JP4993952B2 - Game media transport device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a game medium transport apparatus for transporting and supplying game media, and more particularly to a game medium transport apparatus for transporting game media without driving a transport path.

  In general, a transport device for transporting and supplying game media to gaming machines and game media rental machines is arranged to be inclined above the gaming machine island, and the inclination is used to supply the supply medium from the supply tank to the supply route. In the meantime, the game medium is supplied to the respective gaming machines so that the game medium is supplied from the upstream to the downstream in the supply path. However, gaming machine islands equipped with a transport device having such an inclined supply route tend to be higher and higher in the gaming machine islands. This tends to appear more prominently as the supply amount of game media increases and the supply route becomes longer. For this reason, when a larger gaming machine island blocks the view of a security camera attached to the hall, there are many shadows due to lighting, and it is necessary to increase the number of lights to eliminate the shadows, etc. In addition to the problems, there was a risk of hindering the degree of freedom in designing the interior equipment of the amusement hall.

  In order to solve this problem, a pachinko ball that has flowed down the fixed path portion as in Japanese Patent No. 2518490 (Patent Document 1), a driving roller 22 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1), and a driven roller 23 (Patent Document 1). A conveyance device is provided which includes a horizontal conveyance belt 21 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1) spanned between them, and the horizontal conveyance belt is driven by a drive motor 26 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1). 21 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1) is driven to rotate, and a game medium is horizontally conveyed by a horizontal conveyance belt 21 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1).

  And in this structure, the separator 41 (code | symbol in patent document 1) provided in the side part of the replenishment path | route 10 (code | symbol in patent document 1), and the bulging side wall 44 (patent) provided adjacent to this separator 41 The pachinko balls sent by the horizontal conveyance belt 21 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1) are distributed according to the reference numerals in Document 1 and the pachinko balls are supplied to the pachinko machine 2 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1).

Prior art documents related to the invention of this application include the following.
Japanese Patent No. 2518490 (JP-A-6-39136) None

  However, the transport structure for transporting the pachinko balls by such a horizontal transport belt 21 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1), in contrast to the case where a transport device having an inclined replenishment path is arranged at the upper part of the gaming machine island, The problem that the upper part of the gaming machine island is high and large, that the gaming machine island obstructs the view of the security camera, and that the degree of freedom in designing the interior equipment of the game hall is solved. However, since the transport device (horizontal transport belt 21 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1)) itself is driven, it is difficult to cope with a long game machine island, and the horizontal transport belt 21 (in Patent Document 1). If a problem occurs in the code, it is necessary to stop and repair the entire apparatus. For example, it is not easy to construct and maintain the apparatus, and a tension roller 24 that stretches a horizontal conveyance belt (Patent Document 1) Inside sign) Parts such as belt supporting member 25 (reference numerals in Patent Document 1) is required, the number of parts there is a risk that the increase in cost increases. Further, the horizontal conveyance belt 21 is stretched between the driving roller 22 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1) and the driven roller 23 in an endless state. For this reason, although the upper surface of the horizontal conveyance belt 21 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1) is used to convey pachinko balls, a storage space is secured on the lower surface of the horizontal conveyance belt 21 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1) as an apparatus. There was a limit to lowering the height of the upper part of the gaming machine island.

  Further, the pachinko ball is provided with a barrel-shaped tension roller 24 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1) and a plate-shaped belt support member 25 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1) alternately and held. It is transferred to a ball waiting path portion 40 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1) formed on a side portion of the replenishment path 10 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1) via (reference numeral in Patent Document 1). And after that, it was distributed to the separator 41 (reference numeral in patent document 1) by the bulging side wall 44 (reference numeral in patent document 1). Accordingly, the pachinko ball transport flow flows from the horizontal transport belt 21 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1) to the inclined surface of the barrel-shaped tension roller 24 (reference numeral in Patent Document 1), and once the ball standby path section 40 (patent document 1). The pachinko balls transferred to the reference numeral 1 in the document are distributed to the separator 41 (reference number 1 in the patent document 1) by the pressing force of the pachinko balls conveyed later, so the pachinko machine 2 (patent document 2) It was difficult to quickly respond to the operating state of the symbol 1).

