JP4797412B2 - Ball removal mechanism of ball dispensing device and pachinko machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a ball payout device used for paying out a winning ball or a rental ball of, for example, a pachinko machine, and more specifically, a ball payout for stably collecting a large number of stored balls stored in a storage tank to the outside. The present invention relates to a ball removal mechanism and a pachinko gaming machine.

Hereinafter, a pachinko gaming machine will be described as an example.
In general, pachinko gaming machines supply balls from the back side of the pachinko gaming machine to the front side of the pachinko gaming machine using pachinko balls (hereinafter referred to as balls) as game media. When supplying these balls, a storage tank (premium ball tank) for storing a large number of balls is installed at the upper part on the back side of the pachinko machine, and the storage tank is supplied with balls from an upper supply mechanism (not shown). The balls stored in the storage tank are paid out downward in response to a payout request. As a process of paying out the balls, the balls are passed through a ball aligning device that aligns the balls from the storage tank and stably flows down to the ball paying device (winning ball processing device). It pays out and pays out to the upper plate or the lower plate located at the lower front of the pachinko machine.

  By the way, apart from the ball payout operation for the pachinko gaming machine, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the balls stored in the storage tank are discharged (recovered) to the outside of the pachinko gaming machine at once, and the storage tank A ball removal mechanism for emptying is internally configured. The purpose of this ball removal is to empty the storage tank by removing the ball from the storage tank for the purpose of moving or discarding the pachinko game machine in the game hall at the time of shipment inspection of the pachinko gaming machine.

  For example, a mechanical opening / closing structure for opening the passage using a link mechanism or an electric opening / closing structure for opening the passage using a solenoid or the like is used as the ball removing mechanism. Thereby, the ball is naturally guided to the lower ball passage by its own weight only by opening the passage.

  However, in such a ball punching mechanism, a mechanical part such as a link mechanism having a large movement or an electrical part such as a solenoid is required to increase the size, and when it is attached to the rear side of a pachinko machine, the rear side Tends to occupy a large space, and further reduces the space on the back side of the pachinko gaming machine.

  In recent years, on the back side of a pachinko gaming machine, in order to improve game performance, an increase in the size of a symbol display device or the like or an increase in other parts has been attempted. However, when the ball pulling mechanism provided on the back side of the pachinko gaming machine is increased in size, it is difficult to increase the size of the symbol display device due to restrictions on the mounting space on the back side of the pachinko gaming machine.

  In addition, the ball removal mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3 uses a ball removal mechanism that is electrically opened and closed such as a number of switches and solenoids incorporated to enable the ball removal operation. Has been. However, in this case, a switch, a solenoid, and the like are required, which is expensive, and there is an inconvenience that the ball removal cannot be performed unless the power is on. For example, the ball removal mechanism has an unstable problem that is unreliable because the ball removal cannot be performed when a power failure occurs and there is a possibility that the ball dispensing operation may be switched to a ball dispensing operation for some reason during the ball removal.

Japanese Patent No. 3604633 JP-A-5-154244 No. 6-3656

  Therefore, the present invention is provided with a switching mechanism for manually switching between the ball payout passage and the ball discharge passage, so that it is not necessary to electrically control a large number of switches and solenoids, and the ball removal structure is further downsized and constructed. An object of the present invention is to provide a ball pulling mechanism and a pachinko gaming machine for a ball dispensing device that can be used.

According to the present invention, an annular passage is formed by a rotating body that rotates based on driving of a motor and has a feed claw on an outer peripheral surface, and a casing having a passage wall along the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body. The lower half of the ball flow along the rotation direction is set as the ball discharge passage, the lower half of the ball flow along the rotation direction is set as the ball removal passage, and the ball guided to the annular passage is A ball dispensing device provided with a flow path switching mechanism that distributes a ball dispensing passage that leads to a ball dispensing passage that opens to the lower end of the ball and a ball removal passage that communicates with a ball removing passage that opens to the other lower end, One of the annular passages is provided with a ball payout passage that rotates and feeds a ball based on the rotation of the rotating body, and the other end of the annular passage is separated from the passage wall of the ball payout passage. A ball passage that allows the ball to pass along an annular position with a larger diameter is provided. A flow path switching mechanism disposed at a branch position between the ball discharge path and the ball discharge path of the annular path, and a flow path switching mechanism that is disposed outside the casing and is manually connected to the ball discharge path side and the ball discharge path. A manual operation unit that performs switching operation to the passage side, and includes a standby passage that connects the upper ball supply port to the lower annular passage in the casing, and the standby passage is inclined obliquely downward on the downstream side, and The flow path switching mechanism is connected to the branch position, and the inclination direction on the downstream side of the standby passage is linearly connected to and substantially aligned with the direction of the ball removal at the branch position of the ball passage. It is configured to be rotatable in the pulling direction, and the annular communication port of the ball pulling passage is closed, and based on the closing, the ball flowing down from the standby passage in the ball pulling direction is changed in the ball dispensing direction. Or without ball A passage switching lever that allows the annular communication port of the road to be opened, and a sphere that flows down from the standby passage in the direction of ball removal based on the opening allowance to the ball removal passage; when operated, Rutotomoni the flow path switching lever is moved to a position for restricting the flow of balls into the ball vent passage by causing contact, and restricts the rotation of the flow path switching lever, the manual operating section When the other is operated, the moving member is moved away from the contact so that the flow path switching lever can be freely rotated in the ball removal direction and moved to a position allowing the flow of the ball to the ball removal passage. And a ball removal mechanism of the ball dispensing device.

