JP2017127463A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine capable of directly transmitting vibration to a player.SOLUTION: A presentation button 30 includes: a button body 36 on which front face an operation part 46 to be operated by a player is formed; an exterior body 32 surrounding the lateral sides of the button body; and a support member 38 disposed behind the button body and, in cooperation with the exterior body 32, supporting the button body 36 so that the button body can freely move in a front-back direction. At a lower part of the button body 36, an eccentric motor 60 is fixed. The button body 36 includes a front cover and a rear cover, and the eccentric motor 60 is sandwiched between the front cover and the rear cover.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine such as a slot machine installed in a game hall such as a pachinko parlor.

  Slot machines are widely known as gaming machines installed in amusement halls such as pachinko parlors. The slot machine is provided with various operation buttons that are operated in accordance with the execution and progress of the game or the execution and progress of the production.

  As the operation button, a button main body having an operation unit operated by a player is supported by an exterior body or a support member so as to be movable. Patent Document 1 listed below describes a configuration for vibrating an operation button. In the following Patent Document 1, in an operation button including a button body having an operation unit operated by a player and a support member that movably supports the button body, a configuration that vibrates a vibrating body fixed to the support member It is said. By using the configuration in which the operation button is vibrated in this way, for example, it is possible to produce an effect of improving the player's expectation by vibrating the operation button in order to suggest a shift to an advantageous gaming state.

JP2015-144931A

  However, the configuration for vibrating the support member like a conventional operation button is a configuration in which the part touched by the player, that is, the button body does not vibrate, and the vibration of the support member is transmitted to the button body. There is a problem that vibration is difficult to be transmitted to the player and the effect of vibration cannot be fully exhibited.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine that can directly transmit vibration to a player and that can effectively exhibit the effect of vibration.

  In order to achieve the above object, a gaming machine according to the present invention includes a button body provided with an operation unit on a front surface, a support member that supports the button body movably on the front side and the back side, and the button body. And a vibrating body that vibrates the button body.

  In the present invention, since the vibrating body is fixed to the button body provided with the operation unit operated by the player, the vibration can be directly transmitted to the player, and the effect of the vibration can be exhibited more effectively.

  In addition, the gaming machine has a structure in which components such as a sensor board on which a sensor for detecting operation of the operation button is mounted and a light source board on which a light source for illuminating the operation button is mounted are attached to a support member. However, when the support member is vibrated in such a configuration, the vibration is directly transmitted to the component, and there is a problem that the durability is lowered, but the present invention fixes the vibrating body to the button body. Therefore, the vibration is not directly transmitted to the component attached to the support member, and the durability of the component can be improved.

It is an external view of a slot machine. It is an external view of a production button. It is an exploded view of a production button. It is a conceptual sectional view of a production button. FIG. 4 is an exploded view of an effect button showing a state where the button body is further disassembled from FIG. 3.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the slot machine (game machine) 10 includes a storage box 11 and a front door 12, and a gaming machine main body is constituted by these. The storage box 11 stores a reel unit in which a plurality of reels are unitized, a hopper device for paying out medals, and the like. The front door 12 is divided into an upper door 12a and a lower door 12b. The upper door 12a and the lower door 12b are pivotally attached to the storage box 11 and supported so as to be freely opened and closed.

  The upper door 12a is provided with a liquid crystal display 15 for displaying various images and a transparent window 16 for visually recognizing the reel on the front surface. A plurality of types of symbols are arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the reel. When the reel is stopped, three symbols are displayed for each reel through the transparent window 16.

  The lower door 12b has a medal slot 22 for inserting medals, a bet button 23 that is operated when betting credited medals, a start lever 24 that is operated when starting a game, and a rotating reel. Stop buttons 26a to 26c for stopping, a medal tray 28 for receiving medals paid out from the hopper device, and a clearing button 29 for clearing credited medals are provided.

