JP2889597B2 - Sphere ejection device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sphere discharging device particularly suitable for discharging a sphere such as a pachinko ball.

Conventional technology Conventionally, setting and changing the number of prize balls in pachinko machines
For example, as described in JP-A-54-54742, JP-A-58-32786, etc., replacement of a prize ball case or a ball stopper piece for setting the number of prize balls to be discharged in the prize ball case. It was done by exchange.

Further, when a hit ball hit toward the gaming section of the game board surrounded by the guide rails wins the winning opening, the prize ball payout device is operated to pay out a predetermined number of prize balls to the player. A pachinko machine capable of increasing or decreasing the number of prize balls to be paid out by a prize ball payout device is known as Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-44512.

However, when the player operates the selection device arranged on the front of the pachinko machine, the number of prize balls to be paid out is reduced when it is easy to win the winning opening, and the number of prize balls to be paid out when it is difficult to win the winning opening. Is selected, and the number of prize ball dispensed by the prize ball dispensing device is changed to two discontinuous values in accordance with the selection operation of the selecting device.

JP-A-64-37980 has a plurality of parallel flow paths provided in parallel, and one merge path for supplying award balls flowing down the parallel flow path to the counting means, In a pachinko machine provided with rectification means for controlling the flow of prize balls in the parallel flow passage in the parallel flow passage so that all of the prize balls supplied to the merge flow passage from each parallel flow passage merge in the merge flow passage with a time difference. A prize ball flow passage mechanism is described.

The rectifying means in this device is composed of a plurality of gears of the same size and shape sharing one rotation axis, and the tips of the gears are arranged relatively shifted in the rotational direction by 30 degrees from each other. . For this reason, when a prize ball falls from one of the parallel flow paths to the merge path, the prize sphere does not fall from the other parallel flow path to the merge path. The prize balls are alternately supplied to the merging passages from the two parallel passages with a time difference.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-168193, a counting gear is provided in each of the two ball passages, and the counting gears are arranged on one rotating shaft at an angle of 36 degrees with respect to each other in the rotating direction. A paying machine of a pachinko machine is described in which the output shaft of a stepping motor is connected via a gear train, and the pachinko balls in two paths are alternately detected by a sensor 10 by driving the stepping motor.

In these two prior arts, a plurality of gears serving as a sphere sending member provided on one rotation shaft are arranged at a predetermined angle from each other in order to alternately eject (detect) the sphere. Adjustment of the mounting angle of the sphere sending members is troublesome, and it is not easy to attach each sphere sending member to the rotation axis.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to release spheres engaged with each sphere delivery member one by one from each sphere passage one by one in order, so that spheres in each sphere passage can be smoothly and promptly released. The object of the present invention is to provide a sphere discharging device which can always perform the dispensing operation in a stable state, and can easily attach each sphere sending member to the rotating shaft.

Means for Solving the Problems A sphere discharging device according to the present invention includes a plurality of spherical passages provided in parallel, one rotating shaft rotated by a driving unit, and the same size provided in each of the plurality of spherical passages. And a plurality of sphere delivery members having the same shape, wherein the plurality of sphere delivery members are provided on the one rotation axis and arranged at the same position in the rotation direction, and each end of the plurality of sphere passages The sphere guiding portions are formed so as to be shifted from each other so that the spheres engaged with the respective sphere delivery members are sequentially released from the respective ball passages one by one. .

The spheres are housed in a state aligned in a plurality of ball passages provided in parallel. When the rotating shaft is rotated by the driving means,
A plurality of sphere delivery members of the same size and the same shape provided in each of the plurality of sphere passages rotate integrally with the rotation shaft while maintaining the same position in the rotation direction, and the spheres aligned in each sphere passage. Send out while engaging one at a time. Since the respective sphere guiding portions formed at the ends of the respective sphere passages are shifted from each other, the sphere engaged with each of the sphere delivery members can be shifted by one.
Release each ball passage from the end in turn. As a result,
The spheres are sequentially discharged one by one from each ball passage.

With a configuration in which a plurality of sphere delivery members are provided on one rotation axis and arranged at the same position in the rotation direction,
Attachment of each sphere sending member to the rotating shaft becomes easy.

Examples Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a spherical case, and a first spherical passage 2 and a second spherical passage 3 are respectively formed in the spherical case 1 in two rows in a longitudinal direction. As shown in FIG. 2, a rotating body 4 serving as a first sphere delivery member is provided below the second ball passage 3, and a rotating body 4 is provided below the second spherical passage 3 as shown in FIG. Second on coaxial with body 4
A rotating body 5 serving as a sphere sending member is provided rotatably,
A partition 6 is formed between the first spherical passage 2 and the second spherical passage 3.

