JP5455834B2 - Game ball lifting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a game ball lifting apparatus that holds a game ball between an endless belt and a clamping member and moves the endless belt in this state to lift the game ball.

  In gaming machines, a plurality of gaming machines, for example, pachinko gaming machines that use gaming balls, are installed side by side on an island facility for installing gaming machines. A game ball lifting device is provided inside the island facility for installing the gaming machine, and the game ball is lifted (transferred) above the pachinko gaming machine by the gaming ball lifting device and then supplied to the pachinko gaming machine. . The game ball lifting device is configured to hold the game ball between the outer surface of the endless belt and the holding member, and move the endless belt in this state to lift the game ball. Further, the endless belt is configured to be able to be held in a stable state by applying tension to the endless belt using a roller that contacts the outer surface or inner surface of the endless belt.

  When a large number of game balls are continuously lifted over a long period of time by the game ball lifting device having such a configuration, the dirt attached to the game balls moves to the outer surface of the endless belt, and further, The endless belt moves to the outer peripheral surface of a roller (contact roller) that contacts the outer surface of the endless belt. If the dirt adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller is left unattended, the force with which the contact roller presses the endless belt is not uniform due to the unevenness of the dirt, and as a result, the endless belt moves while meandering. As a result, the endless belt may be damaged. For this reason, the dirt on the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller is periodically removed manually by a store clerk of the game store. Also, for the purpose of improving the efficiency of dirt removal work, it is proposed that the sheet is cured on the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller, and if the contact roller gets dirty, the sheet is replaced to remove the contact roller dirt. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-275309 A

  However, with the means described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, it is necessary to cure the sheet on the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller, or to replace the sheet with dirt attached, which requires maintenance work and costs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a game ball lifting device capable of reducing maintenance work without causing dirt on the outer surface of the endless belt to be transferred to the contact roller. Is to provide.

The present invention has been proposed in order to achieve the above-mentioned object.
An endless belt provided between the upper end roller and the lower end roller, which are provided in the casing and are arranged above and below;
A drive mechanism for rotating the endless belt;
A clamping member extending along a rising direction of the endless belt at a position separated from an outer surface of the endless belt,
In a game ball lifting device that lifts a game ball introduced from a ball entrance opened at a lower portion of the housing while being sandwiched between an outer surface of the endless belt and the clamping member,
A contact roller that contacts the outer surface of the endless belt and rotates with the rotation of the endless belt is provided, and an outer peripheral surface of the contact roller includes a contact surface that contacts the outer surface of the endless belt and the endless belt Forming a non-contact space that avoids contact with the outer surface of the belt along the circumferential direction of the contact roller ;
The ball entrance is provided with a ball introduction guide for aligning game balls into a plurality of strips,
The pinching member is provided with a plurality of ball guide grooves that can be fitted in a state in which game balls are arranged in a plurality of rows by the ball introduction guide along the moving direction of the endless belt,
Of the outer surface of the endless belt, a region facing the ball guide groove is a ball holding region, and a region located between adjacent ball holding regions is a ball non-holding region,
The game ball lifting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the non-contact space is opposed to the ball holding area and the contact surface is brought into contact with the ball non-holding area .

The thing of Claim 2 is equipped with the contact roller of a different shape from the contact roller separately,
2. The game ball lifting device according to claim 1, wherein the irregularly shaped contact roller is formed in a cylindrical bowl shape whose outer peripheral surface is a mesh .

A third aspect of the present invention is the game ball lifting device according to the second aspect , wherein a dust collecting member is disposed below the irregularly shaped contact roller .

According to the present invention, the following excellent effects can be obtained.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a vertically long casing, an endless belt provided on the casing and stretched between an upper end roller and a lower end roller, and the endless belt are rotated. And a holding member extending along the rising direction of the endless belt at a position separated from the outer surface of the endless belt, and the outer surface of the endless belt receives the game ball introduced from the ball inlet opened at the lower portion of the housing In the game ball lifting device that lifts while being pinched by the pinching member, it has an abutment roller that abuts on the outer surface of the endless belt and rotates as the endless belt rotates. It is formed along the non-contact space to avoid contact with the outer surface of the contact surface and the endless belt in contact with the outer surface of the endless belt circumferential direction of the contact roller, the sphere inlet, the game balls to multiple conditions Sphere introduction guide to align, The holding member has a plurality of ball guide grooves that can be fitted in a state where the game balls are arranged in a plurality of rows by the ball introduction guide along the moving direction of the endless belt. The area facing the groove is a sphere holding area, the area located between adjacent sphere holding areas is a sphere non-holding area, the non-contact space is opposed to the sphere holding area, and the contact surface is Since the contact is made with the non-ball-clamping region, it is possible to avoid contact between the contacted roller and the soiled region on the outer surface of the endless belt, and the outer surface of the endless belt is not transferred to the contact roller. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the cleaning work of the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller, and hence the maintenance work of the game ball lifting device. In addition, it is possible to suppress the disadvantage that the function of contacting the outer surface of the endless belt with the contact roller is extremely impaired.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the contact roller having a different shape from the contact roller is separately provided, and the contact roller having the different shape is formed in a cylindrical bowl shape whose outer peripheral surface is a mesh. It becomes possible to remove the dirt adhering to the outer surface of the endless belt with the cylindrical roller-shaped contact roller.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the dust collection member is disposed below the irregularly shaped contact roller, the dirt removed from the endless belt can be collected by the dust collection member.