  In the slot machine 10, the start lever 24 is activated when a medal is betted by inserting a medal into the medal insertion slot 22 or by operating the bet button 23, and the game starts when the activated start lever 24 is operated. Is done. When the game is started, the winning combination lottery is executed to determine one of a plurality of types of winning combinations or lose, and the reel starts to rotate. The operation of the stop buttons 26a to 26c is activated when the rotation speed of the reel reaches a constant speed and becomes a steady rotation, and when the activated stop buttons 26a to 26c are operated, the reel corresponding to the operated stop button is stopped. Can be made. When all the reels are stopped and the symbol combination corresponding to the winning combination determined in the winning combination lottery is displayed, the winning combination is won, and the process corresponding to the winning winning combination (winning process) Is executed.

  Further, the slot machine 10 is provided with an effect button (operation button) 30 on the upper door 12a. The production button 30 is operated by the player in the process of producing a game. For example, in the production in which a privilege is given when a battle with an enemy character is won, there is a chance to attack the enemy character. When it arrives, a message prompting the user to press the effect button 30 is displayed on the liquid crystal display 15. Then, when the effect button 30 is operated in accordance with the message, an effect of attacking the enemy character is performed.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the effect button 30 includes an exterior body 32 constituting an exterior, a button body 36 having an operation unit 34 operated by a player, and a button body 36 in cooperation with the exterior body 32. And a sensor board 42 mounted with a sensor (operation detection sensor) 40 for detecting a pressing operation (pressing operation) of the button body 36. Is unitized.

  The exterior body 32 is attached to the support member 38 from the front side so that the button body 36 is sandwiched between the exterior body 32 and the support member 38. An opening 44 is formed in the front surface of the exterior body 32, and when the exterior body 32 is attached to the support member 38, the operation unit 34 is exposed from the opening 44. The exterior body 32 has a function of regulating the movement of the button body 36 in the vertical and horizontal directions by covering the outer periphery of the button body 36. In addition, the exterior body 32 has a function of preventing the button body 36 from dropping forward by suppressing the button body 36 (around the operation unit 34) from the front side by the frame portion of the opening 44. . Furthermore, as described above, the exterior body 32 also has a function of supporting the button main body 36 so as to be movable back and forth in cooperation with the support member 38 (that is, the exterior body 32 is used as the support member of the present invention. Also works).

  The button body 36 is formed in a hollow box shape having a front cover 46 and a rear cover 48, and the front surface of the front cover 46 serves as the operation unit 34. The button main body 36 is urged forward (first direction) by a spring 50 disposed between the support member 38 and is not pressed by the player, as shown in FIG. 4 (A). And is pushed toward the rear (second direction) against the urging force of the spring 50 to move to the pushing position shown in FIG.

  Further, the button main body 36 is provided with a protrusion 52 (see FIG. 4) extending rearward on the back surface of the rear cover 48, and the detection that the button main body 36 is pressed is detected by the protrusion 52. It is done using. The protrusion 52 can be provided at an arbitrary position on the back surface of the rear cover 48. In this embodiment, the protrusion 52 is provided at the center of the rear surface of the rear cover 48, so that stable pressing operation can be detected. (See FIG. 5).

  That is, when only one of the four corners of the operation unit 34 is pressed, the button body 36 may be inclined obliquely. For this reason, if the projection is provided on the rear end of the rear cover 48 (a position that is biased to either the top, bottom, left, or right), a sufficient amount of pressure is pressed depending on the positional relationship between the pressed position and the position of the projection. In spite of not being performed, it is detected that the pressing operation has been performed. On the other hand, there is a problem that the pressing operation is not detected although a sufficient amount of pressing has been performed. In the slot machine 10, by providing the protrusion 52 at the center of the back surface of the rear cover 48, such a problem can be prevented and stable detection of the pressing operation can be performed.

  In particular, as will be described later, in the slot machine 10, since the button body 36 is configured to vibrate, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection due to the vibration (detection of a pressing operation despite no pressing operation). Therefore, it is effective to provide the protrusion 52 at the center of the back surface of the rear cover 48 so that the pressing operation can be stably detected.

  The support member 38 is formed in a substantially plate shape, the button body 36 is attached to the front side, and the exterior body 32 is attached so as to cover the button body 36. A sensor substrate 42 is attached to the back side of the button body 36. The sensor substrate 42 is mounted with the sensor 40 facing the front side. A through hole 54 is provided in the support member 38. The through hole 54 is provided in the movement path of the protrusion 52 that moves together with the button body 36 in accordance with the operation of the button body 36, and when the button body 36 and the sensor substrate 42 are attached to the support member 38, The protrusion 52 and the sensor 40 of the sensor substrate 42 are disposed at positions facing each other through the through hole 54. Thus, by providing the through hole 54 in the movement path of the protrusion 52, the movement path of the protrusion 52 is secured, and the position of the protrusion 52 (that is, the position of the button body 36) can be detected by the sensor 49. .

