JP5422351B2 - GAME ISLAND, GAME BALL MANAGEMENT DEVICE FOR THE GAME ISLAND, AND GAME BALL DETECTING DEVICE FOR UPPER TANK FOR THE DEVICE - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming island having a novel configuration, a gaming ball management device for the gaming island, and a gaming ball detection device for an upper tank for the gaming island.

First, the configuration of a conventional gaming island (hereinafter simply referred to as “island”) and the management method of gaming balls (hereinafter simply referred to as “sphere”) will be outlined.
As shown in FIG. 6, the island 100 is composed of one lifting device 110, one upper tank 120, a plurality of replenishment rods 130, a plurality of replenishment pipes 140 a and 140 b, and a plurality of intermediary ball lending machines. 150, a plurality of gaming machines 160, a plurality of collection baskets 170, and a plurality of lower tanks 180. Hereinafter, the replenishment basket 130 and the replenishment pipes 140a and 140b are collectively referred to as a replenishment path, and the inter-ball ball lending machine 150 and the gaming machine 160 are collectively referred to as a gaming device.

As shown in FIG. 7, the upper tank 120 has a sphere inlet 121 that receives a sphere discharged from the upper end of the lifting device 110, a sphere outlet 122 on both the left and right sides, and an overflow outlet 123 on both the left and right sides. A replenishment basket 130 is connected to each ball outlet 122, and a return pipe 191 is connected to each overflow outlet 123. Returning to FIG. 6, supply pipes 140 a and 140 b for supplying supply to the ball lending machine 150 and the gaming machine 160 are connected to the supply basket 130. Overflow outlet 123 of upper tank 120
The sphere overflowing from is buffered by the buffer 192 via the return pipe 191 and then recovered to the lower tank 180 via a recovery path, for example, a recovery rod 170. The detached balls discharged from each gaming machine 160 are collected in the lower tank 180 through the collection basket 170.

  At least one lower tank 180 is arranged in each of the left and right gaming device groups, but a plurality of lower tanks 180 are usually installed depending on the number of gaming machines 160 in each group.

  In the upper tank 120, only two types of sensors, ie, a full sensor S1 for detecting a full state and an empty sensor S2 for detecting an empty state are installed as means for detecting a ball storage state in the tank. When the full sensor S1 detects a full state, the ball discharge shutter of the lower tank 180 is closed and the operation of the lifting device 110 is stopped or the operation of the lifting device is continued to overflow. Is overflowed from the overflow outlet 123. Further, when the empty sensor S2 detects an empty state, the shutter of the lower tank 180 is opened, and the lifting device 110 is operated to restart the lifting polishing.

  Conventionally, the amount of balls in the island has not been managed using the full sensor S1 and the empty sensor S2.

  When an empty state of the empty sensor S2 of the upper tank 120 of the island is detected, a ball interchange mechanism (a crossing system) that replenishes a ball from the upper tank of the adjacent island is provided. The tip of a connecting pipe (not shown) connected to is connected to a ball receiving port 193 provided in the vicinity of the upper tank 120, and the upper end portion of the crossover tube 194 is connected to the ball receiving port 193. A ball is replenished from the adjacent island when the empty state of the sky sensor S2 is detected. The lower ends of the return pipe 191 and the transition pipe 194 are connected to a shock absorber 192.

  The upper and lower two-tiered ball receiving trays (hereinafter referred to as trays) 161 and 162 provided on the lower side of each gaming machine 160 are open, and a player usually fills the lower tray 162 with balls. Move the ball from the lower tray to the so-called dollar box (ball storage box) and store it under your feet. The ball can be taken out for exchange during the game, or the ball in the lower tray or dollar box can be moved to another island at any time.

