JP4468097B2 - Game machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine such as a slot machine or a pachinko machine, and particularly relates to a game machine that produces a sound or light effect during a game.

  Generally, in a gaming machine, a speaker and a light emitting device are separately provided on the front side thereof, and when a bonus game is won, a sound effect is emitted from the speaker and the light emitting device is turned on or blinked to produce an effect. .

  However, since various devices for playing the game are provided on the front side of the gaming machine, as long as the speaker and the light emitting device are individually provided, they cannot be enlarged in space. The production effect cannot be enhanced. In particular, in slot machines, a pair of left and right speakers may be provided at the top of the front of the gaming machine in order to enhance the sound effect. In this case, the upper lamp as the light emitting device also provided at the top should be enlarged accordingly. However, there was a problem that the amount of luminescence was small and visual stimulation was poor.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a speaker and a light emitting device which are integrally provided at the same location on the front side of a gaming machine have been proposed and publicly known. It has become. That is, in this known technique, a light source substrate in which a plurality of LEDs (light emitting diodes) are mounted is arranged between a speaker and a speaker cover having a sound emitting hole for emitting sound emitted from the speaker to the outside. The light source board is provided with a plurality of slits (also referred to as sound transmitting portions) for passing sound emitted from the speaker to the speaker cover side, and the speaker cover is made of a light-transmitting material. It is intended to have the same function.
JP 2003-126338 A

  However, in the above-mentioned known technology, sound from the speaker is passed to the speaker cover side by a plurality of slits provided on the light source substrate. The shape of the slit and the area where the slit covers the sound generating part of the speaker is the speaker. There is a concern that the sound will be greatly reduced both in terms of quality and quantity because it is only about half the area of the sound generating part.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and the problem is to further improve the above-described known technique to ensure a sufficient amount of light emission without causing a decrease in sound. The aim is to provide a gaming machine that can enhance the stimulation and effectively enhance the production effect.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 is a gaming machine in which a translucent lamp cover constituting a part of the front surface of the gaming machine and a rear surface side of the lamp cover are disposed, A light source board on which a plurality of light sources that emit light according to the above are mounted on the front surface side, and a speaker that is arranged on the back surface side of the light source board and emits sound from the sound generation unit according to the gaming state. Then, the light source board is formed with an opening having the same shape as or similar to the sound generation section for allowing sound emitted from the speaker's sound generation section to pass forward, and the lamp cover is provided with an opening of the light source board. Correspondingly, a sound emission part is formed. In addition, a light guide that guides light emitted from the light source around the opening of the light source substrate toward the sound emitting portion of the lamp cover is disposed between the lamp cover and the light source substrate.

  In this configuration, since the opening for passing the sound emitted from the speaker sound generation part in the light source substrate to the front, that is, the sound emission part side of the lamp cover is formed in the same shape as or similar to the sound generation part of the speaker, The sound emitted from the sound generating portion of the speaker and emitted to the outside from the sound emitting portion of the lamp cover by the light source substrate is hardly lowered in quality and quantity. In addition, the sound emission part of the lamp cover faces the opening of the light source board and does not directly face the light source on the light source board. Since the light emitted from the light source around the light guide is guided, the entire lamp cover including the sound emitting part emits light brightly, and both the light emission area and the light emission amount increase. Note that the approximate shape is that the opening of the light source substrate is circular or elliptical when the speaker's sounding portion is rectangular, or the light source substrate's opening is when the speaker's sounding portion is circular. This means including making it into a rectangular shape.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, the speaker is configured by a cone-shaped dynamic speaker having a sound generating portion made of a conical diaphragm, and the opening of the light source substrate is formed in a substantially circular shape. Make the configuration. In this configuration, the acoustic effect can be enhanced by using a cone-type dynamics speaker.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration , the light guide is made cylindrical with an inner diameter at the light source substrate end larger than an inner diameter at the lamp cover end. The inner diameter of the light source substrate side end of the body is set larger than the diameter of the opening of the light source substrate, and the light source around the opening of the light source substrate is positioned inside the light guide. In this configuration, light emitted from the light source around the opening of the light source substrate is reliably guided toward the sound emitting portion of the lamp cover while being reflected on the inner wall surface of the tapered cylindrical light guide. Also, the sound from the speaker propagated to the sound emitting part of the lamp cover through the opening of the light source substrate is restricted in its propagation path by the light guide, and interference with the reflected sound from the lamp cover is suppressed. From the above, the sound of the speaker can be enhanced.

