JP2011087853A - Game medium counting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game medium counting device which can remove a shutter without unplugging wiring nor connector and improve maintenance work efficiency such as cleaning. <P>SOLUTION: The game medium counting device 1 is equipped with a throw-in slot which makes game medium thrown in to flow into the device, a shutter 41 which opens and closes the throw-in slot driven by the predetermined driving mechanism, and a lane section 31 which is attached at the lower part of the shutter 41 and guides game medium flowed in from the throw-in slot to the counting device and the shutter 41 and the lane section 31 are so constructed to be separable as the shutter 41 and the driving mechanism are similarly constructed to be separable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a game medium counting device that counts game media, and more particularly to a game medium counting device that includes a shutter that opens and closes a slot for game media.

  In general, a hall in which a gaming machine such as a pachinko machine or a slot machine is installed is provided with a game medium counting device that counts game media such as game balls acquired by the player. In this type of game medium counting device, for example, in the case of a counting device that uses a game ball as a counting object, the game balls thrown into the hopper formed in a mortar shape flow into the inside of the device sequentially from the slot at the bottom of the hopper. The inflowing game ball rolls on a lane composed of a plurality of guide paths, and is guided by a predetermined counting means to be counted.

  In recent years, counting of game media such as game balls has been performed by operations of store clerk in a game hall. For this reason, usually, the cover is put on the hopper and the game medium counting device is set in the count prohibition state, and when the player requests to count the game medium, the store clerk opens the cover and throws the game medium into the hopper. It was.

  In the configuration in which the cover is put on the hopper of the game medium counting device, it takes time and effort for the store clerk to perform operations such as attaching and detaching the cover and storing the cover during counting. Therefore, a game medium counting device has been proposed in which a shutter that opens and closes by a predetermined driving means is provided at the slot (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-11-104345

However, in the game medium counting device having a conventional shutter that is driven to open and close, the following adverse effects have occurred.
In the game medium counting device, there is a case where the game medium to which the garbage is attached is thrown in as it is, so that the garbage adheres to the lane (guidance path) and the game medium is clogged. In order to suppress the occurrence of such game media clogging, it is necessary to frequently clean the lane.
However, in a game medium counting device provided with a shutter, the shutter must be disposed so as to cover the lane, and therefore the shutter must be removed in order to expose the lane so that it can be cleaned.
Since the shutter is driven by a drive source such as a motor or solenoid, in order to remove the shutter, the drive source must be removed. To that end, the wiring and connectors that transmit power and signals to the drive source must be removed. Must.
Such removal and removal work is a cause of erroneous wiring and malfunction, and is unsuitable for maintenance work such as frequent cleaning work.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and the shutter can be removed without removing the wiring and connector for transmitting the power source and the signal to the driving source, and during maintenance such as cleaning work. An object of the present invention is to provide a game medium counting device with improved workability.

  In order to achieve the above object, a game medium counting device according to the present invention includes an input port for allowing an input game medium to flow into the machine, a shutter that is driven by predetermined driving means to open and close the input port, A game medium counting device provided at a lower portion and guiding a game medium flowing in from the insertion port to a predetermined counting means, wherein the shutter and the guide path are separable, and the shutter And the drive means are separable.

  According to the game medium counting device of the present invention, the shutter can be removed without removing the wiring or connector, and the workability during maintenance such as cleaning work is improved.

