JP2691676B2 - game machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game machine having a pachinko ball as a game medium and having a bowl for storing the pachinko ball paid out to the player from the machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a player finishes a game, he or she takes a pachinko ball in a bowl of a game machine into a ball box and then carries it to a pachinko ball counting device at a nearest place. However, there is a technique described in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 4-79971 as a technique for saving the trouble of the player.

That is, a small ball counting device is installed under the bowl of each pachinko machine in the game machine island. In detail, the bowls are fixed to the front side of each pachinko machine, and the top plate of the island located below each bowl,
A ball counting device is installed. This ball counting device was arranged so as to appear outside the pachinko machine. The ball outlet of the ball tray and the ball counting device were connected by a path separately arranged between them, which is called a chute or bellows, for aligning the balls in a line. Further, a shutter member that can be opened and closed is provided at the ball outlet of the bowl.

[0004]

However, according to the conventional technique as described above, the pachinko machine is fixedly provided with the ball tray, and the ball counter is attached to the top plate portion of the island separately from the ball tray.
Moreover, since it is necessary to dispose a chute and bellows separately between the bowl and the ball counting device, the number of assembling steps increases,
There was a problem that it became a factor of cost increase.

In addition, when balls are counted by a ball counting device, balls are aligned in a row by a chute or the like and fed into the ball counting device one by one, so that a large number of balls cannot be counted quickly. was there.

Further, since the ball counting device is attached to the top plate portion of the island and appears outside the pachinko machine or the like, the sensor portion of the ball counting device is easily tampered with from the outside, which may lead to fraud. . Further, there is a possibility of causing a trouble such as a finger being caught by a shutter member that opens and closes the ball outlet of the bowl, which is a safety problem.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to the problems of the prior art as described above. The number of assembling steps can be reduced to achieve cost reduction, and the number of balls held can be counted quickly and efficiently. It is an object of the present invention to provide a game machine that is capable of preventing fraud and improving safety.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems The gist of the present invention for achieving the above object is to: 1 use a pachinko ball as a game medium and store a pachinko ball paid out to a player from inside the machine; In a game machine (10) having a bowl (21) attached to the outer wall of the machine, an outlet (23) for discharging a pachinko ball downward is opened in an inclined bottom portion (22) of the bowl (21), A ball holding means (30) for counting the pachinko balls discharged from the outlet (21) is provided below the bottom portion (22) of the bowl (21).
The counting unit (20) is integrally provided so as not to be visible , and the ball counting means (30) is provided with the outlet (23).
A stage (24) arranged so as to be located immediately below
And the start end is tilted downward to the stage (24).
Of the connected introduction passage (32) and the introduction passage (32)
A plurality of alignment rails (33) arranged side by side on the inside and each alignment rail
Counting sensor provided at each end of the rail (33)
(35, 36), and the outlet (23) is
The driving means slides the bottom part (22) of the bowl to
Open and close between the outlet (23) and the ball counting means (30)
The game machine is characterized by having a shutter member (25) .

[0009]

[0010]

[0011]

[0012]

[0013]

[Function] The pachinko balls paid out to the player from the machine by a prize or the like are introduced into the bowl (21) and stored in a fixed amount. The pachinko balls in the bowl (21) are discharged downward from the outflow port (23) opened in the bottom (22) of the bowl (21) as needed, and are directly integrated under the bowl (21). It is counted by the ball holding means (30) provided specially. Thereby, the player does not need to take out the pachinko balls from the ball tray (21) and carry them to the ball counting device at another place.

As described above, since the bowl plate (21) and the ball holding means (30) are integrally provided to form one counting unit (20), it is fixed to the game machine (10). It is not necessary to attach a ball counting device to the island separately from the ball tray (21), and it is not necessary to separately arrange a chute or bellows between the ball tray (21) and the ball counting device. It is sufficient to mount the counting unit (20) including the dish (21) and the ball counting means (30), and the number of assembling steps can be reduced significantly. In addition, ball balls can be counted quickly and efficiently by arranging the pachinko balls on the ball tray (21) in a line and eliminating the chute or the like for feeding one by one.

Since the ball holding means (30) constituting the counting unit (20) is arranged below the bottom of the bowl (21) , the ball holding means (30) is a game. Machine (1
It will not be visible from outside 0). Therefore, the player cannot manipulate or manipulate the ball counting means (30) from the outside, thereby preventing fraud.