The invention according to claim 2 provides a specific form of the sound emitting section in the gaming machine according to claim 1. That is, the sound emitting part is formed in a substantially circular shape and a large number of small holes corresponding to the shape of the opening of the light source substrate.

The invention according to claim 3 is the gaming machine according to claim 1 , further comprising a frame for holding the lamp cover, and a sound emitting portion for emitting sound toward the player. The light guide is provided with an opening corresponding to the sound emitting part. In this configuration, the sound emitted from the sound generating part of the speaker is not only emitted forward from the sound emitting part of the lamp cover, that is, to the player side, but also from the sound emitting part of the frame through the opening of the light guide. Since it is emitted toward the sound, the sound can be further enhanced.

  As described above, according to the gaming machine of the present invention, the opening of the light source board for passing the sound from the speaker sound generation part through the sound emission part of the lamp cover has the same shape as or similar to the sound output part of the speaker. Since it is formed, it is possible to prevent a decrease in sound due to the light source substrate. In addition, since the light emitted from the light source around the opening of the light source substrate is guided by the light guide to the sound emitting portion of the lamp cover that faces the opening of the light source substrate, the entire surface of the lamp cover is brightly emitted to emit light and the light emitting area. The amount of emitted light can be increased together, and the production effect can be effectively enhanced both auditorily and visually.

Further, the tapered cylindrical light guide can reliably guide the light emitted from the light source around the opening of the light source substrate toward the sound emitting portion of the lamp cover and pass through the opening of the light source substrate. It is possible to limit the propagation path of the sound transmitted to the sound emitting part of the lamp and suppress the interference with the reflected sound from the lamp cover, and the sound of the speaker can be enhanced.

In particular, in the invention according to claim 3 , not only the sound emitted from the sound generating portion of the speaker is emitted from the sound emitting portion of the lamp cover but also from the sound emitting portion of the frame through the opening of the light guide. Therefore, the sound can be further enhanced, and the effect of production can be further improved.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments that are the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an appearance of a slot machine A as a gaming machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the slot machine A, the front surface which is the game surface is constituted by a front door 1, and the front door 1 is attached to a front opening (not shown) of the housing so as to be opened and closed.

  The front door 1 has a frame structure in which the left and right end frames 2L and 2R are connected by an upper frame 3, an operation panel 4 as an intermediate frame, and a lower frame 5, respectively. A lamp 6, an upper panel 7, an upper display device 8, and the like are attached. Further, on the operation panel 4, a medal insertion slot 11, a start switch 12, three stop switches 13, 13, 13 and the like as operation units are appropriately arranged.

  An intermediate panel 16 is attached to the central portion of the front door 1, and the periphery of the intermediate panel 16 is supported by the upper frame 3, the left and right end frames 2 </ b> L and 2 </ b> R, and the operation panel 4. The intermediate panel 16 is provided with a pattern or pattern by silk screen printing on the back surface of a transparent synthetic resin plate such as an acrylic plate or a tempered glass plate, and silk screen printing is performed on the center portion of the intermediate panel 16. A rectangular reel display window 17 that is a transparent portion that is not applied is formed. From the reel display window 17, three symbols (not shown) drawn in a row can be seen on each outer peripheral surface of the three rotary reels 18, 18, 18 of the reel device arranged in the casing. Depending on whether or not a predetermined symbol is aligned on the effective line of the reel display window 17 when each rotation reel 18 is rotated by the operation of the start switch 12 and then the rotation is stopped by the operation of the stop switch 13. Is done.

  A lower panel 20 is attached to the lower part of the front door 1 (specifically, between the operation panel 4 and the lower frame 5) with the lower panel frame 21 holding the periphery, and the lower panel 20 is a title panel. The model name is printed on the back of the rectangular synthetic resin plate. The lower frame 5 of the front door 1 is provided with a medal payout opening 22 and a medal tray 23 for receiving medals paid out from the medal payout opening 22 is attached.

  The upper frame 3 and the upper lamp 6 attached to the upper frame 3 constitute an upper unit 30. The structure of the upper unit 30 is shown in detail in FIGS. That is, the upper frame 3 includes a base frame 31 whose both ends are connected to the end frames 2L and 2R, and two frame frames 32 and 33 attached to the base frame 31. An upper panel 7 and an upper display device 8 are attached vertically to the center portion of the base frame 31 with the upper panel 7 facing upward, and a pair of speakers 34, 34 are provided on the left and right sides of the back side of the base frame 31. It is attached. The upper panel 7 is obtained by giving an explanation item such as a payout table or a decorative pattern to the back surface of a transparent synthetic resin plate such as an acrylic plate by silk screen printing. The upper display device 8 is for displaying game effects, messages, and the like, and includes a dot matrix display device, a liquid crystal display device, or other display devices. The peripheral portions of the upper panel 7 and the upper display device 8 are both covered with a frame frame 33.