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and its object is to keep the height of the gaming machine island low by transporting game media in a substantially horizontal direction without driving the transport path. It is also possible to provide a game medium transporting apparatus that can be constructed and maintained easily, has a small number of parts, and is advantageous in terms of cost.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, a gaming medium transporting device is constructed on an upper part of a gaming machine island in which gaming machines and gaming medium lending machines are alternately arranged, and transports the gaming medium in a substantially horizontal direction, the game medium transporting apparatus, possess a plurality of inclined surfaces inclined downward in the conveying direction, the conveying road surface to form a curved portion connecting the top side and lower side of the inclined surface to be next set, and the transport A conveyance path formed continuously without interruption along the conveyance direction, and a game medium conveyance unit formed on the outer periphery in the width direction of the conveyance path, spaced apart from the curved portion. a rotary member having, a drive mechanism of the rotary member, the game media which has been transferred from the upstream of the inclined plane in a state where the accommodated between the surface and the game medium transporting portion of the curved portion of the rotary member Table of the curved portion of the game medium by rotation While rolling on, characterized in that the pumped onto downstream of said inclined surface.

  As a result, the game medium can be transported in a substantially horizontal direction by rotating the rotating member without driving the transport path itself, so that the height of the gaming machine island including the game medium transport device can be kept low. it can. Further, if the rotating member is damaged, it can be dealt with by replacing only that part, and maintenance and inspection can be carried out quickly and easily, and the number of parts is small, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

  In the next invention, a supply chute is disposed on a side portion of the inclined surface, and a game medium to be transferred on the inclined surface via the supply chute is supplied to at least one of a gaming machine and a game medium rental machine. It is.

  As a result, the game medium transferred on the inclined surface and the game medium blocked by the downstream rotating member are pushed out toward the supply chute side disposed on the side of the inclined surface. As a result, the game media are effectively supplied to at least one of the game machine and the game media rental machine.

  Furthermore, in the next invention, the rotating member is formed with a plurality of semi-cylindrical long grooves in the width direction of the conveying path, and the game medium is accommodated between the bottom of the long groove and the surface of the curved portion. Then, it is lifted onto the downstream inclined surface by the rotation of the rotating member.

  As a result, the game medium can be surely lifted to the top side of the downstream inclined surface and discharged strongly by the centrifugal force of the rotating member, so that an improvement in transport speed can be expected.

  Furthermore, in the next invention, the rotating member has a water wheel shape in which rotating blades are formed in the width direction of the conveying path, and a game medium is accommodated in a space between the rotating blades and the surface of the curved portion. It is lifted onto a downstream inclined surface by the rotation of the rotating member.

  As a result, the carry amount of the game medium can be increased.

  Furthermore, the following invention arrange | positions the wiping member on the surface of the said curved part.

  As a result, dust, oil, and the like attached to the game medium are wiped off while the game medium is being transported, and the game medium can always be maintained in a clean state, thereby reducing the possibility of discomfort to the player.

  Furthermore, in the next invention, the rotating member is formed of a wiping member.

  As a result, by wiping off dust, oil, etc. adhering to the game medium while the game medium is being transported, the game medium can always be kept clean, and the risk of discomfort to the player is reduced. Alternatively, the wiping performance can be easily improved by replacing the rotating member.

  Furthermore, in the next invention, a diversion guide is formed upstream of the supply chute on the inclined surface.

  Thus, the game medium can be guided to the supply chute, and the game medium can be efficiently supplied to at least one of the game machine and the game medium rental machine.

  As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a gaming medium transporting device that is constructed on an upper part of a gaming machine island in which gaming machines and gaming medium rental machines are alternately arranged, and transports the gaming media in a substantially horizontal direction, The game medium transport apparatus includes: a transport path having a transport path surface formed with a plurality of inclined surfaces that are inclined downward in the transport direction; and a curved portion that connects a top side and a lower side of the adjacent inclined surface; And a rotary member having a game medium transport unit formed on the outer periphery in the width direction of the transport path, and a drive mechanism for the rotary member, and transferred from an upstream inclined surface The rotary member is driven without driving the transport path itself by pumping the medium onto the inclined surface downstream by the rotation of the rotary member in a state where the medium is accommodated between the surface of the curved portion and the game medium transport unit. The game media is transported in a substantially horizontal direction by rotating Since it is bets, it is possible to suppress the height of the game machine islands, including the game medium transport device. In addition, if the rotating member is damaged, it can be dealt with by exchanging only that part, maintenance and inspection can be carried out quickly and easily, the number of parts is small, and game media transportation is advantageous in terms of cost. An apparatus can be provided.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a main part schematic plan view showing a game medium transport device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the main part showing the game medium carrying device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a main part of the rotating member according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another rotating member in the game medium carrying device of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a gaming machine island provided with the game medium transport device of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the game medium transport device 1 of the present invention is constructed above a gaming machine island 100 constructed from a plurality of gaming machines 2 and a gaming medium lending machine 3 disposed between the gaming machines 2. Has been. A storage tank 5 for game media 4 (see FIG. 5) is provided in the center of the gaming machine island, and the game media 4 stored in the storage tank 5 is supplied to the game media transport device 1 as necessary. To supply. The game medium transport device 1 transports the supplied game medium 4 downstream of the gaming machine island. Then, the game medium 4 is supplied from the replenishment chute 6 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) to at least one of the game machine 2 and the game medium rental machine 3 in this transport process.