JP 2003-79911 A

The above prior art has the following problems.
(1) The number of balls held on the whole island is large. Accordingly, the total amount of balls in the game hall is enormous.
(2) The capacity of the upper tank is small. Therefore, in order to prevent the absence of a ball from occurring in any gaming machine, the operation of the lifting device is always continued, so overflow of the ball from the upper tank (overflow) is inevitable. In addition to the ball entrance and the ball exit, it is necessary to provide overflow outlets on the left and right sides. As a result, the structure of the upper tank is complicated and the manufacturing cost is increased.
(3) Based on the large number of spheres held on the whole island and the small capacity of the upper tank, a plurality of lower tanks on the left and right or a large lower tank are required. Therefore, a large installation space is required.
(4) Since the player can take out the balls stored in the tray of the gaming machine, they can be taken out to the next game island (or other game islands, the same applies hereinafter), or brought from the next game island. Is done. For this reason, excessive or shortage of ball holdings on the island occurs, and it is necessary to adjust the ball holding quantity by moving the ball between one island and another island. Adjustments are made by adding a transition system. Therefore, it was difficult to manage the ball quantity with only one island (closed system).
(5) Since it is necessary to install a return pipe corresponding to the overflow of the sphere and a transition pipe for the transition system, the equipment cost becomes high.
(6) Since the sensors provided in the upper tank are only the full sensor and the empty sensor, it is not possible to finely control the amount of balls, for example, to supply or extract a suitable amount or timely based on excessive prediction or insufficient prediction. This was the cause of an increase in the number of lower tanks.
(7) The ball on the upper tray of a gaming machine is normally reused in the gaming machine, but the ball on the lower tray may be stored in a dollar box and stacked on the player's feet until the game ends. Many. Therefore, the circulation efficiency of the sphere is low. And the possession ball quantity in an island is set so that a ballless state may not occur in any gaming machine. Therefore, the rate of change of the number of balls held on one island is large, and the required number of balls required for the entire game hall also increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and a first problem to be solved is to provide an amusement island having a novel configuration capable of reducing facility costs and operation costs.

  A second problem is to provide a ball management device that uses the island having the above-described new structure to reduce the required number of balls required for the entire game hall and the number of balls held on the island.

  A third problem is to provide an upper tank game ball detection device that enables fine management of the number of balls held on an island in the ball management device.

  In order to solve the above first problem, the present invention accommodates a gaming device including a plurality of gaming machines side by side, and collects the gaming balls discharged from the gaming machines as detaching balls; and A lifting device for lifting the game balls collected by the collection path, an upper tank for storing the game balls lifted by the lifting device, and the game balls supplied from the upper tank to the respective gaming devices (A) The upper tank is provided with a sensor for detecting at least a near-full state and a near-empty state of the stored ball quantity, and (b) the upper tank , Having a ball inlet for receiving a ball discharged from the upper end of the lifting device and a ball outlet for discharging the ball to the replenishment path, having no overflow outlet and a crossover, and not operating When the upper tank (C) The number of balls stored in the lower tray of the gaming machine is counted based on the player's operation and then discharged to the collection path. It is characterized by comprising counting and discharging means.

  In order to solve the above second problem, the present invention (a) a circulation system for supplying and collecting balls is basically a closed system for each island, and (b) the upper tank has a ball inlet and (C) Use a ball outlet that has only a ball outlet and has a capacity that allows the upper tank to become full or near full (close to full) during non-business hours. A collection path for collecting the game balls immediately or via a small tank with a small capacity is provided in the lifting device. (D) Counting the balls that fall by the shutter opening operation on the lower tray of the game machine, (E) comprising a recording means for accumulating and recording the count value obtained by the counting and discharging means, and (f) a near full sensor for detecting a near full state and a near empty state ( Close to the sky The near-empty sensor for detecting the state) is provided, is characterized by being configured to (g) comprises a notification means which operates by the near-full sensor or the near-empty sensor is operated, the island balls management apparatus.

  The recording means also includes a card processing machine provided in a pedestal ball lending machine corresponding to the gaming machine, which is recorded on a player card loaded, in a memory added to the card processing machine Any one or all of those to be recorded and those to be recorded on the host computer can be used.

  And in order to solve said 3rd subject, this invention has only the ball | bowl inlet which receives a ball | bowl from the discharge port of a lifting apparatus, and the ball | bowl outlet discharged | emitted to a supply path, The said ball | bowl outlet is a bottom face of an upper tank. The upper tank ball detector is configured from an upper tank provided in the center and a sensor for detecting a near full state and a near empty state sequentially provided from the higher position to the lower position of the upper tank. It is a feature.

