JP2009297332A - Game ball sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game ball sorting device capable of stably and efficiently sorting appearance colors of game balls and enhancing a selection capacity per unit time. <P>SOLUTION: This game ball sorting device includes a game ball loading part 11, a conveyance/sorting part 20 for conveying and sorting game balls, and a discharge part 15 for discharging the sorted game balls. The conveyance/sorting part has a conveyance drum part 30 having a plurality of disk bodies 21 and a star wheel 22 and fixed to a rotary shaft, a drum drive part 35, a push-out member 40 pushing out the game balls, a push-out drive part 45, and an imaging part 50 capturing the appearance colors of the game balls held in the conveyance/drum part. This device acquires the appearance colors of the game balls captured by the imaging part as object RGB image data, compares the object RGB image data with previously acquired criterion RGB image data, or the criteria of the selection, to determine whether being game balls of desired appearance color, and controls to discharge the game balls of the desired appearance color from the conveyance drum part based on the determination result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a game ball sorting device that identifies and sorts the appearance color of a game ball.

  In recent years, an increasing number of amusement facilities have amusement islands in the same store that have a collection of pachinko gaming machines set at a plurality of rental ball fees and a plurality of exchange rates (Patent Document 1, etc.) reference). For example, a silver game ball is used on a game island with a low game ball payout rate and a high prize exchange rate, and a gold game ball is used on a game island with a high game ball payout rate and a low prize exchange rate. A player who wants to challenge the difficulty level of the game can select a game island with a high prize exchange rate even if the payout rate is low. In addition, a player who wants to enjoy paying out game balls can select a game island with a high payout rate of game balls and a low prize exchange rate. The player can enjoy a game by selecting a game island with a different exchange rate according to the budget and mood at that time.

  In gaming facilities with multiple rental ball fees and multiple exchange rate pachinko machines at the same store, game balls with different appearance colors have different payout rates and premium exchange rates. Use is prohibited. However, game islands with a high prize exchange rate and game islands with a low prize exchange rate are often arranged side by side. For this reason, a game ball with a high prize exchange rate is used on a game island with a different prize exchange rate, etc. Game balls may be paid out. Therefore, it is necessary to sort out game balls when exchanging game balls and prizes.

  Currently, the size, weight, and material of game balls are regulated by law. Even if the appearance color of each game ball is different, the diameter, weight, and material are required to satisfy the same standard. Therefore, there is currently no method for distinguishing only by the appearance color of the game ball.

  Accordingly, a game ball sorting device has been developed that discriminates the appearance color itself of the game balls shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 (see, for example, Patent Document 2). In this game ball sorting apparatus 100, light is irradiated from the optical sensor 140 to the game ball P rolling on the main passage 121, and the reflected light is detected. The detection signal of the reflected light and a predetermined signal are compared in the determination unit 180, and the appearance color of the game ball P is determined. The moving member 160 is operated based on the control of the determination unit 180, and the game balls P are distributed to the first passage 123 or the second passage 124. In the drawing, Pg is a golden game ball, Ps is a silver game ball, 111 is a frame, 112 is a discharge unit for discharging the game ball Pg to the outside of the device, and 113 is a discharge unit for discharging the game ball Ps to the outside of the device. A discharge portion, 115 is a game ball throwing portion, 116 is a ball entrance for entering the game ball P into the apparatus, and 117 is an inclined plate for guiding the game ball P thrown from the throw portion to the ball entrance.

  According to the game ball sorting device 100 of Patent Document 2, the discrimination unit 180 discriminates the appearance color based on the amount of change in the reflected light intensity within a predetermined time of the reflected light. When a predetermined game ball (for example, a golden game ball Pg) is discriminated, the electromagnetic solenoids 181 and 182 are actuated by a discrimination signal from the discrimination unit 180, and the moving member 160 is connected to the first passage 123 and the second passage 124. The game balls Pg are distributed to the second passage 124. When another game ball (for example, silver game ball Ps) is determined, the moving member 160 is not moved from the initial position, and the game ball is distributed to the first passage 123.

