JP4342785B2 - Article throwing device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an article dispensing apparatus including a plurality of throwing units for storing articles such as special prizes in pachinko and throwing them out, and a cabinet for storing these throwing units. In particular, the present invention relates to a configuration for displaying the state of each throwing unit.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as the article dispensing apparatus as described above, there are those described in, for example, JP-A-9-28915 and JP-A-9-38327. In the article dispensing apparatuses described in these publications, a display unit is provided on a cabinet that houses a plurality of dispensing units. The display unit intensively displays the remaining amount of articles and errors (operation failure) in each dispensing unit.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-9-28915 ([0008] column, [0009] column, FIGS. 1 and 2)
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-9-38327 (same as above)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The conventional article dispensing apparatus described above has the following problems. That is, since the states of a plurality of dispensing units are intensively displayed on one display unit, the states of the respective dispensing units are difficult to understand at a glance. Also, when an error occurs, open the cabinet door, and perform operations such as error cancellation while alternately checking the display on the cabinet and the target throwing unit. Become. For this reason, it is difficult to smoothly perform the work performed on the throwing unit in a short time while viewing the display.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in consideration of such points, and performs display so that the states of a plurality of throwing units can be easily grasped at a glance. An object of the present invention is to provide an article dispensing apparatus capable of smoothly performing a work to be performed in a short time.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention includes a plurality of throwing units for storing articles in the interior and throwing out the necessary number of articles at any time, and a cabinet having these opening units detachably stored and having an opening / closing door. Each throwing unit is a surface facing the open / close door in the closed state in the cabinet, and the state is visually confirmed at a position immediately above the front plate that is opened and closed when replenishing articles. Each display unit is configured to display at least a malfunctioning state in the throwing unit provided with the display unit, and is provided on the cabinet door. The article dispensing apparatus is characterized in that a window portion is provided for making the display unit of each dispensing unit visible from the outside.
[0007]
According to this 1st invention, the display part of each throwing unit can be visually recognized through the window part of a cabinet, respectively. Further, when working on the throwing unit while looking at the display, the work can be done while opening the open / close door of the cabinet and directly viewing the display unit of the target throwing unit.
[0012]
In the article dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, the display unit of each dispensing unit is configured to perform light emission display using a light emitting element, and the light from the light emitting element is transmitted to the window of the open / close door in the cabinet. It is preferable that light guiding means for guiding the light is provided .
[0013]
According to such an article | item throwing-out apparatus, the light emission display in the display part of each throwing unit can be easily visually recognized from the exterior of a cabinet.
[0014]
In the article dispensing apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the display unit of each dispensing unit is configured to display with symbols (including characters and figures) on the screen . According to such an article dispensing apparatus, it is possible to grasp more detailed contents of the state of each dispensing unit by the symbols displayed on the display unit.
[0015]
In the article dispensing apparatus of the present invention, the display unit of each dispensing unit may be configured to perform display with a symbol and a plurality of background colors on the screen. According to such an article dispensing apparatus, the outline of the state of the dispensing unit can be intuitively grasped from a relatively long distance by the background color displayed on the display unit. Moreover, it becomes possible to grasp | ascertain the more detailed content of the state of each throwing unit by the symbol similarly displayed on a display part.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 6 are views showing an embodiment of an article dispensing apparatus according to the present invention.
[0017]
[First Embodiment]
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0018]
<Constitution>
FIG. 1 shows an article dispensing apparatus that can include a plurality of dispensing units 1. Each throwing unit 1 has a configuration for storing a substantially card-like article such as a special prize in a pachinko, for example, and throwing out the necessary number of articles as needed.
[0019]
This article dispensing apparatus includes a cabinet 2 that houses the dispensing unit 1, and an opening / closing door 20 is provided on the front side of the cabinet 2. The plurality of throwing units 1 are stored in the cabinet 2 in a state of being arranged in a left and right row, and can be extracted forward from the cabinet 2 with the open / close door 20 opened (in FIG. 1A). The state where only one throwing unit 1 is housed in a cabinet 2 capable of housing seven throwing units 1 is shown).