  In the upper tank, in order from the higher position to the lower position, a full sensor that detects a full state, a near full sensor that detects a near full state, an intermediate sensor that detects an intermediate state between a near full state and a near empty state, It is desirable that a near empty sensor for detecting the near empty state and an empty sensor for detecting the empty state are provided. Further, it is desirable that the sensors are alternately attached to the opposing wall surfaces of the upper tank from the upper side to the lower side. Furthermore, it is preferable that the upper surface of the bottom wall of the upper tank is inclined downward toward the ball outlet.

  According to the invention of claim 1, since the upper tank has a capacity that allows the amount of stored balls in the upper tank to be full or near full when not in operation, the lower tank can be dispensed with. Moreover, since the upper tank has only a ball inlet for receiving the ball discharged from the upper end of the lifting device and a ball outlet for discharging the ball to the supply path, a return pipe and a transition pipe are not required, and the island configuration However, it is greatly simplified compared to the conventional case. In addition, the upper tank has only a ball inlet and a ball outlet, and does not have an overflow outlet and a crossover. Therefore, the structure of the upper tank itself is simple, and manufacturing costs are reduced. Can be reduced.

  According to the invention of claim 2, when the upper tank has a capacity such that the upper tank becomes full or near full when not in operation, the off-ball discharged from the gaming machine is directly or lower part of the small capacity Since a recovery path for recovery is provided in the lifting device via the tank, it is possible to create a closed system in which the ball replenishment / recovery system circulates in units of islands, and the installation of the lower tank is unnecessary, or Only a small lower tank is required. Therefore, the number of balls possessed on the island can be significantly reduced as compared with the prior art, and as a result, the total amount of balls required for preparation of the entire game hall can be reduced. The lower tray is provided with a counting discharge means that counts the balls that are dropped by the shutter opening operation and guides it to the collection path, and has a recording means that accumulates and records the count value by the counting discharge means. Storage in the dollar box is not required, and the upper tank is provided with a near full sensor and a near empty sensor, and equipped with a notification means that operates when the near full sensor or near empty sensor is activated. It is possible to finely manage the number of held balls, that is, to maintain the appropriate number of held balls by timely replenishment or removal of balls based on overprediction or shortage prediction.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily and accurately manage the number of winning balls, which is advantageous for both the player and the game hall manager.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the ball detecting device for the upper tank comprises an upper tank, a near full sensor and a near empty sensor provided in the upper tank, and the upper tank is formed from the upper end portion of the lifting device. It has only a ball inlet for receiving the discharged ball and a ball outlet for discharging to the replenishment path, and the ball outlet is provided at the center of the bottom surface of the upper tank. Since the upper tank is sequentially provided from the higher position to the lower position, the balls discharged from the upper end of the lifting device are always stored in the upper tank in a stable shape. The game island where the island ball management device of claim 2 is used is not a complete closed system, and the tray of the gaming machine is open, so it is possible to take a ball to another island or bring it in from another island However, by providing the near full sensor and the near empty sensor, it is possible to effectively manage the ball quantity.

  According to the inventions of claims 5, 6, and 7, it is possible to perform the management of the number of balls held in the island more finely and more accurately.

It is a front view which abbreviate | omits and shows the structure of the island and ball management apparatus which concern on this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows an example of the ball | bowl detection apparatus of the upper tank which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing which similarly shows the other example of the ball | bowl detection apparatus of an upper tank. It is sectional drawing which shows the ball | bowl detection apparatus of the upper tank which added the auxiliary | assistant tank for overflow prevention. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the ball | bowl management apparatus at the time of business start preparation. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the ball | bowl management apparatus in business. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the ball | bowl management apparatus at the time of a business end. It is a partially-omission front view which shows the structure of the conventional island. It is sectional drawing of the upper tank used with the conventional island.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Constituent members common to those of the conventional island shown in FIG.
[Island composition]
In the present invention, the island 100 includes one lifting device 110, one upper tank 120N, a plurality of replenishment paths, that is, a replenishment rod 130 and a replenishment pipe 140, a plurality of inter-bed ball lending machines 150, a plurality of This is the same as the conventional island configuration in that it has a pachinko machine (hereinafter referred to as a “game machine”) 160 and a collection basket 170 as a plurality of collection paths.

