JP5257523B2 - Gaming ball replenishment bowl and game machine island - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a game ball replenishment rod and a game machine island for supplying game balls to a game machine.

  Conventionally, in game halls where game machines such as pachinko machines are installed, in order to collect the game balls used for the game (hereinafter referred to simply as “balls”) so that these balls can be used repeatedly. A ball circulation system is built for each gaming machine island. In this ball circulation system, the part that supplies the balls to the gaming machines is specifically installed at the center in the longitudinal direction on the gaming machine island where a plurality of gaming machines are installed in a row, and collected from the gaming machines. It consists of a lifting machine that lifts the ball to the upper part of the gaming machine island, and a replenishment rod that is installed at the upper part of the gaming machine island and replenishes each gaming machine with the ball lifted by the lifting machine Yes.

  Of these, the replenishment rod extends in a straight line downward from the center of the gaming machine island toward the end. Further, a separation chute for separating the ball from the supply basket and guiding it to the gaming machine is provided for each gaming machine on the side wall of the supply basket. That is, the ball lifted by the lifting machine naturally flows down along the inclination direction of the supply basket, and is replenished to each gaming machine by being separated from the supply basket by the separation chute in the middle of the flow (for example, (See Patent Document 1).

  By the way, in general, the gaming machine island has a cuboid frame structure. For this reason, the gaming machines are installed in a line along the longitudinal direction of the gaming machine island. However, there are also game hall managers who want to install gaming machines in various layouts without limiting the arrangement of gaming machines to one line, and in accordance with such requirements, it is possible to arrange gaming machines that are not in a straight line ( For example, a gaming machine island (hereinafter referred to as a non-linear gaming machine island) that has an octagonal column structure has been devised (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-153777 (FIGS. 1 and 2) JP-A-6-39134 (FIGS. 2 and 4)

  In order to install a supply rod on such a non-linear gaming machine island, the flow path of the supply rod is installed in a non-linear (for example, an octagonal gaming machine island according to the shape of the non-linear gaming machine island. It is necessary to make the flow path an octagonal shape for the replenishment rods to be made.

  For this reason, as shown in FIG. 8, the flow path of the non-linear supply rod 100 installed on the non-linear gaming machine island has a bent (or curved) portion (region 101 indicated by a dotted line in the figure). Hereinafter, there is a path bending portion 101).

  Therefore, when the game ball 120 flows down in the non-linear supply rod 100 and passes through the path bending portion 101, it may collide with the ball receiving port of the separation chute 110 attached to the outer peripheral side wall 103 (in the drawing). (See arrow D11 indicated by a one-dot chain line). For this reason, when the game ball 120 having a high flow velocity (that is, vigorous) collides in the ball housing port of the separation chute 110, the game ball 120 jumps in the ball housing port and is irregular. As a result, there is a problem that clogging easily occurs in the ball housing opening.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a game ball replenishment basket and a game machine island that suppress the clogging of the balls and smoothly supply the game balls to the game machines.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is attached to a gaming machine island in which a plurality of gaming machines that provide a game to a player when a gaming ball as a gaming medium is inserted. A game ball replenishment bowl for replenishing a game ball for each of a plurality of game machines installed on the game machine island, and having a bottom surface that is inclined so that the game ball can naturally flow down, At least one part of the flow path along which the sphere flows is provided with a non-linear ridge formed so as to bend or bend, and a portion formed so as to bend or bend in the non-linear ridge is referred to as a heel bent / curved portion. The side wall of the non-linear heel that becomes the outer peripheral side of the flow path by bending or bending at the heel bending / curving portion is defined as the bending outer peripheral side wall, and the inner periphery side of the flow path by bending or bending at the heel bending / curving portion Bend the side wall of As the song in the peripheral side wall, the separation chute outlet for discharging the game balls of the game ball for replenishing trough to separate chute for guiding and separating the game ball from the game ball replenishment trough into the gaming machine, the Of the bent outer peripheral side wall and the bent inner peripheral side wall, only the bent inner peripheral side wall is formed.

  In the game ball replenishment rod configured as described above, the game ball flows down in a non-linear cage formed so that at least one of the flow-down paths along which the game ball flows down is bent or curved. For this reason, when the game ball flowing down in the non-linear saddle passes through the bend bending / curving portion, it first collides with the bending outer peripheral side wall and rebounds from the bending outer peripheral side wall toward the bending inner peripheral side wall. That is, since a part of the kinetic energy of the game ball is absorbed by the game ball replenishment bowl due to the collision of the game ball with the curved outer peripheral side wall, it is more immediately after the collision than before the collision with the curved outer peripheral side wall. The flow speed of the game ball is smaller.