The counting unit (20) is provided with a dish (2
In the case of having a shutter member (25) that opens and closes between the outlet (23) of 1) and the ball counting means (30), the pachinko from the outlet (23) only when the shutter member (25) is open. Balls are introduced into the ball counting means (30). Therefore, by opening and closing the shutter member (25), the dish (21)
The amount of pachinko balls stored therein and the time when the pachinko balls are sent to the ball holding means (30) can be adjusted arbitrarily.

[0017]

The game machine (10) has a ball holding display means (50).
In the case of having a ball number, the ball number counted by the ball counting means (30) is visually displayed on the outside (for example,
Digital display etc.). In addition, recording medium issuing means (6
0), when the player finishes the game,
The number of dice balls displayed on the dice display means (50) by the recording medium issuing means (60) is recorded on a recording medium such as a card or a receipt, and the recording medium is paid out to the player.
Thereby, the player does not need to carry around the pachinko ball.

[0019]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the game machine 10 according to the present embodiment is a pachinko ball type slot machine using pachinko balls as a game medium. The game surface portion 11 of the machine body is provided with a liquid crystal screen 11a for displaying a large number of various patterns. LCD screen 11
a is changed by pressing the starting lever 12, and each liquid crystal screen 11a is set so that it can be stopped individually by the corresponding screen stop switch 13.

A control means 80 is built in the machine body.
The control means 80 comprises an interface connected to a hall computer for centrally managing the game machines 10 on the gaming machine island and the ball lending machine 70, and a micro computer composed of a CPU, a RAM, a ROM and the like. If the various patterns of the liquid crystal screen 11a stopped by the screen stop switch 13 form a predetermined combination on a certain number of hit lines according to a predetermined rule, the control means 80 will give a prize according to the payout rate. It is set to command payout.

A ball discharge port 16 for discharging balls from the inside of the machine to the outside is provided at one end side of the machine body below the game surface portion 11, while other machine bodies slightly below the ball discharge port 16 are provided. On the end side, a ball inlet 17 is provided for taking in the balls to be used in the game. In addition, ball entrance 17
A ball taking-in switch 14 for taking a ball into the machine from the ball taking-in port 17 is provided above the.

On the lower side of the game surface portion 11, a bowl 21 for storing the pachinko balls paid out to the player from the ball intake 17 and a ball counting unit provided integrally therebelow. A counting unit 20 consisting of means 30 is mounted. More specifically, the ball counting means 30 constituting the counting unit 20 is attached to the bottom portion 22 of the bowl 21 so as not to be located directly below the bottom portion 22 but to be located below and rearward thereof. The ball tray 21 that constitutes the upper part of the counting unit 20 is fixed at a position that includes the ball discharge port 16 and the ball intake port 17 that are opened in the machine body.
The ball counting means 30 that constitutes the lower part of 0 is the bottom of the bowl 21.
It is arranged so as to conceal below .

The ball tray 21 extends from the upstream side located on the side of the ball discharge port 16 to the downstream side located on the side of the ball intake port 17 and the bottom portion 2
2 is formed to be slightly inclined downward. An outlet 23 for discharging the pachinko balls downward is provided in the bottom portion 22 on the downstream side. The outlet 23 opens toward a stage 24 that can store a certain amount of pachinko balls.

As shown in FIG. 2, the holding ball counting means 30 constituting the lower part of the counting unit 20 has an introduction path 32 whose starting end is connected to a stage 24 for receiving a pachinko ball from an outlet 23, and this introduction path 32. , Which are arranged side by side in four rows in a row, and counting sensors 35 and 36 which are respectively provided on the terminal ends of the alignment rails 33.

The introduction path 32 includes four alignment rails 33, 33 ... Arranged side by side in four rows and each alignment rail 33.
Partitioning guides 34, 34 ... Each of the alignment rails 33, 33 ... Is arranged so as to be slanted downward from the starting end side to the terminating side so that the pachinko balls naturally flow down. Each alignment rail 33, 33 ...
Is to make the balls flowing from the stage 24 flow in a state of being aligned in a line.

