JP2736496B2 - 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 ball counting means for paying out pachinko balls to a player and control means for managing the ball counting means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional game machine generally has a front plate for storing pachinko balls paid out to a player below a game surface,
A lower plate for storing balls overflowing from the front plate was provided, and the front plate and the lower plate were connected to each other by a bypass path. A shutter that can be opened and closed is provided in the middle of the bypass path, and the shutter is normally in a closed state. When the inside of the front plate becomes full of balls, the player opens the shutter by pressing a ball-off button or the like, and introduces the balls overflowing from the front plate to the lower plate as needed.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional game machine, a player can play a game even during a game.
Care must be taken to keep the balls from spilling out of the front plate, and when the inside of the front plate is full of balls, the player presses the ball-off button and lowers the balls in the front plate. It was necessary to transfer the dish to the dish by himself, and he was distracted during the game, hindering the progress of the game, making it difficult to play the game smoothly, and spoiling the interest.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art. The balls in the front plate can be automatically transferred to the lower plate, so that an extra ball is added during the game. It is an object of the present invention to provide a game machine that can keep the game running smoothly without fear of paying attention to the game and without deteriorating the interest of the player.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the gist of the present invention is to provide a ball counting means (30) for paying out pachinko balls to a player, and a ball counting means (3).
A game machine (10) comprising a control means (40) for managing the number (0), a front plate (14) for storing the balls paid out to the player by the ball counting means (30), A lower plate (15) for storing balls overflowing from the plate (14),
On the back side of the game surface (11), the ball counting means (3)
0) and the ball (1) and the lower plate (1).
5) an overflow passage member (60) to be introduced into the supply passage (61) for connecting the overflow passage member (60) to the ball counting means (30) and the front plate (14). a), front plates for supply passage (61) communicating in developing
The fork is branched from the hole (63) and connected to the lower plate (15). When the fore plate (14) is full of balls, the balls overflowing from the fore plate supply path (61) are connected to the communication holes. Through (63)
The lower plate supply path (6) which falls naturally onto the lower plate (15)
And 2) detecting a state in which the supply path for the lower plate is clogged with balls overflowing from the lower plate (15). At that time, the control unit outputs the overflow signal. (40) and a detecting means (69) for immediately stopping the payout of balls by the ball counting means (30) via the control means (40).
0).

[0006]

[Action] The ball counting means of the game machine (10) (3)
The pachinko balls supplied to the game machine (0) are paid out to the player through a predetermined number of overflow passage members (60) based on a signal from the control means (40) for managing the game machine (10). That is, the ball discharged from the ball counting means (30) is first discharged to the front plate (14) through the front plate supply path (61) of the overflow passage member (60).

[0007] When the front pan (14) is filled with balls, inevitably clogging the previous dish for supply passage (61) is a ball, Hairikira not the ball before dish for supply passage (61) communicating hole in Application ( The lower plate (15) naturally passes through the lower plate supply path (62) that branches off from 63 ).
Is dropped and paid out. Thereby, the player can enjoy the front plate (1
4) There is no need to transfer balls that are likely to overflow from the inside to the lower plate (15), and there is no need to pay extra attention during the game.

On the other hand, not only the front plate (14) but also the lower plate (1)
When 5) is filled with balls, the balls clogged in the lower plate supply path (62) are detected by the detecting means (69). At this time, the detecting means (69) sends an overflow signal indicating a state in which the balls are likely to overflow from the lower plate (15) to the control means (4).
0), and the payout of balls by the ball counting means (30) is immediately stopped via the control means (40). Therefore,
The ball in the lower plate (15) does not overflow outside.

[0009]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the game machine 10 is integrated with a ball lending machine 70 for instructing the payout of pachinko balls corresponding to the amount of money inserted by the player. This game machine 10
When a ball thrown into the game surface 11 by the ball firing device 13 operated by the handle 12 enters a winning opening 19 provided in the game surface 11, a prize ball is given according to a predetermined winning rate. Pachinko game machine to pay out to.

