JP2009072406A - Reel unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reel unit which permits positioning of symbol marks to be performed easily, and assembly work efficiently. <P>SOLUTION: A ramp unit 9 is equipped with a plurality of fitting recessed part 9b which is arranged according to the step angle of the motor. A sensor stay 15 is provided with a fitting protruding piece which fits in the fitting recessed part. A detection piece arranged in the reel drum 11 can be moved and fixed according to the half step angle of the motor. When a sensor stay is attached to the ramp unit, a first adjustment means which performs position adjustment of the symbol mark according to the step angle of the motor and a second adjustment means which moves and fixes a detection piece and performs position adjustment of the symbol mark according to the step angle of the motor are prepared, by fitting a protruding piece of the sensor stay 15 in arbitrary position of a plurality of fitting recessed parts arranged to the ramp unit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a reel unit used in a gaming machine such as a slot machine or a ball game machine.

  In the conventional slot machine, three reel units having a symbol sheet on which a plurality of symbol marks are drawn on the outer peripheral surface are aligned, and the symbol of the symbol sheet changes by rotating the reel drum provided in the reel unit. The marks are displayed from the display window of the machine body, and the reel drums are sequentially stopped so that the stopped symbol marks are displayed in the display window.

  In such a slot machine, five upper, middle, lower, and diagonal stop lines are formed in the display window in accordance with the stop positions of the respective symbol marks. When a combination of specific symbol marks is established on the line, a prize is awarded, and a predetermined number of medals are paid out to the player.

  The reel unit includes a rotating reel drum, a detection piece integrated with the reel drum, a design sheet attached to an outer periphery of the reel drum, and various symbol marks drawn on the outer periphery, and the reel A motor for rotating the drum, a mounting plate for mounting the motor, a sensor for recognizing the rotation position of the reel drum by the detection piece, and an illumination unit provided on the inner periphery of the reel drum.

  At the time of assembling the reel unit, the relative position between the symbol mark drawn on the outer periphery of the symbol sheet and the detection piece integrated with the reel drum is determined to be a fixed relationship, and is attached to the outer periphery of the reel drum. The quality of the pasting position is determined by rotating and stopping the reel drum after pasting and comparing the stop position of the specific symbol mark and the reference position with a sensor. As for the thing, the design sheet is peeled off from the outer periphery of the reel drum, and it is pasted again. In addition to the above-described work, this re-sticking work may occur due to the characteristics of the motor and detection sensor, the assembly error of the reel drum, etc., and the reel body cannot be efficiently assembled.

Recently, a reel unit that does not require re-sticking and can be efficiently assembled is disclosed in the following prior application. The reel unit disclosed in the following Patent Document 1 is attached so that a positioning member (detection piece) provided on the reel drum can be adjusted in the circumferential direction, and by moving and adjusting the sensor, Adjustment can be made without re-sticking. In addition, the reel unit disclosed in the following Patent Document 2 is provided with a movable sensor on a bracket (mounting plate) to which a motor is mounted, and moves the sensor in a direction that cancels the deviation of the relative positional relationship. By doing so, the adjustment can be performed without performing the re-sticking operation of the symbol sheet.
Japanese Utility Model Sho 61-151783 JP-A-10-277202

However, in the movement adjustment using the positioning member or sensor described above, there is no specific alignment, and the movement amount is ambiguous. Therefore, the stop position of the symbol mark relative to the reference position caused by the characteristics of the motor or detection sensor, assembly errors, etc. The deviation cannot be eliminated, and the adjustment work that can be performed in the assembly work is difficult, resulting in a problem that the number of work steps is increased.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a reel unit that can easily adjust the position of a symbol mark and that can be efficiently assembled.