  The sensor substrate 42 is attached to the support member 38 so that the front surface on which the sensor 40 is disposed as described above faces the back surface of the support member 38. As the sensor 40, for example, an optical sensor including a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit is used. In a state where the button main body 36 is held at the protruding position, the sensor 40 becomes “ON” when the infrared light from the light emitting portion reaches the light receiving portion without being blocked by the protrusion 52 (FIG. 4A). When the button main body 36 is moved to the pressed position, the infrared light from the light emitting portion is blocked by the protrusion 52 and does not reach the light receiving portion, and is turned “OFF” (see FIG. 4B).

  A connector 56 is provided on the back surface of the sensor substrate 42, and power is supplied to the sensor 40 and signals are transmitted to and received from the sensor 40 via the connector 56. In addition to the connectors 56, electrical components necessary for drive control of the sensor 40 such as a chip (not shown) are mounted on the front and back surfaces of the sensor substrate 42.

  As described above, in the slot machine 10, the sensor board 42 is disposed on the surface (rear surface) opposite to the surface (front surface) of the support member 38 on which the button body 36 is disposed. Direction length). That is, since the sensor 40 mounted on the sensor substrate 42 can be disposed within the thickness range of the support member 38 (see FIG. 4), the sensor substrate 42 is disposed on the front surface of the support member 38 and further in front thereof. The thickness can be reduced as compared with the case where the button body 36 is disposed.

  Moreover, in the slot machine 10, since both surfaces of the sensor substrate 42 can be effectively used, such as the sensor 40 disposed on the front surface of the sensor substrate 42 and the connector 56 disposed on the rear surface, space efficiency can be improved and the size can be reduced. . Further, in the slot machine 10, when performing maintenance of the sensor substrate 42 such as replacement of the sensor 40 and the connector 56, only the sensor substrate 42 can be detached from the effect button 30, so that maintainability is high.

  As described above, in the slot machine 10, the sensor substrate 42 is disposed on the surface (back surface) opposite to the surface (front surface) on which the button body 36 is disposed in the support member 38. In addition to various effects, by devising the configuration of the button body 36, effects other than those described above can be obtained. As such a contrivance, there are two configurations: a configuration that vibrates the button body 36 and a configuration that improves the durability of the members disposed in the button body 36. In the following, these configurations will be described in order. explain.

  First, a configuration for vibrating the button body 36 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 5, an eccentric motor 60 is provided below the button body 36. In the eccentric motor 60, an eccentric weight 66 that is eccentric with respect to the rotary shaft 64 is attached to the rotary shaft 64 of the motor 62. When the motor 62 rotates, vibration is generated by the action of the eccentric weight 66. . The eccentric motor 60 is attached to the button body 36 so as to be sandwiched between the lower part of the front cover 46 and the lower part of the rear cover 48, and vibrates the button body 36 as the motor 62 rotates.

  Thus, in the slot machine 10, the button main body 36 provided with the operation unit 34 operated by the player is configured to vibrate directly. For this reason, for example, the vibration can be directly transmitted to the player, compared with the method of vibrating the effect button 30 as a whole by attaching the eccentric motor 60 to the exterior body 32 or the support member 38, and a more effective effect is achieved. be able to.

  In addition, since the timing which vibrates the button main body 36 can be set freely, for example, in the case where it is determined that the privilege is granted, the probability of occurrence of vibration is made higher than the case where the privilege is not determined. Thus, a sense of expectation that a privilege is given by the occurrence of vibration may be improved.

  Further, for example, in the configuration in which the button body 36 is vibrated when the grant of the privilege is confirmed, the button body 36 may be vibrated when the grant of the privilege (that is, the button body 36 is vibrated) is confirmed. The button main body 36 may not be vibrated when the provision of the privilege is confirmed, but the button main body 36 may be vibrated when the provision of the privilege is confirmed and the button main body 36 moves to the push-in position (button main body 36). The button body 36 may be vibrated before the button is operated, or the button body 36 may be vibrated only when the button body 36 is operated.

