JP3020068U - Article payout device and game machine incorporating the same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To realize a product with a simple structure, which can dispense a predetermined number of rod-shaped products in a large number, and reduce the number of restocking of the products to replenish them. In addition to reducing the labor and labor required for, the cost required for processing or manufacturing the device will be reduced. [Structure] A bucket 3 for storing a plurality of articles 2 and a part of an outer peripheral portion of the bucket 3 enters the storage space X of the bucket 3, and the outer peripheral portion of the bucket 3 stores the articles 2 in the storage space X of the bucket 3. A rotating body 4 having at least one holding recess 6 for holding the bucket, and the bucket 3 described above.
Drive means 5 for rotating the rotating body 4 so as to transfer the article 2 held in the holding recess 6 of the rotating body 4 to the outside of the bucket 3 so that the article 2 can be discharged. There is.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention is directed to an article dispensing device and a game machine incorporating the same, and more specifically, for delivering an article such as a pencil given to a player as a prize for a game to a designated outlet of the game machine to dispense it. Of technology.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, most of the devices for automatically supplying the required number of products based on a predetermined signal have been researched and developed as internal devices of vending machines for various canned juices.

As one example thereof, according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-54697, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of holding recesses 52 for holding a product bottle 51 are formed on the outer peripheral portion of a large-diameter rotating body 50. There is disclosed a configuration in which the large-diameter rotating body 50 is rotated by a predetermined angle by a stepping motor 53 to drop the product bottles 51 one by one into a product take-out port 54.

In this case, the outer peripheral side of the large-diameter rotating body 50 is covered with a circular frame 55 for holding the product bottle 51 in a fixed state, and an opening which is a non-formation portion of the circular frame 55. The product bottles 51 sequentially drop through 56. The number of dropped product bottles 51 is determined according to the rotation angle of the stepping motor 53, which is proportional to the number of coins inserted.

On the other hand, in recent years, a prize given to a player as a result of playing a game using various game machines is automatically paid out to an outlet of the game machine according to the content of the result of the game. Is being done. Also, with respect to the prize payout device for this type of game machine, it is substantially possible to apply the product payout mechanism of the vending machine in consideration of its functional aspect.

Therefore, in reality, the prize payout device for the game machine also employs a mechanism that is substantially the same as the product payout mechanism for various vending machines, and the shape of the prize is cylindrical or rod-shaped. If it is, it is possible to adopt the basic structure of the product bottle payout mechanism illustrated above.

[0007]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, since the product bottle dispensing device disclosed in the above publication has a structure in which the product bottles 51 are held in advance in the respective holding recesses 52 of the large-diameter rotating body 50, the product bottles 51 that can be stored at one time are stored. Is the same as the number of the holding recesses 52. Therefore, if a large number of product bottles 51 are to be stored, a large number of holding recesses 52 must be formed correspondingly, which not only complicates and complicates the processing, but also increases the diameter of the large-diameter rotary body 50. Considering that there is a limit to the size of the device and, in turn, the size of the device, it becomes impossible to increase the number significantly.

Further, when the holding recess 52 becomes empty, a new product bottle 51 must be inserted into the empty holding recess 52 by manual work or the like, and the work is complicated. It becomes a thing. In addition, the work of inserting the new product bottle 51 must be performed frequently because the number of the holding recesses 52 formed cannot be increased, and the complexity becomes more remarkable.

Further, the outer periphery of each of the holding recesses 52 needs to be covered with a circular frame 55 except for one place, and when the circular frame 55 is deviated due to eccentricity in its processing or mounting, This hinders the rotation operation of each product bottle 51. Further, since the circular frame 55 receives weight from the product bottle 51 existing in the lower part, it is necessary to have relatively high rigidity, which may cause a cost increase. Become.

Due to the above reasons, it is not rational to directly apply the above-mentioned vending machine product payout device to a game machine premium payout device, and other known vending machine payout devices can be used. Even if it was used, if the shape of the prize was rod-shaped or tubular, there was no suitable one.