  For this reason, the separation chute (hereinafter also referred to as the inner circumferential side separation chute) installed on the curved inner circumferential side wall is separated from the separation chute (hereinafter also referred to as the outer circumferential side separation chute) installed on the curved outer circumferential side wall. However, the rate at which game balls having a low flow velocity enter the separation chute is large.

  In other words, the inner peripheral side separation chute is less likely to make irregular movements such as a game ball jumping in the separation chute than the outer peripheral side separation chute. Ball clogging in the separation chute can be suppressed.

A gaming machine island according to claim 2 is a gaming machine island having the game ball supply cage according to claim 1 , wherein the gaming machine island is formed so as to be bent or curved in plan view. Separation chute discharge port where a gaming machine is installed on the curved outer peripheral surface of Machine Island, separating the gaming ball from the supply ball for the game ball, and a separation chute corresponding to the gaming machine installed on the curved outer peripheral surface is attached Is provided on the bent inner circumferential side wall .
Thus constructed gaming machine island is for realizing a game ball replenishment gutter according to claim 1, to obtain the same effect as the game ball replenishment gutter according to claim 1 it can.
Further, in the gaming machine island according to claim 2, as described in claim 3, the bent outer peripheral side wall is preferably made of a material having a low resilience.
In the gaming machine island configured as described above, it is possible to further reduce the flow velocity of the game ball that collides with the bent outer peripheral side wall and rebounds from the bent outer peripheral side wall toward the bent inner peripheral side wall. For this reason, as the flow velocity decreases, the game ball that has entered the inner circumferential side separation chute is less likely to move irregularly, and the ball clogging in the inner circumferential side separation chute can be further suppressed. .

The perspective view of the gaming machine island 1. The top view of gaming machine island 1. FIG. The principal part disassembled perspective view of the replenishing rod 10. FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the separation chute 20. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a sphere separation unit 23. The schematic plan view of the gaming machine island 1 in another embodiment. The top view of the non-linear supply basket 100 for demonstrating the flow down path | route of the game ball which passes the path | route bending part 101. FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gaming machine island 1 to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the gaming machine island 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the gaming machine island 1 is framed in an octagonal column shape having a hollow inside by an outer peripheral wall 2 on eight sides. A pachinko machine 6 or a slot machine 7 is installed on each of the eight outer peripheral walls 2.

  Further, the gaming machine island 1 is installed inside the gaming machine island 1, and a lifting machine 5 (FIG. 5) that lifts the gaming balls collected from the pachinko machine 6 by the ball collecting mechanism (not shown) to the upper part of the gaming machine island 1. 2), a replenishment rod 10 for replenishing each pachinko machine 6 with the game ball lifted by the lifter 5 installed on the upper part of the gaming machine island 1, and an operator inside the gaming machine island 1 The door 3 (refer FIG. 2) for entering is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, among the eight outer peripheral walls 2, the pachinko machine 6 is installed on the six outer peripheral walls 2 continuous along the circumferential direction of the octagonal prism, and the remaining two outer peripheral walls 2. Is provided with a slot machine 7.

  The replenishing rod 10 is a pachinko that is continuous along the circumferential direction of the octagonal column along the octagonal side formed by the upper surface of the outer peripheral wall on the upper surface of the outer peripheral wall 2 (hereinafter also referred to as the upper surface of the outer peripheral wall). The outer peripheral wall 2 arranged at one end of the six outer peripheral walls 2 on which the machine 6 is installed extends from the outer peripheral wall 2 arranged at the other end, and the adjacent outer peripheral walls 2 are joined. It has a bent shape at the place where it is done.

  A ball receiving port 17 for receiving a game ball from the lifting machine 5 is provided in the course of the game ball formed by the replenishing rod 10. The replenishing rod 10 includes a bottom plate 11 that is inclined downward from the ball receiving port 17 toward one end and the other end of the replenishing rod 10. Thereby, the game ball received in the replenishing basket 10 from the ball receiving port 17 naturally flows down toward one end or the other end of the replenishing bowl 10 (see the arrow of the one-dot chain line in FIG. 2).

  A separation chute 20 that separates the game ball from the replenishment cage 10 and guides it to the corresponding pachinko machine 6 is provided for each pachinko machine 6 on the side of the inner circumference wall plate 12 constituting the inner circumferential side wall of the replenishment cage 10. Installed.