It is the schematic of the island facility for game machine installation. It is a perspective view of a game ball lifting device. It is sectional drawing of the game ball lifting apparatus cut | disconnected along the longitudinal direction of an endless belt. It is a perspective view which shows the principal part of a game ball lifting apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the game ball lifting apparatus cut | disconnected along the width direction of an endless belt. It is explanatory drawing of a tension | tensile_strength provision mechanism, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is sectional drawing. It is explanatory drawing of the positional relationship of a contact | abutting unit and the ball clamping area | region of an endless belt. It is explanatory drawing of the contact unit in 2nd Embodiment, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is explanatory drawing of positional relationship with the ball | bowl clamping area | region of an endless belt. It is explanatory drawing of the contact unit in 3rd Embodiment, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is explanatory drawing of positional relationship with the ball | bowl clamping area | region of an endless belt. It is explanatory drawing of the modification of the contact unit in 3rd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the contact unit in 4th Embodiment, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is explanatory drawing of positional relationship with the ball | bowl clamping area | region of an endless belt. It is explanatory drawing of the tension | tensile_strength provision mechanism in 5th Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the principal part of the upper side contact unit in 5th Embodiment, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is explanatory drawing of the positional relationship with the ball | bowl clamping area | region of an endless belt. It is explanatory drawing of the upper side contact unit in 5th Embodiment, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is sectional drawing.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an island facility for installing gaming machines.
As shown in FIG. 1, the gaming machine installation island facility 1 includes a long box-shaped island main body 2 that is formed by connecting a plurality of structural members such as beams and pillars. On the side surface and the other side surface, a plurality of sets of pachinko gaming machines 3 capable of executing games using game balls and inter-ball ball lending machines 4 provided as a pair with the pachinko gaming machines 3 are arranged. In addition, a ball storage tank 6 is provided at the lower part of the island body 2, and a game ball can be lifted while polishing the game ball at the center of the island body 2 in the longitudinal direction (left and right direction in FIG. 1). The device 7 is arranged, and used game balls (out ball) discharged from the pachinko gaming machine 3 and game balls stored in the ball storage tank 6 are moved to the upper part of the island body 2 by the game ball lifting device 7. It is configured to be able to lift (transfer).
Here, the out ball refers to a game ball that has been launched into the game area in the pachinko gaming machine 3 but has been collected in the out hole without winning any of the winning holes, and each winning hole arranged in the game area. A game ball that has been won and discharged outside the game area.

  Furthermore, an upper tank 8 for storing the game balls lifted by the game ball lifting device 7 is provided on the side of the game ball lifting device 7 in the upper part of the island body 2. Is a state in which the ball supply basket 10 and the storage ball supply channel 11 are slightly inclined downward from the center side (upper tank 8 side) of the island body 2 toward the end portions (left and right end portions) in the longitudinal direction. The game ball in the upper tank 8 is configured to flow down to the ball supply basket 10 and the storage ball supply channel 11. Further, a plurality of branch rods 12 are branched from the ball supply basket 10 toward the lower pachinko gaming machine 3 side, and the lower ends (exit points) of the branch baskets 12 are connected to ball tanks (not shown) of the respective pachinko gaming machines 3. A game ball that faces from above and flows down in the ball supply basket 10 is passed through the branch basket 12 so that the ball tank can be supplied. Then, the lower end of the slope of the storage sphere supply flow path 11 is lowered and connected to the sphere storage tank 6, and the game flows down from the upper tank 8 to the storage sphere supply flow path 11 without flowing down to the sphere replenishment rod 10. The sphere is configured to be discharged and stored in the sphere storage tank 6.