  The lifting device 110 is the same as a known one, and although not shown in detail, a cylindrical frame, a pulley rotatably supported at two upper and lower portions of the frame, and a pulley between the upper and lower pulleys. A spherical inflow port provided at a lower portion, having an endless belt wound around, a polishing cloth provided by pressing the rising portion of the endless belt, and a motor for rotating the endless belt in a certain direction The ball flowing in from the top is lifted and polished, and the ball is discharged from the discharge port at the upper end of the frame.

  The upper tank 120N has a new configuration. That is, first, the capacity of the upper tank 120N is increased to about 1.5 to 2.0 times the capacity of the conventional upper tank. That is, after the game hall is closed or before the start of the operation at the latest, the gate provided at the joint between the supply rod and each supply pipe is closed, and all game devices, that is, the ball lending machine 150 and the gaming machine are closed. All the balls in 160 are dropped and stored in the upper tank 120N by the lifting device 110, and the remaining number of balls in all the gaming devices (the ball lending machine 150 and the gaming machine 160) becomes zero. The capacity is set so that the number of balls stored in the upper tank 120N when the value is 0 is full or near full.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the upper tank 120N has only a ball inlet 121 for receiving a ball from the discharge port of the lifting device 110 and a ball outlet 122 for discharging the ball to the replenishing rod 130 at the upper part. However, unlike the conventional upper tank, it does not have an overflow outlet and a crossover. One ball outlet 122 is preferably provided at the center of the bottom wall 125 of the upper tank, but may be provided at both left and right ends of the bottom wall. When one is provided in the center of the bottom wall, it is desirable to incline the upper surface of the bottom wall 125 so that the ball outlet 122 is at the lowest position. As a result, all the balls in the upper end tank move smoothly toward the ball outlet 122 without stagnation in a part of the tank.
Accordingly, the circulation efficiency of the sphere is improved.

  In the replenishing rod 130, the left and right replenishing rods 130 are connected in a mountain shape so that the balls discharged from the ball outlet 122 are evenly distributed to the left and right, and the connection point is located below the center of the ball outlet 122. Installed to act as a watershed. When the ball outlets 122 are provided at the left and right end portions of the bottom wall 125 of the upper tank, the end portions of the replenishing rods 130 are connected to the respective ball outlets 122.

  Since the upper tank 120N does not have an overflow outlet and a crossover as described above, the structure is simpler than the conventional one and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Sphere detector]
The upper tank 120N is provided with at least a near full sensor S2 for detecting a near full state and a near empty sensor S4 for detecting a near empty state in order from the higher position to the lower position. The sphere detection device is configured by inputting to a control unit (not shown) configured by the main computer. This ball detection device detects whether or not the quantity of balls stored in the upper tank is a predetermined holding quantity after the game hall is closed or before the opening, and is used for managing the quantity of balls on the island. Used. When the near empty sensor S4 is OFF and the near full sensor S2 is ON, the control unit is configured to determine that the amount is a predetermined holding quantity.

  In the preferred embodiment, the upper tank 120N has a full sensor S1 for detecting a full state, a near full sensor S2 for detecting a near full state, and a middle between a near full state and a near empty state in order from the highest to the lowest. An intermediate sensor S3 for detecting the state and a near empty sensor S4 for detecting the near empty state are provided, and an empty sensor S5 for detecting the empty state is provided at a position close to the discharge port.

  By providing the intermediate sensor S3 between the near full sensor S2 and the near empty sensor S4, the number of balls held in the upper tank 120N can be detected more accurately.

  The full sensor S1 is provided to detect that the number of balls held in the upper tank 120N has reached the storage limit during business. Accordingly, when the full sensor S1 is turned on during business, the alarm is immediately activated to notify the staff. Based on this warning, the clerk opens the door in the vicinity of the ball flow entrance of the island's lifting device, removes it from the end of the collection basket into the container that brought the ball, etc. The amount of balls can be adjusted so that the number of balls held becomes appropriate. The extracted balls are stored in a spare tank provided separately.

  The empty sensor S5 is provided to detect that the number of balls held in the upper tank 120N becomes 0 during business. Accordingly, when the empty sensor S5 is turned on during business, the alarm is immediately activated to notify the staff. Based on this warning, the clerk replenishes a spare ball from a spare tank (not shown) or the like through the ball inlet of the lifting device 110 on the island so that the number of balls held in the upper tank 120N becomes an appropriate amount. In addition, the ball quantity can be adjusted.