In the game ball sorting device of Patent Document 2, the thrown game balls P may roll on the main passage at irregular intervals, so there is room for improvement in the accuracy of sorting the identified game balls. It was. Further, because of the sorting method of driving the moving member, the improvement of the sorting ability of the game ball has reached its limit.
JP 2002-210200 A JP 2006-34774 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a gaming ball sorting device that performs sorting of appearance colors of gaming balls more stably and efficiently and has an increased sorting processing capacity per unit time. It is.

  That is, the invention of claim 1 is a game ball sorting device that identifies and sorts the appearance color of a game ball, wherein the game ball is loaded simultaneously with the transfer of the game ball and the conveyance of the game ball loaded into the feed unit. A transport sorting unit that also sorts the game balls, and a discharge unit from which the game balls sorted by the transport sorting unit are discharged. The transport sorting unit aligns a plurality of disc bodies at the center of the game ball from the diameter of the game balls. And a plurality of disc bodies each including a plurality of disc bodies and a plurality of disc bodies each having a game ball holding portion for holding a game ball on one or both sides facing each other. Arranged between a transport drum section fixed to the rotation shaft of the motor, a drum drive section for driving the transport drum section, and a plurality of disc bodies stacked at predetermined intervals, and held by the game ball holding section. An extrusion member for extruding the playing ball An image pickup unit for picking up an appearance color of a game ball held in the transfer drum unit, and an appearance color of the game ball picked up by the image pickup unit. A determination unit that acquires as RGB image data and determines whether the target RGB image data is a game ball having a desired appearance color by comparing the target RGB image data with reference RGB image data that is a previously acquired selection reference; A control unit that performs control to discharge the game ball of the desired appearance color from the transport drum unit to the discharge unit through the push member by driving the push driving unit based on the determination result of the determination unit. The present invention relates to a game ball sorting device.

  The invention according to claim 2 relates to the game ball sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the game ball holding portion is a star wheel.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the game ball sorting device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the imaging unit is a CCD camera.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the game ball sorting device according to any one of the first to third aspects, further comprising a light source unit that irradiates light to the game ball being transported in the vicinity of the transport drum unit. .

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the game ball sorting device according to the fourth aspect, wherein the light source section includes a white LED.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the game ball sorting device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein a rotating brush portion that comes into contact with the transport drum portion is provided immediately above the transport drum portion.

  A seventh aspect of the present invention relates to the game ball sorting device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the push driving unit is a solenoid.

  According to the gaming ball sorting device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the game ball throwing unit, the transport sorting unit that sorts the game balls simultaneously with the feeding of the game balls thrown into the throwing unit, and the transport sorting unit And a discharging unit for discharging the selected game balls, the transport selection unit aligns a plurality of disc bodies at the center and stacks them separated by a predetermined interval longer than the diameter of the game balls. A transport drum section having a game ball holding section for holding a game ball on one or both surfaces of the disk bodies facing each other, wherein the plurality of disk bodies are fixed to a single rotation shaft; and the transport drum A drum driving unit that drives a portion, an extrusion member that pushes out a game ball that is disposed between the plurality of disc bodies stacked at a predetermined interval and is held by the game ball holding unit, and the extrusion member. With an extrusion drive to drive An imaging unit that captures an appearance color of a game ball held in the transfer drum unit; and an appearance color of the game ball captured by the imaging unit is acquired as target RGB image data; and the target RGB image data A discrimination unit that discriminates whether or not the game ball has a desired appearance color by comparing with reference RGB image data that is a preliminarily obtained selection criterion, and based on the discrimination result of the discrimination unit, And a control unit that controls the discharge of the game ball having the desired appearance color from the transport drum unit to the discharge unit via the push member by driving, so that the selection of the appearance color of the game ball is more stable. Thus, it is possible to efficiently perform the sorting processing capacity per unit time.

  According to the game ball sorting device according to the invention of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1, since the game ball holding part is a star wheel, it is strong and easy to process, and can be easily pasted to the disk body, so that the transfer drum part Can also be assembled easily.