  According to the present invention, the ball discharge passage and the ball removal passage are divided into one and the other of the annular passage and divided into almost half a circumference, and one is divided into a small diameter and the other is divided into a large diameter, and the radial direction is different. Since the radial passages are provided independently, even when the passages are switched and used, both of the annular passages can be effectively used without affecting the mutual passages.

  Then, if the clerk manually operates the manual operation unit, the flow path switching mechanism incorporated in the ball dispensing device can be switched to either the ball dispensing path or the ball removal path. Therefore, since expensive electrical parts such as a switch and a solenoid can be omitted, the construction can be made inexpensively. In addition, since no electrical control is required, the ball removing operation can be stably performed from the beginning even when the current is not energized. For example, even if a power outage occurs unexpectedly, the ball removal operation is not stopped and the ball removal state can be continued. In addition, there is no risk of unstable operation such as switching from the ball removal state to the ball dispensing state, or conversely switching from the ball dispensing state to the ball removal state, and stable ball removal operation that is not affected by electricity. Can be secured.

  Further, according to the present invention, the moving member can be moved to one or the other in accordance with the movement of the manual operation unit, so that the flow direction of the sphere is changed to the ball dispensing path or the ball removing path in accordance with the movement of the moving member. It can be switched by moving it to flow. For this reason, the switching structure can be constructed with a simple configuration that only moves the moving member. Therefore, the ball payout device can be made small, and since only a small space is occupied on the back side of the board surface of the gaming machine, it is possible to install a symbol display device or the like in a large size.

  Further, according to the present invention, if a flow path switching lever is disposed at a branch position between the ball payout passage and the ball removal path, and the movement of the flow path switching lever is interlocked with the movement of the moving member, By movement, the flow path switching lever can be switched to the ball payout path or the ball discharge path.

  For example, when the moving member is moved to one side, the position of the flow path switching lever is restricted by the moving member so that only one passage is effective, and when the moving member is moved to the other side, the flow path switching is performed. The position of the lever can be released by the moving member so that only the other passage is effective, and both passages can be easily switched.

  Further, at the time of ball removal, a connection portion between the standby passage and the ball removal passage is linearly connected in the same inclination direction with a flow path switching lever interposed therebetween. For this reason, when the movement member is moved and the flow path switching lever releases the restriction on the ball passage, the ball waiting in the standby passage goes straight down obliquely to the ball passage by its own weight, and reaches the ball passage. Ball removal starts after flowing down the extraction passage.

  In another configuration of the present invention, when the moving member is stopped, the moving member can be provided with positioning means for positioning the moving member at a ball extraction passage opening position and a ball extraction passage closing position.

  According to this invention, if the moving position when the moving member is moved to one or the other is positioned, the moving member will not move carelessly, and the position of the switched passage is stably maintained. For this reason, there is no possibility that the passage is switched for some reason, and a reliable and stable switching performance can be ensured.

  In the positioning means of another configuration of the present invention, the ball release passage opened position moved to one side between the sliding surfaces of the moving member and the sliding guide portion for slidingly supporting the moving member, and the ball release passage moved to the other Each opposing surface with the closed position can be provided corresponding to the unevenness for positioning, and an elastic corresponding portion that presses and urges at least one of the opposing surfaces corresponding to the unevenness to the other can be provided.

  According to the present invention, the concave and convex portions are formed only at a predetermined position between the sliding surfaces of the moving member and the sliding guide portion opposed to each other at a predetermined position between one and the other of the moving members moved to switch the passage. Correspond. Therefore, when the moving member moves in sliding contact with the sliding guide portion, the moving member is positioned corresponding to the unevenness at a predetermined position. At this time, one or both of the elastic corresponding portions corresponding to the concave and convex portions are in a support state in which the sliding surfaces are always elastically supported, so that there is no switching to the ball payout passage for some reason during ball removal, and it is stable. You can remove the ball. Thus, if at least one is provided in the elastic corresponding part and elastically responds, the elastic force works to increase the fitting action in the concave and convex corresponding part, and the positioning becomes accurate. As a result, a more stable positioning can be obtained, and an operation feeling at the time of positioning by an attendant can be clearly obtained.

  If the ball removal mechanism of the ball dispensing device configured as described above is incorporated into a pachinko gaming machine, not only the ball removal operation is stabilized, but a pachinko gaming machine equipped with a small and inexpensive ball removal mechanism can be constructed.