  In the above-described preferred embodiment, normally, whether the possessed sphere quantity is between the near full sensor S2 and the near empty sensor S4 is determined by, for example, each sensor S2, S3 by a sphere possession status display unit (not shown). , S4 are displayed in correspondence with each other. The clerk can visually check the display and manage the suitability of the number of balls on each island. When the near full sensor S2 is turned on during operation, it is presumed that the near full sensor S2 will be full. Therefore, a warning indicator light indicating the near full state by the output when the near full sensor S2 is turned on. It is desirable to make a full notice to the staff by blinking. In addition, when the near sky sensor S4 is turned off during business, it is predicted that the near sky sensor S4 will eventually become empty. Therefore, a caution indicator that indicates the near sky state by an output when the near sky sensor S4 is turned off. It is desirable to flash the and make an empty notice to the staff.

  The mounting efficiency of the sensor of the upper tank 120 is high when gathered to one side wall side. If the discharge amount from the discharge port of the lifting device 110 is equal to the left and right, and the top surface shape of the ball stack is symmetrical (no loading deviation), it is a problem to install the sensor only on one side wall side. However, if the discharge amount from the discharge port of the lifting device 110 is not equal to the left and right and the upper surface shape of the remaining ball layer is not symmetrical (there is a loading deviation), the ball number detection accuracy is low. There is a fear. In order to eliminate this possibility, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the full sensor S1 is located on either the left or right side wall 124b, and the other full sensor S1 'is located on the other side wall 124a. The position is slightly lower than the full sensor S1. The other sensors, that is, the near full sensor S2, the middle sensor S3, and the near empty sensor S4 are attached to the other side wall 124a in the same manner as the full sensor S1 ′. Thereby, the influence on the detection accuracy by the loading deviation can be reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 3, it is preferable that the sensors are alternately attached to the opposing wall surfaces (124a, 124b) of the upper tank sequentially from the upper side to the lower side. Fine ball amount detection can be performed with a small number of sensors. In addition, even when the ball accumulation is biased due to some trouble such as foreign matter, it can be detected with good balance. When the sensors are mounted on the left and right side walls in a distributed manner, the influence on the detection accuracy due to the load deviation can be further reduced.

The balls discharged from the ball outlet 122 of the upper tank 120 are distributed to the left and right by a water splitting point which is a connection point of the left and right replenishing rods 130, and fall to the replenishing pipes 140a and 140b through the gates 131 provided in the replenishing rods 130 To do. The gate 131 is open during business, but is closed at the end of business. Instead of restricting the flow of the sphere at the gate 131, a shutter may be provided at the sphere outlet 122 of the upper tank 120 and the flow of the sphere may be restricted by opening and closing the shutter in accordance with the start and end of business. .

  Each inter-ball ball lending machine 150 is a known one, and a predetermined number of balls are selected from the balls replenished from the supply pipe 140b by the player's cash insertion or insertion of a valid predetermined card and a ball lending request operation Are to be discharged.

  The basic configuration and operation of each gaming machine 160 are the same as those of conventional gaming machines, and the ball of the upper tray 161 is a game among the upper and lower trays 161 and 162 that receive the balls to be discharged at the time of winning a prize. It is reused for continuation, and a shutter (not shown) that normally closes the opening provided at the bottom of the upper tray 161 can be opened to drop out the balls on the lower tray 162 for storage. As described above, when the number of balls that have accumulated in the lower tray 162 has increased in the past, it has been transferred to the dollar box prepared below. On the other hand, in the present invention, when a ball acquisition shutter (not shown) that normally closes the opening provided in the bottom of the lower tray is opened, the balls in the lower tray 162 fall from the opening, It passes through the passage and is configured to fall into the collection basket 170. A counter (not shown) is provided that counts the number of balls that have passed through the passage.

This counter is configured to supply the count value data to a means (not shown) for recording the number of winning balls of the player of the gaming machine. The recording means can be configured by adding a function of accumulating and recording the number of issued balls to a card processing machine (not shown) provided in the inter-bed ball lending machine 150. When the game end button provided in the daitama ball lending machine is operated, the number of issued balls, that is, the integrated value of the count value is recorded on the player card inserted in the daima ball lending machine. ing.

