JP4102798B2 - Pachinko ball alignment rail - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to the structure of a pachinko sphere alignment rail that allows pachinko spheres to flow in an aligned state.

The ball alignment rail, which is provided at an angle to guide the pachinko ball to the ball dispensing device downstream of the ball tank on the back of the pachinko machine, is a single-row, single-stage pachinko ball that has flowed out of the ball tank. In order to provide the function of aligning and supplying to the ball dispensing device (ball smoothing, aligning function), for example, as shown in Patent Document 1 below, if a roller-shaped ball is placed on the upper part of the ball aligning rail, There is known a suspension member that is swingably suspended.
In addition, by providing an electric vibration generator, the ball alignment rail is vibrated to align pachinko balls and prevent clogging of the balls.
Further, the ball alignment rail shown in Patent Document 2 forms a widened portion on one side wall so that the second and higher spheres are resisted and the flow of the second and higher spheres is delayed. The second and higher spheres were inserted between the lower spheres and aligned in a single stage.
Japanese Patent No. 3004503 JP 2001-62104 A

By the way, the conventional apparatus as shown in Patent Document 1 requires a space that can suspend a sphere leveling member on the upper part of the sphere alignment rail, and also has a leveling sphere. A member and a vibration generator are required as separate parts from the rail for rail alignment, and this has to be assembled, so there is a problem that the cost increases.
In addition, the sphere alignment rail shown in Patent Document 2 is obtained by partially expanding or contracting only the upper flow path width, and as a result, the strokes of the upper sphere and the lower sphere are different. As a result, the upper and lower spheres hinder the flow of each other and generally slow down the supply speed of the spheres, so that it becomes impossible to supply the spheres to the ball dispensing device at a high speed and clogging may occur. It was something that could not be denied.
Therefore, the present invention provides a ball alignment rail which has a function of aligning pachinko balls in a single row and a single stage at a high speed and does not cause the possibility of ball clogging, and intends to solve the above-mentioned problems. It is.

Therefore, the invention described in claim 1 is a ball alignment rail provided in an inclined shape so that the pachinko spheres flow down due to its own weight, and the pachinko spheres can be stacked in multiple stages with the height of both side walls. And a meandering portion in the form of a longitudinal corrugated plate having a substantially constant width that allows pachinko balls to flow down in a single row and is bent repeatedly in the direction of the sphere flow. The pachinko balls stacked in multiple stages flow down while repeatedly swinging in the width direction in accordance with the meandering shape of the meandering portion .
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the sphere alignment rail, a sphere guide strip that snakes along both side walls is formed on the bottom surface of the serpentine portion.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the sphere alignment rail, the longitudinal wave plate shape of both side walls of the meandering portion is formed such that the downstream portion is bent at an acute angle more than the upstream portion. Features.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the ball alignment rail, the meandering shape of the ball guiding strip is formed such that the downstream portion is bent at a more acute angle than the upstream portion.

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, pachinko balls are aligned in a single row and in a single stage without the possibility of ball clogging. In addition, it is possible to reduce the cost without having to assemble another part.
In the third and fourth aspects of the invention, the alignment function can be further ensured without maintaining the necessary supply speed of the pachinko balls to the ball dispensing device or the like and without the risk of clogging of the balls.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a rear view of a pachinko machine according to the present invention. 1 is a ball tank in which a pachinko ball for payout is stored, 2 is a ball alignment rail according to the present invention derived from the bottom of the ball tank, Reference numeral 3 denotes an elbow provided at the inclined lower end of the ball aligning rail to allow a pachinko ball to flow into the ball payout device 4, and 5 denotes a ball discharge rod provided downstream from the ball payout device. The pachinko balls thus made flow down the ball alignment rail and are supplied to the ball dispensing device 4 through the elbow 3. Then, when the ball dispensing device 4 is operated, the pachinko balls pass through the ball dispensing basket 5 and are paid out to the front surface of the pachinko machine. Since the ball dispensing device 4 shown in this embodiment is of a double type, the ball aligning rail 2 has two flow paths 2a and 2b in parallel as shown in the enlarged perspective view of FIG. The pachinko balls that have flowed out of the ball tank 1 are arranged in a single row and a single stage in the respective flow paths, and are supplied to the ball dispensing device 4.