  Next, a configuration for improving the durability of the members disposed in the button body 36 will be described.

  4 and 5, a space is formed in the button body 36 between the front cover 46 and the rear cover 48, and the illumination board 70 is disposed in this space. A plurality of LEDs (light sources) 72 are mounted on the front surface of the illuminator plate 70, and the operation unit 34 (front cover 46) is illuminated from behind by the LEDs 72.

  The rear cover 48 is provided with a through hole 74. The front surface of the support member 38 penetrates through the through hole 74 and enters the inside of the button main body 36 (in the space formed between the front cover 46 and the rear cover 48. The support column 76 is set up to reach (). The illuminator plate 70 is fixed to the tip of the support column 76 by, for example, screwing. Thus, since the illuminator plate 70 is supported independently of the button body 36 (the front cover 46 and the rear cover 48), the position remains even if the button body 36 moves to the protruding position or the pushing position. It does not change. In the slot machine 10, the stroke amount of the button body 36 is taken into consideration so that the illuminator plate 70 does not contact the front cover 46 and the rear cover 48 even when the button body 36 moves to the protruding position or the pushed-in position. Thus, the dimensions of each part are determined.

  As described above, the illuminator plate 70 is supported independently of the button main body 36, and the position does not change even when the button main body 36 moves to the protruding position or the pushed-in position, and the front cover 46. Nor the rear cover 48. For this reason, compared with the case where the illuminator plate 70 is fixed to the button main body 36, the impact when the operation unit 34 is operated is not received, and the durability of the illuminator plate 70 can be improved.

  In particular, in the configuration in which the button body 36 vibrates like the slot machine 10, if the illuminator plate 70 is fixed to the button body 36, the durability of the illuminator plate 70 is deteriorated due to the vibration of the button body 36. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the influence of the vibration of the button body 36 from affecting the illuminator plate 70 by adopting a configuration in which the illuminator plate 70 is supported independently of the button body 36 as in the present embodiment. This is effective in improving the durability of the illuminator plate 70.

  In the present embodiment, the illuminator plate 70 is provided inside the button main body 36 as a member that is supported independently of the button main body 36, and the example of improving the durability of the illuminator plate 70 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a member other than the illuminator plate 70 is arranged inside the button main body 36 and is supported independently of the button main body 36, so that this member (illuminator plate 70) can be supported. The durability of other members may be improved.

  The detailed configuration of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the main feature is that “the protrusion 52 for detecting the operation of the operation unit 34 is arranged at a position corresponding to the center of the operation unit 34”, “on one surface of the support member 38. The button body 36 is disposed, the sensor substrate 42 is disposed on the other surface, the button body 36 is configured to vibrate, the members disposed inside the button body 36 are defined as the button body 36. Although an example having all four features such as “being configured to be independently supported” has been described, a configuration having only one of these features may be employed. Of course, any two or three of these features may be combined.

  Further, the example in which the operation button having one to four features described above is an effect button, that is, an example in which the present invention is applied to the effect button has been described. The present invention may be applied. Further, for example, the present invention may be applied to a plurality of operation buttons, such as applying the present invention to an effect button and a bet button. Of course, each of the plurality of operation buttons has an effect button as an operation button to which all of the above-described four characteristics are applied, and a bet button as an operation button to which two of the above-described four characteristics are applied. Features may be different.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a slot machine as a gaming machine has been described. However, the present invention may be applied to gaming machines other than slot machines, such as pachinko machines.

10 Slot machines (gaming machines)
12 Front door 24 Start lever 26a-26c Stop button 30 Production button (operation button)
32 Exterior body (support member)
34 Operation section 36 Button body 38 Support member 40 Sensor (operation detection sensor)
42 Sensor board 46 Front cover 48 Rear cover 52 Protrusion 54, 74 Through hole 60 Eccentric motor 70 Illuminator plate 72 LED (light source)
76 prop

Claims (1)

A button body with an operation unit on the front,
A support member that movably supports the button body on the front side and the back side;
A vibration body provided in the button body and vibrating the button body;
A gaming machine characterized by comprising

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