Next, the game ball lifting device 7 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the game ball lifting device 7 includes a vertically long casing 16, and a lower end roller (main driving roller) 17 is provided at the lower part of the casing 16, and the rotation axis is the longitudinal length of the casing 16. The upper end roller (follower roller) 18 is arranged in the sideways state in which the rotation axis is parallel to the rotation axis of the lower end roller 17. A driving mechanism (rotating motor) 19 is connected to the rotating shaft of the lower end roller 17. Further, an endless belt 20 is stretched between the lower end roller 17 and the upper end roller 18, and the ball transfer direction in which the game ball is transferred in the endless belt 20 (upward direction indicated by an arrow U in FIG. 3), specifically Specifically, the ascending portion 20a that moves along the upward direction from the lower end roller 17 side toward the upper end roller 18 side is accommodated in the housing 16, and away from the game ball, the direction opposite to the moving direction of the ascending portion 20a ( In FIG. 3, a downward portion 20 b that moves along the downward direction from the upper end roller 18 side to the lower end roller 17 side is arranged outside the housing 16. Further, a tension applying mechanism 22 that contacts the lower side (lower end roller 17 side) of the descending portion 20b of the endless belt 20 is provided at a position above the lower end roller 17 in the lower portion of the casing 16, and the tension applying mechanism is provided. Tension is applied to the endless belt 20 by 22. Further, a ball inlet 23 is opened below the tension applying mechanism 22 in the lower part of the housing 16, and a plurality of game balls are arranged in the ball inlet 23 by a guide slit 24a (seven in this embodiment). The ball introduction guide 24 to be introduced into the game ball lifting device 7 is provided so as to be inclined downward toward the lower side of the lower end roller 17. A ball discharge port 25 for discharging the lifted game balls is opened at the upper end of the housing 16. The tension applying mechanism 22 will be described in detail later.

  Further, a configuration for holding the game ball between the endless belt 20 and the outer surface of the endless belt 20 is provided on the outside of the rising portion 20 a of the endless belt 20. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the lower end side clamping cover that is curved along the cylindrical surface of the lower end roller 17 is provided outside the rising portion 20 a of the endless belt 20 that is wound around the lower end roller 17. (Roar Ear) 27 is provided at the outer portion of the ascending portion 20a of the endless belt 20 located between the lower end roller 17 and the upper end roller 18, in other words, at a position spaced outward from the outer surface of the ascending portion 20a. An endless belt that is provided with a vertically long ascending-side clamping unit 28 (in this embodiment, two ascending-side clamping units 28 arranged vertically) that extends along the moving direction of 20 a and is wound around the upper end roller 18. An upper end side cover (upper radius) 29 that is curved along the cylindrical surface of the upper end roller 18 is provided outside the 20 ascending portion 20a. Then, the ascending side clamping unit 28 is pivotally attached to the side of the casing 16 so that the casing 16 can be opened and closed, and when the ascending side clamping unit 28 is opened, the ascending part 20a of the endless belt 20 is exposed to the outside. It is configured (see FIG. 4).

  The lower end side holding cover 27 connects the end portion of the endless belt 20 on the lowering part 20b side to the inclined lower end of the ball introduction guide 24, and holds the game ball introduced from the ball introduction guide 24 into the ball inlet 23. It is configured to guide on the cover 27. Further, a plurality of (7 in the present embodiment) lower end side ball guide grooves (not shown) into which game balls can be fitted are provided on the lower surface of the lower end side holding cover 27 facing the endless belt 20. The game balls formed along the bending direction (ball transfer direction) of the side holding cover 27 and aligned by the ball introduction guide 24 are fitted into the lower end side ball guide grooves while maintaining the aligned state, and the lower end side holding cover is arranged. 27 and the endless belt 20.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the ascending-side clamping unit 28 extends in a vertically elongated strip-like ascending side unit base 31 that also functions as a lid of the housing 16 along the ascending portion 20 a of the endless belt 20. The rising side base edge 32 extends from the left and right side edges of the rising side unit base 31 toward the endless belt 20, and there is flexibility between the left and right rising side base edges 32. A flat plate-shaped ascending-side clamping member 34 (corresponding to the clamping member in the present invention) formed of a material (for example, synthetic resin) is disposed, and between the ascending-side clamping member 34 and the ascending-side unit base 31, An ascending-side clamping / urging member (not shown) for urging the ascending-side clamping member 34 toward the endless belt 20 is provided.