Below the lower end of the game surface 11 of the game machine 10, a front plate 14 for storing balls paid out to the player and a lower plate 15 for storing balls overflowing from the front plate 14 are provided. I have. The ball counting means 30 is provided at a position above the front plate 81 inside the game machine 10.
The ball counting means 30 is a ball counting machine for paying out a predetermined number of balls to the front plate 14 based on a signal from the control means 40 connected to a hall computer managing each game machine.

[0011] A number of such game machines 10 are connected to a game machine island, and a supply gutter 20 for supplying balls is provided above each game machine 11. A chute member 21 is connected to the supply gutter 20 corresponding to each game machine 10. A bellows member 22 extending in the vertical direction is connected to a lower end opening of the chute member 21,
The second lower end 22a is open downward.

The lower end opening 22a of the bellows member 22 is positioned so that the inlet of the ball guide 33 of the ball counting means 30 faces the lower end opening 22a. In a gap between the lower end 22a of the bellows member 22 and the entrance of the ball guide 33 of the ball counting means 30, a shutter member 24 for stopping the flow of the balls is interposed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the ball counting means 30 is a ball counting machine capable of paying out a specified number of pachinko balls accurately and at high speed. More specifically, a gear 31 having a concave portion 32 into which a pachinko ball is fitted one by one is formed in a ball passage 34 formed in a ball guide 33 so as to be freely rotatable as desired. The ball which is supplied from above and is about to fall by its own weight is engaged with the concave portion 32 of the gear 31 and falls with the rotation of the gear 31. The ball counting means 30 continuously rotates the gear 31 according to the weight of the pachinko balls in order to continuously discharge the pachinko balls until the number of pachinko balls paid out approaches the command value. , The rotation of the gear 31 is switched to intermittent rotation in which minute angle rotation and stop corresponding to one concave portion 32 of the gear 31 are alternately repeated, and when the number of payouts reaches a command value, the gear 31 rotates. The intermittent rotation of 31 is stopped and the number of pachinko balls according to the command value is paid out.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ball counting means 3
The overflow passage member 60 is connected to the outlet of the ball guide 33 of zero. Overflow passage member 60
Are integrally formed on the back side of the game surface 11.
The overflow passage member 60 includes a front plate supply path 61 that connects the ball counting means 30 and the front plate 14, and a front plate supply path 6.
1 and is connected to the lower plate 15 and connected to the lower plate 15. When the front plate 14 is full of balls, a ball overflowing from the front plate supply channel 61 is introduced into the lower plate 15. Consists of

More specifically, a lower plate supply passage 62 is provided above the front plate supply passage 61 so that pachinko balls flow into the lower plate supply passage 62 when the front plate supply passage 61 overflows. A communication hole 63 that communicates with is provided. When the front plate 14 is full of balls, the communication holes 63 inevitably cause balls overflowing from the front plate supply passage 61 to be supplied to the lower plate supply passage 6.
The process proceeds to step 2 to allow the lower plate 15 to fall naturally. The outlet 61a of the supply passage 61 for the front plate is
Similarly, the outlet 62a of the lower dish supply path 62 opens to the overflow ball drop 15a of the lower dish 15.

In the middle of the lower plate supply path 62, a state where the supply path is clogged with balls overflowing from the lower plate 15 is detected, and a signal thereof is sent to the control means 40. Detecting means 69 for immediately stopping the payout of balls by the means 30 is provided.

The detecting means 69 is turned ON intermittently when the ball smoothly flows down in the lower dish supply path 62,
The sensor is set to be continuously turned ON when the inside of the lower plate supply path 62 is clogged with a ball, and to output an overflow signal to the control means 40 when the ON state continues for 0.5 second or more. It is.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control means 40 comprises an interface, a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM connected to a hall computer for centrally managing each of the game machines 10 and the ball lending machine 70 on the gaming machine island. It consists of a micro computer. The control means 40 includes the detection means 6
Ball counting means 3 when an overflow signal from
It is set so as to output a stop signal to the ball counting means 30 so as to immediately stop the operation of 0.

