JP3667389B2 - A ball storage tray for gaming machines - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a ball storage dish as a so-called upper dish in a gaming machine such as a pachinko gaming machine.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a conventional gaming machine, for example, a pachinko gaming machine, a ball storage tray (upper plate) is provided on the front side of the gaming machine for temporarily storing a prize ball or a game ball discharged by lending a ball. The stored game balls are supplied one by one to the ball launching unit of the ball launching device by the ball feeding device to play the game.
In addition, on the front side of the gaming machine, a ball tray (lower plate) is provided below the ball storage tray (upper plate).
Then, at the end of the game or when changing the ball after a big hit, the player operates the ball removal operation section provided on the ball storage tray in order to move the stored balls stored in the ball storage tray to the lower ball receiving tray. Thus, a ball discharge channel formed from the ball storage tray to the ball reception tray is opened, and the ball extraction from the ball storage tray as the upper tray to the ball reception tray as the lower tray is performed.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, since the conventional ball removing operation from the ball storage tray (upper plate) to the ball receiving tray (lower plate) is performed only when operated by the player, for example, the ball exit after the big hit ends In the case of removing a large amount of stored balls stored in the ball storage tray at the time of replacement or the like, the player must continue to operate the ball removal operation section until the ball removal is completed. The work was very annoying.
In addition, when the ball is replaced after the big hit, the game ball that has been removed from the ball tray must be moved from the ball tray to the ball box. That is, the ball removal operation unit provided on the ball tray is used for the game. The person must operate to remove the ball from the lower plate.
[0004]
For this reason, conventionally, after all the balls in the ball tray, which is the lower plate, have been transferred to the ball box, the balls stored in the ball tray, which is the upper plate, are transferred to the ball tray, which is the lower plate, as described above. and sphere opener, the ball saucer to a sphere-cut the sphere must be the work of transferring again to the ball box, such work also had become a consuming very troublesome time.
In general, a large amount of safe balls are generated at the time of a big hit, and in general, the prize ball discharge operation is often shifted after the big hit is completed by the amount corresponding to the safe ball that could not be discharged during the big hit. .
Therefore, until such a prize ball discharging operation is completed, the player must continue the operation of the ball removing operation unit as described above, which requires a very troublesome work as described above. It was.
[0005]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a ball storage dish in which all the stored balls can be removed by simple operation of a ball removal operation unit in a gaming machine such as a pachinko gaming machine.
The present invention can easily release the ball-out state, can notify that the ball-out state is maintained, and can maintain an unintentional ball-out state due to malfunction or the like. The purpose is to make it possible to avoid it.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a ball storage unit for storing game balls to be supplied to the ball launcher;
A flow path between a ball supply flow path for supplying the game balls of the ball storage section to the ball launcher and a ball discharge flow path for discharging the game balls downward from the ball storage section, for example, to a ball receiving tray (lower tray) A flow path switching device for performing a switching operation;
A switching operation unit that enables the flow channel switching device to be switched by a player's operation, that is, a ball removal operation unit (ball removal operation lever),
In a ball storage tray (top plate) of a gaming machine equipped with
The normal channel switching device switched to the ball supply channel side by the biasing of the spring is switched to the ball extraction channel side by the operation of the switching operation part by the player, and switched to the ball extraction channel side. A flow path switching state holding means for enabling the flow path switching state of the flow path switching device to be maintained,
The flow path switching device constitutes a bottom plate of the ball supply flow path, and is operated in conjunction with, for example, a crank member and a cam member via a link member or the like by an operation of the switching operation section by a player. A flow path conversion member that converts the communication state to the road side and the communication state to the spherical flow path side in a non-communication state with respect to the sphere supply flow path side, that is, a slide member,
The flow path switching state holding means is
A lock member that is disposed in a state where a part thereof faces the ball extraction channel, and swings when a part of the game ball that passes to the ball extraction channel contacts the part ,
The flow path conversion member is formed in the flow path conversion member, and is held in communication with the ball extraction flow path side by contact with the lock member that swings in contact with the game ball passing to the ball extraction flow path side. A locking member, and
The locking member is integrally formed with a shape in which one end of the flow path conversion member is bent substantially perpendicularly downward,
The lock member is disposed below the flow path conversion member, and is an L-shaped, L-shaped short piece portion side which is a spherical contact portion facing the bulb-out flow path, and the other long piece The tip part on the part side is used as a contact part for locking, and is slidably assembled by a fulcrum pin provided at the L-shaped intermediate corner part.
