JP4455044B2 - Non-contact sensor for pachinko machines - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a non-contact type sensor mounted on the front surface of a game board and mounted on a pachinko machine, and in particular, a switching operation is performed by holding a hand over the non-contact type sensor, and a display operation is being performed on the screen by this operation. The present invention relates to a non-contact sensor mounted on a pachinko machine for stopping a design.

Conventionally, a pachinko machine has a configuration in which a player operates a switch in order to change the game. For example, there are a contact type touch sensor disposed at a position where a player can easily operate on a game board, and a non-contact type sensor using a photoelectric element. These sensors are generally provided for the purpose of stopping a symbol being displayed on the game board screen.
The touch sensor detects that the player has directly touched the sensor with his / her hand, and an active symbol is stopped by this detection.

The non-contact type sensor is for stopping a symbol in operation similarly to the above when a player holds his hand in front of the sensor, and is attached as shown in FIG. 3, for example. That is, a base 13 for mounting a non-contact type sensor is disposed in the area of the front left corner of the game board 11 of the pachinko machine, and the non-contact type sensor 15 is fixed to the base 13.
This non-contact type sensor 15 emits light from the light emitting element 15a and emits it to the outside as shown by a broken line arrow in the cross-sectional view of the non-contact type sensor 15 portion of the game board 11 shown in FIG. When the radiated light is reflected by the hand 19, the reflected light is received by the light receiving element 15 b to perform a switching operation (switch-on). The symbol operation is stopped by this switching operation.

An example of this type of conventional pachinko machine is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-328863

By the way, in the conventional pachinko machine, when the game board 11 is installed in the pachinko parlor, as shown in FIG. 5, the board surface 11a of the game board 11 is predetermined with respect to the vertical line 21 perpendicular to the horizontal floor surface. It is installed so that the ball flows down on the board surface 11a by inclining so as to intersect at an angle θ = about 5 degrees and inclining obliquely upward.
However, when the panel surface 11a is installed so as to be obliquely upward in this way, the light emitting / receiving surface 15d of the non-contact sensor 15 fixed to the panel surface 11a is also obliquely upward, so that it is fixed to the ceiling 22 ( Alternatively, light indicated by broken-line arrows from the fluorescent lamp 23 arranged on the ceiling 22 side is incident on the light emitting / receiving surface 15d at an angle at which it is likely to be in a light receiving state. For this reason, there is a problem that the non-contact type sensor 15 easily receives light from the fluorescent lamp 23 and malfunctions.

In addition, when the symbol is in operation, if the non-contact type sensor 15 malfunctions as described above even though the player is not holding his / her hand, the symbol in operation is stopped against the player's intention. There is a problem that a malfunction of a predetermined pachinko game occurs.
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and prevents a non-contact type sensor using a photoelectric element from malfunctioning due to light from an external light source such as a fluorescent lamp disposed on the ceiling side. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a pachinko machine that can prevent a malfunction of a predetermined pachinko game unintended by the player.

In order to achieve the above object, in the non-contact type sensor mounted on a pachinko machine according to claim 1 of the present invention, the light emitted from the light emitting element is reflected by the light reflecting means held in the radiation direction of the light. In a non-contact type sensor mounted on a pachinko machine that performs a switching operation by receiving the reflected light with a light receiving element, the frequency of the light from the external light source arranged on the ceiling of the pachinko machine installation location is different An oscillating means for oscillating a first pulse signal having a frequency and outputting the first pulse signal as a signal for exciting the light emitting element; and a light having the same frequency as the light at the time of light reception that the light receiving element outputs at the time of light reception. Detecting means for detecting coincidence of both frequencies of the second pulse signal and the first pulse signal transmitted from the oscillating means, and the switch when the coincidence is detected by the detecting means; It is characterized by performing the grayed operation.