  Record of the number of appearances is recorded in the memory attached to the card processing machine instead of being performed on the player's card in the daitama ball lending machine, or sent to the main computer of the game hall from each counter, The main computer can also be configured to record in a storage unit (file) pre-assigned to each player using ID data read from the player card.

  In this way, when the number of player's balls is recorded by the recording means, it is not necessary to put the earned balls in the dollar box and load them under the feet, so that other players' traffic obstacles Since the number of appearances earned is held as data, it can be used for subsequent prize exchange processing, etc., and there are no problems with the movement of the conventional heavy dollar box. It is safe and secure for both game halls.

  The loose ball discharged from the lower part of each gaming machine 160 is sent to a collection basket 170 extending along the island on the lower side of the gaming machine 160 as in the prior art. The collection basket 170 may be provided in a plurality of stages depending on the number of gaming machines 160, but in any case, a falling ball discharged from the gaming machine 160 and a ball dropped and counted from the lower tray 162 are also included. Then, it is configured to flow into the ball inlet of the lifting device 110 through the final recovery basket 170F. That is, in the present invention, unlike the conventional island, the collected balls are directly lifted and polished by the lifting device 110 without using the lower tank, and stored again in the upper tank 120N.

  The capacity of the upper tank has been increased to a capacity at which the number of balls held by the upper tank is full or near full when not in operation, so there is no need to store in the lower tank, thus ensuring space for installing the lower tank on the island There is no need to do that. Furthermore, since the storage of the balls in the lower tank and the storage of a large amount of balls by the dollar box are eliminated, the total amount of balls required for the entire game hall can be significantly reduced.

  From the upper tray 161 and the lower tray 162, for example, a player can take it out for exchange for prizes consumed on the spot, but since the proportion of the total amount taken out is minimal, it is closed in units of islands. It does not have a significant impact on the achievement of the goal of ball management by the system.

  Since the number of game machines that make up one island is particularly large, if the number of balls held is particularly large, the weight of the balls stored in the upper tank during non-business will be considerably heavy, which is undesirable. In this case, it is desirable to provide a lower tank with a small capacity in front of the final collection tank 170F.

[Ball management device]
When the upper tank 120N and each of the sensors S1 to S5 are used as an element of a closed island sphere management device, the upper tank sphere detection device has a near upper surface of the upper tank storage ball when not in operation. The number of balls held on the island can be managed so that it is between the full sensor and the near sky sensor. When the alarm is activated by the near full sensor ON or the near sky sensor ON, it is possible to predict an oversupply or shortage of the spheres on the island and take appropriate measures corresponding to this. For example, when some players bring a ball from the neighboring island and the near-full sensor is turned on and notified, the clerk takes out and holds the appropriate amount of the ball at the ball inlet and other places of the lifting device. The number can be optimized. Also, for example, if some players have taken a ball to the adjacent island and the near sky sensor is turned on and the alarm is activated, the clerk will place an appropriate amount of the ball at the ball inlet or other location of the lifting device. It can be replenished to optimize the number of possessions. Thereby, effective sphere management is possible in a closed system.

Next, the operation of the island and ball management device will be described with reference to FIGS. 5a, 5b, and 5c.
[Preparation for business start-up]
Prior to the start of business, when a preliminary operation command input switch is provided by operating a preliminary operation command input switch provided in the control unit constituted by the main computer of the island, the status monitoring means of the control unit The detection states of the sensors S1 to S5 are checked (step 11; hereinafter, steps are represented by P), and the ball holding state is examined (P12). Before the start of business, when the sensor S1, S1 'or S2 is ON, that is, when the ball holding status in the upper tank is full or near full, and the number of balls held is appropriate (Y in P12) ), A preparatory operation (P13) is performed for making all the gaming devices (the ball lending machine 150 and the gaming machine 160) usable and making the lifting device 110 operable. That is, all the gates 131 provided in the replenishment basket 130 are opened, and the balls in the replenishment basket 130 are replenished into the replenishment pipes 140a and 140b connected to the all-ball lending machine 150 and all the game machines 160, respectively. A sphere inflow sensor (not shown) provided at the sphere inlet at the lower end of 110 is activated.

