JP2011067673A - Ball-shooting device for pinball game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve problems with a conventional ball-shooting device for a pinball game machine in which the structure of intermediate transmission means with a wire-like catching rod fixed on a side of a ball-hitting mallet makes it difficult to accurately set the angle of the catching rod and tends to cause distortion or bend in use, the ball-shooting device including a shooting ball feeding device for feeding game balls to a shooting part, the ball-hitting mallet swingably mounted at a stationary center on the front frame side to hit the game balls at a shooting unit toward a game area, and the intermediate transmission means for transmitting the swing motion of the ball-hitting mallet to the shooting ball feeding device while synchronizing the hitting action of the ball-hitting mallet with the feeding action of the shooting ball feeding device. <P>SOLUTION: In the ball-shooting device for pinball game machine, the intermediate transmission 18 is constituted by a driving cam 2 which is freely mounted at the stationary center on the front frame side in a freely swingable manner similarly to the ball-hitting mallet 5 to integrally swing together with the ball-hitting mallet 5 and a driven member 44 which is operated in response to the swing motion of the driving cam 2 to cause the shooting ball feeding device to feed the game balls. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a ball hitting device for hitting a game ball in a game area of a game board.

A conventional ball striking device described in JP-A-6-327814 will be described with reference to FIGS. The hitting ball launching device 100 is swingably attached to a launching ball supply device 104 that sends out a game ball from the front ball tray 101 to the launching unit 103 of the launching rail 102 and a fixed shaft 117 on the front frame 105 side. A hitting ball 110 for launching a game ball in the launching unit 103 of 102 to a game area 109 of the game board 107, and a swinging movement of the hitting ball 110 is used as a shot ball supply device 104.
Intermediate transmission means 111 that synchronizes the hitting operation of the hitting ball rod 110 with the supply operation of the launching ball supply device 104.

As shown in FIG. 10, the intermediate transmission means 111 includes a key-shaped hook 112 fixed to the side surface of the hitting ball 110 and a fixed shaft 106 on the front frame 105 side (usually a mounting board (lower part of the launch rail 102) It is also called a game board.) It is attached to the lower edge. The driven member 113 includes a seesaw plate 114 that swings in a seesaw state, and a sliding plate 115 that is integrally suspended from a side surface of the seesaw plate 114. On the other hand, the driving lever 116 of the firing ball supply device 104 faces the top surface of the tip of the seesaw plate 114.

The conventional hitting ball launching device 100 has the above-described configuration. When the hitting ball 110 enters a preparatory operation from the position of FIG. 10 and tilts backward, the sliding plate 115 that is in sliding contact with the hook 112 is centered on the fixed shaft 106. The seesaw plate 114 is tilted integrally with the tilting lever to lift the driving lever 116 of the firing ball supply device 104. When the striking ball 110 is vigorously returned to the original position by the restoring force of the spring or the rotational force of the motor, the sliding plate 115 is thereby released, and the driven member 113 returns to the original state due to its own balance. The driving lever 116 of the ball supply device 104 moves downward. In this launching ball supply device 104, one game ball is sent out by one up-and-down movement of the driving lever 116. Therefore, only one game ball is sent out to the launching portion 103 of the launching rail 102. .

The intermediate transmission means 111 of the hitting ball launching apparatus 100 has an important role of transmitting the movement of the hitting ball rod 110 to the launching ball supply apparatus 104 and synchronizing both as described above. Adversely affects the operation of However, since the conventional intermediate transmission means 111 has a structure in which a wire-like hook 112 is fixed to the side surface of the hitting ball 110, the hook 112
It is difficult to set the angle accurately, and there is a problem that the angle is distorted or bent easily during use.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and a launch ball supply device that sends a game ball to the launch portion of the launch rail, and a game ball in the launch portion of the launch rail that is swingably attached to a fixed center on the front frame side. A ball having a ball striking ball that strikes the game area and intermediate transmission means for transmitting the swinging motion of the ball striking ball to the launching ball supply device and synchronizing the ball striking operation of the ball striking ball and the supply operation of the launching ball supply device. In the hitting ball launcher of a gaming machine, a driving cam that is swingably attached to a fixed center on the front frame side and that swings together with the hitting ball as well as the hitting ball, and receives a swinging motion of the driving cam. A ball striking device for a ball game machine in which the intermediate transmission means is constituted by a driven member that is operated in such a manner as to cause the firing ball supply device to perform a supply operation.