  Hereinafter, the details of the game medium transport device 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the gaming machine 2 installed on the gaming machine island 100 and the gaming medium lending machine 3 installed on the upper part of the gaming medium lending machine 3 include a conveying path 10, a rotating member 20, It is comprised with the drive mechanism 30 of the rotating member 20. FIG.

  The transport path 10 includes a transport path surface 11 for transferring the game medium 4 and a side wall 17 standing on the side of the transport path surface 11. A plurality of inclined surfaces 12 inclined downward in the conveying direction, a top side 12a of the inclined surface adjacent to the downstream side, and a lower side 12b of the inclined surface 12 adjacent to the upstream side are connected to the conveying path surface 11. And a curved portion 13 are formed. The conveying path surface 11 is formed by connecting a plurality of blocks each having the inclined surface 12 and the curved portion 13 formed on the upper surface, but forms a plurality of inclined surfaces 12 and the curved portion 13 on an integral long floor surface. It is also possible to do. The lines connecting the plurality of apex sides 12a and the lines connecting the plurality of lower sides 12b are horizontal. (Here, horizontal means a plane parallel to the installation surface of the gaming machine island 100 shown in FIG. 5). Accordingly, the game media 4 released from the top side 12a side of each block rolls on the inclined surface 12 in the direction of the lower side 12b. Further, side walls 17 are erected on both sides of the conveyance path surface 11 from upstream to downstream of the conveyance path surface 11. The side wall 17 is formed with a hole 17a through which the rotary shaft 22 of the rotary member 20 passes. The rotation shaft 22 of the rotary member 20 is passed through the hole 17a, and the rotation shaft 22 is rotatably supported by a bearing 23 provided outside the side wall 17.

  The rotating member 20 includes a columnar body 21 that is formed in a columnar shape that is long in the width direction of the conveyance path 10, and a rotating shaft 22 that is fitted and fixed in a through hole 21 a formed in the center of the columnar body 21. . A game medium transport unit is formed on the outer periphery of the columnar body 21. In this embodiment, four (longitudinal 90 degree intervals) semi-cylindrical long grooves 24 formed in the longitudinal direction (width direction of the conveyance path surface 11) correspond to this. The rotating member 20 has its rotating shaft 22 penetrating laterally from a hole 17 a formed in the side wall 17, and is rotatably supported by a bearing 23 provided outside the side wall 17. One end of the rotating shaft 22 is provided with a rotating gear 31 of a driving mechanism 30 fixed between the side wall 17 and a bearing 23 (the bearing 23 on the rotating gear 31 side is not shown).

  The drive mechanism 30 includes a rotating gear 31 fixed to the rotating shaft 22 of each rotating member 20, a rotating belt 32 wound around each rotating gear 31, and a motor (not shown) that rotates the rotating gear 31. ing.

  The aforementioned rotating member 20 is disposed between the side walls 12 so that the outer periphery of the columnar body 21 faces the curved surface of the curved portion 13 of the conveyance path 10. Then, a feeding path 14 for the game medium 4 is defined at an interval where the game medium 4 does not overlap between the outer periphery of the columnar body 21 and the curved surface of the bending portion 13.

  On the other hand, a replenishment chute 6 is disposed on the side of the inclined surface 12 of the transport path 10 described above, and the game medium 4 transferred to the inclined surface 12 is transferred to at least one of the gaming machine 2 and the gaming medium rental machine 3. To supply. A diversion guide 15 is attached to the upper surface of the inclined surface 12. The diversion guide 15 is a triangular block and has a vertex arranged toward the rotating member 20, and is attached to a position where the game medium 4 diverted at the vertex is led to the supply chute 6.

  The game medium 4 stored in the storage tank 5 is first discharged to the storage tank 5 side of the transfer path 10 of the game medium transfer device 1 and rolls down from the top side 12a of the inclined surface 12 toward the lower side 12b. And it is temporarily retained on the conveyance path 10 from the storage tank 5 to an island end. When a request for replenishment of the game medium 4 is received from the game machine 2 or the game medium rental machine 3, the rotating member 20 rotates and the temporarily accumulated game medium 4 is transported to the top side 12a of the adjacent inclined surface 12. At this time, the game medium 4 is accommodated and transported in a large amount in the semi-cylindrical long groove 24 which is a game medium transport unit, and is discharged to the upper surface of the top side 12a of the adjacent inclined surface 12. Note that the shape of the long groove 24 is not limited to a semi-cylindrical shape, and may be any shape that can accommodate the game medium 4 such as a rectangular concave groove.