  When the preparatory operation (P13) is completed, it is displayed on the display unit attached to the control unit that the operation of the island can be started, for example, by lighting a blue lamp, etc. Wait for switch operation (P14).

In P12, when the number of balls held in the upper tank 120N is not an appropriate amount (when N in P12), the ball holding status display unit attached to the ball holding status control unit is displayed based on the detection signals from the sensors S2 and S3. Therefore, the attendant looks at the display and replenishes the upper tank with the ball from the outside (P15). When the external replenishment of the ball is performed in P15, it is determined whether or not the appropriate amount has been reached in P12.

As the external replenishment method of the sphere, either the method of transferring the sphere stored in the reserve tank to the container and putting it into the sphere inlet of the upper tank or the method of putting it into the sphere inlet 111 of the lifting device 110 But it ’s okay. In the latter case, the lifting device 110 is forcibly activated, and replenishment is performed when it is displayed on the ball possession status display section that the number of possessed balls in the upper tank 120N has become appropriate due to replenishment from the container. The operation of the lifting device 110 is forcibly stopped after a certain period of time.

[Control operations during operation]
When the clerk inputs a start command after the start of operation display (P14) is displayed, the control unit switches from the control mode for business preparation to the control mode for business operation, as shown in FIG. 5b. In addition to performing individual control (P17 to P19) of the apparatus, the ball lending machine and the gaming machine and the acquired ball processing (P110) of each player, the sensor state of each upper tank 120N (each sensor S1) (S111 ON / OFF) is checked (P111).

Following the check, first, it is checked whether or not a full state has been reached based on the outputs of the sensors S1 and S1 ′ (P112), and when full, an alarm (not shown) is activated to sound or Turn on (P113). In accordance with this, the clerk takes the ball from the ball inlet 111 of the lifting device into a container or the like, carries the container to the spare tank installation location, and stores it (P114). Thereby, the amount of balls held in the upper tank can be made appropriate.

  If it is not full at P112, next, it is checked whether or not the near full state is reached based on the output of the sensor S2 (P115). The near full state is displayed and the attendant is notified in advance that it is almost time to become full (P116). Corresponding to this notice, the clerk can make preparations for making the amount of balls possessed when the full capacity is reached with sufficient time.

  If the near-full state is not reached in P115, it is next checked whether or not the intermediate state has been reached based on the output of the sensor S3 (P117). The state is displayed (P118).

  If it is not in the intermediate state in P117, next, it is checked whether or not the near empty state has been reached based on the output of the sensor S4 (P119). The near empty state is displayed and the attendant is notified that it is almost time to become empty (P120). Corresponding to this notice, the clerk can make a sufficient preparation to make the quantity of balls possessed when it becomes empty.

If it is not empty in P119, it is next checked whether or not it is empty based on the output of the sensor S5 (P121). If it is empty, an alarm (not shown) is operated. It is made to ring or turn on (P122). Following this, the clerk carries the ball from the stockpile tank in a container, etc., and throws it into the ball inlet 111 of the lifting device to replenish the ball from the outside (P123). Thereby, the amount of balls held in the upper tank can be made appropriate.

[Control action at the end of business]
Finally, the control operation when the game hall is closed will be described. When the clerk operates an operation stop switch or the like and inputs an operation stop command to the control unit (when P21 is Y), all the gates 131 of the replenishing rod 130 are closed (P22), and then all the gaming devices ( The balls remaining in the ball lending machine 150 and all the gaming machines 160 are dropped onto the collection basket 170 (P23), and the operation of the lifting device 110 is started (P24).
As a result, the sphere that has dropped onto the collection basket 170 flows into the lifting device 110 from the ball inlet 111, is lifted and polished, and is collected in the upper tank 120N. A sensor (not shown) provided at the ball inlet 111 of the lifting device 110 no longer detects the inflow of the ball (when Y in P25), and finally passes through the ball inlet 111. When the time required for the ball to reach the upper tank elapses (Y in P26), the operation of the lifting device 110 is stopped (P27).