According to the hitting ball launching apparatus of the present invention, the intermediate transmission means is configured by the combination of the driving cam and the driven member having the above-mentioned specific structure. Therefore, the hitting ball launching apparatus is less likely to be distorted as compared with the conventional combination of the hook 112 and the driven member 113. Is accurate and reliable.

In the present invention, the intermediate transmission means is configured by the combination of the driving cam and the driven member having the above-mentioned specific structure. Therefore, the intermediate transmission means is less likely to be distorted compared to the conventional combination of the hook and the driven member, and the operation of the firing ball supply device is accurate and reliable. There is an effect to become.

It is a front view of a hitting unit showing a part in cross section. It is an effect | action figure of FIG. It is a reverse view of FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is an exploded view of FIG. 4. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the principal part. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the principal part containing a pulley box. It is the XX sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a front view of a bullet ball game machine. It is a perspective view of the principal part which shows a prior art.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view of a hitting unit partially shown in cross section, FIG. 2 is an operational view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a back view of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the main part, FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main part including the pulley box, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. 7, and FIG. FIG.

The hitting ball launching apparatus of the present invention is roughly composed of a launching ball supply device and a hitting ball unit 3. The configuration of the launch ball supply device is the same as that of the conventional launch ball supply device 104 except for the intermediate transmission means 111. Further, the structure of the launching ball supply device is free as long as it conforms to the operation of the driven member 44 described later.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the hitting unit 3 is formed by attaching various components to be described later on both the front and back surfaces of a metal base plate 4. The base plate 4 is a fixing component on the front frame 105 side that is attached to a predetermined position on the back side of the front frame 105 by a fixing means such as a screw. Hereinafter, the surface of the base plate 4 facing the front frame 105, that is, the surface facing the front in FIG. 4 is referred to as the front surface, and the opposite surface is referred to as the back surface.

As shown in FIG. 3, a hitting ball 5, a driving motor 6 for driving the hitting ball, and a rubber stopper 7 that stops the hitting ball 5 at the firing position are attached to the back surface of the base plate 4. The hitting ball 5 is provided with a coiled tip member 8 at the upper end, a cam receiving roller 9 is rotatably provided at the intermediate rear side surface, and a rotating shaft 10 is provided at the lower end. This rotating shaft 10
Is for swingably supporting the hitting ball 5 with respect to the base plate 4, and is fixed with a nut 11 so as not to be able to move relative to the hitting ball 5, and the cylindrical portion 12 protrudes from the surface of the base plate 4. The bearing 13 is supported rotatably. As described above, the base plate 4
Is fixed at a fixed position on the back surface of the front frame 105, so that the swing center of the hitting ball 5 (rotating shaft 10)
Is a fixed center on the front frame 105 side.

The hitting ball driving motor 6 is attached to a U-shaped motor base 14 in plan view across the swinging area of the hitting ball 5, and a cam 16 fixed to the tip of its own output shaft 15 is attached to the hitting ball 15. 5 cam receiving rollers 9 can be engaged.

On the other hand, the hitting force adjusting unit 17 for adjusting the hitting force of the hitting ball 5 on the surface of the base plate 4.
The intermediate transmission means 18 for transmitting the swinging motion of the hitting ball 5 to the launching ball supply device and synchronizing the hitting operation of the hitting ball 5 and the supply operation of the launching ball supply device is attached with an organic connection. ing. The striking force adjusting unit 17 is further divided into a pulley box 19 located on the right side in FIG. 1 and a biasing device 20 located on the left side.