As shown in FIG. 4, a stepping motor 7 is connected to the rotating body 4 and the rotating body 5, and the rotating body 4 and the rotating body 5 are fixed to a rotating shaft 8 of the stepping motor 7, respectively. It is fixed to the base plate 9 on the side of the case 1.

The first spherical passage 2 of the spherical case 1 is provided on the outer peripheral edge of the rotating body 4.
A plurality of sphere engaging portions 10 for engaging the pachinko spheres P serving as inner spheres are respectively formed, and protrusions 11 are respectively formed at a fixed pitch between the sphere engaging portions 10 of the rotating body 4, A plurality of sphere engaging portions 12 for engaging the pachinko balls P in the second sphere passage 3 of the sphere case 1 are respectively formed on the outer peripheral edge of the body 5, and between the sphere engaging portions 12 of the rotating body 5. Is the protrusion of the rotating body 4
The protrusions 13 are formed at the same pitch as 11, and the protrusions 11 of the rotating body 4 and the protrusions 13 of the rotating body 5 are arranged so as to be shifted from each other by a half pitch, and the rotating bodies 4 and 5 are the same. It is shaped.

At the lower end of one side wall 14 of the spherical case 1, notches 15, 15 are formed on both sides of the partition 6, respectively, and a part of the rotating body 4 is inserted into the first ball passage 2 using the notch 15. A part of the rotating body 5 is protruded into the first ball passage 3 by using the notch 15.

The rotating body 4 is provided at the lower end of the other side wall 16 of the spherical case 1.
When the pachinko ball P is engaged with one of the spherical engaging portion 10 of the rotating body 5 and the spherical engaging portion 12 of the rotating body 5, the spherical engaging portion 12 of the rotating body 5 and the spherical engaging portion 10 of the rotating body 4 The sphere guiding portion 17 is formed so as to be bent so as to release the pachinko ball P from one of the other, and the lower end 17 a of the sphere guiding portion 17 is located on the side of the rotating shaft 8.

Step motor 7 is connected to the rotating body 4 or the projection of the rotating body 5
When one step rotation corresponding to 11,13 half pitches is made, the rotating body 4 of the first ball passage 2 and the rotating body 5 of the second ball passage 3 of the spherical case 1 simultaneously rotate by an angle corresponding to the half pitch. Then, the pachinko ball P in the first ball passage 2 engages with the ball engaging portion 10 with the rotation of the rotating body 4 and the ball guiding portion 17.
And the pachinko ball P in the second ball passage 3 is in a standby state for discharging the sphere engaged with the sphere engaging portion 12 of the rotating body 5.

Further, the step motor 7 is connected to the rotating body 4 or the rotating body 5.
When the pachinko ball P in the first ball passage 2 is discharged from the sphere guiding portion 17 by the rotator 4 by two steps corresponding to one pitch of the protrusions 11 and 13 of the second ball, Only one pachinko ball P in the passage 3 is ejected from the sphere guiding portion 17 while engaging with the sphere engaging portion 12 with the rotation of the rotating body 5, and the pachinko ball P is in the first and second sphere passages 2 and 3. , A total of two pachinko balls P are discharged.

That is, by repeating the discharging operation of the spheres by the rotating bodies 4 and 5, the pachinko balls P in the first spherical path 2 and the pachinko balls P in the second spherical path 3 are alternately discharged one by one. When the step motor 7 is rotated by eight steps, a total of eight pachinko balls P corresponding to the number of steps of the step motor 7 are discharged from the first ball path 2 and the second ball path 3. When the step motor 7 is rotated by 13 steps, a total of 13 pachinko balls P corresponding to the number of steps of the step motor 7 are discharged from the first ball path 2 and the second ball path 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of the circuit of the winning device of the pachinko machine. The winning opening A detection switch 18 and the winning opening B detection switch 19 output various signals of levels according to the open / close states of these switches, not shown. The input port of the input / output circuit 20 is connected to the input port of the input / output circuit 20 via the device detection unit, and the output port of the input / output circuit 20 is connected to a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as a CPU) 21 as a control means.

The CPU 21 is connected to an input port of the input / output circuit 22 via a data bus, an address bus, and a control bus. The output port of the input / output circuit 22 is connected to the step motor 7. A control output corresponding to the signal is output, and a portion surrounded by a dotted line in FIG. 5 constitutes the control unit 23 of the winning device.

Fig. 6 shows winning opening A or winning opening B during pachinko game
9 shows a flowchart of a control program executed by the CPU 21 when the number of Na or Nb prize balls is discharged when a prize ball is won.