  The upper lamp 6 is held by the frame frame 32 so as to form a part of the front surface of the slot machine A covering the light source substrate 36 and the light source substrate 36 attached to the surface side of the basic frame 31. There are four lamp covers 37, 38, 39, 39. As shown in FIG. 6, the light source substrate 36 has a plurality of or many light emitting diodes 41, 41,... Mounted on the surface side, and each light emitting diode 41 of the light source substrate 36 is a light source substrate 36. Based on a control command from a case-side control board (not shown) that is electrically connected to the battery, the light is turned on or blinked, and light is emitted according to the gaming state. The four lamp covers 37, 38, 39, and 39 are all made of a synthetic resin such as translucent acrylic resin, but the lamp cover 37 that covers most of the light source substrate 36 and the other lamp covers 38, 39 Are different in color, for example, red and yellow, respectively. 3 to 5, the light emitting diode 41 on the light source substrate 36 is omitted.

  In addition, each speaker 34 generates sound from the sound generation unit 34a according to the gaming state based on a control command from the control board on the housing side in the same manner as the light emitting diode 41 of the light source board 36. The sound generation part 34a is a cone-shaped dynamic speaker made of a conical diaphragm. The basic frame 31 is provided with an opening 42 corresponding to the sounding portion 34a of the speaker 34. The speaker 34 has the sounding portion 34a facing the opening 42 and the back side of the basic frame 31. Is attached.

  Among the three members of the upper lamp 6, the light source substrate 36, the lamp cover 37, and the speaker 34, the lamp cover 37 is disposed on the foremost side, and the light source substrate 36 is disposed on the back side of the lamp cover 37. A speaker 34 is further arranged on the back side of the. Corresponding to this arrangement, the light source board 36 has a pair of left and right for passing the sound emitted from the sound generating portion 34a of the speaker 34 forward, that is, toward the lamp cover 37, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lamp cover 37 has a pair of left and right sound emission portions corresponding to the openings 43 and 43 of the light source board 36, as shown in FIGS. Portions 44 and 44 are formed. Each opening 43 of the light source substrate 36 has a circular shape that is the same shape as the sound generating portion 34 a of the speaker 34, and its diameter is set smaller than that of the sound generating portion 34 a of the speaker 34. Each of the sound emitting portions 44 is formed in a substantially circular shape and a large number of small holes corresponding to the shape of the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36, and the size thereof is substantially the same as that of the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36. Are set the same.

  A plurality of light emitting diodes 41, 41,... Are also provided in the periphery of each opening 43 in the light source substrate 36, and the periphery of each opening 43 is provided between the light source substrate 36 and the lamp cover 37. A pair of left and right light guides 45, 45 for guiding light emitted from the light emitting diodes 41, 41,. As shown in FIG. 7, each light guide 45 has a so-called tapered cylindrical shape in which the inner diameter at the end on the light source substrate 36 side is larger than the inner diameter at the end on the lamp cover 37 side. Three attachment portions 45a, 45a, 45a for screwing the light guide body 45 onto the light source substrate 36 are integrally formed at the end of the light source substrate 36 at substantially equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The inner diameter of the light guide 45 on the side of the light source substrate 36 is set to be a predetermined dimension larger than the diameter of the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36, and the light emitting diodes 41, 41,. Are positioned inside the light guide 45. On the other hand, the inner diameter of the light guide 45 on the side of the lamp cover 37 is set to be approximately the same as the diameter of the sound emitting portion 44 of the lamp cover 37. The light guide 45 is made of a synthetic resin such as a light-transmitting ABS resin, and the surface thereof is formed to be slightly rough (so-called polished glass) so as to cause irregular reflection.

  Further, the frame frame 32 emits the sound from the speaker 34 toward the player separately from the sound emitting portion 44 of the lamp cover 37 and in the vicinity of the sound emitting portion 44 and facing the intermediate panel 16. A pair of left and right sound emitting portions 50, 50 are provided for each of the sound emitting portions 50, and each sound emitting portion 50 has a plurality of through holes 51, 51,... Provided in the inclined surface 32 a of the frame frame 32 and the frame frame 32. Nozzle 52 provided on the inclined surface 32a. In addition, each light guide 45 is provided with an opening 53 corresponding to the sound emitting portion 50, in which the light source 45 side end of the light guide 45 is cut out in an arc shape.