The inner surface of the locking member can be brought into contact with the contact portion for locking,
When the switching operation portion is operated, the lock member swings around the fulcrum pin by the contact of the game ball with the ball contact portion, and the long piece portion side is lifted, and the lock contact portion When the inner surface of the locking member comes into contact, the flow path conversion member is held in a communication state to the ball removal flow path side, and the ball removal of the ball storage unit is completed.
By further operating the switching operation portion again, the flow path conversion member slides to separate the locking contact portion of the locking member from the inner surface of the locking member, and the long piece side of the locking member is caused by its own weight. The configuration is characterized in that the position restriction of the flow path conversion member is released, and the flow path switching device returns to the normal state.
[0007]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the flow path converting member (sliding member) constituting the bottom plate of the sphere supply flow path, the lock member disposed in a state where a part of the ball supply flow path faces the flow path, And a locking member formed on the path conversion member (slide member), so that the flow path conversion member (slide member) is moved to the ball supply flow path side by the operation of the switching operation portion (ball removal operation lever) by the player. When the communication state is changed from the communication state to the ball passage channel side, the game ball passing in a continuous state to the ball passage channel swings to a part of the lock member, and the lock member swings . Since the locking member comes into contact with the rocking lock member and the flow path conversion member (sliding member) is locked in the communication state to the ball discharge flow path side, it is necessary to continue the operation by the player as it is conventionally. Without being set, it is maintained in the flow path switching state to the ball outlet flow path side. Therefore, all the stored balls in the ball storage tray (upper plate) can be removed into, for example, the lower ball tray (lower plate) by simply operating the switching operation unit (ball removal operation unit). become able to.
In addition, since the game ball disappears after the ball is removed, the lock member does not come into contact with the game ball. Therefore, when the player operates the switching operation unit (ball removal operation lever) again, for example, in the ball removal direction. Then, the contact between the lock member and the locking member is released, the flow path conversion member (slide member) is returned to the original state, and the ball removal state is released. Therefore, as described above, the locked state in the ball-out state can be surely performed, and since the ball-out state cannot be locked if there is no game ball in the ball-out channel, the player can change the switching operation portion (ball-out operation). By releasing the ball release operation (operating again in the ball removal direction), it is possible to prevent an unintentional (for example, malfunction) ball removal state when the game is resumed after ball removal.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a ball storage tray of the gaming machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1-5.
[0009]
First, FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a spherical reservoir pan (upper tray) portion in pachinko machine as an example of applying the present invention, switching operation part (spherical vent operation section), the interior of the link member, spheres It is the principal part disassembled perspective view which showed the feeding apparatus, the sphere supply flow path, the sphere extraction flow path, the flow path conversion member (slide member), the lock member, and the like as viewed obliquely from the front.
In FIG. 1, 1 is a front body of a ball storage dish, 2 is a back body, 3 is an intermediate body, 4 is a back cover body, 5 is a flow path switching device, and 6 is a switching operation unit (ball removal operation lever). ) 10 is a link member, 17 is a flow path conversion member (slide member), 18 is a sphere supply flow path bottom plate, 21 is a guide slit, 22 is a sphere supply flow path, 23 is a sphere discharge flow path, and 24 is a ball feed device. , 28 are flow path switching state holding means, and 29 is a lock member.
[0010]
That is , in the embodiment , the ball storage tray portion that forms a so-called upper plate of the pachinko gaming machine has an intermediate body 3 interposed between the front body 1 and the back body 2 as shown in the drawing, and the back body 2 The rear cover body 4 is assembled from the rear, and a sphere storage section is provided in a not-shown portion of the front body 1 as is well known.
And the flow-path switching apparatus 5 etc. which are mentioned later are comprised in the inside of the above ball | bowl storage tray part.