The present invention has been devised under the circumstances described above, and it is possible to dispense a predetermined number of rod-shaped articles in a predetermined amount in a state where a large number of rod-shaped articles are stored by a simple structure. An object of the present invention is to provide an article dispensing device, reduce the number of times of replenishing articles to reduce the labor and labor required for the replenishment, and reduce the cost required for processing or manufacturing the apparatus.

[0012]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical means.

That is, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application is an article dispensing device which is applicable not only to game machines but also to various vending machines and the like, and is a bucket for storing a plurality of articles. A part of the outer peripheral portion of the bucket enters the storage space of the bucket, and at least one holding recess for holding the article in the storage space of the bucket is formed on the outer peripheral portion. The rotating body and the drive means for rotating the rotating body so that the article held in the holding recess of the rotating body in the bucket storage space can be transferred to the outside of the bucket and discharged. It is characterized by having and.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the article dispensing apparatus according to the first aspect, the article is a rod-shaped object such as a pencil.

A third aspect of the present invention is the article dispensing apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the rotating body is an article holding area in the storage space of the bucket and a storage space of the bucket. It is characterized in that it is fitted into the lower opening portion of the bucket so as to form a partition with an article dropping and discharging area outside.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the article dispensing apparatus according to the third aspect, the rotating body is configured as a cylindrical body, and the article is provided on an outer peripheral portion thereof. It is characterized in that a plurality of holding recesses capable of being fitted and held one by one are provided at a plurality of positions at a predetermined pitch.

The invention according to claim 5 of the present application has a different configuration from the article dispensing apparatus according to claim 4, and in the article dispensing apparatus according to claim 3, the rotating body is It is configured by coaxially mounting a plurality of discs with a certain distance from each other, and a plurality of holding recesses at a predetermined pitch are provided on the outer peripheral portion thereof so that the articles can be fitted and held one by one. It is characterized by that.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the article dispensing apparatus according to the fourth or fifth aspect, there is provided detection means for detecting an article dropped and discharged from the holding recess of the rotating body. It is characterized by having.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the article dispensing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the invention is provided with stop position detecting means for detecting a stop position of the rotating body. There is.

On the other hand, the invention according to claim 8 of the present application is a game machine in which the article dispensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is incorporated, and the state of play contents in the game machine is a specific state. It is characterized in that it is provided with a game-related rotation control means for activating the drive means to rotate the rotating body at the time.

Further, the invention according to claim 9 of the present application is a game machine in which the article dispensing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is incorporated, and a state of play contents in the game machine is a specific state. At the same time, the drive means is activated to start the rotating operation of the rotating body, and at the same time the game-related rotation control means for determining the number of articles to be paid out, and the holding mechanism for rotating the rotating body. Article detecting means for detecting whether or not the concave portion holds the article in the storage space of the bucket before reaching the article dropping and discharging area, and the number of articles detected by the article detecting means is the game-related rotation control means. When the holding recess holding the article detected at the end reaches the number determined in the above, the stop control hand that stops the driving means after passing through the article drop discharge area. It is characterized by having a step.

[0022]

[Function and effect of device]

 According to the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 7, since a part of the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body in which the recess for holding the article is formed enters the storage space of the bucket for storing the article, the rotation The holding recess passes through the group of articles in the storage space of the bucket while the holding recess moves along the arcuate locus as the body rotates.

In this case, it suffices to store a large number of articles in the bucket, which makes it possible to store a large number of articles at once. When the holding recess passes through a large number of articles in the storage space, that is, when passing through the article holding area, for example, one of the articles is a weight acting from above. As a result, it fits in the holding recess.

After that, when the retaining recess in which the article is fitted reaches a predetermined rotation angle position by further rotation of the rotating body, that is, the article falls due to the downward inclination of the retaining recess. When reaching a possible article drop discharge area, the article falls by its own weight through the opening portion of the holding concave portion.