It is a perspective view which shows the game media counting device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control structure of the game media counting apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an assembly perspective view of the game media counting device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the counting part of the game media counting device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the shutter part of the game media counting device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, (a) is a figure which shows the closed state of a shutter, (b) is a figure which shows the open state of a shutter. . It is explanatory drawing which shows the opening / closing operation | movement of the shutter of the game media counting device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, (a) is a figure which shows the closed state of a shutter, (b) is a figure which shows the open state of a shutter. It is. It is explanatory drawing which shows the initialization operation | movement by the shutter drive part of the game media counting device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, (a) is an enlarged view, (b) is a whole figure. It is a flowchart which shows the initialization process performed by the control part of the game media counting device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the counting process performed by the control part of the game media counting device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the game medium counting device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in the drawings, the counting device 1 according to the present embodiment is a counting device that uses a game ball as a counting target, and the game ball that is thrown into the mortar-shaped hopper 5 It is configured to flow into the aircraft from 41a and be guided and counted by a plurality of sensors (counting sensor unit 32) for detecting game balls while being shunted and rectified by a plurality of guiding paths (lane unit 31). Yes.
In addition, the counting device 1 includes a shutter 41 that is driven by predetermined driving means (shutter driving unit 33) to open and close the insertion port 41a and restrict the inflow of game balls into the machine.
The shutter 41 must be arranged on the upper part so as to cover the taxiway (lane portion 31) in order to realize the function of restricting the inflow of game balls into the aircraft. , It is configured to be separable from the taxiway (lane portion 31).
Hereinafter, a specific configuration of the counting device 1 of the present embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the counting device 1 displays a receipt issuing unit 21 that issues a receipt in which a count value is recorded, an issue button 21 a that starts issuing a receipt by an operation, a count value, and the like. A display unit 22 including a touch panel capable of a predetermined input operation by a touch operation, a remote control receiving unit 23 that performs infrared communication with a remote controller carried by the store clerk, and ID information that can identify the store clerk is read from a store clerk card possessed by the store clerk. A card reader unit 24 and the like are provided on the exterior.

As shown in FIG. 2, the counting device 1 includes a counting sensor unit 32 composed of a plurality of proximity sensors that detect a game ball, a shutter driving unit 33 that opens and closes a shutter 41, and a predetermined AC power source. A power supply unit 25a that generates and supplies power suitable for each unit; a backup power supply unit 25b configured by a secondary battery that supplies power in the event of a power failure; a storage unit 26 that stores count values, ID information, and the like; The interior includes an alarm unit 27 configured with a speaker, an amplifier, or the like that outputs an alarm when there is an abnormality, and a control unit 28 configured as a computer that controls the above-described units.
The control unit 28 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM in which programs and data for controlling each unit are recorded, a RAM serving as a work area, an I / O port for connecting each unit and the CPU, and the like. By executing the program recorded in the above, each unit is controlled to operate as a counting device for counting game balls.

As shown in FIG. 3, the counting device 1 of the present embodiment is configured to be separable into a device main body 2, a counting unit 3, a shutter unit 4, and a hopper 5, and is stacked in the order shown in FIG. Are accommodated in the apparatus body 2.
As shown in FIG. 4, the counting unit 3 includes a lane unit 31, a counting sensor unit 32, and a shutter driving unit 33.
The lane portion 31 is an example of a guideway, and includes a plurality of guideways (lanes) partitioned by a partition plate. The game balls falling from the input port 41a are divided in each lane and rectified in a single line. It operates to guide to the counting sensor unit 32.
The counting sensor unit 32 is an example of a counting unit, and includes a proximity sensor (not shown) that detects a game ball flowing down each guiding path (lane) of the lane unit 31. A detection signal from each proximity sensor is input to the control unit 28, and the control unit 28 counts the number of inputs to calculate a count value.

  The shutter driving unit 33 is an example of a driving unit, and includes a motor 331, a cam 332, an arm 333, an engaging convex portion 334, an arm guide 335, a position sensor 336, and the like, so as not to prevent exposure of the lane portion 31. Are arranged on the end face of the counting unit 3. This facilitates access to the lane portion 31 and improves workability during maintenance such as cleaning work.

The cam 332 is directly connected to the motor 331 and is engaged with the arm 333 to convert the rotation operation of the motor 331 into the swing operation of the arm 333.
The arm 333 is an example of a movable piece, and operates the engagement convex portion 334 loosely fitted at the tip.
The arm guide 335 includes a guide hole through which the engaging convex portion 334 slides, and guides the operating direction of the engaging convex portion 334 in the opening / closing direction of the shutter 41.
The engaging convex portion 334 engages with the engaging concave portion 411 formed in the shutter 41 and drives the shutter 41. The position sensor 336 is an example of an opening / closing operation detecting means, and is configured by a photo interrupter. An open / close state (open / close position) is detected.
An arm position sensor (not shown) that detects the position of the arm 333 corresponding to the open / close state of the shutter 41 is provided below the arm 333.