The flow path switching device 5 includes a ball removal operation lever 6 as a switching operation unit that is incorporated in the front body 1 and exposed to the outside, and a crank rod that transmits a rotation amount of the ball removal operation lever 6 by a sliding operation in the vertical direction. 7, a cam 8 provided at the tip of the crank rod 7, a link member 10 that swings when the cam 8 rotates, and a flow path conversion member that slides when the link member 10 swings. The slide member 17 and a ball supply flow path bottom plate 18 formed integrally with the slide member 17 are configured.
[0011]
The ball removal operation lever 6 is rotatably supported by the holder 9, and the holder 9 is fixed inside the front body 1. The link member 10 has a bell crank shape when viewed from the front-rear direction, and includes a cam follower 11 that abuts the cam 8 at one end of the bell crank shape.
A fulcrum boss 12 is provided at an intermediate corner portion of the bell crank shape of the link member 10, and a fulcrum pin 14 provided on a fixing plate 13 fixed to the intermediate body 3 by screws is inserted into the fulcrum boss 12. The link member 10 is swingably supported around the fulcrum pin 14 .
In addition, a long hole 15 is formed in the other end of the bell crank shape of the link member 10, and the link member 10 described above rotates around the fulcrum pin 14 clockwise by the tensile force of the return spring 16 by the tension coil spring. Always energized in the direction of rotation.
[0012]
Further, the slide member 17 formed integrally with the ball supply flow path bottom plate 18 includes an engagement pin 19 that engages with the elongated hole 15 of the link member 10, and the slide member guide slit 20 formed in the intermediate body 3 It is built in such a way that it can slide slightly diagonally along the side. Further, the sphere supply flow path bottom plate 18 is incorporated along a bottom plate guide slit 21 formed in the back body 2 so as to be slightly slidable in the lateral direction.
The back cover body 4 stores the game balls stored in the ball storage section in a ball supply flow path 22 for supplying the game balls to a ball launcher (not shown), and also stored in the ball storage section. A ball discharge passage 23 is formed for drawing the game ball in a ball tray (not shown) as a so-called lower plate located below the game ball.
A ball feeding device 24 is disposed on the front side of the opening of the ball supply channel 22. The ball feeding device 24 includes a solenoid 25 and a ball feeding member 26, and the tip of the ball feeding member 26 that swings when the solenoid 25 is energized ON / OFF is formed at a bifurcated portion 27.
[0013]
In the ball storage tray of the pachinko machine equipped with the flow path switching device 5 having the above configuration, the slide member 17 integrally formed with the ball supply flow path bottom plate 18 is connected to the ball supply flow path bottom plate 18 on the ball discharge flow path 23 side. Is provided with a flow path switching state holding means 28 for holding in a state where is located.
That is, the flow path switching state holding means 28 includes a lock member 29 disposed below the ball supply flow path bottom plate 18 integral with the slide member 17 and an upper portion thereof, as shown in FIG. The ball supply flow path bottom plate 18 is integrally formed with a locking member (locking piece portion) 30 formed integrally therewith.
In addition, the ball removal flow path 23 passes through the opening 31 formed on the back body 2, the flow path 32, the opening 33, the flow path 34 formed on the back side cover body 4, and the opening 35 to the above-described ball receiving tray (not shown). It has come to.
[0014]
Next, the flow path switching state holding means 28 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 2 in an enlarged manner, the lock member 29 is L-shaped when viewed from the front-rear direction, and the back body 2 and the back-side cover body are provided by fulcrum pins 36 provided at the intermediate corners of the L-shape. 4, a lock member 29 is assembled so as to be swingable between the two.
The lock member 29 has a L-shaped short piece side as a ball contact piece 37 facing the back side of the opening 31 and a tip end portion at the other long piece side as a lock contact part 38.
As shown in FIG. 2 which is a normal state, the lock member 29 is in a state where the long piece portion side is lowered by its own weight and the ball contact piece portion 37 side protrudes to the back side of the opening portion 31.