As described above, the operation of causing the retaining recess to enter and escape from the storage space of the bucket in which a large amount of articles are stored is performed only by rotating the rotating body in a certain direction. Thus, the articles can be taken out and dropped appropriately in sequence, and the configuration of the device for that can be extremely simplified. More specifically, the above-mentioned article dispensing operation can be performed only by an appropriate combination of a rotating body having a holding recess and a bucket.

Furthermore, since replenishment of articles into the bucket can be performed in large quantities at once through, for example, the upper opening of the bucket, it is not necessary to perform replenishment work frequently, and the position of the holding recess is Can be performed independently of each other, which facilitates the work.

Particularly, according to the third aspect of the invention, the bucket holding space in the storage space of the bucket and the article dropping and discharging space outside the storage space of the bucket are partitioned and formed. Since the rotating body is fitted in the lower opening, the presence of the rotating body can prevent the articles in the bucket from being unreasonably dropped and discharged from the gap in the lower opening of the bucket. Become. Therefore, it is not necessary to purposely close the lower opening of the bucket with a means other than the rotating body, and there is an advantage that the configuration of the entire apparatus can be made very simple.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4, since the rotating body is configured as a cylindrical body, the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body is a circumferential surface, and the rotating body smoothly rotates in the bucket. It is possible to Further, since the holding recesses for fitting and holding the articles are provided at a plurality of locations on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body at a predetermined pitch, for example, by rotating the rotating body once, the plurality of articles are individually inserted. It is also possible to dispense continuously, and it is possible to reduce the rotation angle of the rotating body required for sequentially dispensing a plurality of articles, and to shorten the time required for delivering the articles.

According to the invention as set forth in claim 5, in addition to the same effect as in claim 4, the following effect is also obtained. That is, according to the invention described in claim 5, both ends of the rod-shaped article as the article can be held in the respective holding recesses of the two discs arranged with a predetermined distance. . Therefore, each of the discs can be made of a thin plate, and it is not necessary to make the axial dimension of the rotating body long in correspondence with the length of the rod-shaped object. It becomes smaller, and the output of the driving means can be reduced. In addition, since both ends of the rod-shaped object are supported by the holding recesses of the two discs, the presence thereof can be detected by using the contact-type article detection sensor at the axially intermediate portion. Therefore, the complication of the detection method and the cost problem associated with the use of the non-contact type sensor such as the optical sensor can be avoided.

According to the invention of claim 6, it is possible to confirm the delivery status of the article by detecting the article dropped and discharged from the holding recess of the rotating body by the predetermined detection means. It is possible to improve the certainty of the article dispensing work. It also helps to count the number of items to be paid out, which is convenient when the desired number of items are to be paid out.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, after the desired article feeding operation is performed by rotating the rotating body, the predetermined stop position of the rotating body is detected by the stop position detecting means, and then the above-mentioned It is possible to always stop the rotating body in the same posture state. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the rotating body from being rotated at an unnecessarily large angle after the end of the article feeding operation. It is also possible to set the holding recess of the rotating body so that it is always stopped at a predetermined position in the storage space of the bucket, for example, so that the dispensing operation of the article can be started quickly when the next article is dispensed. It is possible to do such a thing.

On the other hand, according to the invention as set forth in claim 8, as a result of playing a game using the game machine in which the above-mentioned article payout device is incorporated, the player has won, for example, or has become high. When the score is obtained, the game-related rotation control means activates the driving means of the payout device to start the rotating operation of the rotating body. As a result, the items stored in the bucket can be appropriately paid out and provided as a prize for the player. As described above, the above-described article dispensing device facilitates the replenishment work of the articles to be dispensed and the number of such operations can be small. Therefore, the game machine can be easily managed.

