JP2008142215A - Pachinko ball flowing down tube and storage tank - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent wear due to hitting by balls in the flow down tube of pachinko balls and a tank for storing flowing down balls. <P>SOLUTION: The lower end part of an end hose 20 of a pachinko ball automatic replenishing device disposed at an island end comprises: a ball reception part 38 composed of a shock absorbing material for receiving falling balls from a main hose 35; a horizontal ball flow passage 41 with one side open; a sub-hose 43 hanging down from an opening 42 provided to the ball flow passage 41; and a ball tray 47 disposed below it. Also, the inside of the storage tank 23 is provided with a rolling rail 53 while being provided adjacently to the opened side of the ball flow passage 41. Pachinko balls P stay on the tray 52 and subsequent balls fall onto them. When flooding pachinko balls P fill in the bottom board 25 of a tank and the pachinko balls P are stored enough to block the sub-hose 43, they fall onto the balls stored in the tank while they flow out of one side of the ball flow passage 41 and travel on a rolling rail 53. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pachinko ball flow down pipe constituting a pachinko ball automatic replenishing device and a storage tank for receiving a pachinko ball flowing down through the pachinko ball flow down pipe.

  As is well known, a pachinko ball automatic replenishing device is a device that is incorporated in a pachinko island and automatically supplies pachinko balls to a pachinko machine or ball lending machine while circulating the pachinko balls. This automatic replenishment device is used, for example, to transport pachinko balls from a storage tank installed in the lower part of Pachinko Island, to distribute the pachinko balls that have been transported to each pachinko machine or ball lending machine. Replenishment means provided on the upper part of Pachinko Island, pachinko ball flow down pipes that serve as passages when overflowing pachinko balls overflowing as surplus balls, flow down pachinko balls from the end of the replenishment means without being used for distribution The pachinko ball flow down pipes that will be used as the passages, the pachinko ball flow down pipes, and the collection provided at the lower part of the pachinko island to collect the pachinko balls discharged from each pachinko machine in the storage tank and send them to the lifting means It is comprised by the means.

  In such an automatic replenishment device for pachinko balls, a large amount of pachinko balls circulate at a considerably high speed. And at the stepped part and the bent part in the circulation path, the occurrence of noise caused by the collision between the components of the circulation path and the pachinko balls, the collision between the bounced pachinko balls, and the wear of the circulation path forming member It becomes a problem. In particular, the degree of noise and wear becomes severe because there is a large drop at the attachment point of the pachinko ball flow down pipe that connects the upper and lower parts of Pachinko Island. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique intended to solve such a problem.

  That is, a ball speed reducing member having a spiral speed reducing portion is disposed along the inner peripheral surface of the overflow hose at the lower end portion of the overflow hose (pachinko ball flow down pipe), and rubber or A ball receiving member made of a material capable of absorbing the impact of a falling ball such as polyurethane is fitted and fixed. Further, the ball storage tank is provided with a storage equalizing means having a plate-like member having an upper surface on which the pachinko balls can roll and having the upper surface gently inclined downward in a predetermined direction. Then, with the ball outflow opening at the lower end of the overflow hose facing the downward inclination direction of the upper surface of the storage equalization means, the overflow hose is arranged on the storage equalization means, and the pachinko balls that have flowed out of the ball outflow opening are stored. It rolls along the downward inclination direction of the upper surface of the equalizing means. Pachinko balls that have flowed out to the upper surface of the plate-shaped member can freely fall from the side edge of the plate-shaped member by the direction of the outflow at the time of outflow or by the direction of the bounced by collision with other balls in the middle of the flow Some balls will roll, and some balls will roll to the bottom of the slope. As a result, the pachinko balls are stored in an equalized state in the ball storage tank.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-235459 (see FIG. 10)