As shown in FIG. 5, the pulley box 19 includes a case body 21 that is fixed to the surface of the base plate 4 with screws, and a driving pulley 2 that is rotatably incorporated inside the case body 21.
2 and an auxiliary pulley 23. One end of a wire 24 is engaged with the driving pulley 22, and the wire 24 is wound around the auxiliary pulley 23 and pulled out to the outside. As shown in FIGS. 5, 7, and 9, a handle fixing portion 210 is provided on the front surface of the case body 21 of the pulley box 19 so as to joint the operation handle 25 provided at the lower corner of the front surface of the front frame 105. A shaft hole 26 reaching the driving pulley 22 is formed through the center of the handle fixing portion 210.

As shown in FIG. 7, the operation handle 25 includes a fixed base tube 27 that is fixed to the front frame 105,
A cap-shaped grip portion 28 integrally connected to the fixed base tube 27, a finger-hanging operation plate 29 between the grip portion 28 and the fixed base tube 27 and rotatable within a certain range, and the finger-hold operation An operation shaft 30 that protrudes integrally from the plate 29 and passes through the center of the fixed base tube 27 and protrudes to the rear end. Then, the fixed base cylinder 27 of the operation handle 25 is passed through the handle hole 31 of the front frame 105 and the joint cylinder 32 (see FIG. 8) provided inside the fixed base cylinder 27 is attached to the handle fixing portion 210 of the pulley box 19. Fit. The fixed base tube 27 of the operation handle 25 is provided with a slit 33 that opens downward, and an upward key-shaped hook piece 34 protruding from the front surface of the front frame 105 is sandwiched in the slit 33 and a handle fixing screw 35 is provided. Thus, the interval between the slits 33 is narrowed, and the joint cylinder 32 of the operation handle 25 is tightened to the handle fixing portion 210 of the pulley box 19. Further, the handle fixing screw 35 is connected to the hook piece 3.
The engagement of the handle fixing screw 35 and the hook piece 34 serves as a powerful retaining measure for the operation handle 25.

As shown in FIG. 5, the urging device 20, which is another component of the batting force adjusting unit 17, includes a heel side cup 36, a handle side cup 37, and a torsion coil spring 38 that connects the cups 36, 37. Consists of. The heel side cup 36 is in the form of a cup having a drum-like short cylindrical portion 36a projecting toward the handle side cup 37, and a screw 39 is used to prevent relative movement at the end of the rotating shaft 10 of the ball striking heel 5. It is fastened and performs a swinging (turning) motion integrally with the hitting ball 5.

The handle-side cup 37 has a drum shape in which a drum-like short cylindrical portion 37 a is projected toward the heel-side cup 36, and is loosely fitted around the cylindrical portion 12 of the bearing 13 of the base plate 4. In FIG. 1, there is a pulley groove 40 in the range from “5 o'clock” to “10 o'clock” on the outer periphery. A wire 24 connected to the driving pulley 22 is fixed to the end of the pulley groove 40 on the “10 o'clock” side. Accordingly, the rotation operation of the finger operating plate 29 of the operation handle 25 is transmitted to the driving pulley 22 via the operation shaft 30, and the rotation is further transmitted to the wire 2.
4 is transmitted to the handle-side cup 37 via 4.

The torsion coil spring 38 includes a handle side cup 37 and a heel side cup 3 as shown in FIG.
6 in a compressed state. The torsion coil spring 38 has engaging portions 38a at both ends.
, 38b are bent, and one engaging portion 38a is the short tube portion 3 of the handle-side cup 37.
The other engaging portion 38b is engaged with the short hole 36 of the heel side cup 36.
It engages with a laterally recessed retaining groove 42 cut into a comb shape in a. The torsion coil spring 38 is incorporated in a pre-twisted state so as to bias the handle side cup 37 clockwise and the heel side cup 36 counterclockwise in FIG. The hitting ball 5 and the finger operation panel 29 of the operation handle 25 are pulled together. As described above, a plurality of retaining grooves 42 of the heel side cup 36 are formed, and the strength of the torsion coil spring 38 can be appropriately adjusted depending on which one is selected. Further, the retaining grooves 42, 42... Are cut in a comb-like shape as described above and are concave in the lateral direction, that is, the mouth is opened to the outside, so that the engagement portion 38b can be grasped with a tool such as a radio pliers. Alternatively, the engaging portion 38b is protruded to the outside and formed into a knob shape and is picked with a finger so that the movement between the stop grooves 42, 42... Can be performed without removing the heel side cup 36 from the rotary shaft 10. Furthermore, if a plurality of stop holes 41 of the handle side cup 37 are set as shown in FIG. 5, even if the adjustment of the torsion coil spring 38 by the stop groove 42 reaches the limit, the position of the stop hole 41 This can be dealt with by changing.