The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the number of ball outlets of the upper tank provided at the center of the bottom wall, but is provided with two at the front and rear of the center of the bottom wall and connected to the left and right supply rods, A mode in which ball outlets are provided on both the left and right sides of the wall, and left and right replenishing rods are connected to each may be employed. However, when one sphere outlet is provided in the center of the bottom wall, the manufacturing cost of the upper tank is the lowest, and a chevron-shaped distributor is integrally connected to the sphere outlet, and left or right respectively at both outlets of the distributor. When the right supply basket is connected, the manufacturing cost of the upper tank is not only low, but also the accuracy of detecting the number of balls held in the upper tank is high, and the supply tank can be easily connected.
In the case where the capacity of the upper tank is not different from the conventional one, as shown in FIG. 4, an overflow prevention tank 120A for temporarily storing the balls distributed to the left and right sides from the ball outlet of the upper tank in front of the replenishing rod 130. May be added.

  In addition, it is not limited to the form in which the upper tank is distributed to the left and right game machines and the inter-ball ball lending machine group, but the game machine and inter-ball ball lending machine groups are installed only on either the left or right side of the upper tank. Even in this case, the present invention can be applied.

  Furthermore, in order to increase the degree of completion of the closed system in units of islands, it is desirable that the balls rented by the interbank ball lending machine are directly supplied to the upper tray of the gaming machine by a pipe. Thereby, it is possible to prevent as much as possible that a ball lent out from a renting machine on one island is diverted to another island.

Claims (7)

A game apparatus including a plurality of gaming machines is arranged and accommodated side by side, a collection path for collecting game balls discharged from the gaming machine as a dislodged ball, and a lift for lifting the game balls collected by the collection path In a gaming island comprising a feeding device, an upper tank for storing game balls lifted by the lifting device, and a supply path for replenishing each gaming device with the game balls supplied from the upper tank,
The upper tank is provided with a sensor for detecting at least the near-full state and the near-empty state of the number of stored balls,
The upper tank has only a ball inlet for receiving a ball discharged from the upper end of the lifting device and a ball outlet for discharging the ball to the replenishment path, and does not have an overflow outlet and a crossover. In addition, when the non-business hours, the storage tank quantity of the upper tank has a capacity to become full or near full,
The lower tray of the gaming machine is provided with counting and discharging means for counting the balls in the tray based on the player's operation and then discharging the balls to the collection path.
An amusement island characterized by The circulation system that replenishes and collects balls is basically a closed system for each island.
The upper tank has only a ball inlet and a ball outlet, and has a capacity that allows the upper tank to be full or near full when not in operation,
A collection path is provided for collecting the game balls discharged from the gaming machine as balls that are released from the game machine immediately or via a small-capacity lower tank,
After counting the number of game balls falling by a shutter opening operation on the lower tray of the gaming machine, equipped with a counting discharge means for discharging to the collection path,
The recording means for integrating and recording the count value by the counting discharge means,
The upper tank is provided with a near full sensor for detecting a near full state and a near empty sensor for detecting a near empty state,
Comprising a notification means that is activated when the near full sensor or the near empty sensor is operated;
Amusement island ball management device.   The recording means also includes a card processing machine provided in a pedestal ball lending machine corresponding to the gaming machine, which is recorded on a player card loaded, in a memory added to the card processing machine 3. The game island ball management device according to claim 2, wherein any one of or all of those recorded, those recorded on a host computer, and the like are used.   An upper tank provided with a ball inlet for receiving a ball from the discharge port of the lifting device and a ball outlet for discharging to the replenishment path, the ball outlet being provided at the center of the bottom of the upper tank; 4. The ball detecting device for an upper tank for a ball management device for a game island according to claim 2 or 3, comprising a sensor for detecting a near full state and a near empty state, which are sequentially provided from the highest to the lowest.   In the upper tank, in order from the higher position to the lower position, a full sensor that detects a full state, a near full sensor that detects a near full state, an intermediate sensor that detects an intermediate state between a near full state and a near empty state, The ball detecting device for an upper tank according to claim 4, wherein a near empty sensor for detecting a near empty state and an empty sensor for detecting an empty state are provided.   6. The ball detection device for an upper tank according to claim 5, wherein the sensors are alternately attached to the opposing wall surfaces of the upper tank from the upper side to the lower side.   The sphere detection device for an upper tank according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein a bottom surface of the upper tank is inclined downward toward a sphere outlet.

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