With such a configuration, the rotation operation of the motor 331 is converted into the swing operation of the arm 333, and the operation direction of the engagement convex portion 334 is converted into a linear direction along the opening / closing direction of the shutter 41, The shutter 41 engaged with the engaging convex portion 334 can be opened and closed.
Detection signals from the position sensor 336 and the arm position sensor are input to the control unit 28, and the control unit 28 can recognize the open / closed state of the shutter 41 and the position of the arm 333 from these detection signals.
That is, the control unit 28 monitors the detection signals from the position sensor 336 and the arm position sensor, controls the rotation of the motor 331, and sets the position of the arm 333 to the open position or the closed position corresponding to the open / close state of the shutter 41. By doing so, the shutter 41 can be opened or closed (see FIG. 6).

As shown in FIG. 5, the shutter unit 4 includes a main body 40 formed in a box shape and a shutter 41 that is a movable body, and is configured such that the input port 41 a is opened and closed by sliding the shutter 41. Has been.
The insertion port 41 a communicates with a communication port 51 formed on the bottom surface of the hopper 5 and communicates with a dropping port (not shown) through which game balls flow out to the lane portion 31. That is, as shown in FIG. 5B, the shutter unit 4 operates so as to guide the game ball flowing in from the direction A to the lane unit 31 when the shutter 41 is in the open state. As shown, when the shutter 41 is in the closed state, the shutter 41 operates to prevent communication between the communication port 51 and the drop port.

Further, the shutter portion 4 is provided with an engagement recess 411, a guide pin 412, a guide rail 413, a light shielding plate 414, a rack 415a, a pinion 415b, a spring 416, a protruding plate 417, a lock pin 418, and the like.
The engagement concave portion 411 is a portion that is engaged with the engagement convex portion 334 and is formed as a part of the shutter 41.
An engagement hole is opened in the engagement recess 411, and the engagement protrusion 334 is inserted into the engagement hole, whereby the shutter 41 is opened and closed following the operation of the engagement protrusion 334.
That is, the shutter 41 can be opened and closed by attaching the shutter unit 4 to the counting unit 3 so that the engagement convex portion 334 is inserted into the engagement hole.
The engaging recess 411 has a tapered surface. The tapered surface is an inclined surface inclined upward so as to avoid contact with the engaging convex portion 334 during engagement. Yes. Thereby, the engaging convex part 334 is smoothly inserted from the bottom face of the engaging concave part 411 (see FIG. 7).

The guide pin 412 is formed as a part of the shutter 41 and is loosely fitted to a guide rail 413 formed on the side surface of the main body 40 to restrict the operation direction of the shutter 41 in the opening / closing direction and the horizontal direction.
The light shielding plate 414 is a plate-like member that is formed as a part of the shutter 41 and makes the position sensor 336 light shielding or transmitting light when the shutter 41 is in an open state or a closed state.
The rack 415a and the pinion 415b are mechanical parts that operate by meshing with each other. The rack 415a is provided on the shutter 41 side, and the pinion 415b is provided on the main body 40 side. It is comprised so that it may do.
The pinion 415b of the present embodiment is composed of a rotary damper that decelerates rotation, and acts to relieve the urging force by the spring 416.

The spring 416 is an example of an urging unit, is attached to each of the shutter 41 and the main body 40, and acts to urge the shutter 41 to a closed state (initial position).
Thereby, the shutter 41 maintains a closed state in a state where the engagement concave portion 411 is not engaged with the engagement convex portion 334, that is, in a state where no external force is applied.
The protruding plate 417 is a plate-like member that protrudes obliquely downward toward the insertion port 41a, and prevents the ball biting that occurs between the shutter 41 and the peripheral edge of the main body 40 when the shutter 41 is closed.
The lock pin 418 is a resin-made locking tool that can be inserted into the pin hole 30 provided in the counting unit 3, and is locked / unlocked by a push / pull operation. Can be attached and detached freely

As described above, the shutter portion 4 is configured to ensure the opening / closing operation of the shutter 41 by engaging the engaging concave portion 411 with the engaging convex portion 334 without providing an electrical component. In other words, the lock of the lock pin 418 is released and the engagement between the engagement recess 411 and the engagement protrusion 334 is released without removing the harness or the connector, and the shutter unit 4 and the shutter drive are released. The part 33 is separated.
Further, since the shutter driving unit 33 is provided in the counting unit 3, the shutter unit 4 and the counting unit 3 are simultaneously separated by separating the shutter unit 4 and the shutter driving unit 33.