[0020]
On the upper surface of the cabinet 2, an upper plate 22 for placing the thrown-out article is provided. On the upper plate 22, a display / operation unit 24 is provided at the center in the front side, and on the rear side (substantially in the center in the front-rear direction), slide lids 30 corresponding to the respective throwing units 1 are spaced apart from each other on the left and right. Are arranged. In this article dispensing apparatus, for example, the front side with the opening / closing door 20 and the display / operation unit 24 is used as an attendant side for operating the apparatus, and the rear side is operated as a customer side for receiving the dispensed article.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 2, the dispensing unit 1 includes a plurality of (four in FIG. 2) cassettes C that store articles in a vertically stacked state, and these cassettes C in the horizontal direction (front-rear direction of the dispensing device). ) And the cassette carrier 5 held in a single row. These cassette C and cassette carrier 5 are housed in a housing 10 that defines the outer shape of the dispensing unit 1.
[0022]
In the housing 10, two lift mechanisms (not shown) are provided that are arranged at intervals in the cassette arrangement direction. Each lift mechanism has a lift member that moves up while placing an article in the cassette C and can retreat downward from the cassette C. It should be noted that the presence / absence and remaining amount of articles in the corresponding cassette C can be detected via the lift member of each lift mechanism.
[0023]
A slide mechanism 9 for moving the cassette carrier 5 in the cassette arrangement direction is provided at the bottom of the housing 10. A pair of receiving portions 16 are provided so as to communicate with the upper portion of the cassette C corresponding to each lift mechanism. Each receiving part 16 is for receiving the articles raised by the lift mechanism from the upper part of the cassette C and guiding them further upward.
[0024]
Above each receiving portion 16, a feeding mechanism (not shown) for feeding the article from above the cassette C corresponding to the lift mechanism is provided. In addition, a holding unit 18 that temporarily holds an article fed by each feeding mechanism is provided between the two receiving units 16 so as to open on the upper surface of the housing 10. Corresponding to the holding unit 18, an elevator mechanism (not shown) is provided for throwing out an article held there. Specifically, the article lifted from the holding portion 18 by the elevator mechanism is pushed onto the upper plate 22 of the cabinet 2 by the slide lid 30 shown in FIG.
[0025]
Returning to FIG. 2, the rail 14 that slidably supports the cassette carrier 5 and the slide mechanism 9 are attached to the front plate 12 that forms the lower side of the front surface of the housing 10, and these are integrated. The drawer part 1a is configured. The drawer portion 1a is detachably attached to the housing 10 main body in a pull-out manner along a pair of upper and lower mounting rails 13 provided in the housing 10 main body.
[0026]
On the front surface of the housing 10, a light emitting display unit (display unit) D <b> 1 positioned immediately above the front plate 12 is provided. The light emitting display portion D1 is for visually displaying a state such as empty (out of goods) or error (operation failure) in the dispensing unit 1. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, the opening / closing door 20 of the cabinet 2 is provided with a window portion 26 for making the display portion D1 of each throwing unit 1 visible from the outside. In this case, seven rectangular openings 26 are provided corresponding to the display portions D1 of the seven throwing units 1, respectively.
[0027]
As shown in FIG. 3, the light emitting display unit D1 includes a shielding plate 16 provided substantially flush with the front surface of the housing 10 of the projection unit, and a light emitting circuit board 18 disposed behind the shielding plate 16. Have. Two light emitting elements L1 and L2 (for example, light emitting diodes) are arranged in parallel on the light emitting circuit board 18. Further, portions of the shielding plate 16 corresponding to the light emitting elements L1 and L2 are cut out in a rectangular shape, and a light diffusing plate 17 made of milky white translucent resin or the like is inserted therein.
[0028]
As a result, almost the entire light diffusing plate 17 appears to shine in the light emission colors of the light emitting elements L1 and L2. For example, the red light emitting element L1 and the green light emitting element L2 are used to display red and green light emission on the light diffusing plate 17, respectively, and light is emitted by causing both the light emitting elements L1 and L2 to emit light simultaneously. Orange light emission can be displayed on the diffusion plate 17.
[0029]
In that case, depending on the color displayed on the light diffusing plate 17 portion of the display unit D1, for example, a throwing unit 1 such as green → normal operation, orange → empty (out of goods), red → error (malfunction). Status display can be performed. Further, by appropriately blinking the light emitting elements L1 and L2, the display can be emphasized, or an additional meaning (for example, information such as the type of error) can be given to the display.