According to a ninth aspect of the invention, the game-related rotation control means determines the number of articles to be paid out according to the content of the game in the game machine, and the stop control means determines the determination. The driving means of the payout device is stopped when the payout of the number of articles is completed, and the number of articles provided to the player can be adjusted according to the game content. Therefore, it is possible to enhance the entertainingness or taste of the game machine and configure it as a game machine that meets the needs of the player.

Further, in the case of delivering the above-mentioned articles, the article detecting means detects the passage of the number of articles necessary for the delivery, and after confirming that the required number has been reached, After the last article has passed through the article drop discharge area, the stop control means stops the drive means to stop the rotational movement of the rotating body. Therefore, when the rotating body rotates, the articles in the bucket may not be held in the holding recesses of the rotating body, and even if a holding recess in which the articles are not held occurs, the required number of articles will actually be stored. Only after it has dropped, the rotating body will not stop, and there is no room for error in the number of prizes to be paid out to the player. In addition, by performing such control, expensive parts and system such as a control device for controlling the drive means of the article dispensing device are not required, and the cost can be reduced.

[0035]

[Explanation of the embodiment]

 Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side view showing an embodiment of an article dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the configuration of a main part of the apparatus and a control system, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the article dispensing apparatus incorporated. 4 is a schematic vertical sectional side view showing the internal structure of the game machine, and FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, an article dispensing apparatus 1 according to the present invention comprises a bucket 3 in which a plurality of rod-shaped objects 2 such as pencils are arranged in a predetermined direction so as to be stored in a piled state. A rotating body 4 in which an upper part of the outer peripheral portion of the bucket 3 penetrates into the storage space X for the rod-shaped object 2 through the lower opening portion 30 of the bucket 3, and a driving means 5 for rotating the rotating body 4 in the arrow A direction. , Are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the rotating body 4, two discs 4a and 4a are fixed on a central axis 4x with a predetermined distance therebetween, and the outer peripheral portions of the discs 4a and 4a are fixed. The holding recesses 6 are formed at three locations at equal angular intervals (120 degree intervals). The holding recesses 6 are arranged so as to be at the same rotation angle position between the two discs 4a, 4a. Each holding recess 6 has a semicircular shape or a semi-elliptical shape in a side view, which is open at the outer peripheral side, and preferably the bottom is an arcuate surface having the same diameter as the peripheral surface of the rod-shaped object 2. . Therefore, the rod-shaped object 2 can be inserted into and removed from each holding recess 6.

At the lower end of the bucket 3 (see FIG. 1), an arc-shaped thin plate 7 extending downward from one side (rotation direction A side) of the lower opening 30 is continuously provided. . A small gap is provided between the inner peripheral surface of the arc-shaped thin plate 7 and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 4. In this case, the arc-shaped thin plate 7 may be partially arranged only on the outer peripheral side of the two discs 4a, 4a of the rotating body 4, or may be arranged over the entire axial length of the rotating body 4. You may set it up. Further, the lower opening portion 30 formed in the bucket 3 may be partially formed only in a portion corresponding to the two discs 4a and 4a, and the entire length of the rotating body 4 in the axial direction may be increased. You may form over. In any case, the rotating body 4 is partially fitted into the lower opening 30 of the bucket 3, and the rod-shaped material 2 filled in the bucket 3 does not unduly fall from the lower opening 30 of the bucket 3. It is like this.

Further, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the drive means 5 is a drive motor 9 attached to the inner surface portion of the side wall 8 x of the case 8 fixedly installed below the bucket 3, A drive wheel 10 such as a timing pulley or a sprocket fixed to the output shaft 9a, a driven wheel 11 such as a timing pulley fixed to the central shaft 4x of the rotating body 4, and the drive wheel 10 or the driven wheel 11 are wound around. Further, it is configured by including an endless belt 12 around which a timing belt or a chain is wound. The output shaft 9a of the drive motor 9 and the central shaft 4x of the rotating body 4 penetrate the side wall 8x of the case 8, and the drive vehicle is attached to the outer surface side of the side wall 8x, which is the end of the side. 10, a driven wheel 11, and a wound endless belt 12 are arranged.