  Thus, the game medium 4 released to the upper surface of the inclined surface 12 by the rotation of the rotating member 20 is transferred in the direction of the lower side 12b due to the inclination of the inclined surface 12. The transferred game medium 4 is guided to the supply chute 6 along the diversion guide 15 in the middle, and sent out to the game machine 2 or the game medium rental machine 3. In this way, the game media 4 are sequentially transferred downstream and stored in the upstream direction from the inclined surface 11 formed most downstream. In this embodiment, the gaming medium transport device 1 is disposed on the gaming machine island where the most downstream side is dammed up, but the gaming medium 4 is disposed below that gaming machine island (not shown). ) And can be placed on a recirculation type gaming machine island that is circulated again to the supply tank 5. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be used for so-called island passing for transporting game media between adjacent gaming machine islands.

  FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the game medium transport device 1, and in this embodiment, the rotating member 20 is configured in the shape of a water wheel provided with rotating blades 25 formed in the width direction of the transport path. The game medium 4 is accommodated in a space 26 between the rotary blades 25 and the surface of the curved portion 13. In this embodiment, the carry amount of the game medium 4 can be increased.

  Further, the wiping member 16 is attached to the surface of the bending portion 13. By sticking the wiping member 16 to the curved portion 13 in this manner, when the game medium 4 is lifted, the wiping member 16 is brought into contact with the wiping member 16 to clean the surface of the game medium 4 to reduce the player's discomfort. Yes. Further, the discomfort of the player can be reduced by forming the rotating member 20 itself from a material suitable for wiping.

It is the principal part schematic plan view which showed the game medium conveying apparatus of this invention. It is the principal part horizontal direction cross section which showed the game medium conveying apparatus of this invention. It is the principal part schematic perspective view which showed the game medium conveying apparatus concerning Example 1 of this invention. It is the perspective view which showed another rotating member in the game media conveying apparatus of this invention. It is the perspective view which showed the game machine island which arrange | positioned the game medium conveying apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Game machine island 1 Game medium conveyance apparatus 10 Conveyance path 11 Conveyance path surface 12 Inclined surface 12a Top side 12b Lower side 13 Curved part 14 Lifting path 15 Dividing guide 16 Wiping member 17 Side wall 17a Hole 20 Rotating member 21 Cylindrical main body 22 Rotating shaft 23 Bearing 24 Long groove 25 (semi-cylindrical shape which is a game medium transport unit) Rotary blade 26 Space 30 Drive mechanism 31 Rotating gear 32 Rotating belt 2 Game machine 3 Game medium rental machine 4 Game medium 5 Storage tank 6 Supply chute

Claims (7)

A game medium transporting device that is constructed on an upper part of a gaming machine island in which gaming machines and gaming medium lending machines are alternately arranged, and transports the gaming media in a substantially horizontal direction,
The game medium transport device is:
A plurality of inclined surfaces inclined downward in the conveying direction, have a transport road surface to form a curved portion connecting the top side and lower side of the inclined surface to be next set, and the transport road is along the conveying direction A continuously formed transport path without interruption ,
A rotating member having a game medium transporting portion that is spaced apart upward from the curved portion and formed in the width direction of the transporting path on the outer periphery;
A drive mechanism for the rotating member;
Rolling the game medium by the rotation of the rotary member in the accommodated state between the surface and the game medium transporting portion of the curved portion of the game media which has been transferred from the upstream of the inclined plane on the surface of the curved portion characterized by being pumped in while moving downstream of the inclined plane, the game medium transport device. A supply chute is disposed on a side portion of the inclined surface and a game medium that is transferred on the inclined surface via the supply chute is supplied to at least one of a gaming machine and a game medium rental machine. The game medium carrying device according to claim 1. The rotating member forms a plurality of semi-cylindrical long grooves in the width direction of the transport path, and the rotating medium rotates by rotating the rotating member in a state where the game medium is accommodated between the bottom of the long groove and the surface of the curved portion. The game medium transport device according to claim 1, wherein the game medium transport device is transported onto a downstream inclined surface. The rotating member has a water wheel shape in which rotating blades are formed in the width direction of the conveying path, and the rotating member rotates downstream in a state where a game medium is accommodated in a space between the rotating blades and the surface of the curved portion. The game medium transport device according to claim 1, wherein the game medium transport device is transported onto an inclined surface of the game medium. The game medium transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a wiping member is disposed on a surface of the curved portion. 6. The game medium carrying device according to claim 1, wherein the rotating member is formed of a wiping member. The game medium transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a diversion guide is formed upstream of the supply chute on the inclined surface.

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