  The storage equalization means described in Patent Document 1 is capable of storing pachinko balls evenly over the entire length of the storage tank, but has a structure in which the pachinko balls are less likely to fall about the portion immediately below the overflow hose. Therefore, it cannot be said that the entire space of the storage tank is effectively used for storage. Further, the balls that freely fall from the side edges of the plate-like member that is the storage equalization means strike the bottom plate of the storage tank that becomes the drop point and are evenly worn. An object of the present invention is to provide a pachinko ball flow down pipe and a storage tank that can prevent such wear and can use the storage space more effectively.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the invention according to claim 1 is a pachinko ball flow down pipe that constitutes a circulation path of a pachinko ball that flows into the pachinko ball automatic supply device. A pachinko ball flowing down from the ball receiving part, a ball receiving part having an open part for receiving the pachinko ball flowing down the main flow down pipe and flowing out in one direction, and a pachinko ball flowing out from the ball receiving part A ball flow passage that is disposed substantially horizontally and at least one side of the passage is open, and a secondary flow down pipe that allows the pachinko ball to flow further down from an opening provided in front of the flow direction of the ball flow passage. It is a characteristic pachinko ball downcomer.

  With such a configuration, the falling pachinko balls once received by the ball receiving portion are released to the ball flow passage, and the majority of them roll to the opening provided in the outflow direction of the ball flow passage, It flows down from this opening. These pachinko balls fall toward the bottom plate of the storage tank, but the hitting of the bottom plate due to the fall through the side flow down pipe from the opening is alleviated because the drop is small. After that, the pachinko balls are stored so as to spread the bottom surface of the storage tank, and when the flow of the balls becomes dull due to the increased pachinko balls, the pachinko balls stagnate in the vicinity of the sub-flow downstream pipe. In addition, when such pachinko balls accumulate and overflow from the opening of the secondary flow downstream pipe, all the pachinko balls released to the ball flow passage will flow out from the open side of the ball flow passage. It becomes like this. However, at this point, since the bottom plate of the storage tank is already covered with pachinko balls, the pachinko balls that have flowed out from the opened one side will fall onto these stored pachinko balls. As a result, it can be avoided by hitting the bottom plate of the storage tank directly, and wear of the bottom plate can be prevented.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, a ball tray is disposed below the sub-flow pipe with a gap sufficient for overflowing pachinko balls between the lower end of the sub-flow pipe. It is the pachinko ball flow down pipe according to claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.

  With such a configuration, the secondary flow down pipe portion having a small drop and a reduced drop impact of the pachinko ball is further avoided from being directly hit against the bottom plate of the storage tank. The pachinko balls that have flowed down the sub-flow pipes stay in the ball tray during the initial operation of the replenishing device. The pachinko ball will fall. And the pachinko ball overflowing from the ball receiving tray spreads to the bottom so as to flow without hitting the bottom plate of the storage tank. As a result, wear can be prevented both for the ball tray and the storage tank.

  The invention described in claim 3 is a storage tank that receives the pachinko balls discharged through the pachinko ball flow down pipe according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the bottom plate has a downward slope in a predetermined direction. A main body and a flat plate shape narrower than the width of the tank main body, and are installed in a hollow portion of the tank main body with a downward inclination in a predetermined direction, and adjacent to the opened one side of the ball flow passage It is the storage tank characterized by having the pachinko ball rolling rail arrange | positioned.

  As described above, the pachinko balls stored in the storage tank begin to be stored on the bottom surface of the tank, and then accumulate mainly in the vicinity of the sub-flow downstream pipe of the pachinko ball flow down pipe. That is, it is deposited first from the upstream side of the bottom plate having the downward slope of the storage tank. As pachinko balls accumulate in the vicinity of the secondary flow pipe, the secondary flow pipe eventually fills up and can only flow out from the open side of the ball flow passage. In such a case, the pachinko balls flowing out from the one side roll on the rolling rail. The pachinko balls on the rolling rail move irregularly and fall from the side edge of the rolling rail. Since the drop position is not uniform, it is filled with pachinko balls so that the downstream side of the storage tank is leveled. As a result, the space in the storage tank is effectively used from upstream to downstream. At this point, the bottom of the tank is already filled with pachinko balls overflowing from the ball tray, so the pachinko balls falling from the rolling rail do not hit the bottom plate of the storage tank directly. The storage tank can be prevented from being worn.