  Next, the operation and effect of the slot machine A will be described. When a predetermined gaming state is reached, such as when a big bonus is won, the upper lamp 6 is turned on based on a control command from the control board on the housing side. Alternatively, the game effect is performed by blinking and by generating sound effects from a pair of left and right speakers 34, 34 disposed on the back side of the light source substrate 36 of the upper lamp 6. In this case, corresponding to each speaker 34, the light source board 36 of the upper lamp 6 is formed with the same circular opening 43 as the sound generating portion 34a of the speaker 34, and the lamp cover 37 of the upper lamp 6 is formed. Since the sound emitting part 44 having a substantially circular shape and a large number of small holes is formed corresponding to the opening part 43, the sound emitted from the sound generation part 34 a of each speaker 34 is transmitted through the opening part of the light source substrate 36. 43, the sound is emitted smoothly from the sound emitting portion 44 of the lamp cover 37 to the outside, and the sound hardly deteriorates in terms of quality or quantity.

Further, the sound emitting portion 44 of the lamp cover 37 faces the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36 and does not directly face the light emitting diode 41 on the light source substrate 36, but the sound emitting portion 44 of the lamp cover 37. In contrast, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 41 such as the periphery of the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36 is not only irradiated by the divergence in the space between the light source substrate 36 and the lamp cover 37 but also the light guide 45. As a result, the light emitted from the light emitting diodes 41 around the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36 is forcibly guided, so that the entire surface of the lamp cover 37 including the sound emitting part 44 emits light. As a result, in combination with the large light emission area of the entire lamp cover 37, 38, 39 of the upper lamp 6, it is possible to increase the light emission amount and enhance the visual effect.

  In particular, in the case of this embodiment, the light guide 45 has a tapered cylindrical shape, and the inner diameter of the light source substrate 36 side that is the mounting side thereof is set larger than the diameter of the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36. In addition, since the light emitting diode 41 around the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36 is located inside the light guide 45, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 41 around the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36 The light is reliably guided to the sound emitting portion 44 of the lamp cover 37 while being reflected or irregularly reflected on the inner wall surface of the lamp 45. Further, a part of the light emitted from the light emitting diode 41 is subjected to multiple reflection inside the light guide 45, then comes out of the inner wall of the light guide 45, and goes to the sound emitting part 44 of the lamp cover 37. The brightness of the sound emitting part 44 of the lamp cover 37 can be increased. In addition, the sound from the speaker 34 propagated to the sound emitting portion 44 of the lamp cover 37 through the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36 is restricted in the propagation path by the light guide 45, and the reflected sound from the lamp cover 37 is reflected. And the like, the sound of the speaker 34 can be enhanced, and the auditory performance effect can be enhanced.

  Further, the sound emitted from the sound generating portion 34 a of the speaker 34 is not only emitted forward from the sound emitting portion 44 of the lamp cover 37, that is, to the player side, but also through the opening 53 of the light guide 45 and the frame frame 32. Since the sound is emitted from the sound emitting unit 50 toward the player, the sound can be further enhanced in combination with the use of the cone-shaped dynamics speaker for the speaker 34, and the auditory performance effect is further enhanced. be able to.

  FIGS. 8 and 9 show modified examples of the light guide 45 as the second and third embodiments of the present invention, respectively. In the second and third embodiments, the configuration other than the light guide is the same as that of the first embodiment. In the following description, the first embodiment is applied to members / parts other than the light guide. The same reference numerals as in the case of the form are used.

  That is, in the case of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the light guide 60 is centered from an annular ring portion 60a that is slightly larger than the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36 and the three portions of the ring portion 60a. The ring portion 60a and the blade portion 60b of the light guide 60 are both formed in a semicircular shape in cross section. . The light guide 60 is made of a synthetic resin such as a light-transmitting ABS resin. The light guide 60 is attached to the light source substrate 36 or the lamp cover 37 with the ring portion 60a facing the light emitting diodes 41, 41,... Around the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36 with a predetermined dimension. In this case, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 41 around the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36 passes through the ring portion 60a of the light guide 60 or from the ring portion 60a further into the blade portion 60b of the light guide 60. Through the sound guide 44 of the lamp cover 37.