As shown in FIG. 3, the counting sensors 35 and 36 corresponding to the respective alignment rails 33 are provided on the terminal side of the introduction path 32.
Is provided. The counting sensors 35 and 36 include the light receiving unit 3
5 and a light emitting section 36. The counting sensors 35 and 36 are connected to output a counting signal to the control means 80.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a shutter member 25 is provided between the stage 24 and the introduction path 32 to open and close the passage of the balls therebetween. As shown in FIG. 4, the shutter member 25 can be arbitrarily displaced between a closed state and an open state by a rotary solenoid 40 that is a driving unit, and when the shutter member 25 is in the closed state, the pachinko ball in the stage 24 holds the ball. It serves to prevent movement to the counting means 30. The shutter member 25 is normally controlled to be in the closed state.

More specifically, the shutter member 25
Is a holding bracket fixed to the starting end side of the introduction path 32.
It is held by 38 so as to be slidable (openable and closable) in the vertical direction, and a play groove 25a is formed at the base end side of the shutter member 25. In the play groove 25a, a pin portion 42 protruding from the eccentric portion of the rotary plate 41 of the rotary solenoid 40 is provided.
, And the pin portion 42 has a holding bracket.
Guide groove 4 that is formed in 38 and extends in an up-and-down arc shape
It is movably inserted in 3. In the present embodiment, the rotary solenoid 40 is used as the drive means for the shutter member 25, but the drive means is not limited to this, and may be a simple solenoid or motor, for example.

As shown in FIG. 1, a ball holding display means 50 is provided at the lower end of the game surface portion 11 of the game machine 10. When the ball counting means 30 counts the balls, the ball holding display means 50 allows the number of balls held by the ball counting means 30 to be visually observed to the outside by a command from the control means 80 based on the count signal. Is to be displayed. The ball holding display means 50 is constituted by a 7-segment LED or the like so as to digitally display the ball holding number, and is connected to the control means 80.

A ball lending machine 70 is provided side by side on the side of the game machine 10. The front surface of the ball lending machine 70 is provided with a bill insertion slot 71 and a coin insertion slot 72 through which a player inserts a bill. A recording medium issuing means 60 is provided below the ball lending machine 70. Recording medium issuing means 60
Is connected to the control means 80, and when the player presses the settlement switch 18 to end the game, the control means 80
The number of dice balls displayed on the dice display means 50 is recorded in a recording medium, and the recording medium is paid out to the player from the recording medium entrance 61.

The recording medium processed by the recording medium issuing means 60 is a receipt capable of printing the number of balls held, a card which is magnetically recordable, or capable of writing the number of balls held at a certain temperature, and another. It is composed of a recycle card that can erase the number of balls written at the temperature, and a card that is both magnetic and recyclable.

Next, the operation will be described. The pachinko balls paid out to the game player from the inside of the machine by a prize or the like are introduced from the ball discharge port 16 into the bowl 21 of the counting unit 20. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, since the shutter member 25 provided between the stage 24 and the introduction path 32 in the machine is in the closed state, the balls do not move to the ball holding means 30 and therefore the pachinko balls Are stored in the stage 24 and the bowl 21.

When the player finishes the game, the bowl 21
When the settlement switch 18 is pressed when the balls remain inside, the shutter member 25 is displaced from the closed state to the open state by the rotary solenoid 40 that is the drive means based on a command from the control means 80. As a result, the balls in the ball plate 21 and the stage 24 move to the ball counting means 30.

The balls in the stage 24 flow into the alignment rails 33, 33 ... Arranged in parallel in four horizontal rows from the start end to the end of the introduction path 32 as they are. Stage 24
The balls that have randomly entered from the above position are pushed naturally by the following balls to the end of the introduction path 32, and are naturally distributed to the left and right alignment rails 33.

That is, the pachinko balls in the introduction path 32 are distributed by the partition guides 34 between the rails, and the pachinko balls are arranged in a line for each alignment rail 33, 33 ... Run down in multiple rows. Thereby, a large number of pachinko balls form four rows in a row and the counting sensor 3 provided for each of the alignment rails 33, 33 ...
It is possible to count a plurality of pachinko balls at one time smoothly and quickly by sending up to 5,36. The counted balls are discharged from the end of the introduction path 32, enter a collecting gutter or the like through the discharge passage 19 and are returned to the island.

