JP5467411B2 - Ball dispenser for gaming machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a ball dispensing equipment of the game machine for paying out one by one ball ball sent into the upstream of the ball tank as a prize ball.

A mechanism board is provided on the back surface of the pachinko machine, and a ball tank for storing prize balls is disposed on the upper part of the mechanism board. A ball passageway is connected below the ball tank. Conventionally, there is a ball dispensing device that uses a ball passage device (ball alignment rail) to align (especially align in one step) and then pays out with a ball dispensing device. However, ball biting occurs at the portion that is aligned from the second step to the first step, so the swinging weight is hung on that portion (Patent Document 1) or vibrated (Patent Documents 2 and 3). It was solved. However, there is a problem that the former lacks certainty and the latter requires additional power.
Therefore, it is conceived that the latter power for breaking the ball is covered by the power for dispensing, that is, the ball is unaligned from the ball tank and is directly broken and broken by the ball dispensing device (Patent Document 4). . However, if they are left unaligned, the possibility of arch (tunnel) ball biting as shown in FIG. 8 could not be excluded.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-031719 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 07-096077 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-141176 JP 2000-189618 A

In view of the above-described conventional problems, the present invention does not require that the balls that flow down are aligned in a row, thereby preventing ball clogging and dispensing the balls one by one downstream. and to provide a ball dispensing equipment.

  In the present invention, the balls are not arranged in one row × 1 row by the ball passage rods, but after being arranged in two rows, two rows or more and less than three rows and three rows so as not to cause arch (tunnel) ball biting. It was set as the structure which pays out in the state of 1 row and 1 step | paragraph, destroying a ball row | line | column with a ball dispensing device. Here, the two-tier means a state in which two balls are stacked one above the other, and the second row means a state in which two balls are arranged side by side. Also, less than 3 tiers means that the balls are not stacked vertically in 3 tiers, but some balls are laterally displaced and 3 balls are stacked in a zigzag shape. This is a state in which some balls are not aligned in three rows but are shifted upward and three balls are connected.

A ball payout device for a gaming machine according to the present invention made to solve the above-mentioned problems, a rotating body having a spiral groove for ball feeding, a housing for supporting the rotating shaft of the rotating body in a horizontal state, A ball dispensing device for a gaming machine comprising: a gap through which one ball can pass between the spiral groove and an inner surface of the housing ; a ball mount is disposed in the gap; A ball introduction path is provided in the upper part of the body so that balls with a width of more than two balls and less than three balls can flow in a ball of 2 steps 2 rows or more and less than 3 steps 3 rows, on top inside the lower having a ball dispensing passage having a ball counting sensor, and interposed the rotating body between the ball introduction path and the ball dispensing passage, three stages than 3 columns two-stage two or more rows of a ball that has flowed into the ball introduction path while, after that successively taken into the spiral groove by the rotation of the rotating member, the ball of the ball While temporarily held in so base, it is characterized in that it has to pay out the ball dispensing passage one by one ball and transported in the axial direction of the rotating shaft by the spiral groove.

In the above-described invention, the rotating body is composed of a coil spring wound with a winding wire and a cylindrical rotating shaft inserted into the coil spring. A spiral groove can be formed as a width that can be entered .

The invention described in claim 3 is the ball dispensing apparatus for gaming machines according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ball dispensing apparatus for gaming machines is provided with a concave groove-shaped ball passageway upstream of the housing. The width and height of the ball passageway are larger than two balls and less than three, and the bottom surface of the ball passageway is located on both sides of the mountain-shaped protrusions and the angled protrusions. The two ball guide grooves are formed along the longitudinal direction .

Since the ball dispensing apparatus according to claim 1 allows the balls to flow into the housing in a state of not less than 2 rows and 2 rows and less than 3 rows and 3 rows and rotate the rotating body to take the balls into the spiral groove , It is not necessary to form a single row, which can prevent clogging. Then, the temporarily held in the stand ball capturing one by one ball Beads spiral groove, and transferred in the axial direction of the rotary shaft ball by helical grooves, it can be paid out to the ball dispensing passage.
The ball dispensing apparatus according to claim 2 takes in the balls between the winding line portions of the rotating coil spring, so that even when the balls flow into the coil spring in two rows and two rows, the balls are drawn into the winding line portion. captured on top while, it can send out the balls to the ball dispensing passage one by one ball extruded by the coil spring.
In the invention according to claim 3 , the ball can be fed into the ball dispensing device in a state of two or more rows and two rows or more and less than three rows and three rows by the ball passageway.