  Further, a plurality of (7 in the present embodiment) ascending side ball guide grooves 36 (ball guides according to the present invention) on which the game balls can be fitted are provided on the opposing surface of the ascending side clamping member 34 facing the endless belt 20. A groove) is extended along the ball transfer direction (vertical direction as the moving direction of the endless belt 20), and a polishing cloth 37 is stretched to cover the opposing surface and the rising side ball guide groove 36. When a game ball is sandwiched between the ascending-side clamping unit 28 and the endless belt 20, the game ball enters the ascending-side ball guide groove 36 with the polishing pad 37 sandwiched between the ascending-side ball guide groove 36. It is comprised so that it may fit. Furthermore, the lower end side ball guide groove is formed by connecting the lower end of the ascending side clamping unit 28 located on the lower side of the housing 16 and the end portion of the lower end side clamping cover 27 located on the ascending portion 20a side of the endless belt 20 in series. And the ascending side ball guide groove 36 are communicated so that the game balls can enter and fit into the ascending side ball guide groove 36 in a state where the game balls are aligned in a plurality of lines by the ball introduction guide 24 and the lower end side holding cover 27.

  The upper end side cover 29 opens the end portion of the endless belt 20 located on the descending portion 20 b side to form a ball outlet, and the end portion of the endless belt 20 located on the rising portion 20 a side rises above the casing 16. It is configured to be connected to the upper end of the side clamping unit 28 and guide the game ball rising along the rising side clamping unit 28 between the upper end side cover 29 and the endless belt 20.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the game ball lifting device 7 has a plurality of lifting rollers 39 arranged on the opposite side of the rising side clamping unit 28 with the rising portion 20 a of the endless belt 20 interposed therebetween. The inner surface of the rising portion 20 a of the endless belt 20 is brought into contact with the feeding roller 39 to prevent the rising portion 20 a of the endless belt 20 from being greatly bent inward of the housing 16. Further, the outer surface side of the endless belt 20 is made of synthetic leather and the inner surface side is made of nitrile rubber, and as shown in FIGS. A belt-shaped region, in other words, a region that can face the lower-end side ball guide groove and the ascending-side ball guide groove 36 is referred to as a ball holding region A. The endless belt 20 may rarely meander and rotate in the left-right direction (the axial direction of the upper end roller 18 and the lower end roller 17). At this time, the game ball is brought into contact with the edge of the ball holding area A. For this reason, the ball holding area A is more likely to contact the game ball at the center than the edge in the width direction, and dirt is likely to adhere.

Next, the tension applying mechanism 22 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 6, the tension applying mechanism 22 includes a pressing unit 42 provided with a pressing roller 41 and a plurality (two in this embodiment) of abutting units 46 provided with abutting rollers 45. The pressure roller 41 and the contact roller 45 can be rotated with the rotation of the endless belt 20. The contact unit 46 (upper contact unit 46a, lower contact unit) is located in the vicinity of the press roller 41, specifically, at a position spaced upward or downward from the press roller 41 along the longitudinal direction of the descending portion 20b of the endless belt 20. The unit 46b) is disposed, the outer peripheral surfaces of the upper and lower contact rollers 45 are in contact with the outer surface of the descending portion 20b of the endless belt 20, and the outer peripheral surface of the pressing roller 41 is on the inner surface of the descending portion 20b of the endless belt 20. The descending portion 20b of the endless belt 20 is bent so as to be bent in a “<” shape when viewed from the side of the endless belt 20. The inner surface of the endless belt 20 is pressed by the pressing roller 41 in a direction away from the housing 16, and tension is applied to the endless belt 20 between the pressing roller 41 and the contact roller 45. .

  The pressing unit 42 includes a lateral pressing support shaft 51 that is parallel to the rotation shaft of the lower end roller 17 and the rotation shaft of the upper end roller 18, and the width of the outer peripheral surface of the pressing support shaft 51 is that of the endless belt 20. A horizontal cylindrical pressing roller 41 wider than the width is fitted in a rotatable state, and the outer peripheral surface of the pressing roller 41 with which the inner surface of the endless belt 20 abuts is crowned so that the outer periphery of the pressing roller 41 is increased. The diameter of the central portion in the axial direction of the surface is larger than the diameter of the other portions (see FIG. 6A). Further, the pressing support shaft 51 is made longer than the pressing roller 41, and both end portions of the pressing support shaft 51 protrude laterally from the pressing roller 41, and both end portions of the pressing support shaft 51 are extended from the housing 16. The cylindrical pressing bracket 52 is inserted, and the pressing unit 42 (pressing roller 41) is movable along the pressing bracket 52 in a direction (front-rear direction) in which the pressing unit 42 approaches or separates from the casing 16. . Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, a flange-shaped stopper 53 is provided at the base end portion of the pressing bracket 52 located on the housing 16 side, and the pressing bracket 52 has a pressing biasing member 54 such as a coil spring. Is wound between the stopper 53 and the end portion of the pressing support shaft 51, and the pressing support shaft 51 and the pressing roller 41 are always urged away from the housing 16 by the urging force of the pressing urging member 54. Is configured to do. Then, the position of the stopper 53 can be adjusted by moving along the extending direction of the pressing bracket 52 so that the strength of the urging force of the pressing urging member 54 and the strength of the tension applied to the endless belt 20 can be adjusted. It is configured.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the contact unit 46 includes a lateral contact support shaft 56 that is parallel to the pressing support shaft 51. The contact support shaft 56 has a width of the outer peripheral surface of the endless belt 20. A laterally cylindrical contact roller 45 wider than the width of the contact roller 45 is fitted in a rotatable state, and an endless belt is located at a position on the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 45 facing the ball clamping region A of the endless belt 20. A groove-like non-contact space portion 57 that avoids contact with the outer surface of the contact roller 45 is formed in each sphere holding region A by being recessed along the circumferential direction of the contact roller 45, and between adjacent non-contact space portions 57. The contact surface 59 is left. Further, the contact support shaft 56 is made longer than the contact roller 45 so that both end portions of the contact support shaft 56 protrude from the contact roller 45 to the side and are contacted by contact brackets 58 provided on the housing 16. Both ends of the support shaft 56 are supported.