  In order to solve the above problems, the reel unit according to claim 1 of the present invention is a reel unit mounted via a base portion fixed in a vertical state to the rotating case, and the reel unit has a cylindrical shape. A reel drum, a symbol sheet with a symbol mark attached to the outer peripheral surface of the reel drum, a motor for rotationally driving the reel drum, a base portion for fixing the motor, and a base portion fixed to the base portion. A lamp unit provided with an illumination unit; a detection piece provided on the reel drum; a detection sensor that detects the passage of the detection piece to detect rotation of the reel drum; and the lamp unit that includes the detection sensor. A plurality of fitting recesses provided according to the step angle of the motor. The sensor stay is provided with a fitting convex piece that fits into an arbitrary fitting concave part, the detection piece provided on the reel drum is movable and fixed according to a half step angle of the motor, and the sensor stay is attached to the sensor stay. When attaching to the lamp unit, the fitting mark of the sensor stay is fitted to any position of the plurality of fitting recesses provided in the lamp unit, so that the position of the symbol mark according to the step angle of the motor First adjustment means for adjusting, and second adjustment means for moving and fixing the detection piece and adjusting the position of the symbol mark according to the half step angle of the motor are provided.

  According to the present invention, the position of the symbol mark can be adjusted according to the step angle of the motor by fitting the fitting convex piece of the sensor stay into an arbitrary position of the plurality of fitting concave portions provided in the lamp unit. It is possible to perform highly accurate position adjustment by including first adjusting means for performing and second adjusting means for moving and fixing the detection piece and adjusting the position of the symbol mark according to the half step angle of the motor. In addition, the position of the symbol mark can be adjusted even if a positional deviation or an assembly error due to the characteristics of the motor or the detection sensor occurs. In addition, since specific positioning according to the step angle and half step angle of the motor can be performed, the position of the symbol mark can be easily adjusted, and assembly work can be performed efficiently.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Hereinafter, the reel unit 7 of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the slot machine 1 provided with the reel unit 7. In FIG. 1, the slot machine 1 is provided with a box-shaped main body 3 and a door 5 that can be opened and closed at the front opening of the main body 3. On the front surface of the door portion 5, there are provided an upper panel 5a formed by arbitrarily coloring the surface of a transparent synthetic resin plate or tempered glass, and a front panel 5b and a lower panel 5c that are substantially in the center. . Of these, the front panel 5b is provided with a display window 5d.

Between the front panel 5b and the lower panel 5c, there are provided a start lever 5e, three stop buttons 5f corresponding to the reel unit 7 provided in the slot machine 1, a medal slot 5g, and the like. A medal payout port 5h, a medal tray 5j, and the like are provided below the lower panel 5c.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the reel unit 7. A plurality of reel units 7 (three in the embodiment) are provided in the slot machine 1 and are assembled in a state of being arranged in a lateral direction in a rotating case 21 having a box shape and opening on one side. Each of the incorporated reel units 7 is configured to be detachable from the rotating case 21 and is fixed by screwing after attachment. Each reel unit 7 is provided with a cylindrical reel drum 11, and is formed by sticking a belt-like symbol sheet 23 on the outer peripheral surface thereof. Each symbol sheet 23 is made of a material having permeability, Symbols 23a such as various characters and designs are drawn on the surface, and a winning combination is established by a combination of the symbol marks 23a when each reel unit 7 is stopped.

The configuration of the reel unit 7 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the reel unit 7. The reel unit 7 is detachably attached to the rotating case 21, and is fixedly attached to a base portion 7a in which a motor 7b and a lamp unit 9 that are rotationally fixed are fixed, and an output shaft 7c that is rotationally driven by the motor 7b. The reel drum 11 has a design sheet 23 attached to the outer periphery thereof. The motor 7b that rotates the reel drum 11 is a stepping motor, and can stop the output shaft 7c at a specified angle.

The lamp unit 9 is arranged in a circumferential direction along the back side of the design sheet 23 attached to the reel drum 11, and includes a substrate 9 a on which a plurality of light emitters are arranged on the back side of the lamp unit 9, and the back side of the design sheet 23 as an illumination unit. The symbol mark 23a is illuminated. The lamp unit 9 is provided with a sensor stay 15 including a detection sensor 13 that detects the rotation of the reel drum 11. The detection sensor 13 uses a photosensor having a U-shaped tip in the present invention, and its mounting position is arranged on a circle centering on the output shaft 7c of the motor 7b.

The reel drum 11 has a cylindrical shape, and a plurality of spoke portions 11a supporting the outer periphery thereof are provided on the side surface side at regular intervals on the circumference, and a belt-like pattern sheet 23 is attached to the outer periphery surface of the reel drum 11. The drum is fitted to a drum fitting portion 7d disposed on an output shaft 7c of a motor 7b fixed to 7a, and is fixed to the output shaft 7c by a fixing screw 25 via a pressing plate 7e.