  According to this configuration, the emitted light having the same frequency as the first pulse signal is reflected by the reflecting means, and only the second pulse signal obtained when the reflected light is received is the frequency of the first pulse signal. Therefore, the switching operation is not performed even if light having a frequency other than the reflected light is received. Therefore, even if the non-contact type sensor receives the light from the external light source, no malfunction occurs. Therefore, pachinko games such as the stoppage of the symbol movement against the player's intention due to the malfunction of the non-contact type sensor as in the past. Can be prevented from malfunctioning.

  A non-contact type sensor mounted on a pachinko machine according to claim 2 of the present invention is the contactless sensor mounted on the pachinko machine according to claim 1, which is higher than the amplitude value of the pulse signal obtained when the light receiving element receives light from the external light source, and The amplitude reference voltage set lower than the amplitude value of the pulse signal obtained when receiving the reflected light is compared with the pulse signal from the light receiving element, and the amplitude portion of the pulse signal exceeding the amplitude reference voltage is An amplitude comparison means for outputting to the detection means as a second pulse signal is further provided.

  According to this configuration, the frequency coincidence detection is performed only when the amplitude value of the pulse signal obtained at the time of light reception by the light receiving element is higher than the amplitude reference voltage, that is, when the reflected light is received, and the result matches. Then, since the switching operation is performed, the malfunction of the non-contact sensor can be prevented with higher accuracy than the configuration of the first aspect.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a non-contact type sensor using a photoelectric element can be prevented from malfunctioning due to light from an external light source such as a fluorescent lamp arranged on the ceiling side. There is an effect that it is possible to prevent malfunction of a predetermined pachinko game unintended by the player.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, parts corresponding to each other in all the drawings in this specification are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description of the overlapping parts will be omitted as appropriate.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a non-contact sensor mounted on a pachinko machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
The non-contact type sensor 30 shown in FIG. 1 is disposed on the front surface of the game board 11 as described with reference to FIG. 3 in the conventional example, and includes a light emitting element 31 such as a light emitting diode, a phototransistor, A light receiving element 32 such as a photodiode, an oscillation circuit (oscillation means) 33, a frequency coincidence detection circuit (detection means) 34, and a switching circuit 35 are provided.

The oscillation circuit 33 oscillates a pulse signal P1 having a frequency (for example, about 3 KHz) different from the frequency of light emitted from an external light source such as a fluorescent lamp. Incidentally, the frequency of fluorescent lamps is generally about twice as high as 50 Hz / 60 Hz, which is their commercial frequency, in East / West Japan, and is about 90 KHz in other inverter fluorescent lamps, for example.
The light emitting element 31 emits light in response to the supply of the pulse signal P1 and emits the emitted light 41. Since the pulse signal P1 repeats “L” and “H” levels at about 3 KHz, the light emitting element 31 is excited when, for example, the “H” level is supplied, and emits light when this excitation is performed. Accordingly, the emitted light 41 becomes light that blinks at the same frequency as the pulse signal P1.

  The light receiving element 32 receives the reflected light 42 reflected by the emitted light 41 by the hand (reflecting means) 19 held in front of the non-contact sensor 30, and the pulse signal P2 having the same frequency as the received reflected light 42 is received. Is output. However, the reflection means may be any object other than the hand 19 as long as it reflects light. The light receiving element 32 outputs a pulse signal P2 having the same frequency as the light when the light from the external light source is received in a state where the reflecting means is not held.

The frequency coincidence detection circuit 34 determines whether or not the frequencies of both pulse signals P1 and P2 coincide with each other, and as a result, outputs a coincidence detection signal 43 when they coincide.
The switching circuit 35 is turned on only when the coincidence detection signal 43 is inputted and outputs the on signal 44. That is, it is off in the normal state when no signal is input.

The operation of the non-contact sensor 30 having such a configuration will be described.
The light emitting element 31 emits light according to the pulse signal P1 output from the oscillation circuit 33, and emitted light 41 is emitted according to this light emission. Here, when the hand 19 is held in front of the non-contact sensor 30, the emitted light 41 is reflected by the hand 19, and the reflected light 42 is received by the light receiving element 32. By this light reception, a pulse signal P2 having the same frequency as that of the reflected light 42 is output to the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34.