  3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rail for rail alignment 2 shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD. As shown in these drawings, the ball alignment rail 2 is integrally formed of plastic so as to include a ball receiving portion 6, a meandering portion 7, and a linear portion 8, and is integrally formed on one side wall thereof. By inserting the screws 11 and 12 into the formed mounting pieces 9 and 10, it is fixed to the back surface of the pachinko machine with a gentle inclination (inclination angle of 4 to 5 degrees). The ball receiving portion 6 is opposed to the bottom ball discharge port of the ball tank 1 and is formed with a high peripheral side wall 13 so that pachinko balls P discharged from the ball tank 1 can be stacked in multiple stages. A partition wall 14 is formed upright and the flow channel 2a, 2b is partitioned by the partition wall 14. The lateral widths of the flow paths 2a and 2b are formed slightly wider than the diameter of the pachinko sphere P. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the bottom surface of the ball receiving portion 6 is formed so as to be inclined downward toward the center line of each flow path 2a, 2b, thereby forming the ball guiding strips 15a, 15b. Note that 16a and 16b are long holes formed for discharging dust at the centers of the flow paths 2a and 2b.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the meandering portion 7 is configured such that the pachinko balls P can be stacked in multiple stages with the height of the side walls 17 a to 17 d of the flow paths 2 a and 2 b being surrounded by the side walls. The width of the flow path is made substantially constant so that the pachinko balls can flow down in a single row, and the both side walls are formed into a longitudinal wave plate shape that is bent repeatedly in the downward direction of the ball flow. Further, the bottom surface of the meandering portion 7 is formed such that the ball guiding strips 18a and 18b continuous from the ball receiving portion 6 meander along the side walls 17a to 17d as shown in FIG.

  In addition, the longitudinal corrugated plate shape of both side walls 17a-17d is formed in the shape which bent the downstream part more acutely than the upstream part, as FIG. 4 shows. Also, the meandering shape of the ball guiding strips 18a and 18b is formed in a shape in which the downstream portion is bent at an acute angle more than the upstream portion.

  Further, the linear portion 8 provided downstream of the meandering portion 7 is formed so that the partition wall 20 is connected to the side walls 17b and 17c between the side walls 22a and 22b connected to the side walls 17a and 17d. Are formed in a straight line, and the tips thereof communicate with the elbow 3. In addition, the ball | bowl guide strips 19a and 19b are formed in the linear form so that the bottom face of this linear part 8 may be continued from the said ball | bowl guide strips 18a and 18b. 21a and 21b are long holes formed on the bottom surface of the linear portion 8 for discharging dust.

  In the ball alignment rail configured as described above, the pachinko balls P stacked in multiple stages of the ball receiving section 6 move to the meandering section 7 while being stacked in multiple stages in a single row. Then, the pachinko balls P flow down in the meandering portion 7 while repeatedly swinging in the width direction in accordance with the waveforms of the inner surfaces of the side walls 17a to 17d and the meandering shapes of the ball guiding strips 18a and 18b. For this reason, as it flows down, the stacking of the pachinko balls is gradually eliminated, and the pachinko balls are aligned in a single stage to reach the linear portion 8. In this way, the meandering portion 7 has a flow path width that is substantially constant so that the pachinko balls can flow in a single row, so that the pachinko balls can flow smoothly without clogging in the meandering portion 7. By repeatedly swinging in the width direction, the stacking is gradually eliminated.

  In addition, when the longitudinal corrugated plate shape of the side walls 17a to 17d and the meandering shape of the ball guide strips 18a and 18b are formed in a shape in which the downstream part is bent at an acute angle more than the upstream part, the pachinko sphere reaches the downstream part. Gradually swinging left and right will surely eliminate the stacking.

  As described above, in the present invention, the pachinko balls are rocked during the flow and the pachinko balls are naturally aligned without any additional parts such as a conventional ball leveling member or a vibration generator, thereby reducing the cost. In addition, the ball clogging can be surely eliminated.

  In this embodiment, the means for swinging the pachinko balls is provided on the side wall and the bottom surface of the ball alignment rail. However, even if provided on only the side walls, the stacked pachinko balls can be swung.