  According to the present invention, by providing a ball removal mechanism that removes the ball in conjunction with manual operation, the passage can be switched without requiring electrical control. Even if it is cut off, the ball removal operation is not affected and a stable ball removal operation can be obtained. Further, since the internal structure can be made small, the ball payout device does not increase in size and can be mounted compactly on the back side of the board surface of the pachinko gaming machine. In particular, it is possible to omit an expensive electrical component such as a switch or a solenoid, so that the cost is low and a stable ball removing operation that is not affected by electricity can be ensured.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the back side of a gaming table 11 of a pachinko gaming machine. A storage tank-integrated ball dispensing device 12 having a ball storage function is disposed in the upper corner of the gaming table 11 on the back side. A substrate unit 13 having a large display device, a control unit, and the like is disposed in the center of the back side. Furthermore, a replenishment chute (not shown) is provided above the storage tank integrated ball dispensing device 12 so as to face the upper surface opening, and the storage tank integrated ball dispensing device 12 is replenished with balls via the replenishment chute. The Further, a payout passage 14 is connected to the lower part of the storage tank integrated ball payout device 12, and the balls are paid out to a tray located at the lower front of the game table 11 through the payout passage 14.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the storage tank-integrated ball dispensing device 12 is integrated in a reverse L shape by detachably attaching a storage tank 15 installed horizontally and a ball dispensing device 16 installed vertically. Connected to. And the upper end part of the ball paying device 16 is connected to the downstream side end part of the horizontally long storage tank 15, thereby adopting a compact unit structure in which both are integrated.

  Further, the storage tank-integrated ball dispensing device 12 has the storage tank 15 at the most upstream position, and on the downstream side thereof, the top 17 for aligning the balls and the ball breaking mechanism 18, and the ball passage restricting mechanism 19 for stopping the ball, The ball dispensing device 16 is connected in this order. Further, a vertically long connecting frame 20 is attached to the mounting surface side of the ball paying device 16, and the storage tank integrated ball paying device 12 is fixedly installed on the back side of the game table 11 through the connecting frame 20.

  In this case, the storage tank-integrated ball dispensing device 12 has an inverted L shape that is the same as the inverted L shape of the upper corner of the game table 11 and can therefore be disposed along the upper corner. There is no wasted space on the back side, and it can be arranged efficiently. In addition, since the storage tank integrated ball dispensing device 12 can be handled as a single component, it can be easily attached.

Next, the ball dispensing device 16 will be specifically described.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show the appearance of the ball dispensing device 16, and FIGS. 5 and 6 show the internal structure of the ball dispensing device 16. The internal structure of the ball dispensing device 16 includes a rotating body (sprocket wheel) 31, a drive motor M, a ball presence / absence detecting sensor S1, a ball counting sensor S2, and a rotational position detecting sensor for confirming the rotational position of the rotating body 31. S3, the left casing 32 which covers and incorporates these from both sides, the right casing 33, and the passage partition plate 34 interposed between the left and right casings 32, 33.

  The left and right casings 32 and 33 serve as support walls 32A and 33A that support each component of the ball dispensing device 16, and serve as passage walls 32B and 33B that form a spherical passage inside. . Of these, left and right standby passages 35a and 35b are formed in the upper part of the passage wall 32B, and left and right annular passages 36a and 36b having substantially the same structure are formed in the lower part, and these passages 35a, 35b, 36a and 36b are formed. Are arranged so as to communicate with each other vertically.

  The upper end openings of the standby passages 35a and 35b are connected to the ball supply port 37 and the lower end opening is connected to the annular communication port 36c as an inlet portion that opens right above the lower annular passages 36a and 36b. On the other hand, the left and right annular passages 36a and 36b have respective annular communication openings 36c opened right above as inlets, and each ball payout outlet 38 opened at one lower end side as an outlet. In this case, parts configured as a pair of left and right such as the ball supply port 37 and the ball payout port 38 are denoted by the same reference numerals and omitted.

  The left casing 32 and the right casing 33 are divided into left and right parts, and both are screwed to form a single body, and the left and right outer surfaces are respectively provided on vertical walls F1 and F2 as shown in FIG. Yes. Thereby, it becomes a simple single body, and when attaching a ball dispensing device, the outer vertical wall F2 can be attached to the attachment wall surface. For this reason, a useless installation space is eliminated and the installation performance is improved.

  The rotating body 31 described above has a cylindrical body, and feed claws 39 for dividing and feeding spheres one by one are equally arranged in the circumferential direction on both axial sides of the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body. There are two consecutive feeding sections. The feed claws 39 of the two feed units arranged in parallel are formed so as to obtain one feed from the left and right with a half pitch shift.