By the way, the handle-side cup 37 is pressed against the base plate 4 by a reaction in which the torsion coil spring 38 is compressed and loaded between the handle-side cup 36 and the friction resistance with the base plate 4 is increased, and smooth rotation may be hindered. is there. Therefore, in the embodiment, the convex portion 43 for reducing the contact area with the base plate 4 is provided on the surface of the handle side cup 37 facing the base plate 4. Although the illustrated convex portion 43 has a circular rib shape concentric with the cylindrical portion 12 of the bearing 13, for example, a conical small protrusion may be scattered at a plurality of locations. As a result, the handle-side cup 37 can be smoothly rotated.

The intermediate transmission means 18 is for transmitting the swinging motion of the hitting ball rod 5 to the launching ball supply device as described above to synchronize the hitting operation of the hitting ball rod 5 and the supply operation of the launching ball supply device. A driving cam 2 that uses the heel side cup 36 and a driven member 44 that operates with the driving cam 2 are configured.

The driving cam 2 has a ridge 45 projecting from the top of the circumferential surface of the heel side cup 36, and the ridge 45
A rotatable roller 46 protrudes from the side surface of the lens. As already described, the base side cup 36 and the hitting base 5 are directly connected to both ends of one rotary shaft 10 so that they cannot move relative to each other, and the rotary shaft 10 is a fixed center on the front frame 105 side. The cam 2 is swingably attached to the same fixed center as the hitting ball 5 and swings integrally with the hitting ball 5.

The follower member 44 is composed of a substantially fan-shaped sliding plate 47 and an inverted L-shaped operating arm 48 in front view in FIG. The driven member 44 has a base end portion corresponding to the main part of the fan of the sliding plate 47 at the base plate 4.
By freely fitting on the fixed shaft 49, the lower surface of the sliding plate 47 is rolled into contact with the roller 46 of the driving cam 2 as an arcuate cam surface 50. On the other hand, the driven member 44
The tilted top of the operating arm 48 faces directly below the driving lever 116 of the firing ball supply device 104 described in the prior art of FIG.

The operating arm 48 of the driven member 44 is pinned by a shaft 51 so as to be swingable with respect to the sliding plate 47 and is always urged upward by a spring 52 wound around the shaft 51. Under normal conditions, the sliding plate 47 and the operating arm 48 swing together, but the spring 52 is biased when the upward movement of the operating arm 48 is hindered or a pressing force is applied to the operating arm 48 for some reason. Against this, the operating arm 48 sinks to the back side of the sliding plate 47 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. As described above, the driven member 44 according to the embodiment can absorb an abnormal force by the movement of the operating arm 48, so that the driven member 44 can be prevented from being damaged as well as other parts related thereto.

In addition, in the figure, reference numeral 53 denotes a window hole penetrating the base plate 4, and the tension of the wire 24 is checked from the back side of the base plate 4 through the window hole 53.

Next, the operation of the ball hitting device will be described. First, when a game ball is thrown into the ball tray 101, the top game ball stops inside the shot ball supply device 104. In this state, when the operation handle 25 is touched, the sensor detects it, and the ball driving motor 6 is actuated to rotate the cam 16 at the tip of the output shaft 15. The rotating cam 16 is a cam receiving roller 9 of the hitting ball 5.
And the hitting ball 5 is tilted backward while resisting the bias of the torsion coil spring 38. Since the movement of the hitting ball 5 is directly transmitted to the driving cam 2 via the rotating shaft 10, the driving cam 2 also rotates by the same amount as the hitting ball 5. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the driven member 44 that contacts the roller 46 of the driving cam 2 swings in the direction of raising the operating arm 48, and the driving lever 116 of the firing ball supply device 104 is raised by the raising of the operating arm 48.