[0030]
<Function and effect>
Next, the effect of this embodiment which consists of such a structure is demonstrated. According to the present embodiment, by visually observing the display unit D1 of each throwing unit 1 through the window part 26 of the cabinet 2, states such as normal operation, out of stock, defective operation, etc. in each throwing unit 1 are provided. Can be confirmed. In addition, when performing work for replenishing out-of-stock items or canceling malfunction, open the opening / closing door 20 of the cabinet 2 and directly check and confirm the display portion D1 of the target dispensing unit 1 while performing the work. It can be carried out.
[0031]
Accordingly, a display is provided so that the state of each throwing unit 1 can be easily grasped at a glance, and an article throwing that allows the work performed on the throwing unit 1 to be smoothly performed in a short time while viewing the display. An apparatus can be provided.
[0032]
<Modification>
Next, a modification of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 will be described.
[0033]
First, in the modification shown in FIG. 4, a surface light emitting element D2 such as a surface light emitting diode is provided on the front side of the housing 10 of the throwing unit 1 as a display means in place of the light emitting display portion D1 (FIG. 3). It is. As the surface light emitting element D2, for example, the same combination of the two colors as the light emitting elements L1 and L2 can be used.
[0034]
Further, a diffusion lens (light guide means) 27 made of a transparent resin or the like for guiding the light from the surface light emitting element D2 and diffusing outward is inserted in the window portion 26 of the open / close door 20 in the cabinet 2. Yes. With this diffusing lens 27, the light-emitting display of the display portion D2 can be easily seen from the outside of the cabinet 2, particularly from the lateral direction or far away. Such a diffusing lens 27 can also be used in combination with the light emitting display portion D1. Further, instead of the diffusing lens 27 as shown in FIG. 4, a light diffusing member having a polyhedral mirror cut or the like may be used.
[0035]
Next, the modification shown in FIG. 5 is a transparent resin for guiding light from the light emitting elements L1 and L2 to the window portion 26 of the opening / closing door 20 of the cabinet 2 in combination with the light emitting display portion D1. A light guide member (light guide means) 28 is provided. The light guide member 28 makes it easy to visually recognize the light emission display of the display unit D1 from the outside of the cabinet 2 even when the display unit D1 and the opening / closing door 20 are relatively far apart. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the diffusion plate 17 (FIG. 3) can be omitted, and the portion can be made a transparent opening 19.
[0036]
In addition, the light emitting display of the display unit D1 can be easily visually recognized from the lateral direction or far away by forming the distal end portion of the light guide member 28 in the same shape as the diffusion lens 27 (FIG. 4) and the light diffusion member. You can also
[0037]
[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
[0038]
<Constitution>
This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that an image display unit D3 as shown in FIG. 6 is provided instead of the display unit D1 (D2), and other configurations are shown in FIGS. This is the same as in the first embodiment. However, the size of the window portion 26 in the cabinet 2 shown in FIG. 1 is appropriately adjusted according to the size of the image display portion D3.
[0039]
The image display unit D3 shown in FIG. 6 is configured to display with symbols (including characters and graphics) and a plurality of background colors on a screen using, for example, a liquid crystal display panel. A plurality of background colors are displayed, for example, by changing the emission color of the backlight.
[0040]
Specifically, the image display unit D3 displays character display as shown in FIG. 6 (a) and graphic display as shown in FIG. 6 (b) alternately at regular time intervals during normal operation. It has become. The character display of FIG. 6A is the unit number display 101 of the throwing unit, the item type display 102, the character display 103 of the remaining amount of goods for each cassette C (FIG. 2), and the character display 104 of the total remaining amount of items. Is included. Further, the graphic display of FIG. 6B includes a graphic display 105 of the remaining amount of articles for each cassette in place of the character displays 103 and 104 of FIG. This graphic display 105 shows the remaining amount of articles in a bar graph form (in units of 10) from the out-of-stock side 105a represented by "E" to the full side 105b represented by "F". Is.
[0041]
In addition, when one of the cassettes is out of stock, the image display unit D3 displays an article empty in which the graphic display 105 of the remaining article quantity of the corresponding cassette is represented by “E” as shown in FIG. (Out of stock) display 106 can be switched. Further, the image display unit D3 is used to display an error (operation failure) as shown in FIG. In the error display of FIG. 6D, an error code display 107, an error content character display 108, and an error handling character display 109 are displayed instead of the character display 103 and 104 of the remaining amount of the article in FIG. Contains.