  Further, an intermediate gear G1 for rotating the sprocket is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the connecting wall between the left and right feed claws 39. In the annular direction of the inner peripheral surface of the rotating body 31, a rotational position detecting slit 40 that is equally divided and formed is provided. Further, cylindrical shafts 31a and 31b projecting outward from the shaft center portion are provided on both end faces of the rotating body 31, and bearing bushes 41 and 42 are fitted to the cylindrical shafts 31a and 31b, respectively. In this state, one is inserted into the shaft support hole 32a of the left casing 32, and the other is inserted into the shaft support hole 33a of the right casing 33 to rotatably support the rotating body 31.

  For power transmission to the rotating body 31, a driven pulley 45 for transmitting power from the driving pulley 43 connected to the main shaft of the driving motor M to the rotating body 31 via the driving belt 44 is supported on the motor bracket 46. The left and right casings 32 and 33 are disposed. A driven gear G2 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the other end of the driven pulley 45, and the drive motor M is driven in a state where the driven gear G2 and the intermediate gear G1 of the rotating body 31 are engaged with each other. The rotating body 31 is rotated. The motor bracket 46 is integrally fixed to the passage partition plate 34, and a drive motor M is fixedly installed on the motor bracket 46. Further, the driven pulley 45 is pivotally supported on the motor bracket 46 via a small-diameter bearing bush 47. is doing.

  Exclusion ports 32b and 33b opened for removing foreign substances from an annular passage, which will be described later, are formed on a part of the upper and lower side surfaces of the casings 32 and 33, respectively. By providing these exclusion ports 32b and 33b, foreign matter in the annular passage is dropped and excluded from the exclusion ports 32b and 33b.

  On the other hand, the drive motor M and the rotating body 31 are interposed between the left and right casings 32, 33, and a passage partition plate 34 for partitioning a longitudinal passage parallel to both sides to the left and right to form both passages. Are connected in a state of interposing.

  The drive motor M is arranged in the lower part between the left and right casings 32, 33 so that the axial direction of the drive motor M is aligned with the axial direction of the rotating body 31. A hollow portion 32c opened in a circular shape for motor intervention is provided, and the drive motor M is accommodated in the hollow portion 32c.

  Thereby, the axial direction of the drive motor M and the power transmission component is aligned between the left and right casings 32 and 33, and the axial direction (width direction) of the ball dispensing device 16 is shortened to reduce the thickness. Can be planned. Similarly, the ball payout device 16 can be made thin by dividing the rotating body 31 and the drive motor M into the left and right casings 32 and 33 by dividing them into upper and lower positions.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotating body 31 has feed claws 39 on both sides and an intermediate gear G1 between them. And a power transmission function, and can be efficiently incorporated between the left and right casings 32 and 33. In particular, since the intermediate gear G1 is located in the center of the sprocket width direction, the axial lengths of the power transmission components such as the drive motor M, the drive pulley 43, the drive belt 44, the driven pulley 45, and the driven gear G2 are set to the rotating body 31. It is possible to dispose them closer to the center of the rotary body 31 and to incorporate them so as to fit within the width of the rotating body 31. For this reason, even if the two paths parallel to the left and right of the ball dispensing device 16 are configured, the space in the width direction is not increased, the width direction of the ball dispensing device 16 can be shortened, and the installation space is limited. Thinning suitable for mounting in a small space can be achieved.

  Between the upper inner surface of the left casing 32 and the upper facing surface of the passage partition plate 34 facing the upper casing, and between the upper inner surface of the right casing 33 and the upper facing surface of the passage partition plate 34 facing the upper casing. Further, standby passages 35a and 35b are formed which connect in parallel an upper ball supply port 37, which will be described later, to a lower annular passage 36a and 36b in parallel.

  The standby passages 35a and 35b are provided as upstream direction change passages as shown in the internal structure from the side surface direction shown in FIG. 8 and the internal structure from the front direction shown in FIGS. 48 and a downstream ball flow lower pressure limiting passage 49 are formed by connecting them vertically. First, the direction change passage 48 has a sphere supply port 37 that opens in parallel to the upper portions of the left and right casings 32 and 33, and the sphere supply port 37 is connected corresponding to the upstream side. When changing the direction of the lower side of the connected parallel passages, it is only necessary to twist only the other vertical passage in the side-by-side position with respect to one of the longitudinal passages arranged in parallel in the front-and-rear direction.

  Thereby, both the vertical passages are aligned by changing the direction from the vertically aligned position to the horizontally aligned position. Then, below the ball supply port 37, the direction of the spheres P flowing down in the front and rear two rows is changed in the left and right rows. By providing the direction changing passage 48, the annular passages 36a and 36b parallel to the lower side can be aligned in the same parallel direction, so that the directions of the two parallel passages can correspond to the direction suitable for space saving. it can.

  The downstream ball flow pressure limiting passage 49 is formed obliquely below the upstream direction changing passage 48, and is formed as a passage that reduces the ball pressure caused by the flow of the ball P by a reverse bent portion. . As a result, the sphere P flowing down from the upstream side passes through the sphere flow down pressure limiting passage 49 while undergoing a direction changing action by the bent portion, and based on this, the sphere P has a ball pressure suitable for the flow down. It will be restricted and flow down. As a result, the spherical passages 36a and 36b continuing below the rear stage are supplied with the ball pressure adjusted to be suitable for dispensing.