  According to the game ball sorting device according to the invention of claim 3, in the invention of claim 1 or 2, since the image pickup unit is a CCD camera, the image pickup unit acquires the appearance color of the game ball to be sorted as color data As easy to procure.

  According to the game ball sorting device of the invention of claim 4, in any one of claims 1 to 3, the light source unit for irradiating light to the game ball being transported is provided in the vicinity of the transport drum unit. Therefore, a sufficient amount of light at the time of imaging is ensured, and the appearance color of the game ball can be easily identified.

  According to the game ball sorting device according to the invention of claim 5, in the invention of claim 4, since the light source section includes a white LED, the power consumption of the device can be reduced and the device is small. Easy to incorporate inside.

  According to the game ball sorting device according to the invention of claim 6, in the invention of any one of claims 1 to 5, a rotating brush part that contacts the transport drum part is provided immediately above the transport drum part. While sweeping out the game balls held in the game ball holding unit, it can always be one by one.

  According to the game ball sorting device according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, since the push driving unit is a solenoid, a large tensile force can be obtained.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 is a side view of a game ball sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a transfer drum unit, FIG. 3 is a main front view of a transfer sorting unit, and FIG. 4 is a game ball sorter of FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of the apparatus, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the transport sorting unit, and FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a side view in which a part of the side surface of the game ball sorting device is cut away. The illustrated game ball sorting device 10 is a device that identifies and sorts the appearance color of the game balls P, and is installed in a game facility where two or more types of game balls having different exchange ratios are used. . The game balls P having different appearance colors in the embodiment are a gold game ball (Pg) and a silver game ball (Ps) having metallic luster.

  As shown in the figure and the invention of claim 1, the main body 18 of the game ball sorting device 10 has a throw-in portion 11 for throwing in a game ball P in a state where a gold game ball Pg and a silver game ball Ps are mixed, A transport sorting unit 20 that sorts the game balls for each appearance color simultaneously with the transport of the game balls thrown into the input unit 11, and a discharge in which the game balls sorted for each appearance color by the transport sorting unit 20 are discharged. Part 15 is provided.

  The transport sorting unit 20 includes a transport drum unit 30 that delivers the game balls P while rotating the game balls P from the input unit 11 side to the discharge unit 15 side, and a drum drive unit 35 that drives the transport drum unit 30. The conveyance sorting unit 20 includes an extruding member 40 that extrudes a game ball from the conveying drum unit 30 to the discharge unit 15 side, and an extruding drive unit 45 that drives the extruding member. An imaging unit 50 that captures a game ball being held in the transfer drum unit 30 and being transferred is provided.

  A rotating brush portion 80 that rotates in contact with the conveying drum portion 30 is provided immediately above the conveying drum portion 30 as defined in the invention of claim 6. Further, in the illustrated game ball sorting device, as specified in the invention of claim 4, the game ball being transported is irradiated with light in the vicinity of the transport drum unit 30 from the rotary brush unit 80 to the discharge unit 15 side. A light source unit 70 is also arranged. The rotating brush unit 80 rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation of the transport drum unit 30, and always keeps one game ball held between the game ball holding units in the transport drum unit 30, and between notches described later. Thus, extra game balls are prevented from entering the gaps between the game ball holding portions.

  In the figure, reference numeral 12 is a slope on which a game ball thrown from the throwing part rolls, 13 is a fixed plate part of the transport sorting part, 16 is a first receiving part for receiving the game ball pushed out by the pushing member, and 17 is remaining The second receiving portion for receiving the game ball, 31 is the main shaft (rotating shaft), 34p and 34q are the chains, 41 is the swing shaft, 43 is the return spring, 44 is the wire, 46 is the control signal cable, 51 is the image transmission Cable and SW are switches. Connected to the game ball sorting apparatus 10 of the embodiment is a PLC (programmable logic controller) 60 that performs processing of a captured image, control of an extrusion driving unit, and the like.