The drive motor 9 is supported by a bracket 14 which is slidable along a plurality of elongated holes 13 formed in the side wall 8 x of the case 8. The bracket 14 is operated by an adjusting mechanism 15. By sliding, the tension state of the wound endless belt 12 is adjusted. A stepping motor or the like may be used as the drive motor 9, but in this embodiment, a DC motor which does not have a function of automatically controlling the rotation angle is used in consideration of cost. ing.

Further, it is detected whether or not the rod-shaped object 2 is actually held in the holding recess 6 at the axially intermediate portion of the two discs 4 a, 4 a of the rotating body 4, and the holding is performed. An article detecting means 16 for determining the presence / absence of an article dropped and discharged from the use recess 6 is provided (see FIG. 2). The article detecting means 16 is composed of a contact sensor with a built-in micro switch, and is attached to a bracket 17 which is suspended and fixed to the bottom wall of the bucket 3. The contact 16a of the article detecting means 16 projects into the arcuate transfer path of the rod 2 described above, and the rod 2 is rotated by the rotating body 4 in the A direction. By pushing down 16a, the passage of the rod-shaped object 2 is detected.

In addition, in connection with the use of the DC motor, stop position detecting means 18 for detecting the stop position of the rotating body 4 is provided in the vicinity of the outer peripheral portion of the one disk 4a of the rotating body 4. It is arranged. The stop position detecting means 18 is attached to the case 8 and is composed of a contact type sensor having a built-in micro switch as described above. Then, the hook-shaped tip portion 18x of the contact 18a of the stop position detecting means 18 is fitted into the holding concave portion 6 of the disc 4a at a specific time to be described later, whereby the rotating body 4 is stopped. Becomes

In this case, the signal S1 from the article detecting means 16 and the signal S2 from the stop position detecting means 18 are inputted to the stop control means 19, and based on the stop signal S3 from the stop control means 19. The rotation of the drive motor 9 is stopped.

On the other hand, FIG. 3 shows an example of a game machine 20 in which the payout device 1 is incorporated. This game machine 20 has a game based on an input means 21 such as a push button switch operated by a player, a signal a from the input means 21 and a signal b from a storage means 22 that stores various game information and the like. The game progress control means 23 for controlling the progress status of the game and the display means 24 for displaying the current game state based on the signal c from the game progress control means 23 are provided as basic components.

Further, in this game machine 20, when a player plays a game and wins the game, for example, a predetermined control signal d is sent from the game progress control means 23, and The control signal d is input to the game-related rotation control means 25. Then, from the game-related rotation control means 25, an activation signal e for starting the rotation of the drive motor 9 and the number of rods 2 to be paid out to the stop control means 19 are shown. The prize quantity control signal f is transmitted (see FIG. 2). In this case, the number of rods 2 to be paid out, which is indicated by the prize number control signal f, differs depending on the type of winning of the game and other game rules.

Further, on the front surface of the game machine 20, a shooter 27 for guiding and moving the rod-shaped object 2 taken out from the bucket 3 and dropped by the operation described later to the prize taking-out port 26 is attached.

Next, the operation of the above-described embodiment will be described mainly for the article dispensing apparatus 1 including the relation with the game machine 20.

First, when the player operates the input means 21 of the game machine 20 shown in FIG. 3 to play the game, for example, when a predetermined great victory is obtained, the game-related rotation control means 25 determines the number of payouts of the bar-shaped object 2 which is a prize, and at the same time, starts the rotation of the drive motor 9 in the A direction.

While the rotating body 4 is rotating at a predetermined speed and the holding recess 6 of the two discs 4a is intruding into the storage space X of the bucket 3 which is the article holding area, the holding recess 6 is held. One bar 2 fits into the recess 6. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the rod-shaped object 2 is held over a pair of holding recesses 6, 6 formed at the same rotation angle position of the two discs 4a, 4a. .