  Furthermore, the passage lengths of the standby passages 35a and 35b have passage lengths for storing and waiting for a predetermined number of payouts in the longitudinal and oblique passages. For this reason, since the number of balls collected in advance can be stored and waited in the standby passage, the balls P supplied to the annular passages 36a and 36b are not interrupted when the balls are paid out, and the collected payout numbers can be supplied immediately. it can. For this reason, it is possible to stably dispense the supply of the balls P without stagnation.

  The annular passages 36a and 36b are connected to the lower side of the standby passages 35a and 35b in the same parallel direction, and the passage walls 32B and 33B on the inner peripheral surface at the center height position of the left and right casings 32 and 33 and the rotating body 31. This is a passage space between the annular opposing surfaces formed between the outer peripheral surfaces of the spheres, and constitutes an annular passage in which the balls P led here are rotated and fed by the feed claws 39 one by one.

  A half circumference of the annular passages 36a and 36b is used as a ball discharge passage 36d (see FIG. 14). Since the balls P guided to the annular passages 36a and 36b are rotated one by one as the rotating body 31 rotates, the supplied balls P are continuously paid out without interruption.

  A ball presence / absence detection sensor S1 using a contact switch for detecting the passage of the sphere P is disposed in the sphere supply port 37 at the entrance opening on the upper surfaces of the standby passages 35a and 35b. Detect that P is supplied.

  The ball payout passage 36d is connected to a ball payout outlet 38 which is an outlet opening as a terminal portion, and a ball counting sensor S2 using a proximity sensor is disposed in the passage portion of the ball payout outlet 38, and the ball payout passage 36d. When the ball P is paid out, the ball counting sensor S2 detects the counted ball P and counts it.

  Further, a rotational position detection sensor S3 for detecting the slit 40 on the rotating body 31 is provided on the outer surface of the left casing 32 so as to face inward from a side opening 50 opened below the left casing 32. It arrange | positions through the metal fitting 51. FIG. This rotational position detection sensor S3 detects the rotational position of the rotating body 31 from the number of detections of the slit 40 that rotates integrally with the rotating body 31.

  A ball removal passage 36e is formed at a position on the opposite half circumference facing the ball discharge passage 36d. The ball extraction passage 36e connects between the position of the annular communication port 36c corresponding to the top of the annular passages 36a and 36b and the ball extraction port 52 that opens downward, and is stored in the storage tank 15. P is used when the clerk collects the collected balls as a collection ball to empty the storage tank.

  In this case, the ball extraction passage 36e is formed on the outer peripheral wall surface of the annular passages 36a and 36b as a half-circular passage on the side opposite to the ball discharge passage 36d, and above the ball extraction passage 36e, the outer periphery of the rotating body 31 is formed. It is a smooth semicircular passage where the sphere P does not contact the feed claw 39 along the wall surface, and a straight tubular passage connected to the lower ball outlet 52 at the lower part. For this reason, contact with the feed claw 39 is avoided, and the flow resistance of the sphere P that flows down when the ball is removed is reduced.

  Further, since the ball discharge passage 36d and the ball removal passage 36e can be efficiently divided into one and the other in the left and right casings 32 and 33, a new space dedicated to the ball removal passage is unnecessary. Become.

  By the way, since the ball P that is rotationally fed by receiving the rotational force of the rotating body 31 is transmitted with the final starting force transmitted in the circumferential direction, the ball P can be discharged at a high speed by rotating the rotating body 31 at a high speed. In addition, since the ball counting sensor S2 is disposed in the ball payout passage 36d, the ball counting sensor S2 detects the ball P immediately after the completion of payout, which is no longer subjected to rotational feed, and can be detected at a fast timing. .

  Further, since the presence / absence of the supplied sphere P can be detected by disposing the sphere presence / absence detection sensor S1 in the upper sphere supply port 37, when the absence of the sphere P is detected, the occurrence of the sphere breakage or clogging occurs Can be detected to prevent empty capture. Accordingly, at this time, the supply operation and payout of the ball P can be restricted. By providing both of these sensors S1 and S2, the flow of the sphere P in the sphere dispenser 16 can be accurately managed from both detection signals for supplying and dispensing the sphere P.

  The ball counting sensor S2 has an annular opening for detecting the passage of the sphere P by passing the sphere P through the annular hole, and the ball dispensing passage 36d for allowing the sphere P to flow down in parallel. These are arranged in parallel on the left and right. In this case, the two annular sphere counting sensors S2 can be arranged near the center by arranging the adjacent annular portions adjacent to each other in a superposed manner. The left and right casings 32 and 33 can be arranged and configured not to protrude from the outer surfaces in the width direction.

  By the way, a flow path switching mechanism 53 for switching the flow paths of the ball discharge path 36d and the ball discharge path 36e is provided at the annular communication port 36c corresponding to the connection position between the standby paths 35a, 35b and the circular paths 36a, 36b. Yes. The flow path switching mechanism 53 includes a manual operation lever 54 for switching the flow path, a flow path switching block 55, and a flow path switching lever 56.