  As is understood from the exploded perspective view of FIG. 2 and the main front view of FIG. 3, each of the plurality of disk bodies 21 is aligned at the center of the transport drum section 30 which is a main member of the transport sorting section 20. The individual disc bodies 21 are stacked at a predetermined interval longer than the diameter of the game ball (see FIG. 3). A game ball holding unit 22 for holding a game ball is provided on both sides of the plurality of disc bodies 21 facing each other. Incidentally, as in the embodiment, the game ball holding part 22 is arranged in close contact with both of the plurality of disk bodies 21 facing each other, and the game ball holding part 22 is arranged only on either one of the disk bodies 21 side. It is also possible to hold a game ball.

  The game ball holding unit 22 is free in shape as long as it can hold a game ball. Although not shown, for example, in addition to welding a U-shaped sheet metal member to a disk body to form a game ball holding section, it is also possible to provide a game ball holding section that is undulated in a U shape by pressing the disk body. Is possible. Therefore, in consideration of the convenience of bonding with the disc body, the ease of assembling the transport drum section itself, and the strength and the ease of processing, the game ball holding section 22 is provided as defined in the invention of claim 2. It is a star wheel. As shown in the figure, the game ball holding portion 22 (star wheel) is formed with 20 semicircular cutout portions 24 slightly larger than the diameter of the game ball at equal intervals on the circumference. The other part becomes the protrusion 23. The notches 24 are formed at intervals of 18 ° (the angle formed when extending from the two notches to the center of the star wheel) with respect to the center of the star wheel.

  Each of the disk body 21 and the game ball holding unit 22 of the embodiment has a maximum diameter of 120 mm, and the main shaft 31 serving as the center of rotation is inserted through each center. Although not shown, in addition to this main shaft, other shaft members, spacers that maintain a constant interval, and the like are inserted into the disc body and the game ball holding portion in order to prevent displacement. In order to eliminate problems of imaging efficiency by the imaging unit 50 to be described later and movement deviation by the pushing member 40, all the cutouts 24 and the projections 23 of the game ball holding unit 22 (star wheel) are aligned and stacked and fixed. Is done. Currently, a game ball is defined as a steel material having a diameter of 11.00 mm and a range of +0.05 mm to -0.01 mm and having a weight of 5.4 g to 5.7 g. The surface of the game ball is colored gold, silver, or other appearance color by chrome plating, ion plating, or the like. Considering the diameter of the current game ball, the disk bodies 21 of the embodiment are spaced from each other by 12 mm to 15 mm. Both the disc body and the game ball holding portion (star wheel) are formed of a steel plate having a thickness of 3 mm.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the game ball is accommodated in the notch portion 24 of the star wheel of the transport drum unit 30 and is transported by the rotation of the transport drum unit. In order to push out the target game ball from the transport drum unit 30, the pushing member 40 is disposed at an intermediate position between the disc bodies 21, 21, particularly at an intermediate position between the game ball holding sections (star wheels) 22, 22. . Since the pushing member 40 is disposed in the gap of the game ball holding portion (star wheel), it is made of a plate-shaped steel plate member. The extruded member of the example has a thickness of 3 to 4 mm. The pushing member 40 is fixed to the swinging shaft 41 and can swing around the swinging shaft. Each pushing member 40 is connected to a pushing drive unit 45 corresponding to the pushing member and a wire 44 (see FIGS. 1 and 5). That is, each pushing member is independently swung by the pushing drive unit. Reference numeral 42 denotes a game ball contact portion of the pushing member.

  The extrusion drive unit can be a power means such as compressed air or a stepping motor. However, in addition to the response performance when driving the extrusion member, in consideration of the tensile load when a game ball is added to the extrusion member, in the embodiment, as specified in the invention of claim 7, the extrusion drive Use a solenoid for the part. This is because the excitation of the electromagnet changes depending on whether the solenoid is turned on or off, so that the response is fast and a relatively large tensile force can be obtained, which is convenient.