First, in step 101, it is determined whether or not there is a winning ball in the winning opening A. When the winning ball in the winning opening A is present in step 101, the process proceeds to step 102 and the number of payout balls of the prize ball is set to Na. , Then step 103
Then, it is determined whether or not the number of prize balls to be paid out is zero.

If it is determined in step 101 that there is no winning ball in the winning opening A, the process proceeds to step 104 to determine whether there is a winning ball in the winning opening B. In step 104, it is determined that there is a winning ball in the winning opening B. In the case of, the process goes to step 105 to set the number of prize balls to be paid out to Nb, and then to step 103
When it is determined in step 104 that there is a winning ball in the winning opening B as NO, the process proceeds to step 103.

If the number of prize balls to be paid out is zero at step 103, the process proceeds to step 106 and the number of prize balls to be paid out is set to 1
Then, the process proceeds to step 107 to drive the step motor 7 by one payout of the prize ball, and then loops to step 103, and when the number of payout balls of the prize ball is zero in step 103, YES The payout of the prize balls is completed.

FIG. 7 shows a timing chart of the drive waveform of the step motor 7. When a winning ball wins the winning opening A or the winning opening B, the winning opening A detection switch 18 or the winning opening B detection switch 19 is turned on, and the step motor 7 is turned on. Is Na or
Drive until prize balls are paid out for Nb payout balls.

FIG. 8 shows a timing chart of the drive waveform of the step motor 7 in the case of the bipolar excitation method. The step motor 7 is driven until the prize balls of the number of the payout balls are paid out, and the excitation current of the A-phase excitation current of the step motor 7 is obtained. The direction alternates, and the direction of the B-phase excitation current of the step motor 7 alternates. The step motor 7 is rotated by one prize ball by payout, and the step motor 7 drives the prize balls by the number of payout balls. put out.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of the sphere discharging device described in the claims. As shown in FIG. 10, a sphere delivery member composed of a rotating body 25 is provided below the first spherical passage 2 formed inside the spherical case 1, and is provided below the second spherical passage 3. As shown in FIG. 11,
A sphere sending member including a rotating body 26 is provided rotatably on the same axis as the rotating body 25.

As shown in FIG. 12, a stepping motor 7 is connected to the rotating bodies 25 and 26, and the rotating bodies 25 and 26 are fixed to the rotating shaft 8 of the stepping motor 7, respectively.

The first spherical passage 2 of the spherical case 1 is provided on the outer peripheral edge of the rotating body 25.
A plurality of sphere engaging portions 27 for engaging the pachinko balls P in the inside are respectively formed, and protrusions 28 are respectively formed at a fixed pitch between the sphere engaging portions 27 of the rotating body 25. A plurality of sphere engaging portions 29 for engaging the pachinko balls P in the second ball passage 3 of the sphere case 1 are formed on the outer peripheral edge, and a rotating body is provided between the sphere engaging portions 29 of the rotating body 26. The protrusions 30 are formed at the same pitch as the protrusions 28 of the 25, and the protrusions 28 of the rotating body 25 are formed.
And the protrusion 30 of the rotating body 26 are arranged at the same position in the rotating direction, and the rotating body 15 and the rotating body 26 have the same shape.

A part of the rotating body 25 is projected into the first ball passage 2 by using the cutout 15 formed in one side wall 14 of the spherical case 1,
A part of the rotating body 26 is projected into the first spherical passage 3 by using the cutout 15.

When the pachinko ball P engages with one of the sphere engaging portion 27 of the rotating body 25 and the sphere engaging portion 29 of the rotating body 26 at the lower end of the other side wall 16 of the spherical case 1, The sphere guiding portion 31 is formed to be bent so as to release the pachinko ball P from one of the sphere engaging portion 29 and the sphere engaging portion 27 of the rotating body 25, and the first ball passage 2 of the sphere guiding portion 31 is formed. The lower end 31a on the side of the rotating shaft 8 is located on the side of the rotating shaft 8, and the lower end 31b on the side of the second ball passage 3 of the sphere guiding portion 31 is located so as to extend below the lower end 31a on the side of the first ball passage 2. ing.

The step motor 7 is connected to the rotating body 25 or the protrusion of the rotating body 26.
When one step rotation corresponding to a half pitch of 28, 30 is performed, the rotating body 25 of the first spherical passage 2 and the rotating body 26 of the second spherical passage 3 of the spherical case 1 simultaneously rotate by an angle corresponding to the half pitch. Then, the pachinko ball P in the first ball passage 2 engages with the ball engaging portion 27 with the rotation of the rotating body 25 and the ball guiding portion 31.
And the pachinko ball P in the second ball passage 3 is in a standby state for discharging the sphere engaged with the sphere engaging portion 29 of the rotating body 26.