  Further, one end portion (the other end portion) of the replenishing rod 10 reaches and stays at one end portion (the other end portion) on the side of the outer peripheral wall plate 13 constituting the outer peripheral side wall of the replenishing rod 10. A ball extraction device 30 for extracting the game ball from the replenishment basket 10 is installed.

  FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the main part of the replenishing rod 10, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the replenishing rod 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the replenishment basket 10 has a bottom plate 11 that constitutes the bottom surface of the replenishment bowl 10, and an inner periphery of the replenishment bowl 10 to prevent the game ball from falling from the edge of the bottom plate 11. The heel inner peripheral wall plate 12, the heel outer peripheral wall plate 13, and the game balls in the replenishing jar 10 are prevented from overflowing beyond the heel inner peripheral wall plate 12 and the heel outer peripheral wall plate 13, respectively. In order to do this, it is composed of a top surface plate 14 provided above the bottom surface plate 11.

  The basket inner peripheral wall plate 12 is formed with a separation chute discharge port 12 a for discharging the game balls in the replenishment basket 10 to the separation chute 20. In addition, the heel inner peripheral wall plate 12 and the heel outer peripheral wall plate 13 are made of a material having low resilience (for example, urethane).

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the bottom plate 11 of the replenishing basket 10 is formed with a gentle slope from which the game ball P rolls naturally from the side of the basket outer peripheral wall plate 13 toward the side of the basket inner peripheral wall plate 12. Yes.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the separation chute 20, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of the sphere separation unit 23.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the separation chute 20 is provided with a ball passage (not shown) penetrating from the upper portion toward the lower portion, and two counters (first count) for counting game balls passing through the ball passage. And a ball separator 23 that guides a game ball received from the ball receiving port 23a to one of the first counter 21 and the second counter 22.

  In addition, an upper cover 24 is attached to the upper part of the ball separating unit 23 to prevent the game balls in the ball separating unit 23 from overflowing from the ball separating unit 23. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the ball separating unit 23 includes a first guide passage 23b (see a one-dot chain line arrow D1 in the drawing) that guides the game ball received from the ball receiving port 23a to the first counter 21; A second guide passage 23c (see a one-dot chain line arrow D2 in the figure) for guiding the game ball received from the ball receiving port 23a to the second counter 22 is configured.

  The game balls discharged from the first counter 21 are supplied to the corresponding pachinko machine 6 through a first ball guide route (not shown). The game balls discharged from the second counter 22 are supplied to a ball lending machine (not shown) adjacent to the corresponding pachinko machine 6 through a second ball guide route (not shown).

  In the gaming machine island 1 configured as described above, the game ball flows down in the supply basket 10 formed by bending at least one location (5 locations in the present embodiment) of the flow path through which the game ball flows down. For this reason, when the game ball flowing down in the replenishing spear 10 passes through a bent portion (hereinafter referred to as a spear bent portion) of the replenishing spear 10, it first collides with the spear outer peripheral wall plate 13. Rebounds toward the inner peripheral wall plate 12. That is, since a part of the kinetic energy of the game ball is absorbed by the replenishment kite 10 by the collision of the game ball with the kite outer peripheral wall plate 13, it is more immediately The flow speed of the game ball is smaller.

  For this reason, the separation chute 20 (hereinafter also referred to as the inner peripheral side separation chute) installed on the inner peripheral wall plate 12 rather than the separation chute 20 (hereinafter also referred to as outer peripheral side separation chute) installed on the outer peripheral wall plate 13. ) Has a higher rate of game balls having a low flow velocity entering the separation chute 20.

  In other words, the inner peripheral side separation chute is less likely to make irregular movements such as a game ball jumping in the separation chute than the outer peripheral side separation chute. Ball clogging in the separation chute can be suppressed.

  In the replenishing rod 10, the separation chute discharge port is not formed on the outer peripheral wall plate 13, and all the separation chutes 20 installed in the replenishing rod 10 are installed on the inner peripheral wall plate 12. For this reason, the ball clogging suppression effect by forming the separation chute discharge port 12a in the inner wall plate 12 of the basket is the highest.

  Further, the outer peripheral wall plate 13 is made of a low-repulsive member. For this reason, it is possible to further reduce the flow-down speed of the game ball that collides with the heel outer peripheral wall plate 13 and rebounds from the heel outer peripheral wall plate 13 toward the heel inner peripheral wall plate 12. For this reason, as the flow velocity decreases, the game ball that has entered the inner circumferential side separation chute is less likely to move irregularly, and the ball clogging in the inner circumferential side separation chute can be further suppressed. .