  FIG. 4 is a top view of the game ball sorting device, in which the above-described throwing unit, light source unit, rotating brush unit and the like are omitted. The drum drive unit 35 of the embodiment is an electric motor. As can be understood from FIG. 1 together with FIG. 4, the driving force of the electric motor 35p for the conveying drum portion is transmitted to the sprocket 32 connected to the conveying drum portion 30 via the chain 34p. An electric motor 35q for the rotating brush portion is also used for rotating the rotating brush portion 80, and is similarly transmitted to the sprocket 82 via the chain 34q.

  The transport drum section 30 of the embodiment is configured by stacking 19 disc bodies 21 and 36 game ball holding sections (star wheels) 22 on a main shaft 31. Therefore, 18 game balls can be selected and processed at a time. Therefore, as shown in the figure, 18 extruding members 40 and 18 extruding drive portions 45 corresponding to the extruding members are also installed on the fixed plate portion 13. In addition, since the imaging unit 50 in the game ball sorting device 10 of the embodiment obtains the appearance color of the game ball to be sorted as color data as defined in the invention of claim 3, it is easy to procure a CCD camera. Is used. Note that various sensors such as a CMOS image sensor can be used as long as the appearance color can be acquired as color data.

  One CCD camera can image a maximum of six game balls held on the same straight line in the gap between the game ball holding units (star wheels) 22 and 22 of the transport drum unit 30. Three CCD cameras 50a, 50b, and 50c are installed in order to capture 18 gaming balls arranged in a horizontal row at a time. Reference numeral Ta in the drawing is an area including six game balls P held in a transport drum portion that can be imaged at once by the CCD camera 50a. Similarly, the area Tb is an imageable area of the CCD camera 50b, and the area Tc is an imageable area of the CCD camera 50c. The imaging area (number of game balls to be imaged at one time) by the CCD camera is defined depending on the lens of the camera, the resolution, the image processing capability by the PLC, and the like. The transport drum portion in the vicinity of the region Tc is a partial cross-sectional view. Images captured by the CCD cameras 50a, 50b, and 50c are transmitted to the PLC 60 through transmission cables 51a, 51b, and 51c.

  The rotation of the transport drum unit 30 is monitored by a slit plate 36 connected to the main shaft 31 and a light projection sensor 37 that confirms the rotation of the slit plate 36. Twenty notches (not shown) are formed on the outer periphery of the slit plate 36, and transmission and blocking of the light projection by the light projection sensor 37 is regularly repeated as the transport drum portion rotates. Since the rotation of the transport drum unit 30 is interlocked with the driving of the pushing member 40, a monitoring signal for rotation control by the light projecting sensor is constantly transmitted to the PLC 60 in order to avoid a synchronization shift of each unit. In addition, the timing at which the light transmission sensor 37 of the rotating slit plate 36 is repeatedly transmitted and blocked is also used for controlling the imaging timing of the imaging unit 50 (CCD camera) described later.

  The game ball sorting device according to the embodiment exhibits the following processing performance. The conveyance drum unit rotates at a speed of 48 rotations / minute. Since one star wheel has 20 notches, the number of transported / selected game balls per row sandwiched between the disk bodies 21 and 21 is 960 per minute. Since the transport drum unit is provided with 18 rows, 17280 game balls can be transported and selected in one minute. Accordingly, the game ball sorting device per unit can accurately sort a large number of game balls, and is useful for smooth operation of a game facility in which different types of game balls are used.

  The driving of the conveyance sorting unit and the acquisition of image data in the embodiment will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of FIG. In FIG. 5, for convenience of explanation, only one disk body 21, game ball holding unit (star wheel) 22, and push driving unit 45 of the transport drum unit 30 included in the transport sorting unit 20 are shown.

  As understood from FIG. 5A, when the game ball P in a state where the golden game ball Pg and the silver game ball Ps are mixed reaches the transport drum unit 30, the rotation direction of the transport drum unit (arrow D1) With the rotating brush portion 80 (see FIG. 1) that rotates in reverse, excess game balls are swept away while being removed, and the game balls held between the notches 24, 24 of the game ball holding portion are Always one by one. The game ball reaches the top position (position α in the drawing) of the transfer drum unit 30 by the rotation and transfer of the transfer drum unit 30. This position α will be described as a starting point for subsequent processing. From the above rotational speed, the transport drum portion makes one rotation in 1.25 seconds.