As shown in FIG. 3, the reel drum 7 is provided with a detection piece 17 for detecting the rotation of the reel drum 11 by the detection sensor 13 at a substantially central portion of the spoke portion 11a at one end, and is fixed to the spoke portion 11a. Screwed with a screw 25. As the reel drum 11 rotates, the detection piece 17 rotates along the direction passing the detection sensor 13 arranged on a circle centering on the output shaft 7c of the motor 7b, and passes through the detection sensor 13. Thus, the rotation of the reel drum 11 is detected. In the illustrated reel unit 7, only the configuration for explaining the features of the present invention is shown, and the wiring of the motor 7 b, the substrate 9 a, etc. is omitted.

Next, a configuration that enables the position adjustment of the symbol mark 23a will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 is a diagram showing a partially enlarged view of the reel unit 7, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a detailed view of a sensor stay 15 provided with a detection sensor 13 attached to the lamp unit 9, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the detailed drawing of the detection piece 17 attached to a. As shown in FIG. 4, the lamp unit 9 fixed to the base portion 7a is provided with a plurality of triangular fitting recesses 9b (in this embodiment, five locations). Similar to the lamp unit 9, the fitting recess 9b is provided on the circumference from the center C of the output shaft 7c of the motor 7b fixed to the base portion 7a by an angle α. The angle α is the same as the step angle of the motor 7b provided in the base portion 7a (about 1.8 ° in the present invention), and the fitting convex piece 15a of the sensor stay 15 described later is fitted at an arbitrary position. Thus, the mounting position of the detection sensor 13 provided in the sensor stay 15 can be adjusted according to the step angle of the motor 7b.

Further, on one end side of the plurality of spoke portions 11 a that support the outer periphery of the reel drum 11, a fitting hole 11 b that fits a detection piece fitting portion 17 b of a detection piece 17 described later, and a mounting hole for the detection piece 17 An elongated hole 11c communicating with 17c is provided. The fitting hole 11b and the long hole 11c each open from the center C of the output shaft 7c of the motor 7b to the circumference at a size of angle β. The angle β is the same as a half step angle (about 0.9 ° in the present invention) which is half the step angle of the motor 7b provided in the base portion 7a, and a detection piece 17 described later can be placed at an arbitrary position. By moving and fixing, the mounting position of the detection piece 17 can be adjusted according to the half step angle of the motor 7b.

As shown in FIG. 5, the lamp unit 9 is provided with a sensor stay 15 including a detection sensor 13 that detects the rotation of the reel drum 11. The sensor stay 15 includes a detection sensor 13 and is fitted into one of a long hole 15 b communicating with the sensor mounting hole 9 c of the lamp unit 9 and a plurality of fitting recesses 9 b provided in the lamp unit 9. One fitting convex piece 15a is provided.

When the sensor stay 15 is attached to the lamp unit 9, the fitting convex piece 15 a provided on the sensor stay 15 is fitted to any one of the plurality of fitting concave portions 9 b provided on the lamp unit 9. Then, fixing is performed by fixing with a fixing screw 25 through a long hole 15b communicating with the sensor mounting hole 9c provided in the lamp unit 9. By fitting the fitting convex piece 15a into an arbitrary position of the plurality of fitting concave portions 9b, the detection sensor 13 provided on the sensor stay 15 moves along the rotation direction of the reel drum 11.

As the detection sensor 13 moves, the detection position for detecting the detection piece 17 provided on the reel drum 11 can be varied, and the mounting position of the sensor stay 15 is adjusted according to the step angle of the motor 7b. It becomes possible. By moving the detection position, the stop position of the symbol mark 23a drawn on the symbol sheet 23 can be changed, and the fitting convex piece 15a is fitted at an arbitrary position among the plurality of fitting concave portions 9b. By combining, it is possible to specifically align the detection position according to the step angle of the motor 7b.