Further, as described above, the engaging convex portion 334 and the engaging concave portion 411 are configured such that the engaging convex portion 334 is inserted from below the engaging concave portion 411 and engaged therewith.
Then, since the shutter portion 4 having the engagement concave portion 411 is disposed above the counting portion 3 having the engagement convex portion 334, these engagements are released simply by lifting the shutter portion 4. The shutter unit 4 can be detached from the counting unit 3 without changing the engaged state.

Furthermore, when the shutter unit 4 is mounted on the counting unit 3, the engagement state between the engaging convex portion 334 and the engaging concave portion 411 can be achieved simply by locking the lock pin 418 and attaching the shutter unit 4 to the counting unit 3. These can be automatically engaged without being attached.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, first, the shutter unit 4 is placed on the counting unit 3 so that the lock pin 418 is inserted into the pin hole 30, the lock pin 418 is locked, and the shutter unit 4 is moved. It fixes to the counting part 3 so that rocking is impossible. Since the shutter 41 is biased by the spring 416 and is in the closed state (initial position), the control unit 28 controls the rotation of the motor 331 while monitoring the arm position sensor, and rotates the arm 333 in the B direction. And move it to the closed position (initial position). As a result, the engaging convex portion 334 reaches the engaging hole and is inserted while being in sliding contact with the bottom surface of the engaging concave portion 411. At this time, since the engaging concave portion 411 has a tapered surface inclined upward, the engaging convex portion 334 is smoothly inserted into the engaging hole.

In this way, when the shutter unit 4 is mounted on the counting unit 3, the engaging convex portion 334 and the engaging concave portion 411 are automatically engaged, so that the workability during maintenance can be improved.
In order to ensure the engagement between the engaging convex portion 334 and the engaging concave portion 411, the engaging convex portion 334 is biased upward, or the engaging concave portion 411 is biased downward. It is preferable to provide a biasing means such as a spring.

The control for engaging the engaging convex portion 334 and the engaging concave portion 411 is performed based on an initialization process executed by the control unit 28 when the counter 1 is powered on. Hereinafter, the initialization process will be described with reference to FIG.
When the power source is turned on, the control unit 28 checks the potential applied to the power source unit 25a and determines whether the power source is normal (S1).
When it is determined that the power supply is normal (S1-Yes), initial values are set in the electronic components such as RAM, the system is activated (S2), and charging of the backup power supply unit 25b is started (S3).
Subsequently, the control unit 28 determines whether or not the shutter 41 and the arm 333 are in the closed position (closed state) based on the detection signals from the position sensor 336 and the arm position sensor (S4).
When it is determined that it is in the closed position (S4-Yes), the arm 333 is rotated to the open position assuming that the engaging convex portion 334 and the engaging concave portion 411 are already engaged (S6).
On the other hand, when it is determined that the position is not the closed position (S4-No), the arm 333 is temporarily rotated to the closed position (S5), and the engagement concave portion 411 and the engagement convex portion 334 are engaged, and then the arm 333 is moved. Rotate to the open position (S6).

Next, the control unit 28 determines the open / close state of the shutter 41 based on the detection signal from the position sensor 336 (S7), and determines that the shutter 41 is in the open position (open state) (S7-Yes). Then, it is determined that the engagement concave portion 411 and the engagement convex portion 334 are engaged (determination of establishment of engagement), waits in that state (S8), and the process is terminated. In the subsequent processing, the arm 333 is rotated to the closed position, and the shutter 41 is closed.
On the other hand, when it is determined that the shutter 41 is in the closed position (closed state) (S7-No), it is determined that the engagement convex portion 334 and the engagement concave portion 411 are not engaged (the engagement is not established). (Determination), a retry operation is performed to return to the operation of rotating the arm 333 to the closed position (S5) again (S9). Then, after the retry operation, when it is determined that the shutter 41 is in the closed position (closed state) (S9-Yes), there is a problem that the engagement convex portion 334 and the engagement concave portion 411 are not engaged for some reason. (Engagement failure determination), the alarm unit 27 is driven to output an error warning indicating engagement failure (S10), and the process is terminated.
By performing such an initialization process, the engagement protrusion 334 and the engagement recess 411 can be reliably engaged each time the power is turned on. Thereby, even if the store clerk of a game hall forgets to engage the engaging convex part 334 and the engaging concave part 411 at the time of maintenance, such as cleaning work, it can be engaged automatically.
In addition, since it is determined whether the engagement is established or not, erroneous attachment of the shutter unit 4 to the counting unit 3 can be easily found.