  Imaging by the imaging unit 50 (CCD camera) regardless of the presence or absence of the game ball P when it reaches a position rotated by two notches from the position α, that is, a position rotated 36 ° from the position α (position β). Is done. Imaging with one CCD camera is performed collectively for six game balls arranged side by side. The imaging timing of the CCD camera is determined by counting the timings of transmitting and blocking the light projection of the rotating slit plate and the light projection sensor. All three CCD cameras have the same imaging timing. When imaging by the CCD camera of the embodiment, white light is emitted toward the game ball from the light source unit 70 including the white LED 71 as defined in the invention of claim 5. Therefore, the imaging unit 50 (CCD camera) captures reflected light of the appearance color of the game ball. This is to secure a sufficient amount of light at the time of imaging and facilitate the identification of the appearance color of the game ball. White LEDs have low power consumption and are small in size, so that they are easy to incorporate in the apparatus.

  The appearance color of the game ball acquired from the imaging unit 50 (CCD camera) is acquired by the PLC 60 as target RGB image data. As described above, target RGB image data of six game balls is always transmitted from one CCD camera. After the target RGB image data is acquired by the PLC 60, it is determined based on the target RGB image data whether or not it should be discharged from the transport drum unit 30. When the game ball discharge is determined from the determination result, under the control of the PLC 60, the energization to the push driving unit 45 (solenoid) of the corresponding game ball is changed, and the wire 44 is attracted to the solenoid side.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the pushing member 40 swings in the direction of the arrow D2 with the swinging shaft 41 as the center of rotation in conjunction with the movement of the wire 44. In this way, the game ball is discharged from the transport drum portion 30 so as to be pushed out to the abutting portion 42 of the pushing member 40. The pushing member 40 is returned to the original position by the return spring 43. The game ball is discharged when it reaches a position rotated by five notches from the position α, that is, a position rotated 90 ° from the position α (position γ). Naturally, the game ball is discriminated by the PLC from the position β to the position γ (within 0.2 seconds, within 0.19 seconds in the embodiment), and solenoid drive control is executed.

  In this embodiment, the game balls (game balls Ps having a silver appearance color) pushed out from the transport drum unit 30 by the pushing member 40 are elastically applied to the first receiving unit 16 of the discharge unit 15 as shown in FIG. It is burned. On the other hand, game balls (game balls Pg having a golden appearance color) that have not been excluded from the transport drum unit 30 by the push-out member 40 are not changed between the notches 24 and 24 of the game ball holding unit 22 of the transport drum unit 30. The position γ is exceeded while being held in between. And it falls from the conveyance drum part 30 to the 2nd receiving part 17 with dead weight of a game ball. Of course, the same processing is performed on the other extrusion members 40 of the transport drum section 30.

  Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6, a sorting process Sq such as a discrimination control executed in the PLC 60 of the game ball sorting device 10 of the embodiment will be described. In the sorting process Sq, first, reference RGB data serving as a basis for sorting game balls is acquired (S1). The reference RGB data of the embodiment is the RGB data (the RGB data of the designated color) of the game ball (the game ball Pg of the golden appearance color) that is not excluded from the transport drum unit 30 and the RGB data when there is no game ball It becomes.

  Eighteen game balls Pg of gold appearance color are arranged in correspondence with each CCD camera at a position β (see FIG. 5) of the transport drum unit 30 and imaged under irradiation of white light from the light source unit 70, and there is a game ball RGB data is stored. At the same time, the game ball is captured under white light irradiation from the light source unit 70 without holding the game ball at the position β of the transport drum unit 30 (only the gap between the notches 24 and 24 of the game ball holding unit 22). RGB data when there is no data is also stored. In order to make the imaging conditions the same, the acquisition of the reference RGB image data and the later acquisition of the target RGB image data are both performed under the same amount of light. Then, it is confirmed whether or not both reference RGB data with and without game balls are stored in the RAM of the PLC 60 (S2). If the reference RGB data does not exist, the subsequent processing is not executed. The acquisition of the reference RGB data (S1) is usually performed only once when the game ball sorting device 10 is shipped or installed in the game facility.