  Based on this output, the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34 determines whether or not the frequencies of the pulse signals P1 and P2 coincide. In this case, since the reflected light 42 of the emitted light 41 is determined to be coincident, the coincidence detection signal 43 is output to the switching circuit 35, whereby the switching circuit 35 is turned on and the on signal 44 is output. Then, as described in the conventional example, the on-signal 44 stops the symbol being displayed on the screen. That is, by holding the hand 19 over the non-contact type sensor 30, the symbol being displayed on the screen is stopped.

  On the other hand, it is assumed that light from the fluorescent lamp is received by the light receiving element 32 in a state where no reflection means is held over the non-contact sensor 30. In this case, since the pulse signal P2 output from the light receiving element 32 to the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34 has the same frequency as the light of the fluorescent lamp, the coincidence determination result with the pulse signal P1 in the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34 is a mismatch. Become. Therefore, since the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34 is in a no-signal output state, the switching circuit 35 also remains in an off state, and the symbol remains in operation.

As described above, according to the non-contact sensor 30 of the first embodiment, the emitted light 41 having a frequency different from the frequency of the light of the external light source such as a fluorescent lamp is emitted, and the emitted light 41 is reflected by the hand 19. Since the switch is turned on when only the reflected light 42 is received, the switch is not turned on when light having a frequency other than the reflected light 42 is received.
Thereby, even if the non-contact type sensor 30 receives the light of the external light source, no malfunction occurs, so that the non-contact type sensor malfunctions due to the malfunction of the conventional non-contact type sensor, etc. Malfunctions of pachinko games can be prevented.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a non-contact sensor mounted on a pachinko machine according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
The non-contact sensor 50 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is different from the non-contact sensor 30 of the first embodiment in that the amplitude is between the light receiving element 32 and the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34. The comparator (amplitude comparison means) 51 is connected.
The amplitude comparator 51 compares the amplitude values of both the pulse signal P2 output from the light receiving element 32 and the preset amplitude reference voltage V1 of the DC voltage, and the amplitude of the pulse signal P2 exceeding the amplitude reference voltage V1. The portion is output to the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34 as a pulse signal P3.

  Since the non-contact sensor 50 is disposed inside the transmissive panel on the front surface of the pachinko machine, the player usually touches the transmissive panel in the front portion of the non-contact sensor 50 when holding the hand 19. Done in At this time, since the distance between the hand 19 and the non-contact sensor 50 is a few tens of millimeters, which is a very close distance, the reflected light 42 reflected by the light 19 from the hand 19 becomes fluorescent when the light receiving element 32 receives the light. The brightness is higher than that of light from an external light source from a distance such as a lamp.

Therefore, the amplitude reference voltage V1 is higher than the amplitude value (voltage value) when the light from the external light source is converted into the pulse signal P2 by light reception, and the amplitude of the pulse signal P2 when the reflected light 42 is received. It is set lower than the value. With this setting, the pulse signal P3 is output from the amplitude comparator 51 only when the reflected light 42 is received.
The operation of the non-contact sensor 50 having such a configuration will be described.

When the hand 19 is held in front of the non-contact sensor 50, the emitted light 41 is reflected by the hand 19, and the reflected light 42 is received by the light receiving element 32. By this light reception, a pulse signal P 2 having the same frequency as that of the reflected light 42 is output to the amplitude comparator 51.
In the amplitude comparator 51, the amplitudes of both the pulse signal P2 and the preset amplitude reference voltage V1 of the DC voltage are compared. Here, since the pulse signal P2 is a signal obtained when the reflected light 42 is received, the amplitude thereof exceeds the amplitude reference voltage V1. Accordingly, the amplitude comparator 51 outputs the amplitude portion exceeding the amplitude reference voltage V1 to the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34 as the pulse signal P3.