  In addition, the bottom plate 11 is formed with a gentle slope from which the game ball rolls naturally from the heel outer peripheral wall plate 13 side toward the heel inner peripheral wall plate 12 side. For this reason, the game balls in the replenishing basket 10 roll from the side of the heel outer peripheral wall plate 13 toward the side of the heel inner peripheral wall plate 12, and are thus discharged from the separation chute discharge port 12 a formed in the wall inner peripheral wall plate 12. It becomes easy to be done. In other words, it is possible to suppress the game ball in the replenishment basket 10 from being stopped in the replenishment basket 10 without being separated from the replenishment basket 10 by the separation chute 20.

  In the embodiment described above, the replenishment rod 10 is a game ball replenishment rod according to the present invention, the bottom surface plate 11, the reed inner peripheral wall plate 12 and the reed outer peripheral wall plate 13 are non-linear reeds according to the present invention, and the reed bent portion is the present invention. The heel bending / curving portion, the heel inner peripheral wall plate 12 is a bent inner peripheral side wall in the present invention, and the heel outer peripheral wall plate 13 is a bent outer peripheral side wall in the present invention.

As mentioned above, although one Example of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said Example, As long as it belongs to the technical scope of this invention, a various form can be taken.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the game ball supply 1 of the present invention is applied to the gaming machine island 1 framed in an octagonal column shape. However, as long as the gaming machine islands (non-linear gaming machine islands) can be arranged in a non-straight gaming machine, the gaming ball supply cage of the present invention is applied to any shape gaming machine island. It is possible. For example, a gaming machine island curved in an arc shape (see FIG. 7A), a gaming machine island curved in a wave shape (see FIG. 7B), or a gaming machine island bent at a right angle (see FIG. 7B). (See FIG. 7C).

  Further, in the above embodiment, one gaming machine (pachinko machine 6 or slot machine 7) is installed on one outer peripheral wall 2, but a plurality of gaming machines are installed on one outer peripheral wall 2. You may make it do.

  In the above-described embodiment, the gaming machine is installed on the outer surface of the outer peripheral wall 2 of the gaming machine island 1 framed in an octagonal column shape. However, the gaming machine is installed on the inner surface of the outer peripheral wall 2. You may be made to do.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Game machine island, 2 ... Outer wall, 3 ... Door, 5 ... Lifting machine, 6 ... Pachinko machine, 7 ... Slot machine, 10 ... Replenishment bowl, 11 ... Bottom board, 12 ... Inner circumference wall board, 12a ... Separation chute discharge port, 13 ... 樋 outer peripheral wall plate, 14 ... 樋 upper surface plate, 17 ... sphere receiving port, 20 ... separation chute, 21 ... first counter, 22 ... second counter, 23 ... sphere separation unit, 23a A ball receiving port, 23b, a first guide passage, 23c, a second guide passage, 24, an upper cover, 30, a ball extraction device.

Claims (3)

A game ball, which is a game medium, is inserted into a gaming machine island where a plurality of gaming machines providing a game to a player are installed, and a gaming ball is installed for each of the gaming machines installed on the gaming machine island. A game ball replenishment bowl for replenishing
A non-linear ridge having a bottom surface inclined so that the game ball can naturally flow down, and at least one of the flow paths through which the game ball flows down is formed to be bent or curved;
A portion formed so as to be bent or curved in the non-linear fold is a heel bent / curved portion,
The side wall of the non-linear ridge that becomes the outer peripheral side of the flow-down path by bending or bending at the heel bending / curving portion is a bending-curved outer peripheral side wall,
The side wall of the non-linear wrinkle that becomes the inner peripheral side of the flow-down path by bending or bending at the wrinkle bent / curved portion is used as a bent inner peripheral wall.
A separation chute discharge port for discharging the game ball in the game ball supply cage to the separation chute that separates the game ball from the game ball supply cage and guides it to the gaming machine, Of the bent inner peripheral side walls, only the bent inner peripheral side walls are formed.
This is a supply ball for game balls. A gaming machine island equipped with a supply ball for gaming balls according to claim 1 ,
The gaming machine island is also formed to be bent or curved in plan view,
A gaming machine is installed on the bent outer peripheral surface of the gaming machine island,
The game ball is separated from the game ball replenishment bowl, and a separation chute discharge port to which the separation chute corresponding to the gaming machine installed on the curved outer circumferential surface is attached is provided on the curved inner circumferential side wall. A gaming machine island characterized by that. The bent outer peripheral side wall is made of a low-repulsive member as a material,
The gaming machine island according to claim 2, wherein:

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