As described above, since the bowl 21 and the ball holding means 30 are integrally provided to form one counting unit 20, the bowl 21 fixed to the game machine 10 is separately provided on the island. There is no need to install a ball counting device, and a ball tray 21
There is no need to separately arrange a chute or bellows between the ball counting device and the ball counting device, and it suffices to simply mount the counting unit 20 including the ball tray 21 and the ball counting means 30 on the pachinko machine.
Assembly man-hours can be significantly reduced.

Further, since the portion of the ball counting means 30 constituting the counting unit 20 is arranged so as to be hidden below the bottom of the bowl 21 , the ball counting means 30 does not appear outside the game machine 10. It fits completely inside the game console 10. Therefore, the player cannot manipulate or manipulate the ball counting means 30 from the outside, so that fraud can be prevented.

When the ball counting means 30 counts the balls, the counting signals are output from the counting sensors 35 and 36 to the control means 80. Then, according to the instruction of the control means 80 which has input the counting signal from the ball holding means 30, the ball holding means 50 digitally displays the counted number of held balls visually on the outside.

Then, a signal is sent from the control unit 50 to the recording medium issuing means 60 automatically or by the operation of the player, and based on the signal, the data of the number of balls of the player at the end of the game, Other necessary data is heated, printed or magnetically recorded on a recording medium such as a card or a receipt, and the recording medium is discharged from the recording medium entrance 61.
The player can bring the recording medium such as the card or the receipt to the prize exchange place and exchange it for a prize. Thereby, the player does not need to carry around the extra pachinko balls.

When the player interrupts the game or moves to another game machine, the ball holding display means 50 of the game machine 10 is displayed.
If the number of balls held is displayed on the screen, the number of balls held is recorded on the recording medium such as a card or receipt by the recording medium issuing means 60, while the balls in the bowl 21 are moved to the ball box. As another countermeasure, all the balls in the bowl 21 are counted by the ball counting means 30, and the total number of balls held is recorded on a recording medium such as a card and settled, and the recording medium is set. By inserting it in another game machine, it is possible to play the game again.

In the above embodiment, the game machine has only the front plate and not the lower plate. However, when the game plate has two plates, the front plate and the lower plate, the lower plate and the counting means are combined. The counting unit may be provided integrally.

[0042]

According to the game machine of the present invention, a ball counting means for opening the outlet for discharging the pachinko balls downward at the bottom of the bowl and counting the pachinko balls discharged from the outlet is provided. Since the counting unit is integrally provided on the lower side of the bowl, it is possible for the player to save the trouble of carrying the ball to another place for counting the balls, and the bowl and the ball counting device, etc. It is not necessary to separately install each on a game machine or island, reducing the assembly man-hours and achieving cost reduction,
In addition, the number of balls held can be counted quickly and efficiently.

Further, since the portion of the ball counting means which constitutes the counting unit is arranged so as to be hidden below the bottom of the bowl , the player can manipulate or modify the ball counting means from the outside. Therefore, fraud can be prevented. Furthermore,
The counting unit at the outlet is a driving means to regulate the movement of the balls.
With a shutter member that is automatically opened and closed by
The shutter member while appropriately opening and closing
The game media you dropped was once accepted by the stage.
After that, it flows down to the alignment rail, so the game medium flows smoothly
Therefore, accurate measurement can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a game machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of ball holding counting means which constitutes a counting unit of the game machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an end view showing a terminating side of a ball counting means which constitutes a counting unit of a game machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a shutter member provided in the counting unit of the game machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Game machine 11 ... Game surface part 20 ... Counting unit 21 ... Bottom part 30 ... Ball holding means 50 ... Ball display means 60 ... Recording medium issuing means 70 ... Ball lending machine 80 ... Control means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A game machine having pachinko balls as a game medium and having a bowl plate attached to an outer wall of the machine for storing the pachinko balls paid out to the player from the inside of the machine, in an inclined bottom portion of the bowl plate. , An outlet for discharging the pachinko balls downward is provided, and a ball holding means for counting the pachinko balls discharged from the outlet is integrally provided under the bottom of the bowl so as not to be visible. It constitutes a counting unit, and the ball holding means is positioned just below the outlet.
On the stage and tilts downward to the stage
And the inside of the introduction passage whose starting ends are connected
Multiple alignment rails juxtaposed to each other and the end of each alignment rail
And a counting sensor provided on the bottom of the bowl.
A shutter for opening and closing between the outlet and the ball counting means
A game machine characterized by having members .