  In the upper contact unit 46a positioned above the pressing unit 42, the slide member 60 is placed in the contact bracket 58 that supports one end of the contact support shaft 56 (the left end in FIG. 6A). The slide member 60 is configured to move in the vertical direction when the adjustment bolt 61 that is housed in a vertically movable state and is screwed into the slide member 60 and penetrates in the vertical direction is rotated. In addition, a vertically long slide opening 62 is formed in the bracket wall portion 58 a located between the slide member 60 and the end portion of the contact support shaft 56 in the contact bracket 58, and fixed by being passed through the slide opening 62. The end portion of the contact support shaft 56 and the slide member 60 are connected by a bolt 63 with the bracket wall portion 58a sandwiched therebetween.

  When the one end of the contact support shaft 56 of the upper contact unit 46a is supported by the contact bracket 58 having such a configuration and the fixing bolt 63 is loosened, the bracket wall portion 58a formed by the contact support shaft 56 and the slide member 60 is used. Is released, and the slide member 60, the fixing bolt 63, and one end of the contact support shaft 56 are allowed to move in the vertical direction. When the adjustment bolt 61 is rotated in this state, one end of the fixing bolt 63 and the contact support shaft 56 moves in the vertical direction together with the slide member 60, and the contact support shaft 56 and the contact roller 45 are moved from one end to the other end. Slightly ascend or descend toward the part. Therefore, when the endless belt 20 moves while meandering, the balance between the tension on one side edge of the endless belt 20 and the tension on the other side edge can be adjusted by adjusting the inclination of the contact roller 45. And the meandering of the endless belt 20 can be eliminated.

Next, the operation of the game ball lifting device 7 will be described.
In the game ball lifting device 7 having the above-described configuration, after the game balls are aligned by the ball introduction guide 24, the lower end roller 17 is driven by the drive mechanism 19 to rotate (move) the endless belt 20. Then, the game ball is drawn by the endless belt 20 between the lower end side sandwiching cover 27 and the endless belt 20 and is fitted into the lower end side ball guide groove. And it is clamped between the lower end side clamping cover 27 and the outer surface of the rising portion 20a of the endless belt 20, and in this state, it rolls upward along the lower end side ball guide groove and is transferred (lifted) toward the upper side clamping unit 28. Sent).

  When the endless belt 20 continues to rotate, the game ball held between the lower end side holding cover 27 and the endless belt 20 is lifted from the upper end portion of the lower end side ball guide groove and the ascending side holding member 34 and the endless belt 20. (Specifically, between the polishing pad 37 and the outer surface of the rising portion 20a of the endless belt 20) and is fitted into the rising side ball guide groove 36. And it is clamped with the abrasive cloth 37 between the raising side clamping member 34 and the outer surface of the raising part 20a of the endless belt 20 by the urging force of the raising side clamping urging member, and in this state, along the ascending side ball guide groove 36. It rolls upward and is transferred (lifted) toward the upper end side cover 29. At this time, the surface of the game ball is wiped by the polishing cloth 37 by the rolling operation, and the dirt on the surface is removed.

  When the endless belt 20 continues to rotate, the game ball held between the rising side holding member 34 and the endless belt 20 is moved from the upper end of the rising side ball guide groove 36 to the upper end side cover 29 and the endless belt 20. It is drawn in between. Then, the game ball is discharged to the ball discharge port 25 by the momentum that the game ball is lifted or by being pushed by the game ball that is lifted later.