  The pachinko ball flow down pipe of the present invention is formed so that the pachinko ball once flows in the state where the falling impact of the pachinko ball is small, and then the subsequent pachinko ball flows down on the stored pachinko ball. For this reason, the pachinko balls can directly avoid the members constituting the flow path, and the wear of the members constituting the flow path can be prevented. At the same time, noise is reduced. In the storage tank, the accumulation starts on the upstream side of the flow of the pachinko balls, and then the storage extends downstream, so that it is possible to prevent the pachinko balls from being unevenly distributed downstream of the storage tank.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing the appearance of Pachinko Island. FIG. 2 is a lower perspective view of the pachinko ball flow down pipe of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one scene of the usage state of the pachinko ball flow down pipe and the storage tank of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another scene in use.

  The pachinko island 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 has a plurality of pachinko machines 11 and inter-bed ball lending machines 12 juxtaposed, and although it is not clear in the figure, they can be placed back and played from both sides. It was formed as a double-sided island. Both ends of the pachinko island 10 are closed by the end plate 13, and a ball counter 14 is installed on one end of the end plate 13 so that the back surface of the pachinko island 10 abuts the end plate 13. Further, the pachinko island 10 is equipped with a device for automatically supplying pachinko balls to the pachinko machine 11 and the ball lending machine 12 while circulating the pachinko balls. This automatic replenishing device is composed of the following devices.

  That is, a lifting and polishing tower 15 is erected at the center of the pachinko island 10, and an upper storage tank 16 is disposed on the upper part thereof. In the lifting and polishing tower 15, a lifting and polishing device 17 is accommodated that lifts and lifts pachinko balls. In addition, a replenishment rod 18 for supplying pachinko balls sent from the upper storage tank 16 to each pachinko machine 11 and ball lending machine 12 along the left and right wings of the pachinko island 10 from the upper storage tank 16 The ball is extended with a gentle downward slope that rolls. The supply basket 18 is concealed from the outside by curtains 19 provided on both sides of the double-sided island.

  At both ends of the pachinko island 10, end hoses 20 (pachinko ball flow down pipes) are provided that communicate with the lower end of the replenishment rod 18 and return the pachinko balls to the lower part of the island. In addition, on both sides of the lifting and polishing tower 15, overflow hoses 21 (pachinko ball flow down pipes) are provided for letting pachinko balls that have been stored and overflowed without flowing out to the replenishment rod 18 to the lower part. And the pachinko ball which flows down from these hoses 20 and 21 is received by the collection | recovery storage means arrange | positioned by the lower part. Furthermore, pachinko balls that are thrown into the respective pachinko machines 11 by the player and fall are also accepted by the lower collection and storage means. Also, the pachinko balls thrown into the ball counter 14 for counting by the player are also returned to the lower collection and storage means through the discharge port 22 provided behind the ball counter 14 after counting.

  More specifically, the lower recovery and storage means in the present embodiment includes a first lower storage tank 23 that stores pachinko balls flowing down the end hose 20, and a pachinko ball and overflow hose sent from the first lower storage tank 23. A tank structure of two tanks of one wing of a second lower storage tank 24 that receives and stores pachinko balls flowing down 21.

  The bottom plate 25 of the first lower storage tank 23 is formed with a gentle downward slope toward the center of the island. Then, the pachinko balls gathered to the lowermost part due to the downward slope are pumped upward by the bucket lifter 26 and released to the outrail 27 having a bowl shape formed in the same gentle downward slope. . The released pachinko balls roll on the inclined surface in the outrail 27 and are sent to the second lower storage tank 24. Therefore, the pachinko balls that are dropped into each pachinko machine 11 are specifically received by any of the storage tanks 23 and 24 and the outrail 27 that constitute the lower collection and storage means. And the lower part of the pachinko island 10 is concealed from the outside by a waist plate (not shown) provided on both front and back sides of the double-sided island. The reason why such a two-tank tank structure is adopted is that pachinko balls 10 are formed on the bottom plate 25 such as the first lower storage tank 23 without the lifter 26 when the pachinko island 10 is long. This is because it is impossible to secure the gradient necessary for rolling. Further, depending on the situation, the tank may be connected to three or more tanks, and in this case, a pachinko ball flow down pipe is appropriately attached to an intermediate portion of the replenishing rod 18 as well.