Next, the counting operation of the counting device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described based on the counting process executed by the control unit 28 shown in FIG.
Prior to opening the shutter 41, the control unit 28 monitors the insertion of the store clerk card into the card reader unit 24 (S20). When inserted (S20-Yes), the clerk ID is read from this clerk card (S21) and collated with the ID information stored in the storage unit 26 (S22). If the clerk ID and the ID information do not match, the process ends (S22-No), and if they match (S22-Yes), the authentication is OK, the motor 331 is rotated, and the shutter 41 is opened (opened). State) (S23).
Subsequently, when a game ball is thrown into the hopper 5 by the store clerk, the control unit 28 counts the number of detection signals input from the counting unit 3 as the number of game balls thrown (S24), The numerical value is displayed on the display unit 22 (S25).
Next, the control unit 28 monitors the input from the issue button 21a by the operation (S26), and when there is an operation (S26-Yes), the control unit 28 controls the receipt issue unit 21 to issue a receipt on which the count value is printed. Then (S27), the motor 331 is further rotated to close (close) the shutter 41 (S28), and the process is terminated.

  As described above, according to the counting device 1 according to the present embodiment, the shutter unit 4 can be removed without removing the wiring and the connector, and the workability during maintenance such as the cleaning operation for the lane unit 31 can be performed. Can be improved.

As described above, in the game medium counting device of the present invention, the preferred embodiment has been shown and described. However, the game medium counting device according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various in the scope of the present invention. Needless to say, it is possible to implement this change.
For example, in the present embodiment, the urging means is provided in the shutter 41 and urged to the initial position (closed state), but the urging means may not be provided. In this case, when the shutter unit 4 is mounted on the counting unit 3, it is sufficient to mount the shutter 41 in the closed state.
Further, in the present embodiment, the closed state of the shutter is the initial position, but the open state can also be the initial position.
In this embodiment, the counting object is a game ball, but the counting object may be a medal.

  The present invention can be applied to a game medium counting device that counts game media such as game balls and medals.

1 Counting device (game media counting device)
2 Device body 3 Counting section 31 Lane section (guidance path)
32 Counting sensor unit (counting means)
33 Shutter drive unit (drive means)
336 Position sensor (opening / closing operation detecting means)
333 Arm (movable piece)
4 Shutter part 41 Shutter 411 Engaging recess (engaging part)
41a Input port 416 Spring (biasing means)
5 Hopper

Claims (6)

A slot that allows the inserted game medium to flow into the machine, a shutter that is driven by a predetermined driving means to open and close the slot, and a game medium that flows from the slot into the predetermined slot. A game medium counting device comprising a guide path for guiding to the counting means,
A game medium counting device characterized in that the shutter and the guide path can be separated, and the shutter and the driving means can be separated.   The game medium counting device according to claim 1, wherein the driving means is provided on the guide path side. The driving means includes a movable piece that causes the shutter to open and close,
The shutter includes an engaging portion that engages with the movable piece,
The game medium counting device according to claim 1, wherein the driving means moves the movable piece to a predetermined initial position to engage the engaging portion.   4. The game medium counting device according to claim 3, wherein the shutter includes biasing means for biasing the opening / closing position to the initial position.   The game medium counting device according to claim 3, wherein the engaging portion is formed with a tapered surface that avoids contact with the movable piece during engagement. Comprising an opening / closing operation detecting means for detecting an opening / closing operation of the shutter;
When the driving means moves the movable piece to the initial position and then moves the movable piece to a position different from the initial position, the opening / closing operation detecting means does not detect the opening / closing operation of the shutter. The game medium counting device according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein it is determined that the combination is not established.

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