As shown in FIG. 5, on the game surface 11 of the game machine 10, ball holding means 50 is provided. When the operation of the ball counting means 30 is stopped,
In response to a command from the control means 40, the number of remaining pachinko balls to be paid out to the front plate 14 and the lower plate 15 by the ball counting means 30 is visually displayed externally. Ball display means 5
0 is constituted by a 7-segment LED or the like so as to digitally display the number of pachinko balls that could not be paid out to the front plate 14 or the like.

The remaining ball number to be paid out when the lower plate 15 is full is displayed on the possessed ball display means 50 as a method of immediately adding and displaying the remaining number of balls or one by one. There are two methods: a method of adding and displaying while counting up. For example, by the ball counting means 30,
When trying to pay out 50 pachinko balls, up to 183 are paid out, but if the detecting means 69 is activated at that time, in the former method, the remaining 67 pieces are displayed on the ball display means 50 as they are. Is done. On the other hand, in the latter method, when the number of pachinko balls such as the front plate 14 decreases during the addition display, the front plate 1
Since additional balls can be replenished to the fourth ball or the like, the number of balls finally added to the possessed ball display means 50 may be less than 67.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Below, is provided a recording medium issuing means 80.
The recording medium issuing means 80 receives a signal from the control means 40 when the player presses the checkout switch 18 to end the game, and displays the number of pachinko balls displayed on the possessed ball display means 50 as a card, receipt, or the like. , And the recording medium is paid out to the player through the recording medium entrance 81.

On the side of the settlement switch 18, when there is a margin in the amount of balls stored in the lower plate 15 or the lower plate 15 and the front plate 14, the number of balls displayed on the ball display means 50 is displayed. Dish 1
A ball drop switch 17 for instructing the ball counting means 30 through the control means 40 to pay out the ball into the front plate 5 or the front plate 14 is provided. The ball drop switch 17 is also connected to the control means 40.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the ball rental machine 70
A bill insertion slot 71 into which a player inserts a bill is provided at a front portion of the bill.
a and a coin slot 72a are provided. Further, the ball lending machine 70 identifies the amount of money inserted from the bill insertion slot 71a or the coin insertion slot 72a and sends a signal corresponding to the amount to the control means 40.
have.

The control means 40 receives a signal from the ball lending machine 70, and outputs a signal for instructing the payout of a predetermined number of pachinko balls corresponding to the signal to the ball counting means 30. Is also connected. In addition, when the ball enters the winning opening 19 of the game surface 11,
A signal based on a predetermined winning rate is output to the ball counting means 30 so that the ball counting means 30 pays out a predetermined number of prize balls.

Next, the operation will be described. As shown in FIG.
Pachinko balls flowing through the supply gutter 20 arranged on the gaming machine island,
It is sent to the game machine 10 through the chute member 21 and the bellows member 22, and is supplied to the ball counting means 30 in the game machine 10. At this time, the shutter member 24 is in an open state. Thus, the balls of the supply gutter 20 are supplied directly to the ball counting means 30 in the game machine via the chute member 21 and the bellows member 22.

The balls supplied to the ball counting means 30 are paid out to the front plate 14 and the lower plate 15 while counting a predetermined number based on various signals from the control means 40 for managing the game machine 10. More specifically, the balls to be dispensed from the ball counting means 30 are first dispensed from the ball supply port 14a to the front plate 14 through the front plate supply path 61 of the overflow passage member 60. When the front plate 14 is full of balls, the front plate supply path 61
The ball overflowing from the inevitably flows into the lower plate supply path 62 from the communication hole 63 in the middle of the front plate supply path 61.

Thus, the pachinko balls are supplied to the lower plate supply path 6.
2 through the overflow ball drop 15a to the lower plate 15
, The player does not have to transfer the ball that is likely to overflow from the inside of the front plate 14 to the lower plate 15, and does not need to pay extra attention during the game, You can be addicted to the game.

When the lower plate 15 is also full of balls, balls that cannot be entered into the lower plate 15 are jammed in the lower plate supply path 62.
When the ball is clogged in this way, the detection means 69 detects it. That is, when the detection means 69 is continuously turned ON for 0.5 second or more due to the clogging of the lower tray supply path 62, an overflow signal is sent to the control means 40. When the control means 40 receives the overflow signal, the ball counting means 3
A stop signal is output to 0 and the payout of the balls by the ball counting means 30 is immediately stopped.