  The manual operation lever 54 has a rhombus shape with rounded ends, and the center portion of the rhombus shape can be rotated along the outer wall surface (vertical wall F1) of the left casing 32 with a mounting screw 57. It is pivotally supported. As shown in FIG. 12 (A), the manual operation lever 54 having the mounting screw 57 as a rotation fulcrum is slightly rotated to one side along the vertical wall F1, and the internal flow path described later is set to one side. Switch. Also, as shown in FIG. 12B, when it is rotated a little to the other along the vertical wall F1, the internal flow path described later is switched to the other.

  The amount of rotation of the manual operation lever 54 is such that one end of the manual operation lever 54 is interposed between the upper and lower stopper pins 58a and 58b protruding from the upper and lower positions of the outer surface of the left casing 32, One of the lower surfaces is brought into contact with one of the upper and lower stopper pins 58a or 58b during rotation, and the amount of rotation of the manual operation lever 54 is restricted. Further, at one end of the manual operation lever 54, a pin engaging hole 54a for engaging a pin 55a of a flow path switching block 55 described later is opened.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the above-described flow path switching block 55 has a pin 55 a protruding from one side surface having a box shape, and the pin 55 a is directed to the vertically long through hole 60 of the right casing 33 from the inside to the outside. The pin 55a penetrated to the outside is engaged with the pin engaging hole 54a of the manual operation lever 54.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the structure for sliding the flow path switching block 55 is a vertically long slide that allows the flow path switching block 55 to slide in the vertical direction on the inner surface of the left casing 32. It has a moving space 61 and has a sliding support structure in which the flow path switching block 55 is accommodated and reciprocated with a certain stroke in the vertical direction.

  In this case, the flow path switching block 55 is set as a sliding guide surface that slides up and down on the outer surfaces facing the near side (rear surface) and the far side (front surface) as viewed from the back side of the game table. The front and rear inner surfaces of the sliding space 61 corresponding to the front and rear outer surfaces are set as the sliding guide portion 62 to allow the flow path switching block 55 to slide in the vertical direction.

  Further, on the front side where the flow path switching block 55 and the sliding guide portion 62 are in sliding contact with each other, a convex elastic corresponding piece 63 that is allowed to advance and retreat in the front-rear direction is cantilevered on the front surface of the flow path switching block 55. An upper positioning recess 64 and a lower positioning recess 65 are positioned at the upper and lower positions of the front sliding guide 62 corresponding to the elastic corresponding piece 63 and positioned corresponding to the elastic corresponding piece 63 and the concave portion. is doing.

  In this case, the elastic corresponding piece 63 is positioned in the sliding process by causing the tip of the elastic corresponding piece 63 to project in a semicircular shape and making the semicircular portion of the elastic corresponding piece 63 correspond to the concave and convex portions 64 and 65 on the upper and lower sides. It is. For this reason, the flow path switching block 55 is fitted with the elastic corresponding piece 63 of the flow path switching block 55 corresponding to either one of the upper and lower positioning recesses 64 and 65.

  The flow path switching lever 56 is pivotally supported by a lever shaft 59 horizontally mounted between the left and right casings 32, 33, and is suspended on the lever shaft 59, and the upper standby passage 35 a, 35b and the lower annular passages 36a and 36b are interposed at the position of the annular communication port 36c corresponding to the upper and lower connections.

  The connecting portions of the upper standby passages 35a and 35b and the lower annular passages 36a and 36b are slanted downward on the downstream side of the standby passages 35a and 35b, whereas the ball discharge passages of the annular passages 36a and 36b are provided. 36d is connected to the top of the ball payout passage 36d correspondingly below (see FIG. 8). Therefore, the direction change is necessary to connect both the upper and lower passages, and the direction change flow path switching lever 56 is provided in the passage connection portion. By this flow path switching lever 56, the sphere P is guided to flow downward from diagonally upward by the flow path switching lever 56 and guided to the ball payout passage 36d.

  At the time of normal ball payout (see FIGS. 14 and 15), the contact surface 55 b on the lower front surface side of the flow path switching block 55 is the center of the flow path switching lever 56 at the position where the flow path switching block 55 is moved downward. , And the rotation of the flow path switching lever 56 is restricted in the direction of the ball payout direction. In other words, the flow path switching lever 56 is in contact with a position where the direction of the sphere P is changed 90 degrees downward, which is suitable for guiding the sphere P from obliquely upward to the sphere payout passage 36d. The shape of the flow path switching lever 56 is curved on an arcuate guide surface 56a suitable for smoothing the flow of the sphere P.