In addition, a locking piece 30 that is a locking member that is bent downward at a substantially right angle is integrally formed at one end of the sphere supply flow path bottom plate 18 that is positioned above the locking member 29. Yes. The inner surface of the locking piece 30 can come into contact with the locking contact portion 38.
[0015]
According to the pachinko gaming machine in which the flow path switching device 5 including the flow path switching state holding means 28 having the above configuration is provided in the ball storage tray, first, as shown in FIG. In the state, as shown in FIG. 2, the sphere supply flow path bottom plate 18 is located in a communication state with the sphere supply flow path 22 side, and this state is maintained.
In such a state in which the sphere supply flow path bottom plate 18 communicates with the sphere supply flow path 22 side, a game ball is continuous on the sphere supply flow path bottom plate 18 from a sphere discharge hole of the sphere storage portion (not shown). The ball feeding member 26 swings in the vertical direction by the energization ON / OFF of the solenoid 25 of the ball feeding device 24 interlocked with the ball launching device. The game balls B are sent to the ball supply channel 22 one by one and supplied to the ball launching device.
[0016]
Further, when the player pushes down the ball pulling operation lever 6, the crank rod 7 rotates and the cam follower 11 moves in the vertical direction via the cam 8 at the tip.
As a result, the link member 10 swings around the fulcrum pin 14, and the slide member 17 in which the engagement pin 19 engages with the long hole 15 of the link member 10 extends along the slide member guide slit 20 of the intermediate body 3. The ball supply flow path bottom plate 18 integrated with the slide member 17 slides obliquely in the lateral direction along the bottom plate guide slit 21 of the back body 2.
[0017]
For example, in a state where the ball removal operation lever 6 is pushed down halfway in order to remove a small amount of the ball, the ball supply flow path bottom plate 18 is supplied with a ball as shown by an arrow in FIG. It slides laterally upward slightly away from the flow path 22 side, and the game ball B falls on the back side of the opening 31 from the ball supply flow path bottom plate 18, and the flow path 32, the opening 33, After passing through the flow path 34 and the opening 35, it passes through the ball removal flow path 23 and is discharged to the above-described ball receiving tray (not shown).
Here, when the game ball B falls to the back side of the opening 31, the game ball B comes into contact with the ball contact piece 37 that protrudes to the back side of the opening 31, and the lock member 29 is a fulcrum. The long piece portion side is lifted by swinging around the pin 36 in the counterclockwise direction shown in the figure.
However, in this case, in order to remove a small amount of the ball, the ball removal operation lever 6 is pushed down halfway, and the lower end portion of the locking piece 30 integrated with the ball supply channel bottom plate 18 is the lock member 29. It is in a state of being placed on the long piece portion.
[0018]
Next, in a state where the ball removal operation lever 6 is further pushed down in order to set the ball removal state to the locked state, as shown by the arrow in FIG. The length of the lock member 29 that has been slid further in the lateral direction toward the slightly upper side away from the 22 side and oscillated around the fulcrum pin 36 in the counterclockwise direction shown in FIG. The one side is further lifted, and the locking contact portion 38 at the tip is in contact with the inner surface of the locking piece 30.
In this way, the lock member 29 prevents the slide in the lateral direction of the sphere supply flow path bottom plate 18 integrally having the locking piece portion 30 from approaching the sphere supply flow path 22 toward slightly downward.
Accordingly, the game ball B falls continuously from the ball supply flow path bottom plate 18 to the back side of the opening 31 and passes through the flow path 32, the opening 33, the flow path 34, and the opening 35 from the opening 31. All the game balls stored in the ball storage section of the ball storage tray are discharged to the ball tray (not shown) through the extraction channel 23.
[0019]
When the ball removal operation as described above is finished and the ball removal operation lever 6 is further pushed down again to release the ball removal lock state, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 18 further slides in the lateral direction again slightly obliquely upward away from the sphere supply flow path 22 side, and the locking piece 30 separates from the locking contact portion 38 at the distal end of the long piece of the locking member 29 (illustrated phantom line) Therefore, the lock member 29 is in a state where the long piece side is lowered by its own weight as shown in the drawing.