  The pachinko ball circulation mechanism will be described in more detail. An introduction rod 28 is attached to the lowermost part of the lift polishing apparatus 17, and both ends thereof communicate with the lowermost end of the bottom plate 25 of the second lower storage tank 24. The introduction rod 28 collects pachinko balls delivered from the second lower storage tank 24 in the central portion and aligns them with alignment grooves formed in the interior, and then moves them to the lift polishing mechanism of the lift polishing apparatus 17. It is what you send in. The lifting and polishing mechanism includes an endless belt 29 composed of a flat belt stretched between two upper and lower horizontal rollers, and a front door (not shown) of the lifting and polishing tower 15 that can be opened and closed forward by a hinge. Are configured to face each other with a predetermined gap when the front door is closed. On the back surface of the front door, polishing grooves composed of a number of vertical grooves are provided, and a polishing cloth is attached so as to cover the polishing groove portions. The pachinko balls are conveyed upward while being sandwiched between the surface of the endless belt 29 that circulates from the bottom to the top and the polishing groove via the polishing cloth. The pachinko balls are wiped off by the polishing cloth during the lifting and discharged from the upper part of the lifting and polishing device 17.

  The released pachinko balls are stored in the upper storage tank 16. The bottom of the upper storage tank 16 is formed by a replenishment ball distribution bottom plate 30 having a downward slope toward both wings of the pachinko island 10, and distributes the pachinko balls stored in the tank to the left and right. Both end portions of the replenishing ball distribution bottom plate 30 communicate with the replenishing rod 18, and the pachinko balls that have flowed out of the upper storage tank 16 travel to the replenishing rod 18 downstream. A replenishment chute 31 corresponding to each pachinko machine 11 and ball lending machine 12 is attached to the replenishment basket 18, and the pachinko balls on the way to the downstream are taken in and aligned and connected to the replenishment chute 31. It supplies to the built-in tank of the corresponding pachinko machine 11 and the hopper tank inside the ball lending machine 12 through the supply pipe that does not. On the other hand, pachinko balls that have not been used as replenishment balls roll to the lower end of the replenishment rod 18 and then flow down toward the first lower storage tank 23 through the end hose 20.

  In addition, an overflow ball intake pipe 32 is provided in the upper storage tank 16 so as to protrude from below with the intake port 33 facing upward. That is, the pachinko ball storage capacity of the upper storage tank 16 is determined by the height position of the intake port 33. When the inflow amount of the pachinko balls exceeds the outflow amount and the pachinko ball storage amount of the upper storage tank 16 exceeds the intake port 33, it falls into the overflow ball intake pipe 32. Directly below the overflow ball intake pipe 32, an overflow ball branching basin 34 having a downward slope toward the left and right wings of the pachinko island 10 is disposed, and both ends thereof communicate with the overflow hose 21. The pachinko balls that have flowed down from the overflow ball intake pipe 32 flow down to the second lower storage tank 24 through the overflow hose 21 and are stored.

  The pachinko ball flow down pipe and the storage tank of the present invention, such as the end hose 20 and the first lower storage tank 23, or the overflow hose 21 and the second lower storage tank 24, are likely to be consumed by hitting the pachinko balls. Although the present invention can be applied to a portion related to the downflow pipe and the storage tank, this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2 as a representative of the portion related to the end hose 20 with a large amount of downflow of pachinko balls.