  When the endless belt 20 continues to rotate even after the game ball is lifted to the ball discharge port 25, the portion of the endless belt 20 that holds the game ball (the rising portion 20a) passes over the upper end roller 18 and descends. 20b, and passes through the tension applying mechanism 22 before reaching the lower end roller 17. At this time, since the non-contact space 57 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 45 of the tension applying mechanism 22, the game ball is not adhered to the polishing pad 37 and the game ball contacts the endless belt 20. Even if the game balls are contaminated on the outer surface of the endless belt 20, it is possible to avoid contact between the soiled outer surface and the contact roller 45, and the outer surface of the endless belt 20 is in contact with the outer surface. There is no transfer to the roller 45. Therefore, the maintenance work of the game ball lifting device 7 can be reduced. In addition, since the non-contact space portion 57 is formed to face the ball clamping region A of the endless belt 20, the non-contact space portion 57 is formed in accordance with the location where dirt is likely to adhere on the outer surface of the endless belt 20. Thus, a portion such as the contact surface 59 where dirt cannot adhere can be contacted with the outer surface of the endless belt 20. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the disadvantage that the function of contacting the outer surface of the endless belt 20 with the contact roller 45, and thus the function of applying tension to the endless belt 20, is extremely impaired.

  In addition, since the outer peripheral surface of the pressing roller 41 that presses the inner surface of the endless belt 20 is crowned, it is possible to suppress the problem that the endless belt 20 pressed by the pressing roller 41 and applied with tension is meandering. .

  By the way, in the contact roller 45 in the said embodiment, although the non-contact space part 57 was formed corresponding to every ball | bowl clamping area | region A, this invention is not limited to this. For example, the number of non-contact space portions 57 formed is less than the number of spheres in the ball holding region A, and the width of one non-contact space portion 57 is sufficiently wider than the width of the sphere holding region A. The abutting roller 45 extends over a range in which the contact space 57 includes a plurality of ball pinching areas A and a ball non-pinching area B (an area where game balls are difficult to adhere) located between the ball pinching areas A. You may form so that it may oppose the outer peripheral surface. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, one wide non-contact space portion 57 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 45, and all the non-contact space portions 57 set on the outer surface of the contact roller 45 are formed. It is formed so as to face the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 45 over a range including the ball holding region A and the ball non-holding region B located between the ball holding regions A, and the contact surfaces 59 are formed only at both ends. You may leave. If the non-contact space 57 having such a configuration is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 45, the ball clamping region A is prevented from contacting the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 45 even if the endless belt 20 meanders. There is no possibility that the dirt moves from the ball clamping area A to the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 45.

  By the way, although the contact roller 45 in each said embodiment is not equipped with the function which controls the meandering of the endless belt 20, this invention is not limited to this. For example, the contact unit 46 in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 9 has basically the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and the contact unit in the modification of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 46 is basically the same as that of the second embodiment, but all differ in that belt regulating portions 67 are provided at both ends of the contact roller 45 in the width direction. More specifically, in the third embodiment and its modification, belt regulating portions 67 having diameters larger than the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 45 are provided at both ends of the contact roller 45 in the width direction, The endless belt 20 is disposed between the belt restricting portions 67 so that the distance between the belt restricting portions 67 is slightly larger than the width of the endless belt 20. The abutment roller 45 provided with such a belt restricting portion 67 is provided in the game ball lifting device 7 so that the endless belt 20 is rotated, and the endless belt 20 is meandering while being displaced in the axial direction of the abutment support shaft 56. In such a case, the side edge of the endless belt 20 can be brought into contact with the belt restricting portion 67 to restrict the deviation of the endless belt 20, and the inconvenience of the endless belt 20 meandering can be suppressed.

  By the way, in each said embodiment, although the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 45 was dented and the non-contact space part 57 was formed, this invention is not limited to this. For example, in the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 11, a plurality of (eight in this embodiment) disk members 71 having the same diameter are arranged along the axial direction of the contact support shaft 56, and the contact support shaft is arranged. A disk member 71 is connected by a plurality of connecting rods 72 parallel to 56 to form a contact roller 45 ′ (contact unit 46 ′). Further, the non-contact space portion 73 is formed by separating the adjacent disk members 71, and the lateral width of the non-contact space portion 73 (in other words, the separation distance between the disk members 71) is made wider than the lateral width of the ball holding region A. ing. Furthermore, in the disk member 71 located inside the both ends of the contact roller 45, the plate thickness is larger than the lateral width of the sphere non-clamping region B (region between adjacent sphere clamping regions A) of the endless belt 20. The outer circumferential surface of the disk member 71 is configured to be in contact with the outer surface of the endless belt 20 without being in contact with the ball clamping region A, with a narrow dimension. If the contact roller 45 ′ is configured in this way, the contact roller 45 ′ in which the dirt on the endless belt 20 does not move can be reduced in weight, and the contact roller 45 ′ and the endless belt 20 can be smoothly rotated. As a result, the game ball can be smoothly lifted.