  When the game ball sorting device 10 is operated, it is checked whether or not a timing signal is generated in order to determine at which timing (which position of the transport drum portion) the imaging unit 50 (CCD camera) should capture an image ( S3). The timing signal is set by the PLC 60 counting and transmitting the light transmission and interruption timings of the rotating slit plate 36 and the light projection sensor 37 shown in FIG. If the timing signal is not generated, the subsequent processing is not performed. After confirming the generation of the timing signal, the target RGB image data is acquired through the imaging unit 50 (CCD camera) (S4). This target RGB image data is data in which six game balls are collected for one CCD camera. The target RGB image data is sequentially acquired and stored in the RAM of the PLC 60 for each of the 18 game balls from the three CCD cameras 50a, 50b, and 50c. At the time of imaging by the CCD camera of the embodiment, light is also projected from the light source unit 70 at the same time.

  The acquired target RGB image data is compared with reference RGB data acquired in advance (S5). In the comparison in S5, it is confirmed whether the target RGB image data is reference RGB data without a game ball, that is, whether it is a background color (S6). In the case of the background color, since there is no game ball, the subsequent processing is omitted. Next, if the target RGB image data is not a background color, a game ball exists. Accordingly, it is confirmed whether or not the target RGB image data matches the RGB data (RGB data of the designated color) of the game ball that is not excluded from the transport drum unit (the game ball Pg of the golden appearance color in this example). (S7). In the comparison of the data of S6 and S7, the commonality of the shape of the captured image is confirmed. In addition, the obtained target RGB image data is subjected to calculation processing for each of R, G, and B components to determine whether they are within an allowable range from the R, G, and B component values of the reference RGB image data. . When the data match, the game ball is a game ball Pg having a golden appearance color. On the other hand, if the data do not match, the game ball is a game ball Ps having a silver appearance color. In this manner, the PLC 60 serves as a determination unit that determines the appearance color of the game ball.

  Since the appearance color of the game sphere to be selected by the game sphere selection device of the embodiment is gold or silver, reflection of light increases due to the metallic luster. In addition, the external background is also reflected on the surface of the game ball. Therefore, halation is intentionally generated by irradiating the game ball at the position β (see FIG. 5) of the transport drum unit 30 from the light source unit 70 (white LED 71) with a large excess of white light. Under a large excess of white light, the influence of reflection on the surface of the game ball, which can be a hindrance to discrimination, is reduced to increase the discrimination sensitivity of the appearance color. When halation is caused, the image is whitened and the color difference is relatively reduced. In this case, the difference between gold and silver can be expressed as the amount of light reflected from the surface of the game ball to be determined. For this reason, in RGB image data, in order to detect more or less white reflected light with higher sensitivity, the ratio of B among the R, G, and B components is determined in image processing in the PLC at the time of imaging with a CCD camera. It is higher than other ingredients.

  In the embodiment, since a CCD camera is used as an image recognition imaging unit instead of the conventional optical sensor, imaging by color recognition is possible. Therefore, even if the reference RGB data acquired in advance is changed to game ball data of other appearance colors, the same processing can be performed. In other words, there is no need to change the sensors for each appearance color, and even if a game ball with a new appearance color is used by updating the reference RGB data, etc., the sorting process can be handled relatively easily. Is highly versatile.

  If the target RGB image data does not match the specified color, that is, if an appearance color game ball (silver appearance color game ball Ps) to be excluded from the transport drum portion is detected, the push drive unit 45 (solenoid) is detected. Is changed, and the game ball is discharged from the transport drum portion (S8). In the other process (S9), various necessary processes such as power management of the apparatus, rotation of the drum drive unit (motor) of the conveyance sorting unit, and synchronous control of the light projecting sensor are performed. The sorting process Sq is repeated again to carry and sort game balls. Therefore, PLC60 becomes a control part which controls discharge of a game ball.