It is a front view of a ball passage device. It is a top view of a ball passage device. It is sectional drawing of the front of a ball dispensing apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the side surface of a ball dispensing apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the plane of a ball dispensing apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the front which shows the structure of a housing | casing. It is sectional drawing of the front which shows the structure of a rotary body. It is sectional drawing of the ball passage cage which shows an arch-shaped clogged state.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
FIGS. 1-7 is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention, Comprising: 1 is a ball tank, 2 is the ball path apparatus provided in connection with the ball tank, Comprising: This ball path apparatus 2 is a ball path. It consists of a basket 3 and a ball dispensing device 4.

  The ball passageway 3 is formed in a concave shape and has a lateral width of more than 2 balls to less than 3 balls (more than 22 mm to less than 33 mm when the ball diameter is 11 mm). The bottom surface of the ball passageway 3 is formed with a mountain-shaped ridge 31 which is high in the center and extends in the longitudinal direction, and both sides thereof are ball guide grooves 32. Further, the height of the side surface 33 is set to be more than two balls and less than three balls, and this height is secured even when the lid 34 is applied. Thus, since the width and height of the ball passageway 3 are made larger than two balls, it is possible to completely prevent clogging caused by two balls arranged side by side in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction.

The ball payout device 4 is arranged at the downstream end of the ball passageway 3, and a ball guiding path (not shown) for paying out the prize balls is connected to the lower side. The ball dispensing device 4 includes a rotating body 5 that is rotated by a motor M and a housing 6 that supports a rotating shaft 7 of the rotating body 5 in a horizontal state. The rotating body 5 includes a columnar rotating shaft 7 connected to the shaft of the motor M and a coil spring 8 in which the rotating shaft 7 is inserted. Note that the rotating body 5 may be one in which a spiral groove is formed on the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 7.

  The housing 6 has a ball entrance 61 for taking in the balls from the ball passage cage 3 in the upper portion and a ball introduction passage 68 communicating with the ball entrance 61, and a ball dispensing passage 63 having a ball counting sensor 62 in the lower portion. 6 is formed close to one side surface (FIG. 3). Reference numeral 64 denotes a ball removal passage for removing balls in the pachinko machine for maintenance or the like, and is not used during the game. Note that the motor M is reversely rotated when the ball is removed.

  The ball entrance 61 has a width and a height that are more than two balls and less than three balls in the same manner as the ball passageway 3 and prevents clogging by two balls. The ball introduction path 68 has a square or rectangular cross-sectional shape, and its width and height (or length) is the same as that of the ball entrance 61 to prevent clogging with more than 2 balls and less than 3 balls. is there. Between the left and right sides of the rotating shaft 7 between the ball dispensing passage 63 and the ball removal passage 64, ball mounting tables 65 are provided, and balls taken from the ball entrance 61 fall on the table 65. Temporarily held. A concave wall surface 66 is formed in the upper part of the ball payout passage 63, and the conveyed ball collides with the concave wall surface 66 and falls downward (FIG. 6).

The rotating shaft 7 includes a proximal-side shaft portion 71 attached to the rotating shaft of the motor M and a distal-side shaft portion 72 connected thereto (FIG. 7). The distal end side shaft portion 72 has a snap fit portion 73 at one end, and the snap fit portion 73 is fitted into a small diameter portion 74 formed on the proximal end side shaft portion 71 and is integrally configured. The rotating shaft 7 is inserted into the coil spring 8. One end of the coil spring 8 is hooked on the flange portion 75 of the proximal end side shaft portion 71, and the other end presses the flange portion 76 of the distal end side shaft portion 72. The ball spring 75 is urged in the direction in which the flanges 75 and 76 are expanded by the elastic force of the coil spring 8, and the base end side shaft portion 71, the front end side shaft portion 72, and the coil spring 8 have a screw structure. The rotating body 5 is used. The rotating shaft 7 of the rotating body 5 is stretched horizontally in a lower part of the ball introduction path 68 in the housing 6 above the ball removal passage 64 and the ball dispensing passage 63. Accordingly, since no thrust force is applied to the bearing 9 facing the motor rotation shaft M1, the load applied to the motor can be reduced and balls can be discharged smoothly. A gap through which one ball can pass is formed between the outer peripheral surface 77 of the rotating shaft 7 and the inner wall surface 67 of the housing 6 (FIG. 4).

  The coil spring 6 is a compression coil spring, and, as shown in FIG. 7, the spacing between the winding lines is formed so that one ball can enter, so that the balls can enter between the winding lines. In other words, the spacing between the line portions is 8 mm or more and less than 22 mm. Further, since the difference ΔR (= Rs−Rj) between the outer radius Rs of the coil spring and the outer radius Rj of the rotating shaft 5 is set to be more than Rb / 4 to less than Rb with respect to the radius Rb of the ball, the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 5 The ball can be held and sent out by the surface 57 and the winding portion of the coil spring 6. When ΔR is equal to or less than Rb / 4, the coil spring 6 tends to sink under the ball, so that the ball cannot be effectively pressed in the lateral direction. On the other hand, when ΔR is greater than or equal to Rb, the coil spring 6 exerts a force on the ball to press the ball from above, so that the coil spring 6 momentarily lifts the ball upward to stir the ball lump. This is because the prevention effect is weakened.