By the way, in each of the above embodiments, the contact rollers 45, 45 ′ on both the upper and lower sides are formed with the non-contact space portions 57, 73 so as to prevent the dirt from adhering to the outer peripheral surfaces of the contact rollers 45, 45 ′. Although configured, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the tension imparting mechanism 22 of the game ball lifting device 7 in the fifth embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, the lower contact unit 76 b positioned on the lower side of the contact unit 76 is the same as that in the third embodiment. Although it is the same structure, in the upper contact unit 76a located on the upper side, the dirt attached to the outer surface of the endless belt 20 can be removed by the contact roller. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 13, the upper contact unit 76a according to the fifth embodiment is a contact roller 78 (corresponding to the irregularly shaped contact roller in the present invention) that has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface. It is shaped like a bowl. Specifically, a disk-shaped contact flange portion 80 that penetrates the contact support shaft 79 in a rotatable state is disposed at both left and right ends of the contact roller 78, and between the both contact flange portions 80. A plurality of annular contact ring portions 81 formed with the same diameter as the corresponding contact flange portion 80 are arranged at equal intervals along the axial direction of the contact support shaft 79. Further, the contact ring portions 81 adjacent to each other at the contact connecting portion 82 in the form of a horizontally long rectangular bar that is parallel to the contact support shaft 79 (in other words, parallel to the width direction of the endless belt 20), and adjacent contact rings. The end portion belt 20 is connected to the contact flange portion 80, and the outer surface of the contact connection portion 82 and the outer peripheral surface of the contact ring portion 81 are used as the outer peripheral surface (contact surface) of the contact roller 78. The outer surface can be contacted.

  As shown in FIG. 14, a shallow tray-shaped dust collection member 84 is disposed below the contact roller 78, and the upper portion of the dust collection member 84 is wider than the contact roller 78 and has a contact roller. A rectangular opening with a front-rear width wider than the diameter of 78 is used as a dust receiving port 85, and a scraper pointed toward the endless belt 20 side at the edge of the dust receiving port 85 located on the endless belt 20 side. A portion 86 is formed. Further, a dust receiving bracket 87 is provided at an edge portion of the dust receiving port 85 located below both ends of the abutting support shaft 79, and the dust receiving bracket 87 is rotatable to both ends of the abutting support shaft 79. In a normal state in which the dust collecting member 84 is fitted and the dust collecting member 84 is not in contact with the dust collecting member 84, the dust collecting member 84 rotates around the abutting support shaft 79 by its own weight, and the scraper portion 86 is moved to the endless belt 20 side. It is configured to be stable in the protruding posture.

  When the endless belt 20 is passed through the tension applying mechanism 22 with the upper contact unit 76a having such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 14B, the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 78 of the upper contact unit 76a (the contact surface) The outer surface of the contact connecting portion 82 and the outer peripheral surface of the contact ring portion 81 are in contact with the outer surface of the descending portion 20b of the endless belt 20, and the contact connecting portion 82 is in contact with the endless belt 20 in the ball holding area A (specifically, the ball holding area). A layer of dirt (attached to (stacked on) A) is pressed across the width direction. Further, an inclined portion of the endless belt 20 that is located between the upper contact unit 76 a and the pressing unit 42 presses the scraper portion 86 in a direction away from the housing 16, and the scraper portion 86 serves as a dust collection member 84. Is urged toward the outer surface of the endless belt 20 by its own weight. When the endless belt 20 is rotated in this state, the contact roller 78 rotates with the rotation of the endless belt 20, and the contact connecting portion 82 endlessly removes the dirt layer on the ball clamping area A at its edge. The scraper 86 is peeled off from the belt 20 and scrapes off the dirt that has not been peeled off at the edge of the contact connecting portion 82. Then, the dirt dropped from the ball holding area A by the contact connecting portion 82 and the scraper portion 86 is collected in the dust collecting member 84 through the dust receiving port 85. In this way, the upper abutment unit 76a can remove dirt on the ball clamping area A when the endless belt 20 is rotated. Accordingly, the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 78 of the lower contact unit 76b is not contaminated from the outer surface of the endless belt 20, and the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 78 of the lower contact unit 76b is cleaned. Save time and effort.