  In FIG. 2, the lower end portion of a main hose 35 (main flow lower pipe) which is a main component of the end hose 20 (pachinko ball flow down pipe) is an opening 37 provided on the uppermost surface of a case 36 forming a stepped box-like body. Furthermore, it arrange | positions so that it may look inside the case 36 more. Further below the main hose 35, a ball receiving portion 38 obtained by bending a flat plate made of an impact buffer material such as rubber or polyurethane into a U-groove shape is sandwiched between a case 36 and a backing plate 39 with screws. It is fastened. The lower end portion of the main hose 35 is fastened and fixed by a band 40 entangled with the notch portion of the contact plate 39. The ball receiving portion 38 is a destination of the pachinko ball that flows down from the replenishing rod 18, but the ball receiving portion 38 formed of an impact buffering material moderates the impact of the drop, thereby reducing noise and reducing the noise to the case 36. Avoid direct wear of pachinko balls to prevent wear. In addition, when the main hose 35 is deteriorated or when it is installed on a pachinko island having different specifications, the band 40 can be loosened, so that the main hose 35 can be easily replaced.

  A wall is not formed on one side surface of the case 36 and the upper front standing surface of the stepped box-like body, and is open. Further, the bottom surface of the case 36 is formed substantially horizontally as the ball flow passage 41. An open portion of the ball receiving portion 38 formed in a U-groove shape is disposed toward the ball flow passage 41. An opening 42 is provided in front of the ball outlet passage 41 in the ball outlet direction, and a tubular portion projects below the opening 42. The sub hose 43 (sub flow down pipe) is fitted to the tubular portion, and is fastened and fixed to the tubular portion from the outer peripheral side by the band 40. Further, an impact buffer plate 44 made of an impact buffer material is suspended in front of the open portion of the ball receiving portion 38, and a similar impact buffer plate 45 is also suspended on the upper front standing surface of the case 36. This prevents noise caused by the bounce of pachinko balls that occurs when the shock buffer plates 44 and 45 are not used and the hitting of the pachinko balls on the case 36. The ball buffer passage 41 is also provided with an impact buffer plate 46. Further, the ball tray, the inner surface of the storage tank, the upper surface of the rolling rail, etc., which will be described later, are protected from the hitting of the pachinko balls by sticking the impact buffering plate, but are omitted from the following drawings and explanation.

  The lower end portion of the sub hose 43 is inserted into an opening 49 provided in the top plate 48 of the ball receiving tray 47 having an outward U-shape so as to be a free end. The ball receiving tray 47 is placed following the inclined surface, and the secondary hose 43 and the ball receiving tray 47 are not fixed to each other in order to allow some flexibility in the height position. In addition, when the sub hose 43 is deteriorated or installed on a pachinko island with different specifications, the band 40 can be loosened and easily replaced with an appropriate sub hose 43. The ball receiving tray 47 is screwed and fixed to the side wall of the tank through the mounting hole 51 formed in the side plate 50. Moreover, the saucer part 52 at the bottom of the ball saucer 47 has a depth sufficient to retain at least one pachinko ball at the bottom thereof. Furthermore, a gap is formed between the lower end portion of the sub hose 43 and the saucer portion 52 so that a pachinko ball can overflow from the saucer portion 52.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the ball receiving tray 47 is placed on the bottom plate 25 of the first lower storage tank 23 following the inclination. The end hose 20 is installed in a state where the lower end portion of the sub hose 43 is inserted into the opening 49 provided in the top plate 48 of the ball receiving tray 47. Furthermore, a rolling rail 53 is installed in the hollow portion of the first lower storage tank 23. The rolling rail 53 is formed in a flat plate shape that is narrower than the width of the tank body of the first lower storage tank 23, has a downward slope similar to that of the bottom plate 25 of the tank, and the upper one side thereof is a ball flow path. 41 is disposed adjacent to the opened one side.

  FIG. 3 shows an initial stage in which the pachinko balls P are stored in the first lower storage tank 23. The pachinko balls P that flow down the main hose 35 of the end hose 20 from the end of the replenishing rod 18 fall into a ball receiving portion 38 made of an impact buffer material, and most of them roll to the opening 42 provided in the ball flow passage 41. It moves down from this opening 42. The pachinko balls P that flow down are received and retained in the tray part 52 of the ball tray 47 through the auxiliary hose 43. At this time, since the drop at the sub hose 43 is small, the impact at the time of dropping applied to the tray 52 is small. And after the pachinko ball P stays in the saucer part 52, the subsequent pachinko ball P comes to fall on this pachinko ball P. Therefore, the wear of the saucer part 52 can be prevented.