From such a state, after the holding concave portion 6 holding the rod-shaped object 2 escapes from the storage space X as the rotating body 4 continues to rotate, the arc-shaped thin plate 7 shown in FIG. The rod 2 is rotatably transferred while being prevented from falling at an improper position. At the time of this transfer, as shown in FIG. 4, the rod 2 pushes down the contact 16a of the article detecting means 16 from the state shown by the chain line to the state shown by the solid line, so that the passage of the rod 2 is detected. 2 is sent to the stop control means 19 from the article detection means 16 shown in FIG. Immediately after this, the bar 2 drops from the holding recess 6 and is fed to the prize outlet 26 along the shooter 27 shown in FIG.

In this case, when the game-related rotation control means 25 determines that the number of payouts of the stick-shaped object 2 is two, for example, in response to the great victory as the above-mentioned game result, the following other The rod-shaped object 2 fitted in the holding recess 6 is also dropped by the operation similar to the above, after being detected, and fed to the prize outlet 26.

Then, after the signal indicating the passage of the rod-shaped object 2 is sent from the article detection means 16 to the stop control means 19 twice, the hook of the contact 18a of the stop position detection means 18 shown in FIG. The stop signal S3 is sent from the stop control means 19 to the drive motor 9 when the end portion 18x is fitted into the holding recess 6 in the empty state. Therefore, when the two rod-shaped objects 2 are fed to the prize outlet 26, the rotating body 4 is in a stopped state, and is in a standby state for each of the above operations corresponding to the next game result.

In this case, even if the holding recess 6 reaches the drop discharge area without holding the rod-like object 2 due to the rotation of the rotating body 4, the article detecting means 16 causes the stop control means. No signal indicating the passage of the rod 2 is sent to 18. Therefore, in such a case, when the subsequent holding recess 6 reaches the drop discharge area while holding the rod-shaped object 2, it is considered that one dispensing operation is completed. It is regarded. By performing such an operation, it is possible to prevent the number of rod-shaped objects 2 fed to the prize outlet 26 from being varied.

When the rod-shaped object 2 is rotationally transferred along with the rotation of the rotating body 4, the rod-shaped object 2 is bitten in the transfer path from the storage space X to the drop discharge area. When a situation in which the rotational movement is blocked occurs, for example, the following safety measures can be taken to prevent an excessive load or load from acting on the drive motor 9.

That is, as a first countermeasure, the current value of the drive motor 9 is measured by the current value measuring means, and when the measured current value becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value, in other words, For example, when the rotational movement of the rotating body 4 is blocked, the drive motor 9 is stopped or reversely rotated. Needless to say, in the case of adopting the configuration for performing the reverse rotation, it is necessary to use a motor capable of rotating in the forward and reverse directions as the drive motor 9, and after performing the reverse rotation, the drive motor 9 is again provided. If it is configured to rotate in the normal direction, there is no need to interrupt the work.

As a second measure, the drive wheel 10 and the driven wheel 11 of the drive means 5 are friction wheels, and the wound endless belt 12 is formed on the outer surface of each of the wheels 10, 11. It is composed of a flat belt or the like driven by the frictional force between them. According to this, when the rotational movement of the rotating body 4 is blocked, slippage occurs between the wound endless belt 12 and each of the wheels 10 and 11, which causes excessive movement of the drive motor 9. Functions such as load are avoided.

As described above, according to the article dispensing apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiment, the holding recess is held in a state where the rod-shaped objects 2 such as a large number of pencils are accommodated in the bucket 3 all at once without being partitioned or divided. With a simple structure in which the rotating body 4 on which the 6 is formed is driven to rotate, it is possible to take out the rod-shaped objects 2 one by one from the storage space X and drop them. As a result, the replenishment work of the rod-shaped objects can be performed extremely easily as compared with, for example, the type in which one rod is inserted into a predetermined partition portion one by one (the conventional example described above), and the number of times of the replenishment work is performed. It will be drastically reduced.