In this embodiment, the reel unit 7 conforms to the step angle of the motor 7 b by fitting the fitting convex pieces 15 a of the sensor stay 15 into arbitrary positions of the fitting concave portions 9 b provided in the lamp unit 9. Provided as first adjusting means for adjusting the position of the symbol mark 23a.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the detection piece 17 includes a detection portion 17a that protrudes toward the motor 7b and passes through the detection sensor 13, a mounting hole 17c that is attached to the spoke portion 11a, and a detection piece fitting portion 17b. Forming. When the detection piece 17 is attached, the detection piece fitting portion 17b of the detection piece 17 is inserted into the fitting hole 11b that opens to the spoke portion 11a, and the detection piece fitting portion 17b of one side surface of the fitting hole 11b is inserted. Align with the sides aligned. After the alignment of the detection piece 17, the detection piece 17 is screwed with a fixing screw 25 from the elongated hole 11 c communicating with the mounting hole 17 c of the detection piece 17.

The fitting hole 11b and the long hole 11c opened in the spoke portion 11a are opened from the center C of the output shaft 7c of the motor 7b on the circumference with an angle β which is a half step angle of the motor 7b. Therefore, by aligning the side surface of the detection piece 17 to one side of the side surface of the fitting hole 11b and screwing it with the fixing screw 25, the detection piece 17 can be mounted according to the half step angle of the motor. Can be adjusted. In addition, the transfer range of the detection piece 17 with respect to the fitting hole 11b and the long hole 11c can be transferred within a certain range of relative positions of the detection piece 17 and the symbol mark 23a.

In this embodiment, the reel unit 7 is moved and fixed by aligning the side surface of the detection piece fitting portion 17b of the detection piece 17 attached to the spoke portion 11a with one side surface of the fitting hole 11b opening in the spoke portion 11a. By doing so, it is provided as a second adjusting means for adjusting the position of the symbol mark 23a according to the half step angle of the motor 7b.

Next, the operation of the reel unit 7 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 is a diagram showing a state where the position of the reference symbol mark 23a is different from the others, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a partially enlarged view of the reel unit 7, and FIG. The attachment position of the detection piece 17 is shown, (b) is a diagram showing the attachment position of the sensor stay 15 and the detection piece 17 after transfer. As shown in FIG. 7, each reel unit 7 is assembled and assembled to the rotating case 21 in a state of being arranged in the horizontal direction. After the assembly, each reel unit 7 is determined by rotating and stopping the reel drum 11 and comparing the stop position of the specific symbol mark 23a with the reference position O. As a result of the determination, it is determined as No. The thing adjusts the position of the symbol mark 23a. (Arrow direction A)

As shown in FIG. 8 (b), the reel unit 7 that requires position adjustment is taken out from the rotating case 21, the fixing screw 25 that fixes the lamp unit 9 and the sensor stay 15 is removed, and the sensor stay 15 is provided. Of the plurality of fitting recesses 9b provided in the lamp unit 9, the fitting convex pieces 15a are fitted again into different fitting recesses 9b in the direction in which the specific symbol mark 23a is aligned with the reference position O and reassembled. The plurality of fitting recesses 9b are provided apart from each other by an angle α equivalent to the step angle of the motor 7b for rotating the reel drum 11, and are drawn on the design sheet 23 according to the step angle of the motor 7b. The position of the symbol mark 23a can be adjusted.

In addition, when adjustment below the step angle of the motor 7b described above is necessary due to factors such as the characteristics of the motor 7b and the detection sensor 13, assembling error, etc., as shown in FIG. The fixing screw 25 for fixing the detected piece 17 is removed, the side surface of the detection piece fitting portion 17b of the detection piece 17 is re-matched with the other side surface of the fitting hole 11b opened in the spoke portion 11a, and again Install. The fitting hole 11b and the long hole 11c provided in the spoke part 11a are opened by the size of the angle β equivalent to the half step angle of the motor 7b. According to the half step angle of the motor 7b, The position of the symbol mark 23a drawn on the sheet 23 can be adjusted.