  On the other hand, the connecting portion between the upper standby passages 35a and 35b and the lower ball passage 36e corresponds to the top of the ball passage 36e in the same direction as the inclined direction in which the downstream side of the standby passages 35a and 35b is inclined downward. Connected. In other words, if the flow path switching lever 56 does not exist, the ball removal passage 36e in the same direction as the obliquely downward direction on the downstream side of the standby passages 35a and 35b can be connected and linearly connected. Accordingly, if the flow path switching lever 56 located at this connection portion is switched to a freely rotating state that can be retracted by the flow-down pressure of the sphere P, the position restricting action of the flow path switching lever 56 is released. The ball P flowing down from the waiting passages 35a, 35b obliquely downward flows down to the ball removal passage 36e while pushing down the flow path switching lever 56 by its own weight (see FIG. 17). Led.

  Therefore, at the time of ball removal, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, it is only necessary to move the flow path switching block 55 up and down. As a result, the contact surface 55a on the back side of the lower end of the flow path switching block 55 is also moved up and retracted, and the flow path switching lever 56 is released from the rotation restriction and becomes free. As a result, the sphere P supplied from the upper standby passages 35a and 35b, due to its own weight, proceeds straight downward obliquely to the sphere removal passage 36e, and flows down the sphere removal passage 36e to start the sphere removal. In the figure, 66 is a relay board, and 67 is an auxiliary cover.

Next, the ball P payout processing operation in the storage tank integrated ball payout device 12 configured as described above will be described.
In the storage tank 15 of the storage tank-integrated ball payout device 12 installed at the upper part on the back side of the board surface of the game table 11, a large number of balls P are stored in a payout standby state. From this standby state, when a payout signal of the ball P is input from a main control unit (not shown) that controls the entire pachinko gaming machine, the drive motor M and the rotating body 31 are driven to rotate forward (rotate clockwise). Based on this driving, the balls P in the storage tank 15 flow downward in order. In this flow-down process, the ball P rolls due to its own weight, flows down while being aligned in two rows, and is guided to the ball discharge device 16 on the downstream side.

  In this ball paying device 16, the supplied ball P is guided to the ball paying passage 36d by the forward transfer operation of the rotating body 31. As a result, the ball P is continuously lowered and the determined number of balls is paid out. Then, the paid-out ball P is paid out to the upper plate on the front side of the game table.

  Normally, at the time of paying out the ball, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the attendant turns the manual operation lever 54 in the counterclockwise direction in advance to move the flow path switching block 55 downward. At this time, the flow path switching block 55 is positioned by fitting the elastic corresponding piece 63 of the flow path switching block 55 into the lower positioning recess 65 of the front surface of the left casing 32, and from the ball passage 36e. When switching to the ball payout passage 36d, the elastic corresponding piece 63 of the flow path switching block 55 is in sliding contact with the sliding guide portion 62 on the front surface of the left casing 32. In this sliding contact process, the elastic corresponding piece 63 is elastically displaced inward. When it corresponds to the lower positioning recess 65, it is elastically returned to the outside and fitted to complete the positioning, and the ball payout passage 36d is established. Further, when the flow path switching block 55 moves downward, the flow path switching lever 56 comes into contact with the abutment surface 55b of the flow path switching block 55 to guide downward flow, and the passage path of the sphere P is changed. It will be switched to the ball payout passage 36d. Thereby, the sphere P flowing down from the upstream standby passages 35a and 35b is guided to the ball payout passage 36d and rotated and fed by the rotating body 31.

  Next, when a large number of balls P held in the storage tank-integrated ball dispensing device 12 are removed, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the clerk turns the manual operation lever 54 clockwise as shown in FIGS. , The elastic corresponding piece 63 of the flow path switching block 55 is detached from the lower positioning recess 65, and the flow path switching block 55 moves upward.

  At this time, the flow path switching block 55 is positioned so that the elastic corresponding piece 63 of the flow path switching block 55 is elastically displaced inward by slidingly contacting the sliding guide portion 62 on the front surface of the left casing 32, and is provided in the left casing 32. When it corresponds to the upper positioning recess 64 on the upper side, the elastic corresponding piece 63 is elastically restored to the outside and fitted. As a result, the positioning is completed and the ball removal passage 36e is established.

  In this way, by sliding the flow path switching block 55 upward, the flow path switching lever 56 comes out of contact with the contact surface 55b of the flow path switching block, and the flow path switching lever 56 can be freely rotated. Let me. As a result, the sphere P that has flowed diagonally downward from the upper standby passages 35a, 35b passes straightly in the diagonally downward direction while pushing away the flow path switching lever 56 by its own weight, so the flow direction of the sphere P is It switches to the ball removal passage 36e and guides the ball P flowing down from the standby passages 35a and 35b to the ball removal passage 36e.

  In this case, the sphere P guided to the sphere removal passage 36e is not subjected to the driving force by the feed pawl 39, descends in the cylindrical passage, and descends the sphere removal passage 36e by its own weight and is extracted. For this reason, the ball is stably removed without being affected electrically by a power failure or the like. The ball descending from the ball removal passage 36e is guided from a ball removal collection passage (not shown) connected downward to a ball collection passage (not shown) connected to the back side of the board surface of the game table 11.

In correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the configuration of the above-described embodiment,
Although the moving member of the present invention corresponds to the flow path switching block 55 of the embodiment, the present invention can be applied based on the technical idea described in the claims, and is limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment. Is not to be done.

  For example, by providing a micro switch or the like in the flow path switching lever 56 and checking the ball path switching state by the flow path switching lever 56, it is monitored so that the ball is not accidentally switched to the ball removal path 36e when the ball is paid out. You may make it comprise.

The principal part rear view which shows the board surface back side of a game stand provided with the storage tank integrated ball | bowl delivery device. The external appearance perspective view which shows a storage tank integrated ball | bowl delivery apparatus. The external appearance perspective view which shows a ball dispensing apparatus. The front view which shows a ball dispensing apparatus. The exploded perspective view seen from the front side of the ball dispensing device. The exploded perspective view seen from the back side of the ball dispensing device. The external appearance perspective view which shows the power transmission state of a rotary body. The vertical side view which shows the channel | path structure of a ball dispensing apparatus. The side view of a ball dispensing apparatus. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 9. The principal part expansion vertical front view of a ball delivery apparatus. The perspective view which shows the state which operated the manual operation lever to one side and the other. The external appearance perspective view of a flow-path switching block. The longitudinal section side view which shows the ball paying-out state of a ball paying-out apparatus. The principal part expansion vertical side view which shows the operation state of the flow-path switching lever at the time of ball paying-out. The longitudinal section side view which shows the ball removal state of a ball dispensing apparatus. The principal part expansion vertical side view which shows the operation state of the flow-path switching lever at the time of ball removal.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Game table 16 ... Sphere delivery apparatus 36d ... Sphere delivery path 36e ... Sphere removal path 53 ... Channel switching mechanism 54 ... Manual operation lever 55 ... Channel switching block 56 ... Channel switching lever 62 ... Sliding guide part 63 ... Elastic corresponding piece 64 ... Upper positioning recess 65 ... Lower positioning recess

Claims (4)

An annular passage is formed by a rotating body that rotates based on the driving of the motor and has a feed claw on the outer peripheral surface, and a casing having a passage wall along the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body. A half-circumferential ball flow lower side along the rotation direction is set as a ball payout passage, the other half-circumferential ball flow lower side along the rotation direction is set as a ball removal passage, and the ball guided to the annular passage is opened at one lower end. A ball dispensing device provided with a flow path switching mechanism that distributes between a ball dispensing passage side leading to a ball dispensing outlet and a ball removal passage side leading to a ball removal opening opened at the other lower end,
One of the annular passages is provided with a ball payout passage for rotating and feeding a ball based on the rotation of the rotating body,
The other of the annular passages is provided with a ball removal passage that allows a ball to pass along an annular position that is larger in diameter than the rotation trajectory of the feed claw, separated from the passage wall of the ball dispensing passage,
A flow path switching mechanism disposed at a branching position between the ball discharge passage and the ball removal passage of the annular passage;
A manual operation portion that is disposed outside the casing and manually switches the flow path switching mechanism between a ball payout passage side and a ball discharge passage side;
A standby passage connecting the upper sphere supply port to the lower annular passage in the casing;
The standby passage is inclined at the downstream side obliquely downward and connected to the branch position, and the inclination direction on the downstream side of the standby passage is linear in substantially the same direction as the ball extraction direction at the branch position of the ball extraction passage. Connect to
The flow path switching mechanism is
It is configured to be rotatable in the ball removal direction, and the annular communication port of the ball removal passage is closed, and the ball flowing down in the ball removal direction from the standby passage is changed in the ball discharge direction based on the closure. Or a flow path switching lever that allows the annular communication port of the ball passage to be opened and allows a ball that flows down from the standby passage to the ball removal direction based on the opening allowance to go straight to the ball passage.
When operating the manual operating section on one, Rutotomoni the flow path switching lever is moved to a position for restricting the flow of balls into the ball vent passage by causing contact, the rotation of the passage switching lever When restricting and operating the manual operation part to the other side, by retracting from the contact, the flow path switching lever can be freely rotated in the ball removal direction and the flow of the ball to the ball removal passage is allowed. A ball removing mechanism of a ball dispensing device configured with a moving member to be moved to a position to be moved. The ball removal mechanism of the ball dispensing device according to claim 1, further comprising positioning means for positioning the moving member between a ball removal passage opening position and a ball removal passage closing position. The positioning means is configured so that each of a ball release passage open position moved to one side and a ball release passage closed position moved to the other between the sliding surfaces of the moving member and a sliding guide portion that slide-supports the moving member. The ball removing mechanism of the ball dispensing device according to claim 2, wherein the surface is provided in correspondence with the concave and convex portions for positioning, and an elastic corresponding portion that presses and biases at least one of the opposing surfaces corresponding to the concave and convex portions against the other. A pachinko gaming machine comprising the ball removal mechanism of any of the ball dispensing devices according to claim 1.

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