Accordingly, the ball supply flow path bottom plate 18 whose position restriction by the lock member 29 has been released slides in a laterally downward direction approaching the ball supply flow path 22 and returns to the normal state shown in FIG.
[0020]
As described above, according to the ball storage tray of the pachinko gaming machine provided with the flow path switching state holding means 28 according to the embodiment of the present invention , the effects listed below can be exhibited.
[0021]
(1) Since the flow path switching device (flow path conversion member 17) can be held in a ball-out state, all the stored balls in the ball storage tray (upper tray) can be turned into the ball tray (lower tray) by a simple operation. The ball can be removed.
(2) At the time of exit ball exchange after the end of the big hit, the player does not have to continue to operate the switching operation portion (ball removal operation lever 6) even when removing a large amount of stored balls stored in the ball storage tray. However, since all ball removal is performed by one operation, it is easy and there is no troublesome operation as in the prior art.
(3) It is possible to simultaneously remove the balls stored in the ball storage tray that is the upper plate and the balls stored in the ball tray as the lower plate, so that it is possible to perform the replacement operation of the ball more quickly than in the past.
(4) Since the player can release the channel switching state of the channel switching member (slide member 17) toward the ball removal channel side by re-operating the switching operation unit (ball removal operation lever 6). The unplugged state can be easily released.
[0022]
(5) Since the game ball B is in a continuous state in the ball removal channel 23 and the ball member is locked by the slide member 17 of the lock member 29 due to interference with the game ball B, a ball removal lock state is possible. For example, it is possible to prevent an unintentional ball-out state due to malfunction or the like.
[0023]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the above embodiment example , Of course, it can change suitably also about the detailed detailed structure etc. containing a ball removal operation part.
The gaming machine to which the present invention is applied is not limited to a pachinko gaming machine, and may be a ball gaming machine such as an arrangement ball gaming machine.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the flow path converting member (sliding member) constituting the bottom plate of the sphere supply flow path, the lock member disposed in a state where a part of the ball supply flow path faces the flow path, And a locking member formed on the path conversion member (slide member), so that the flow path conversion member (slide member) is moved to the ball supply flow path side by the operation of the switching operation portion (ball removal operation lever) by the player. When the communication state is changed from the communication state to the ball discharge channel side, the game ball passing in a continuous state to the ball discharge channel side contacts a part of the lock member, the lock member swings, and the swing Since the locking member comes into contact with the moving lock member and the flow path conversion member (sliding member) is locked in a communication state to the ball discharge flow path side, it is necessary to continue the operation by the player as it is conventionally. Without changing the flow path to the spherical flow path side. Therefore, all the stored balls in the ball storage tray (upper plate) can be removed into, for example, the lower ball tray (lower plate) by simply operating the switching operation unit (ball removal operation unit). become able to.
[0025]
As a result, for example, even when removing a large amount of stored balls stored in the ball storage tray at the time of the ball change after the big hit in the pachinko game machine, the player can perform a single operation of the switching operation unit. Since all the ball removal is performed, it is simple, and the troublesome operation that the player continues to perform the switching operation as in the past can be eliminated.
In addition, for example, it becomes possible to simultaneously remove the balls stored in the ball storage tray as the upper plate and the ball stored in the ball tray as the lower plate. Will be able to do.
In addition, with the flow path switching state holding means, the flow path conversion member that forms the bottom plate of the sphere supply flow path, the lock member that partially faces in the ball discharge flow path, and the latch provided in the flow path conversion member A game that the player passes in a continuous state to the ball passage channel side by converting the channel conversion member into a communication state to the ball passage channel side by operating the switching operation unit. The ball comes into contact with a part of the lock member, the lock member swings, and then the locking member comes into contact with the swinging lock member so that the flow path conversion member is in communication with the ball discharge flow path side. Can be locked to.
Therefore, as long as there is a game ball passing through the ball removal channel side, the ball removal state can be surely kept in the locked state.
After the ball is removed, the game ball disappears and the lock member does not come into contact with the game ball. Therefore, the player operates the switching operation part to release the ball, so that the flow path conversion member communicates with the ball supply flow path. The ball removal state can be canceled by performing the conversion operation.