  As described in a series of explanations, a game ball (a game ball Pg having a golden appearance color) to be left in the transport drum portion and no game ball are recognized, and in other cases, a discharge operation by the pushing member is executed. With such a configuration, while avoiding the influence of errors caused by the acquired target image data, the game ball (silver appearance color game ball Ps) to be discharged from the transport drum unit is reliably identified and discharged. be able to. Specifically, the game ball sorting device set in the embodiment is installed on a game island where a gold-colored game ball with a low prize exchange rate is used. When installing on a game island where a silver-colored game ball with a high prize exchange rate is used, the reference RGB data may be set opposite to that in the embodiment.

  In addition to the embodiments shown and described above, other configurations can be applied within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, the color of the game ball can be an appropriate color such as a bronze color in addition to the gold color and silver color of the embodiment. In addition, the number of game balls captured by one CCD camera at a time can be increased or decreased in consideration of the lens of the CCD camera used in the imaging unit, the calculation speed of the PLC, the image recognition accuracy, and the like. Furthermore, when game balls having different appearance colors are used for each exchange ratio according to the set number of three or more different exchange ratios, the first color sorting, It can be expanded and used like the second color selection.

It is a side view of the game ball sorting device concerning one example of the present invention. It is a schematic perspective view of a conveyance drum part. It is a principal front view of a conveyance sorter. FIG. 2 is a main top view of the game ball sorting device of FIG. 1. It is the schematic which shows operation | movement of a conveyance selection part. It is a flowchart regarding discrimination | determination and control of a game ball. It is the 1st longitudinal section of the conventional game ball sorting device. It is the 2nd longitudinal section of the conventional game ball sorting device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Game ball sorter 11 Input part 15 Discharge part 20 Conveyance sort part 21 Disc body 22 Game ball holding part (star wheel)
23 Protruding part 24 Notch part 30 Conveying drum part 31 Main shaft (rotating shaft)
35, 35p drum drive (electric motor)
40 Extrusion member 41 Oscillating shaft 45 Extrusion drive unit (solenoid)
50 Imaging unit (CCD camera)
60 PLC (Programmable Logic Controller)
70 Light source 71 White LED
80 Rotating brush part P Game ball Pg Gold game ball Ps Silver game ball

Claims (7)

A game ball sorting device that identifies and sorts the appearance color of a game ball,
A game ball throwing section, a transport sorting section that sorts game balls simultaneously with the transport of game balls thrown into the throwing section, and a discharge section that discharges game balls sorted by the transport sorting section. ,
The transport selection unit aligns a plurality of disc bodies at the center and stacks them with a predetermined interval longer than the diameter of the game ball, and faces one or both of the plurality of disc bodies facing each other. A transport drum portion having a game ball holding portion for holding a game ball, and fixing the plurality of disk bodies to a single rotation shaft;
A drum driving unit that drives the conveying drum unit;
An extruding member that pushes out a game ball that is arranged between a plurality of disc bodies stacked at a predetermined interval and held by the game ball holding unit;
An extrusion drive unit for driving the extrusion member;
An imaging unit for imaging the appearance color of the game ball held in the transport drum unit;
The appearance color of the game sphere imaged by the imaging unit is acquired as target RGB image data, and the target RGB image data is compared with the reference RGB image data that is a preliminarily acquired selection reference, and the game sphere having a desired appearance color A discriminator for discriminating whether or not
A control unit that performs control to discharge the game ball of the desired appearance color from the transport drum unit to the discharge unit through the push member by driving the push driving unit based on the determination result of the determination unit. A game ball sorting device characterized by that.   The game ball sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the game ball holding unit is a star wheel.   The game ball sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit is a CCD camera.   4. The game ball sorting device according to claim 1, further comprising a light source unit that irradiates light to a game ball being transported in the vicinity of the transport drum unit. 5.   The game ball sorting device according to claim 4, wherein the light source unit includes a white LED.   The game ball sorting device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a rotating brush unit that comes into contact with the transport drum unit immediately above the transport drum unit.   The game ball sorting device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the push driving unit is a solenoid.

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