When the ball counting means 30 stops due to the overflow of the lower plate 15 as described above, the number of remaining balls to be paid out by the ball counting means 30 is visually checked by the command from the control means 40. Digitally displayed as possible. This eliminates the need to stop the progress of the game itself in order to prevent the lower plate 15 from overflowing.

That is, the game can be continued by displaying the number of balls on the ball display means 50 without actually paying out the so-called winning balls to the front plate 14 or the like which overflows. There are two methods of displaying the number of balls on the ball display means 50: a method of immediately adding and displaying the remaining count, and a method of adding and displaying while counting up by one count.

If the balls in the front plate 14 are consumed during the progress of the game and the amount of balls stored in the lower plate 15 or the front plate 14 has a margin, the player presses the ball drop switch 17 and presses the control means 40. To the lower plate 15 or the front plate 14 by the ball counting means 30 to pay out a ball corresponding to the number of balls displayed by subtraction from the number of balls displayed on the possessed ball display means 50.

On the other hand, when the game machine 10 does not have the recording medium issuing means 80 when the player has finished the game, if the settlement switch 18 is operated, the ball displayed on the possessed ball display means 50 will be displayed. The balls are paid out by the ball counting means 30 while the subtraction is displayed on the front plate 14 or the lower plate 15 until the display becomes zero. The player can transfer the balls paid out to the front plate 14 or the lower plate 15 to a ball box and exchange them for prizes.

In the case where the game machine 10 has the recording medium issuing means 80, the player sets the settlement switch 1 to end the game.
8, the shutter of the lower plate 15 is opened and the front plate 1 is opened.
4 and the balls remaining in the lower plate 15 are poured into the ball counting means 90, all balls of the customer are displayed on the ball display means 50, and the card, receipt, etc. of the recording medium issuing means 80 via the control means 40. The number of balls is recorded on the recording medium of the recording medium entrance 81
Paid out from. The player takes the card or receipt to a prize exchange and exchanges it for a prize. Thereby, the player does not need to carry around the extra pachinko balls.

[0034]

According to the game machine of the present invention, when the front plate is filled with the balls paid out from the ball counting means, the balls which are likely to overflow from the front plate through the overflow passage member and go down. Players do not need to transfer the balls in the front plate to the lower plate by themselves because they are naturally dropped on the plate and paid out, and do not take extra care such as overflowing the ball from the front plate during the game. The game can be continued smoothly without impairing the interest of the player, and furthermore, when the lower plate is full of balls, the detection is detected by the detection means, and the payout of the ball counting means is immediately stopped via the control means. As a result, the ball can be prevented from overflowing from the lower plate, and the game can be continued to be interesting.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic rear view of a game machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an overflow passage member included in the game machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a game machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of ball counting means constituting the game machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a game machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Game machine 11 ... Game surface 14 ... Front plate 15 ... Lower plate 17 ... Ball drop switch 40 ... Control means 50 ... Ball display means 60 ... Overflow passage member 61 ... Supply path for front plate 62 ... Supply path for lower plate 69: detecting means 80: recording medium issuing means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A game machine comprising: ball counting means for paying out pachinko balls to a player; and control means for managing the ball counting means. A ball paid out to a player by the ball counting means. A lower plate for storing balls overflowing from the front plate, and an overflow passage member for introducing balls discharged from the ball counting means to the front plate and the lower plate on the back side of the game surface. a, the overflow passage member, and the dish for supply passage prior to connecting the front tray and the ball counting means, supplied to Love in a front dish
When the front plate is full of balls, the balls overflowing from the supply passage for the front plate are connected to the lower plate by branching from the communication hole of
A lower plate supply path that naturally falls onto the lower plate through the communication hole , and detects a state in which the supply path is clogged with balls overflowing from the lower plate in the lower plate supply path. A game machine further comprising a detecting means for sending an overflow signal to the control means, and immediately stopping the payout of balls by the ball counting means via the control means.