  In addition, the inventors made trials of side walls of various shapes, for example, dividing the bent portion into an upstream portion and a downstream portion, and increasing or decreasing the number of bends, and conducted an experiment to make a pachinko ball flow down. As a result, for example, if the bending angle is too sharp or the bending width is too large, the flow rate of the pachinko sphere may decrease and the supply to the ball dispensing device may not be in time. It became clear that if it was too much, the ball was smoothed and the alignment function was not demonstrated. For this reason, the shape of the sphere alignment rail according to the present invention is generally the most desirable shape setting, but the present invention is not limited to the shape shown in this embodiment and departs from the gist. Various design changes can be made without departing from the scope.

  Further, the ball alignment rail according to the present invention is not limited to the ball supply path to the ball payout device in the pachinko machine as shown in this embodiment, but the ball circulation system path of the pachinko machine installation island platform, or other It can be used for the purpose of providing a rail that allows the pachinko spheres to flow in a single row at a portion where a large number of pachinko spheres flow down at the site. As an example, FIG. 9 shows a rear view of a pachinko machine-installed island platform, in which 30 is a pachinko machine in which a large number are arranged in parallel, 31 is a ball lift, 32 is a lower part of the island platform, and upstream of the lift The ball polishing device 33 provided on the ball pachinko ball is fed by the ball lift to the ball tank of each pachinko machine 30 via the ball guide rail 34 and the flexible hose 35. This is a ball replenishment rail provided for the purpose. The ball guide rail 34 is provided on the side wall of the ball supply rail 33 as shown in an enlarged view in FIGS. 10 and 11, and pachinko balls are aligned to form a flexible hose 35. Since there is a need to flow down, according to the present invention, the height of the side walls 17a and 17b can be stacked in multiple stages, and the pachinko balls flow down in a single row with the width of the channel surrounded by the side walls. It has a substantially constant width and is formed into a longitudinal corrugated plate shape in which both side walls are repeatedly bent in the downward direction of the sphere, and a spherical guide strip 18a meandering along the both side walls is formed on the bottom surface. As a result, the pachinko balls are swung during the flow and are naturally aligned, so that the pachinko balls are replenished to the ball tank of each pachinko machine 30 and the supply ball count is smoothly performed.

  12 and 13, the ball introduction rail 36 provided on the inlet side of the ball polishing device 32 is also used to align pachinko balls in six rows that are the inflow width thereof. According to the invention, both side walls are formed in a longitudinal corrugated plate shape, and a meandering sphere guide strip is formed on the bottom surface. As a result, the flow of the pachinko balls into the ball polishing device 32 is always performed smoothly.

The back view of the pachinko machine provided with the rail for ball alignment concerning the present invention. 1 is a perspective view of a ball alignment rail according to the present invention. FIG. The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the rail for ball | bowl alignment based on this invention. The top view of the rail for ball | bowl alignment based on this invention. AA line sectional view of Drawing 4. BB sectional drawing of FIG. CC sectional view taken on the line of FIG. The DD sectional view taken on the line of FIG. The back view of the pachinko machine installation island stand provided with the rail for ball alignment concerning the present invention. FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the sphere guide rail shown in FIG. 9. The top view of FIG. FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the ball polishing apparatus shown in FIG. 9. The top view of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ball tank 2 Ball alignment rail 2a, 2b Flow path 4 Ball delivery device 6 Ball receiving part 7 Serpentine part 8 Linear part 17a-17d Side wall 18a, 18b Ball guide strip P Pachinko ball

Claims (4)

A ball alignment rail provided in an inclined shape so that the pachinko balls flow down due to its own weight, and the height of the side walls can be stacked in multiple stages, and the flow surrounded by the side walls The pachinko sphere that has a meandering plate shape with a longitudinal wave plate shape that has a substantially constant width that allows pachinko spheres to flow down in a single row and that is bent repeatedly in the direction of the sphere flow. The pachinko ball alignment rail is characterized in that it flows down while repeatedly swinging in the width direction in accordance with the meandering shape of the meandering portion .   2. The pachinko ball alignment rail according to claim 1, wherein a sphere guide strip meandering along both side walls is formed on the bottom surface of the serpentine portion.   3. The pachinko ball alignment rail according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal corrugated plate shape of both side walls of the meandering portion is formed in a shape in which the downstream portion is bent at a sharper angle than the upstream portion.   3. The pachinko ball alignment rail according to claim 2, wherein the meandering shape of the ball guiding strip is formed in a shape in which the downstream portion is bent at an acute angle rather than the upstream portion.

Images