In the structure configured as described above, the balls flowing down in the ball passage 3 are not neatly distributed to the guide grooves 33 by the Yamagata ridges 32, and exist at the top of the Yamagata ridges 32. The ball passage rod 3 is arranged in a state of 2 steps 2 rows or more and less than 3 steps 3 rows, and flows downstream, and the balls flow into the housing 6 from the ball entrance 61. In the ball dispensing state, the ball train is broken while being agitated by the rotation of the rotating body 5, so that it is necessary that the ball introduction path 68 has a play space that is not completely filled with the balls and that can be agitated and moved. It is. As the rotating body 5 rotates, the balls enter between the winding portions of the coil spring 8. The ball that has entered falls onto a ball mount 65 provided next to the rotation shaft 7 and is conveyed in the direction of the ball dispensing passage 63 (the axial direction of the rotation shaft 7) by the coil spring 8 having a spiral structure.

The balls on the left and right ball mounts 65 of the rotating shaft 5 are displaced in positions of the balls in which the winding lines are spirally wound, so that they collide with the concave wall surface 66 with a time shift, and as shown in FIG. Alternately fall from the ball mount 65 into the ball dispensing passage 63. Since fallen ball is paid out at different timings one by one ball, the number of balls balls counting sensor 62 has passed correctly counted, the payout of the rotation is stopped balls of the rotary member 5 reaches the predetermined number ended To do.

  In addition, the ball on the lower ball mount 65 in FIG. 5 is subjected to a load from the top to the bottom of the rotating coil spring 8, so that the balls are quickly dropped due to acceleration. On the other hand, since the ball on the ball mounting table on the upper side in FIG. 5 is pushed upward from below the coil spring 8, the balls are delayed in dropping. Therefore, when the time interval between the drop of the ball on the upper ball mount and the drop of the ball on the lower ball load in FIG. The sensor 62 may not be able to identify the two balls and may count as one.

Therefore, as a method for forming a gap between the two balls, a relief space 69 is provided on the side wall in order to quickly release the lower ball from the pressing of the coil spring. As a result, the downward pressing force of the ball can be eliminated, and the falling speed of the lower ball can be reduced.
Further, even if the left end of the upper ball mount 65 in FIG. 5 is positioned to the right of the right end of the lower ball mount 65 and the upper ball is dropped quickly, the identification space between the two balls can be reduced. And the ball counting sensor 62 can reliably identify and accurately count the balls.

5 rotating body, 6 housing, 7 rotating shaft, 8 coil spring, 62 ball counting sensor, 63 ball payout passage, 68 ball introducing passage

Claims (3)

A ball dispenser for a gaming machine comprising: a rotating body having a spiral groove for ball feeding; and a housing for supporting the rotating shaft of the rotating body in a horizontal state,
Provide a gap through which one ball can pass between the spiral groove and the inner surface of the housing, and arrange a ball rest in this gap,
The casing a ball introduction path balls of three stages than 3 columns two-stage two or more rows to the width of the vertical and horizontal as the dimension of the two partial ultrasonic than to three minute balls is can flow provided inside the upper, said housing In the lower part of the body, after providing a ball dispensing passage with a ball counting sensor,
And interposed the rotating body between the ball introduction path and the ball dispensing passage, a ball that has flowed into the ball introduction path with less than two stages more than two rows 3 rows x 3 columns state, the rotation of the rotating body after that successively taken into the helical groove arrangement, the temporarily holding the ball in stand the ball, that was paid out to the ball dispensing passage one by one ball and transported in the axial direction of the rotating shaft by the helical groove A ball dispenser for a gaming machine.   The rotating body is composed of a coil spring in which a winding line is wound and a cylindrical rotating shaft inserted into the coil spring, and the space between the winding lines is set to a width that allows balls to enter. The ball dispensing device for a gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein a spiral groove is formed. A ball dispensing device for a gaming machine provided with a groove-shaped ball passageway upstream of the housing,
The lateral width and height of the ball passage rod is set to a size of more than two balls and less than three balls. On the bottom surface of the ball passage rod, there are two chevron ridges and two ridges located on both sides of the mountain ridges. 3. A ball dispensing device for a gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the ball guide groove is formed along the longitudinal direction.