In the present invention, fitting convex pieces 15a provided on the sensor stay 15 and fitting portions 9b provided on the lamp unit 9 according to the step angle of the motor 7b are fitted at arbitrary positions. The first adjustment means that can move the detection position of the detection sensor 13 relative to the detection piece 17 and adjust the position of the symbol mark 23a drawn on the symbol sheet 23 according to the step angle of the motor 7b, and the spoke portion 11a One of the side surfaces of the opening fitting hole 11b and the side surface of the detection piece fitting portion 17b of the detection piece 17 are matched and moved and fixed, so that the pattern sheet 23 is drawn according to the half step angle of the motor 7b. Provided with the second adjusting means capable of adjusting the position of the symbol mark 23a, the position can be adjusted with high accuracy, and the motor 7b and the detection sensor 13 can be adjusted. Misalignment by characteristics, even assembly error or the like occurs, it is possible to match the specific symbol 23a to the reference position.

In addition, the first adjustment means and the second adjustment means do not need to re-paste the symbol sheet 23, and the assembly work can be performed efficiently. Furthermore, by providing a plurality of fitting recesses 9b according to the step angle and a fitting hole 11b of the spoke portion 11a that opens according to the half step angle, it is possible to perform specific positioning, It eliminates ambiguity.

  In the present invention, when the sensor stay is attached to the lamp unit, the fitting convex piece of the sensor stay is fitted at an arbitrary position of the plurality of fitting concave portions provided in the lamp unit, so that the step angle of the motor And a second adjusting means for adjusting the position of the symbol mark according to the half step angle of the motor. Although configured, the detection piece can be moved and fixed according to the step angle, and the sensor stay can be fixed to the lamp unit according to the half step angle.

In this embodiment, the fixing screw 25 for fixing the sensor stay 15 and the fixing screw 25 for fixing the detection piece 17 are removed, and the position of the symbol mark 23a is adjusted. It is also possible to adjust the position of the mark 23a.

In this embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the reel unit 7 of the slot machine 1 has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to a reel unit of a ball game machine such as a pachinko machine.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an external perspective view of the slot machine 1 provided with a reel unit 7. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a reel unit 7. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the reel unit 7. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a partially enlarged view of the reel unit 7. It is a figure which shows the detailed view of the sensor stay 15 provided with the detection sensor 13 attached to the lamp unit 9. FIG. It is a figure which shows the detailed drawing of the detection piece 17 attached to the reel drum 11. FIG. It is a figure which shows the state from which the position of the symbol mark 23a used as a reference | standard differs from others. It is a figure which shows the elements on larger scale of the reel unit 7, (a) shows the attachment position of the sensor stay 15 and the detection piece 17 before transfer, (b) shows the attachment position of the sensor stay 15 and the detection piece 17 after transfer. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Slot machine 3 Main-body part 5 Door part 7 Reel unit 7a Base part 7b Motor 7c Output shaft 9 Lamp unit 9a Board | substrate (lighting part)
9b Fitting recess 9c Sensor mounting hole 11 Reel drum 11a Spoke part 11b Fitting hole 11c Long hole 13 Detection sensor 15 Sensor stay 15a Detection convex piece 15b Long hole 17 Detection piece 17a Detection part 17b Detection piece fitting part 17c Mounting hole 21 Revolving case 23 Design sheet 23a Symbol mark α Angle (step angle)
β angle (half step angle)
C Center O Reference position

Claims (1)

In a reel unit that is mounted via a base portion that is fixed vertically to a rotating case,
The reel unit is
A cylindrical reel drum;
A symbol sheet on which a symbol mark to be attached to the outer peripheral surface of the reel drum is drawn;
A motor for rotationally driving the reel drum;
A base portion for fixing the motor;
A lamp unit fixed to the base portion and provided with an illumination portion;
A detection piece provided on the reel drum;
A detection sensor for detecting the passage of the detection piece and detecting the rotation of the reel drum;
A sensor stay provided with the detection sensor and attached to the lamp unit;
Consisting of
The lamp unit is provided with a plurality of fitting recesses provided according to the step angle of the motor,
The sensor stay is provided with a fitting convex piece that fits into an arbitrary fitting concave portion,
The detection piece provided on the reel drum is movable and fixed according to a half step angle of the motor,
When the sensor stay is attached to the lamp unit, the fitting convex piece of the sensor stay is fitted to an arbitrary position of the plurality of fitting concave portions provided in the lamp unit, thereby conforming to the step angle of the motor. First adjusting means for adjusting the position of the symbol mark,
A second adjusting means for moving and fixing the detection piece and adjusting the position of the symbol mark according to the half step angle of the motor;
A reel unit characterized by comprising

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