  Eventually, the pachinko balls P that can no longer be received by the tray 52 overflow into the bottom plate 25 of the first lower storage tank 23. At this time, the pachinko balls P are only overflowed so as to flow, so that there is almost no blow to the bottom plate 25. The overflowing pachinko balls P are stored so that the inclined bottom plate 25 is spread from the downstream side.

  FIG. 4 shows a situation in which the pachinko balls P have been stored. After the bottom plate 25 is filled with the pachinko balls P, the flow of the balls becomes dull, and the pachinko balls P are accumulated around the ball tray 47. If the piles of accumulated pachinko balls P do not collapse greatly, the sub hose 43 will eventually become full. The new pachinko balls P flowing down the main hose 35 can only flow out from the open side of the ball flow passage 41. The pachinko ball P that has flowed rolls on the upper surface of the inclined rolling rail 53 in the downstream direction. However, since the rolling rail 53 is a flat plate, the pachinko ball P falls from the side edge of the flat plate. At this time, since the bottom of the first lower storage tank 23 is filled with the pachinko balls P already stored, the pachinko balls P falling from the rolling rail 53 do not hit the bottom plate 25 of the tank directly.

  Since the falling position of the pachinko ball P from the side edge of the rolling rail 53 is not fixed, after the mountain of the pachinko ball P is formed around the ball receiving tray 47 on the upstream side as described above, a certain degree of uniformity is formed on the downstream side thereof. Thus, the pachinko balls P are stored, and the storage of the pachinko balls P is not biased downstream of the storage tank as in the past.

It is a front view which shows the external appearance of Pachinko island. It is a lower perspective view of this invention pachinko ball flow down pipe. It is a perspective view showing one scene of the use state of this invention pachinko ball flow down pipe and a storage tank. It is a perspective view showing another scene of a use state.

Explanation of symbols

10 Pachinko Island 15 Lifting Polishing Tower 16 Upper Reservoir Tank 18 Supply Pot 20 End Hose (Pachinko Ball Down Pipe)
21 Overflow hose (Pachinko ball flow down pipe)
23 First lower storage tank (storage tank)
24 Second lower storage tank (storage tank)
25 Bottom plate 26 Lifter 27 Outrail 35 Main hose (main flow down pipe)
36 Case 38 Ball receiving part 41 Ball flow passage 42 Opening 43 Sub hose (Sub flow down pipe)
44, 45, 46 Shock absorbing plate 47 Ball receiving tray 52 Receiving tray portion 53 Rolling rail P Pachinko ball

Claims (3)

It is a pachinko ball flow down pipe that forms a circulation path of a pachinko ball that flows into the pachinko ball automatic supply device,
A mainstream pipe where pachinko balls flow down,
A ball receiving portion having an opening for receiving a pachinko ball flowing down the main flow down pipe and flowing out in one direction;
A ball flow passage disposed substantially horizontally as a pachinko ball passage flowing out from the ball receiving portion, and at least one side of the passage is opened;
A pachinko ball flow down pipe further comprising a secondary flow down pipe for letting the pachinko ball flow down from an opening provided in front of the ball flow passage in the outflow direction.   The ball receiving tray is provided below the sub-flow pipe with a gap between the lower end of the sub-flow pipe so that pachinko balls overflow. Pachinko ball flow down pipe. A storage tank that receives a pachinko ball discharged through the pachinko ball downflow pipe according to claim 1 or 2,
A tank body having a bottom plate formed in a downward slope in a predetermined direction;
It is formed in a flat plate shape that is narrower than the width of the tank body, and is installed in a hollow portion of the tank body with a downward slope in a predetermined direction, and is arranged adjacent to the open side of the ball flow path. Pachinko ball rolling rails
A storage tank comprising:

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