When the hitting ball 5 tilts to a predetermined position, the cam receiving roller 9 comes off from the cam 16 and the hitting ball 5
Becomes free. Then, the driving cam 2 (the side cup 36) is also free, and the driving cam 2 and the hitting ball 5 are vigorously rotated in the reverse direction by the biasing of the torsion coil spring 38, and the hitting ball 5 hits the rubber stopper 7. Stop. If at this stage, the firing section 10 of the firing rail 102
If there is a game ball in 3, the ball hits the tip member 8 and jumps out vigorously. However, since there is still no game ball in the launching unit 103, the hit ball 5 is blank.

On the other hand, when the driving cam 2 returns to the original position, the driven member 44 also returns to the original posture of FIG. 1, so that the operating arm 48 moves down, and the driving lever 116 of the firing ball supply device 104 moves down accordingly. As described in the section of the prior art, when the driving lever 116 moves up and down once, one game ball at the head of the shot ball supply device 104 is sent out to the launch unit 103.

Next, when the hitting ball 5 is tilted and returned again by the above repetition, the previous game ball in the launching unit 103 hits the tip member 8 and jumps out vigorously. Then, the next game ball is sent out to the launching unit 103 so as to be replaced with the game ball that has jumped out.

Thereafter, the above operation is repeated every time the cam 16 of the motor 6 for driving the striking ball is rotated once, so that the game balls in the launching unit 103 are fired one by one by the striking ball 5 and the launch ball is switched at the timing. One game ball is supplied from the supply device 104 to the launching unit 103 one by one.

The hitting force of the hitting ball 5 is adjusted by the player turning the finger operation plate 29 of the operation handle 25. Then, the rotation of the finger hook operation plate 29 is transmitted to the driving pulley 22 via the operation shaft 30, and the rotation is transmitted to the handle side cup 37 via the wire 24. Since the rotation of the handle side cup 37 acts in a direction (in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1) to increase the elastic force of the torsion coil spring 38, the hitting force of the hitting ball 5 is correspondingly increased.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, of course, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. For example, the urging device 20 shown in the embodiment may have a general structure in which a coil spring is expanded and contracted. In the embodiment, one rotation shaft 10 is used as a common fixed center for the hitting ball 5 and the driving cam 2. However, for example, a rotation shaft dedicated to the driving cam 2 is separately formed on the base plate 4, and the rotation shaft and the hitting ball 5 are provided separately. The rotary shaft 10 may be connected by a mediating node such as a gear or a belt.

The embodiment of the present invention further includes the following technical idea.
(1) Provided with a ball striking device in which the base plate 4 fixed to the back surface of the front frame 105 is provided with the ball hitting rod 5 and the pulley box 19 for the operation handle 25, the surface of the base plate 4 and the back surface of the front frame 105 A ball game machine in which a space is formed between them, a pulley box 19 is disposed on the surface of the base plate 4 so that the pulley box 19 can be accommodated in the space, and a hitting ball 5 is disposed on the back surface of the base plate 4.

In this ball game machine, the ball hitting device (base plate 4) can be made more compact than the conventional ball game machine. That is, the hitting ball launcher of the conventional ball game machine has the hitting ball 5 and the pulley box 19 side by side on the back surface of the base plate 4, but in this state the hitting ball 5
In order to avoid a collision between the pulley box 19 and the pulley box 19, it is necessary to dispose the pulley box 19 outside the swinging region of the hitting ball 5, and there is a problem that the base plate 4 becomes larger correspondingly.

On the other hand, the bullet ball game machine of the above (1) has modified the mounting structure of the base plate 4 that has been in close contact with the back surface of the front frame 105 so far to form a space between the back surface of the front frame 105 and the base plate 4. Because the pulley box 19 is placed in the space,
Therefore, it is not necessary to consider the collision of the pulley box 19 and the pulley box 19 can be installed near the hitting ball 5. Accordingly, the base plate 4 can be made smaller and more compact, and the ball hitting device can be made smaller and more compact accordingly.