In this way, in the state where there is no game ball in the ball removal channel, it is impossible to lock the ball removal state, so that when the player resumes the game after removing the ball, It is possible to prevent an unintentional ball removal state due to malfunction or the like.
[Brief description of the drawings]
[1] shows an example embodiment of ball reservoir pan (upper tray) portion in pachinko machine as an example of applying the present invention, switching operation part (spherical vent operation section), the interior of the link member, the sphere feed It is the principal part disassembled perspective view which showed the apparatus, the bulb | ball supply flow path, the bulb | ball extraction flow path, the flow-path conversion member (slide member), the lock member, etc. in the state seen from diagonally forward.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a partially broken view showing a normal state of the flow path conversion member (slide member) and the lock member assembly portion in FIG. 1 as viewed obliquely from the rear.
FIG. 3 is a similar enlarged perspective view showing a state where a small amount of balls are removed from an assembly portion of the flow path conversion member (slide member) and the lock member in FIG. 2;
4 is a similar enlarged perspective view showing a change to a ball removal lock state after the small amount ball removal state of FIG. 3. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a similar enlarged perspective view showing a change from the ball-out lock state of FIG. 4 to the unlocking operation state.
[Explanation of symbols]
B game ball 1 ball storage tray front body 5 flow path switching device 6 switching operation part (ball removal operation lever)
14 fulcrum pin 17 flow path conversion member (slide member)
18 Sphere supply flow path bottom plate 22 Sphere supply flow path 23 Sphere removal flow path 28 Flow path switching state holding means 29 Lock member 30 Lock member (lock piece)
37 Ball contact piece 38 Lock contact

Claims (1)

A ball storage section for storing game balls to be supplied to the ball launcher;
A flow path switching device for performing a flow path switching operation between a ball supply flow path for supplying the game balls of the ball storage section to the ball launcher and a ball discharge flow path for discharging the game balls downward from the ball storage section;
A switching operation unit that enables switching operation of the flow path switching device by a player's operation;
In a ball storage tray of a gaming machine equipped with
The normal channel switching device that is switched to the ball supply channel side by the biasing of a spring is switched to the ball extraction channel side by the operation of the switching operation part by a player, and is switched to the ball extraction channel side. Channel switching state holding means for holding the channel switching state of the channel switching device is provided,
The flow path switching device constitutes a bottom plate of the ball supply flow path, and a state of communication with the ball supply flow path side and a state of non-communication with respect to the ball supply flow path side by operation of the switching operation unit by a player A flow path conversion member that converts into a communication state to the ball passage flow path side,
The flow path switching state holding means is
A lock member that is disposed in a state where a part thereof faces the ball extraction channel, and swings when a part of the game ball that passes to the ball extraction channel contacts the part ,
The flow path conversion member is formed in the flow path conversion member, and is held in communication with the ball extraction flow path side by contact with the lock member that swings in contact with the game ball passing to the ball extraction flow path side. A locking member, and
The locking member is integrally formed with a shape in which one end of the flow path conversion member is bent substantially perpendicularly downward,
The lock member is disposed below the flow path conversion member, and is an L-shaped, L-shaped short piece portion side which is a spherical contact portion facing the bulb-out flow path, and the other long piece The tip part on the part side is used as a contact part for locking, and is slidably assembled by a fulcrum pin provided at the L-shaped intermediate corner part,
The inner surface of the locking member can be brought into contact with the locking contact portion,
When the switching operation portion is operated, the lock member swings around the fulcrum pin by the contact of the game ball with the ball contact portion, and the long piece portion side is lifted, and the lock contact portion and When the inner surface of the locking member comes into contact, the flow path conversion member is held in a communication state to the ball removal flow path side, and the ball removal of the ball storage unit is completed.
By further operating the switching operation portion again, the flow path conversion member slides to separate the locking contact portion of the locking member from the inner surface of the locking member, and the long piece side of the locking member is caused by its own weight. A ball storage tray for a gaming machine, wherein the position restriction of the flow path conversion member is released, and the flow path switching device returns to the normal state.

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