  Based on this output, the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34 determines whether or not the frequencies of the pulse signals P1 and P3 coincide. In this case, since the pulse signal P3 is the reflected light 42 of the emitted light 41, it is determined that the pulse signal P3 matches, and a match detection signal 43 is output to the switching circuit 35. As a result, the switching circuit 35 is turned on and an on signal 44 is output, and the on signal 44 stops the symbol being displayed on the screen as described in the prior art. That is, by holding the hand 19 over the non-contact type sensor 50, the symbol being displayed on the screen is stopped.

  On the other hand, when light from a fluorescent lamp is received by the light receiving element 32 in a state where no reflection means is held over the non-contact sensor 50, the amplitude value of the pulse signal P2 obtained at this time is the amplitude reference Since the voltage is lower than the voltage V1, the amplitude comparator 51 is in a signal non-output state in which the pulse signal P3 is not output. As a result, the coincidence determination result with the pulse signal P1 in the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34 is inconsistent, and the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34 is in a no-signal output state, so that the switching circuit 35 also remains in the off state, and the design also operates. Stay inside.

As described above, according to the non-contact type sensor 50 of the second embodiment, the pulse signal P2 obtained when the light receiving element 32 receives light is further added to the configuration of the non-contact type sensor 30 of the first embodiment. Is higher than the amplitude reference voltage V1, that is, only when the reflected light 42 is received, frequency coincidence detection is performed, and if this result coincides, a switching operation is performed.
In other words, when the amplitude value of the pulse signal P2 obtained at the time of light reception by the light receiving element 32 is lower than the amplitude reference voltage V1, that is, when the light from the external light source is received, the frequency coincidence detection circuit 34 is in a no signal output state. The switching circuit 35 is also turned off.
Thereby, the malfunction of the non-contact sensor 50 can be prevented with higher accuracy than the configuration of the first embodiment.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the non-contact-type sensor for pachinko machine mounting concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the non-contact-type sensor for pachinko machine mounting concerning the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the attachment position of the non-contact-type sensor in the game board of a pachinko machine. It is sectional drawing of the non-contact-type sensor part in the conventional game board. It is a side view which shows the direction which the light emission / light-receiving surface of a non-contact-type sensor faces when a conventional pachinko machine is installed.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Game board 11a Board surface 13 Base 15, 30, 50 Non-contact type sensor 15a, 31 Light emitting element 15b, 32 Light receiving element 15d Light emitting / light receiving surface 19 Hand 21 Vertical line 22 Ceiling 23 Fluorescent lamp 33 Oscillation circuit 34 Frequency coincidence detection circuit 35 Switching circuit 51 Amplitude comparator 41 Emission light 42 Reflected light 43 Match detection signal 44 On signal P1, P2, P3 Pulse signal V1 Amplitude reference voltage

Claims (2)

Non-contact for pachinko machine installation that performs switching operation when light emitted from the light emitting element is reflected by the light reflecting means held in the radiation direction of this light and received by the light receiving element. Type sensor,
An oscillation that oscillates a first pulse signal having a frequency different from the frequency of light of an external light source disposed on the ceiling of the pachinko machine and outputs the first pulse signal as a signal for exciting the light emitting element. Means,
Detection means for detecting coincidence of both frequencies of the second pulse signal having the same frequency as the light at the time of light reception output by the light receiving element and the first pulse signal transmitted from the oscillation means; Prepared,
The non-contact type sensor for mounting on a pachinko machine, wherein the switching operation is performed when coincidence is detected by the detection means. An amplitude reference voltage set higher than an amplitude value of a pulse signal obtained when receiving light of the external light source by the light receiving element and lower than an amplitude value of a pulse signal obtained when receiving the reflected light; and An amplitude comparison means for comparing with a pulse signal from a light receiving element and outputting the amplitude portion of the pulse signal exceeding the amplitude reference voltage as the second pulse signal to the detection means is further provided. A non-contact sensor for mounting on a pachinko machine according to claim 1.

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