(2) a rotatable first spring receiving member (the heel side cup 36) directly connected to the rotary shaft 10 of the hitting ball heel 5,
A second spring receiving member (handle-side cup 37) that is connected to the operation handle 25 for adjusting the striking force and is rotatable around the rotary shaft 10 is disposed oppositely, and twisted between the first and second spring receiving members. A coil spring 38 is incorporated, and both ends of the torsion coil spring 38 are engaged with the first and second spring receiving members, respectively, and the first and second spring receiving members are rotated in the opposite directions relatively torsion coil springs. 38
A striking ball launcher for a ball game machine in which the striking ball spring 5 is moved back at a high speed by the force of the torsion coil spring 38 which is deformed so as to be squeezed.

In this ball hitting device, the base plate 4 (ball hitting device) can be made more compact than the conventional ball hitting device. That is, the conventional ball hitting device has an urging structure in which the long and thin coil springs are expanded and contracted to move the ball hitting rod 5 at a high speed, and therefore, an extra space for extending and contracting the coil springs is required.

On the other hand, in the hitting ball launching device of (2), since all of the urging device 20 can be installed on the rotating shaft 10 of the hitting ball 5, an extra space for extending and retracting the coil spring becomes unnecessary. Accordingly, the base plate 4 can be made smaller and more compact, and the ball hitting device can be made smaller and more compact.

(3) A drum-like short cylindrical portion 36a is projected from the first spring receiving member toward the second spring receiving member,
A plurality of retaining grooves 42, 42... That open in a substantially laterally concave shape are formed in the short cylindrical portion 36 a, while an engaging portion 38 b is bent at the end of the torsion coil spring 38 to stop the engaging portion 38 b. Groove 4
2. A ball hitting device for a bullet ball game machine according to item (2), wherein the ball hitting device is engaged with any one of 2, 42.

Since this ball hitting device can move the engaging portion 38b to the adjacent stop groove 42 without removing the heel side cup 36 from the rotary shaft 10, the basic setting of the ball hitting force can be easily changed. In addition, the engagement state of the engagement portion 38b and the stop groove 42 is maintained by the expansion pressure in the axial direction of the torsion coil spring 38 itself, so that the structure is simple and the cost is reduced.

(4) The hitting ball 5 is arranged on the back surface of the base plate 4, the motor base 14 is installed at a position across the swinging area of the hitting ball 5, and the motor 6 for driving the hitting ball is mounted on the motor base 14. On the other hand, on the surface of the base plate 4, a pulley box 19 connected to the operation handle in front of the machine, an urging device 2 for urging and energizing the hitting ball 5 and the intermediate transmission means 18 are arranged. Ball hitting device for ball game machines.

In this ball hitting device, since the respective parts are arranged in the front-rear direction of the ball game machine, the area of the base plate 4 can be reduced by suppressing the spread of the base plate 4 in the horizontal direction. In recent years, ball game machines are in a direction to expand the game area, which tends to reduce the installation space for parts other than the game board, but by reducing the area of the base plate 4 as described above It is possible to sufficiently cope with such a reduction in installation space.

2 ... Driving cam 5 ... Hitting ball 10 ... Rotating shaft (fixed center)
18 ... Intermediate transmission means 44 ... Follower member 102 ... Launching rail 103 ... Launching unit 105 ... Front frame 109 ... Game area

Claims (1)

A launch ball supply device that sends out a game ball to the launch portion of the launch rail, and a hitting basket that is swingably attached to a fixed center on the front frame side and launches the game ball in the launch portion of the launch rail into the game area;
In a ball striking device of a ball game machine having intermediate transmission means for transmitting the swinging motion of the ball striking device to the projecting ball supply device and synchronizing the ball striking operation of the ball striking ball and the feeding operation of the projecting ball supply device,
Like the hitting ball rod, a driving cam that is swingably attached to a fixed center on the front frame side and swings integrally with the hitting ball rod, and operates in response to the swinging motion of the driving cam. A ball striking device for a ball game machine in which the intermediate transmission means is constituted by a driven member that causes the supply device to perform a supply operation.

Images