In the above embodiment, a rod-shaped object such as a pencil is to be dispensed as an article. As the rod-shaped object, various kinds of objects other than the pencil, such as a ballpoint pen and other writing instruments, and a pencil-type eraser can be used. The object can be an object, and the rod-shaped object may be hollow. Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to a can container enclosing a favorite beverage such as can juice.

Further, in the above embodiment, the contact type sensor is used as the article detecting means 16 and the stop position detecting means 18, but instead of this, a non-contact type sensor such as an optical sensor is used. It doesn't matter. Further, although the rotating body 4 has a structure in which two discs 4a and 4a are coaxially arranged, it may be a single cylindrical body (rotating drum).

In addition, the number of holding recesses 6 formed on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body 4 does not have to be three as in the illustrated example, and may be more or less. It doesn't matter. Further, the invention of the present application is not limited to one article 2 being held in the single holding recess 6 as illustrated above, but two or more articles may be held in the single holding recess 6. It does not matter even if the configuration is such that a certain number of articles 2 are held.

Further, if only the article dispensing apparatus 1 according to the above embodiment is considered, it goes without saying that the invention can be applied to vending machines other than game machines.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing an article dispensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a configuration and a control system of a main part of the article dispensing apparatus according to the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional side view showing the internal structure of a game machine in which the article dispensing device according to the above embodiment is incorporated.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of essential parts showing the operation of the article dispensing device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of a main part showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 article dispensing device 2 articles (rods) 3 bucket 4 rotating body 4a disc 5 driving means 6 holding recess 9 drive motor 10 driving vehicle 11 driven vehicle 12 wound endless belt 16 article detecting means 19 stop control means 20 game Machine 25 Game-related rotation control means 30 Lower opening X Storage space

Claims (9)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A bucket for accommodating a plurality of articles, and a part of an outer peripheral portion of the bucket intruding into the accommodating space of the bucket, and an outer peripheral portion for holding the article in the accommodating space of the bucket. The rotating body having at least one holding recess formed therein, and the article held in the holding recess of the rotating body in the storage space of the bucket are transferred to the outside of the bucket to be discharged. An article dispensing device, comprising: a drive unit that rotates a rotating body. 2. The article is a rod-shaped article such as a pencil,
The article dispensing device according to claim 1. 3. The rotating body is fitted into the lower opening of the bucket so as to define an article holding area in the storage space of the bucket and an article drop discharge area outside the storage space of the bucket. The article dispensing device according to claim 2, which is provided as a package. 4. The rotating body is formed as a cylindrical body, and a plurality of holding concave portions capable of fitting and holding the above-mentioned articles one by one are provided at a predetermined pitch on an outer peripheral portion thereof. The article dispensing device according to claim 3. 5. The rotating body is formed by coaxially mounting two discs with a certain distance from each other, and a holding recess into which the articles can be fitted and held one by one in the outer peripheral portion. The article dispensing device according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of parts are provided at a predetermined pitch. 6. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising detection means for detecting an article dropped and discharged from the holding recess of the rotating body. 7. The article dispensing device according to claim 6, further comprising stop position detection means for detecting a stop position of the rotating body. 8. A game machine in which the article dispensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is incorporated, wherein the drive means is activated when a game content state in the game machine reaches a specific state. A game machine comprising a game-related rotation control means for rotating the rotating body by means of a game machine. 9. A game machine in which the article dispensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is incorporated, wherein the drive means is activated when a game content state in the game machine reaches a specific state. The game-related rotation control means for starting the rotation operation of the rotating body and determining the number of articles to be paid out at this time, and the holding recess for storing the articles in the storage space of the bucket as the rotating body rotates. The article detection means for detecting whether or not the article is held before reaching the article drop discharge area, and the last when the number of articles detected by the article detection means reaches the number determined by the game-related rotation control means. And a stop control means for stopping the drive means after the holding recess holding the detected article passes through the article dropping and discharging area. That, game machine.