[0042]
Further, the image display unit D3 displays, for example, green (standby) or blue (during article ejection) as the background color of the screen when displaying the remaining amount of articles in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b). It has become. Further, for example, yellow is displayed when the article empty is displayed in FIG. 6C, and red is displayed when the error is displayed in FIG. 6D.
[0043]
<Function and effect>
Next, the effect of this embodiment which consists of such a structure is demonstrated. According to the present embodiment, the same operational effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and the following operational effects can be further achieved.
[0044]
That is, according to the present embodiment, the remaining amount of articles in each throwing unit 1 is confirmed for each cassette C by visually checking the image display portion D3 of each throwing unit 1 through the window portion 26 of the cabinet 2. can do. Further, when replenishing out-of-stock items, the opening / closing door 20 of the cabinet 2 is opened, and the replenishment operation is performed while directly checking the display unit D3 of the target dispensing unit 1 and checking the cassette C to be replenished. be able to.
[0045]
In addition, the background color displayed on the image display unit D3 can intuitively grasp the outline of the state of the throwing unit 1 from a relatively long distance. Moreover, it becomes possible to grasp | ascertain the more detailed content of the state of each throwing unit 1 by the symbols, such as a character and a figure similarly displayed on the display part D3.
[0046]
【The invention's effect】
According to this invention, the display part of each throwing unit can be visually recognized through the window part of a cabinet. Further, when working on the throwing unit while looking at the display, the work can be done while opening the open / close door of the cabinet and directly viewing the display unit of the target throwing unit. Accordingly, an article dispensing apparatus that performs a display so that the state of a plurality of dispensing units can be easily grasped at a glance, and can smoothly perform a work performed on the dispensing unit while observing the display. Can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1A and 1B are views showing a first embodiment of an article dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a state in which the door is opened and only one dispensing unit is accommodated, FIG. Is a perspective view showing a closed state.
2 is a perspective view showing a dispensing unit of the article dispensing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 in a state in which a drawer is pulled out and a cassette is removed. FIG.
3A and 3B are diagrams showing a light emitting display unit of the throwing unit shown in FIG. 3, wherein FIG. 3A is a front view, and FIG. 3B is a longitudinal sectional view.
4 is a horizontal sectional view showing a modification (No. 1) relating to the display unit of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3; FIG.
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a modification (No. 2) relating to the display unit of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3;
FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams showing a second embodiment of the article dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, in which display contents on the image display unit of the dispensing unit are: (a) character display of the remaining amount of articles; The figure which is divided and shown in figure display of the remaining amount, (c) article empty display, and (d) error display.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Throwing unit 1a Drawer part 10 Housing | casing D1 Light emission display part (display means)
16 Display frame 17 Diffusion plate D2 Surface light emitting element (display means)
D3 Image display unit (display means)
19 Opening 101 Unit number display 102 Item type display 103 Character remaining amount display 104 Item remaining amount character display 105 Item remaining amount graphic display 106 Item empty (out of stock) display 107 Error (operation failure) code display 108 Error content Character display 109 for error handling 2 Cabinet 20 Open / close door 22 Upper plate 24 Display / operation unit 26 Window 27 Diffuser lens (light guide means)
28 Light guide member (light guide means)
30 Slide lid 5 Cassette carrier C Cassette

Claims (4)

A plurality of throwing units for storing articles inside and for throwing out the necessary number of articles as needed,
These throwing units are stored in a removable manner, and have a cabinet with an open / close door.
Each throwing unit is a surface facing the open / close door in the closed state in the cabinet, and the state is visually displayed at a position immediately above the front plate that is opened and closed when replenishing articles. Having a display for
Each display unit is configured to display at least the state of malfunction in the throwing unit provided with the display unit ,
An article dispensing apparatus, wherein the opening / closing door of the cabinet is provided with a window for making the display unit of each dispensing unit visible from the outside. The display unit of each throwing unit is configured to perform light emission display by a light emitting element,
2. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a light guide means for guiding light from the light emitting element outward is provided at a window portion of the open / close door in the cabinet.   2. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit of each dispensing unit is configured to display a symbol on the screen.   2. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit of each dispensing unit is configured to display a symbol on a screen and a plurality of background colors.

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