  Further, in the case of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the light guide body 70 has a plurality of (eight in the figure) leg portions 70a, 70a, which extend radially from the center and extend along the hemispherical surface. The leg portions 70a each have a rectangular cross section. The light guide 70 is made of a synthetic resin such as a light-transmitting ABS resin. The light guide 70 is attached to the light source substrate 36 in a state where the light emitting diodes 41 around the openings 43 of the light source substrate 36 are positioned inside the respective leg portions 70. In this case, the light emitted from the light emitting diodes 41 around the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36 passes through each leg 70a of the light guide 70 or reflects to the inner surface of each leg 70a and reflects on the lamp cover 37. It is guided toward the sound emission part 44. In addition, the light incident on each leg 70a may be repeatedly reflected repeatedly and guided to the sound emitting part 44 of the lamp cover 37 through the outer surface of each leg 70a.

  In both cases of the second and third embodiments, it is needless to say that the same operational effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

  The present invention is not limited to the above first to third embodiments, but includes other various embodiments. For example, in the first embodiment, a case where a cone-type dynamic speaker is used as the speaker 34 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a horn shape, a dome shape, a ribbon shape, a capacitor shape, a piezoelectric shape, or the like is used. The present invention can also be applied when using the above-mentioned speaker. At this time, if the shape of the speaker sounding portion is other than a circle, the shape of the opening formed in the light source substrate to allow sound emitted from the speaker sounding portion to pass forward is the same as the shape of the sounding portion of the speaker or What is necessary is just to approximate. Here, the approximate shape is that the opening of the light source substrate is made circular or elliptical when the speaker's sounding portion is rectangular, or the light source substrate's opening is made when the speaker's sounding portion is circular. It is meant to include making the shape of a rectangle.

  In the first embodiment, the sound emitting portion 44 of the lamp cover 37 is formed in a substantially circular shape and a large number of small holes corresponding to the shape of the opening 43 of the light source substrate 36. The shape of the sound emitting portion 44 of the lamp cover 37 may be rectangular, or the sound emitting portion 44 may be formed in a mesh shape.

  Furthermore, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the slot machine A as in each of the above-described embodiments, but can be similarly applied to other gaming machines such as a pachinko machine.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the slot machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view of the upper unit of the front door of the slot machine. It is an expanded sectional view in the XX line of FIG. It is a front view of the state which removed the lamp cover from the said upper unit. It is the same perspective view. It is a front view of the light source board | substrate of an upper lamp. It is a front view which shows the attachment state of the light guide on the said light source board | substrate. A 2nd embodiment is shown, (a) is a front view of a light guide, (b) is a sectional view in the YY line of (a). It is a perspective view of the light guide shown in a 3rd embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

A slot machine (game machine)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Front door 30 Upper unit 32 Frame frame 34 Speaker 34a Sound production | generation part 36 Light source board 37 Lamp cover 41 Light emitting diode (light source)
43 opening portion 44 sound emitting portion 45, 60, 70 light guide 50 sound emitting portion 53 opening portion 60a ring portion 60b blade portion 70a leg portion

Claims (3)

A translucent lamp cover that forms part of the front of the gaming machine;
A light source board that is arranged on the back side of the lamp cover and has a plurality of light sources mounted on the front side that emit light according to the gaming state;
It is arranged on the back side of this light source board, and is equipped with a speaker that produces sound from the sound generation unit according to the gaming state,
The light source substrate is formed with an opening having the same shape as or similar to the sound generation portion for allowing sound emitted from the speaker sound generation portion to pass forward, and the lamp cover has an opening in the light source substrate. A sound emitting part is formed correspondingly, and a light guide that guides the light emitted from the light source around the opening of the light source board to the vicinity of the sound emitting part of the lamp cover is arranged between the lamp cover and the light source board Has been
The speaker is a cone-shaped dynamic speaker whose sounding portion is made of a conical diaphragm, and the opening of the light source substrate is formed in a substantially circular shape,
The light guide has a cylindrical shape in which the inner diameter of the end on the light source substrate side is larger than the inner diameter of the end on the lamp cover side, and the inner diameter of the light source substrate side end of the light guide is the diameter of the opening of the light source substrate And a light source around the opening of the light source substrate is positioned inside the light guide . The gaming machine according to claim 1 , wherein the sound emitting portion is formed in a substantially circular shape and a large number of small holes corresponding to the shape of the opening of the light source substrate . The frame includes a frame for holding the lamp cover, and the frame is provided with a sound emitting portion for emitting sound toward the player, and the light guide body corresponds to the sound emitting portion. gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the opening is provided Te.

Images