Further, the step motor 7 is connected to the rotating body 25 or the rotating body 26.
When two steps corresponding to one pitch of the protrusions 28 and 30 are rotated, the pachinko ball P in the first ball passage 2 is ejected from the sphere guiding portion 31 by the rotator 25 and then the second ball Only one pachinko ball P in the passage 3 is ejected from the sphere guiding portion 31 while engaging the sphere engaging portion 29 with the rotation of the rotating body 26, and the pachinko ball P is in the first and second sphere passages 2 and 3. , A total of two pachinko balls P are discharged.

Since the rotating body 25 provided for the first spherical passage 2 and the rotating body 26 provided for the second spherical passage 3 are arranged at the same position on the rotating shaft 8 in the rotating direction. When the rotating body 25 and the rotating body 26 are fixed to the rotating shaft 8,
Since the sphere engaging portions 27 and 29 of the rotating bodies 25 and 26 need only be aligned and axially supported, the mounting of the rotating bodies 25 and 26 to the rotating shaft 8 is easy.

Other operations of this embodiment are completely the same as those of the embodiment shown in FIG.

The drive waveform of the step motor differs depending on the excitation method, excitation mode, step angle, and the like.

According to the sphere discharging device of the present invention, when the rotating shaft is rotated by the driving means, the plurality of sphere sending members of the same size and the same shape provided in the plurality of sphere passages are mutually the same in the rotation direction. It rotates together with the rotating shaft in the position,
The spheres arranged in the respective ball passages are simultaneously sent out while being engaged one by one, and the respective ball guiding portions at the ends of the respective ball passages are formed so as to be shifted from each other. Since the released spheres are released one by one from the end of each ball passage, the spheres can be discharged smoothly and quickly one by one from each ball passage in order, and the dispensing operation of the sphere is always stable. It can be performed in a state where it is done.

Since a plurality of sphere delivery members are provided on one rotation axis and arranged at the same position in the rotation direction, when each sphere delivery member is fixed to the rotation shaft, the mounting angle of each sphere delivery member is set to a predetermined angle. The trouble of shifting and adjusting is eliminated, and it is only necessary to simply align the sphere engaging portions of the sphere sending members, so that the mounting of each sphere sending member to the rotating shaft can be easily performed in a short time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a sectional front view of a main part of a sphere discharge device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a main part of the sphere case of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sphere case of FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view showing a connection state between the rotating body and the step motor of FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a circuit of the pachinko machine, FIG. Is a flowchart of a control program executed by the pachinko machine, FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing a drive waveform of the step motor, FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing a drive waveform of the step motor in the case of the bipolar excitation method, 9 is a fragmentary front view of a sphere discharging device according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of a sphere case of FIG. 9, and FIG. 11 is a sphere of FIG. FIG. 12 is a sectional side view of a main part at another position of the case, and FIG. Is a front view showing the connecting state between Ppumota. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ball case, 2 ... 1st ball passage, 3 ... 2nd ball passage, 4 ... Rotating body, 5 ... Rotating body, 6 ... Partition wall, 7
… Step motor, 8… Rotating shaft, 9… Base plate, 10… Spherical engaging part, 11… Projecting part, 12… Spherical engaging part, 13… Projecting part, 14… Side wall, 15 ... Notch, 16 ... Side wall, 17 ... Ball guide, 17a ... Lower end, 18 ... Winner A
Detection switch, 19: Winning-prize opening B detection switch, 20: Input / output circuit, 21: Central processing unit, 22: Input / output circuit, 23
... Control unit, 25 ... Rotating body, 26 ... Rotating body, 27 ... Sphere engaging part, 28 ... Protrusion, 29 ... Sphere engaging part, 30 ... Protrusion,
31 Sphere guide, 31a Bottom edge, 31b Bottom edge, P
Pachinko ball.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Wataru Horii 1 Nishikawa, Nishiharumachi, Nishiharumachi, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi Prefecture Daiichi Shokai Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-64-37980 (JP, A) JP-A-63-168193 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A63F 7/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of ball passages provided in parallel, one rotating shaft rotated by a driving means, and a plurality of ball delivery members of the same size and shape provided in each of the plurality of ball passages. And the plurality of sphere delivery members is
Provided on two rotating shafts and arranged at the same position in the rotational direction, and each of the plurality of spheres engaged with the respective sphere delivery members is sequentially placed on each end of each of the plurality of sphere passages. A sphere ejecting device, wherein each sphere guiding portion is formed so as to be shifted from each other so as to be released from the sphere.