  In addition, as long as the lower side contact unit 76b in 5th Embodiment forms the non-contact space part, you may apply the contact roller 45 of what kind of structure. For example, you may apply the contact roller mentioned in either the 1st Embodiment, 2nd Embodiment, the modification of 3rd Embodiment, or 4th Embodiment.

  By the way, although the game ball lifting device 7 of each of the above embodiments has a polishing function, the present invention is not limited to this. In short, it is only necessary that the game ball can be held and lifted between the holding member and the endless belt 20, and for example, a game ball lifting device that lifts the game ball without polishing it may be used. Further, the endless belt 20 is not limited to a double structure of synthetic leather and nitrile rubber, and may be an endless belt having any structure as long as a game ball can be held between holding members. In each of the above embodiments, the contact roller is adopted as a part of the constituent elements of the tension applying mechanism 22, but the present invention is not limited to this. In short, the present invention may be applied to any contact roller having any function as long as it contacts the outer surface of the endless belt.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the game ball installation device according to the present invention is provided in the island facility 1 for installing the gaming machine that allows the pachinko gaming machine 3 to be installed on one side surface and the other side surface of the island body 2 in the longitudinal direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the game ball lifting device according to the present invention may be provided on a so-called wall island in which a gaming machine such as a pachinko gaming machine is installed only on one side surface of an island main body provided on a wall surface in a game store.

  And in the said embodiment, although the game ball used for the pachinko game machine which is a typical game machine was transferred with the game machine lifting device, this invention is not limited to this, What is a game ball? You may transfer what is used for a game machine. For example, a game ball used in an enclosed ball pachinko machine, a game ball used in an arrange ball game machine, or a game ball used in a slot machine (a so-called ball slot machine) is lifted by a game ball lifting device. You may send it.

  It should be understood that the above-described embodiment is illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The present invention is not limited to the above description, but is defined by the scope of the claims, and includes all modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Island equipment for game machine installation 2 Island main body 16 Case 17 Lower end roller 18 Upper end roller 19 Drive mechanism 20 Endless belt 20a Lifting part 20b Lowering part 22 Tension applying mechanism 23 Ball inlet 24 Ball introduction guide 25 Ball outlet 27 Cover 28 Ascending side clamping unit 29 Upper end side cover 31 Ascending side unit base 32 Ascending side base side edge 34 Ascending side clamping member 36 Ascending side ball guide groove 37 Polishing cloth 39 Lifting roller 41 Pressing roller 42 Pressing unit 45 Contacting roller 46 Contact unit 46a Upper contact unit 46b Lower contact unit 51 Press support shaft 52 Press bracket 56 Contact support shaft 57 Non-contact space portion 58 Contact bracket 67 Belt restricting portion 71 Disc member 72 Connecting rod 73 Non-contact space Part 76 contact unit 76a upper contact unit 76b lower contact unit Tsu DOO 78 contact roller 79 abutting the support shaft 80 abuts the flange 81 abutting the ring portion 82 abutting coupling part 84 dust collecting member 86 scraper unit

Claims (3)

A vertically long enclosure,
An endless belt provided between the upper end roller and the lower end roller, which are provided in the casing and are arranged above and below;
A drive mechanism for rotating the endless belt;
A clamping member extending along a rising direction of the endless belt at a position separated from an outer surface of the endless belt,
In a game ball lifting device that lifts a game ball introduced from a ball entrance opened at a lower portion of the housing while being sandwiched between an outer surface of the endless belt and the clamping member,
A contact roller that contacts the outer surface of the endless belt and rotates with the rotation of the endless belt is provided, and an outer peripheral surface of the contact roller includes a contact surface that contacts the outer surface of the endless belt and the endless belt Forming a non-contact space that avoids contact with the outer surface of the belt along the circumferential direction of the contact roller ;
The ball entrance is provided with a ball introduction guide for aligning game balls into a plurality of strips,
The pinching member is provided with a plurality of ball guide grooves that can be fitted in a state in which game balls are arranged in a plurality of rows by the ball introduction guide along the moving direction of the endless belt,
Of the outer surface of the endless belt, a region facing the ball guide groove is a ball holding region, and a region located between adjacent ball holding regions is a ball non-holding region,
A game ball lifting device, wherein the non-contact space portion is opposed to the ball holding area, and the contact surface is brought into contact with the ball non-holding area . A contact roller having a different shape from the contact roller is provided separately,
  2. The game ball lifting device according to claim 1, wherein the irregularly shaped contact roller is formed in a cylindrical bowl shape whose outer peripheral surface is a mesh. The game ball lifting device according to claim 2, wherein a dust collecting member is disposed below the irregularly shaped contact roller.

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