foul ball 8A flowing down the foul ball passage 55 does not fall into the drop opening hole 52 by mistake.

  Further, the foul ball passage 55 is not formed in the middle of the ball payout passage 5. As a result, the foul ball 8A collides with the game ball 8 flowing down the ball discharge passage 5 to cause clogging, or the game ball 8 flowing down the foul ball 8A and the ball discharge passage 5 is accidentally dropped into the opening hole. It will not fall to 52. Therefore, the foul ball 8A can be stably returned to the hitting ball supply tray 22.

  Therefore, according to the ball flow down structure 10 of the gaming machine 1 of this example, the opening area 30 of the mechanism plate 3 on the back side of the main body frame 2 can be enlarged as much as possible, and the game ball 8 can be stabilized in the main body frame 2. Therefore, it is possible to take appropriate measures for high-speed payout flow.

The perspective view shown in the state which looked at the ball flow down structure of the game machine in the Example from the front side. Explanatory drawing which shows the mechanism board of the game machine in the Example seen from the back side. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Explanatory drawing which shows the periphery of the hit ball supply tray and auxiliary receptacle in a game machine in the Example seen from the front side. Explanatory drawing which shows in the state which looked at the periphery of the hitting ball supply tray of the gaming machine and the ball payout passage in the embodiment from above. Explanatory drawing which shows the periphery of the ball payout channel | path of a game machine in the Example seen from upper direction. FIG. 6 is a view showing the periphery of a ball payout passage and an overflow passage of the gaming machine in the embodiment, and is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along line AA in FIG. 5. It is a figure which shows the periphery of the fall opening hole and falling ball receiving surface of a game machine in an Example, and is BB arrow directional cross-sectional explanatory drawing in FIG. It is a figure which shows the periphery of the fall opening hole and falling ball receiving surface of a game machine in an Example, and is CC sectional view explanatory drawing in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Game machine 10 Ball flow lowering structure 2 Main body frame 22 Hitting ball supply tray 23 Curved passage part 231 Ball receiving port 24 Auxiliary receiving tray 3 Mechanism board 30 Opening area 301 Upper side part 302, 303 Side part 304 Lower side part 41 Ball tank 42 Ball supply path DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 43 Ball delivery apparatus 5 Ball delivery path 51 Path structure part 511 Partition wall 52 Falling opening hole 53 Falling ball receiving surface 54 Connection partition wall 55 Foul ball path 56 Junction path 6 Overflow path 61 Downstream guide part 8 Game ball

Claims (1)

A hitting ball supply tray for supplying game balls to the ball launcher and an auxiliary receiving tray for storing game balls overflowing from the hit ball supply tray are provided on the front side of the main body frame formed with the opening region. In the ball flow down structure of the gaming machine,
On the back side of the main body frame, a ball supply passage extending in the vertical direction of the side portion of the main body frame, and a ball payout device which is connected to a lower end outlet portion of the ball supply passage and pays out game balls And a ball payout passage extending from the ball payout device to the hitting ball supply tray, and a game ball overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray with the auxiliary And an overflow passage leading to the tray,
The ball payout passage is provided with a partition wall for allowing the game balls discharged in a two-row state from the ball payout device to flow down without being merged, and on the bottom surface on the downstream side of the ball payout passage, A drop opening hole that forms the inlet of the overflow passage is formed, and a falling ball receiving surface is formed on the downstream side of the drop opening hole for landing and flowing down the game ball jumping over the drop opening hole. And
On the downstream side of the partition wall, a connection partition wall that partitions the drop opening hole and the falling ball receiving surface is connected,
A foul ball that is returned from the ball launching device to the ball supply tray, but returns to the hitting ball supply tray while returning from the ball without reaching the game area of the game board disposed on the main body frame. A passage is formed adjacent to the foul ball passage, the foul ball passage configured to flow into the ball receiving port;
On the back side of the hitting ball supply tray, a ball receiving port for receiving a game ball is provided facing the downstream side of the falling ball receiving surface,
The hitting ball supply tray is configured to be openable and closable with respect to the main body frame,
A junction passage is formed at a position below the ball receiving port for receiving the game balls spilled from the ball receiving port and joining the overflow channel when the hitting ball supply tray is opened with respect to the main body frame. And
A ball flow down structure for a gaming machine, wherein a flow down guide portion is formed in the overflow passage to prevent the game ball flowing down from the drop opening hole from flowing into the merge passage.

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