JP5689486B2 - Ball circulation mechanism - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a ball circulation mechanism including a pachinko ball storage tank for storing pachinko balls used in a pachinko machine.

  Conventionally, in pachinko amusement halls, etc., a plurality of game islands are arranged to form an island row, and a large-capacity storage tank is arranged at the end of the island row, and is collected through a fence connected between each island. The pachinko balls that have been used are stored in a storage tank. After the pachinko balls are supplied from the storage tank to the storage tanks of the islands through the troughs, the pachinko balls in the storage tanks are transported to the upper tanks by polishing lifts on the islands, and are supplied from the upper tanks through the replenishment troughs. Will be supplied to each pachinko machine.

  As a specific example of the pachinko ball supply system having such a flow, with reference to Patent Document 1, as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, the pachinko balls are pachinko balls from the upper tank 60 through the supply shelf 61. The pachinko balls that have been replenished to the table and overflowed in the upper tank 60 are passed through the overflow hose 62, and the pachinko balls recovered from each island are sent through the first return hose 67 and then flowed into the base tank 63, After flowing down the shelf plate 64 provided in the base tank 63, it is stored in the base tank 63.

  However, in the above configuration, when the shelf plate 64 in the base tank 63 rolls in a state where the momentum of the pachinko balls is not relieved, the pachinko balls collide with the wall surface of the base tank 63 vigorously and the wall surface of the base tank 63 Has a disadvantage that it is damaged and generates noise.

  Further, in the above configuration, the pachinko balls stored in the base tank 63 pass through inclined bottom plates 65, 65 to a connecting rod 66 provided in the center as shown in FIG. 11 (b). After being guided, it is discharged to the outside, but only the pachinko balls stored mainly in the vicinity of the connecting rod 66 are discharged, and if the pachinko balls stored in the tank bottom on the upstream side stay for a long time, Inconveniences such as rusting occur on the balls.

JP-A-9-173606

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when storing pachinko balls conveyed from the outside in a storage tank, the pachinko balls are allowed to flow down in a relaxed state and stored in the storage tank. An object of the present invention is to provide a ball circulation mechanism in which discharged balls are discharged uniformly.

In order to solve the above problem, the ball circulation mechanism according to claim 1 of the present invention is a ball circulation mechanism provided with a pachinko ball storage tank for storing pachinko balls used in a pachinko machine . The tunnel-shaped ball passage provided from the upstream side to the downstream discharge port at the bottom of the ball, the upstream opening through which the pachinko ball that opens to the upstream side of the ball passage can flow, and the vicinity of the discharge port upward In addition to preventing clogging of the discharge port due to the pressure of the pachinko balls stored in the storage tank, there is an opening that guides the pachinko balls that roll on the bottom surface of the pachinko ball storage tank outside the ball passage to the discharge port. A ball passage projecting outward from the discharge port, the ball passage, and a pachinko ball that rolls out of the ball passage by the pressure relief plate, Roll outside the ball passage The pachinko balls that are separated from the dimples in the width direction of the discharge port, roll in the outside of the ball passage and flow in from the opening of the pressure relief plate, the ball that protrudes outward from the discharge port It is arranged in a direction along both side walls of the passage, and is characterized in that it joins with a pachinko ball that has flowed from the upstream opening and rolled inside the ball passage .

According to the ball circulation mechanism according to the present invention, the pachinko ball that rolls outside the ball passage and flows in from the opening of the pressure relief plate is formed on both side walls of the ball passage protruding outward from the discharge port. It can be aligned with the pachinko ball that has flowed in from the upstream opening and rolled inside the ball passage, and can be joined by the smooth flow without causing the pachinko ball to stay near the discharge port. As a result, the pachinko balls stored in the pachinko ball storage tank can be discharged evenly as a whole.

It is a perspective view of the whole amusement island according to the embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a front view of a game island according to an embodiment of the present invention and having no storage tank. 1 is a front view of a game island having a storage tank according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a perspective view of the storage tank concerning the example of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the internal structure of the storage tank which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the internal structure of the ball receiver unit which concerns on the Example of this invention. (A) is the perspective view which looked at the receiving port buffering member which concerns on the Example of this invention from the receiving port side, (b) is the perspective view seen from the opposite side. (A)-(c) is a side view which shows each aspect of the fallen ball receiving member which concerns on the Example of this invention. (A), (b) is a side view which shows each aspect of the ball path provided in the baseplate of the storage tank which concerns on the Example of this invention. As another embodiment according to the present invention, an example in which the configuration of a falling ball receiving member is applied to an overflow mechanism is shown, (a) is a perspective view, and (b) is a side view. (A) is an external appearance perspective view of the base tank in patent document 1, (b) is a perspective view which shows the internal structure.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  The ball circulation mechanism provided with the large-capacity storage tank 1 of this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of game islands 2A and 2B are arranged, and a plurality of upper tanks 3 provided on each game island are provided. A pachinko ball large-capacity storage tank 1 is connected between pachinko machine rows 5A and 5B provided on both sides of the game island 2B at the end of the game island row. Installed, it is possible to efficiently distribute a large number of pachinko balls to each amusement island.

  FIG. 2 is a front view of one of the game islands 2A, 2A... Other than the game island 2B provided with the large-capacity storage tank 1 described above. The game islands 2A, 2A,... Have substantially the same configuration. In this game island 2A, a plurality of pachinko machines 5 arranged, a game medium lending machine 6 provided between the pachinko machines 5, 5, a lifting device 7 for lifting while pachinko balls are polished, The upper tank 3 provided in the upper part of the feeder 7 and the ball storage tank 8 which stores a lot of pachinko balls in the game island 2A are provided. In such a configuration, a collection basket 9b for collecting the discharged pachinko balls (out balls) is provided below the pachinko machines 5, 5,. Further, the pachinko balls discharged from the ball storage tank 8 are lifted into the upper tank 3 by the lifting device 7 and supplied from the upper tank 3 to the respective pachinko machines 5, 5... And the game medium lending machines 6, 6. Replenished via 9a.

  Further, a counter 44 is installed at the end of a predetermined game island (the game island 2A from the left in the game island row of FIG. 1 and the pachinko machine row 5A of the game island 2B). The prize balls acquired by is returned to the counting machine 44, and the pachinko balls returned to the counting machine 44 are also collected in the collection basket 9b on the left side shown in FIGS.

  Further, an overflow pipe (described in detail in FIG. 10) connected to the upper tank 3 is provided on the back side of the lifting device 7 of the game island 2A shown in FIG. 2, and the capacity of the upper tank 3 of the game island 2A is provided. The pachinko balls overflowing beyond are recovered in the ball storage tank 8 at the lower part of the game island 2A.

  3 has a large-capacity storage tank 1 arranged behind a large number of pachinko machines 5, 5... (See FIG. 1), and a ball storage tank 8 in the game island 2A of FIG. 2 is provided. Although not provided, other configurations are similar to the above-described game island 2A, including a plurality of pachinko machines 5, a game medium lending machine 6, a lifting device 7, an upper tank 3, a basket 4, a recovery basket 9b, and the like. I have. When the pachinko balls transferred to the upper tank 3 of the game island 2B overflow beyond the capacity of the upper tank 3, the pachinko balls are out of the four cages 4a, 4b, 4c connected to the ball receiving unit 10. Is recovered from the lowermost basket 4c into the large-capacity storage tank 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the large-capacity storage tank 1 in the present embodiment stores pachinko balls conveyed from the upper tanks 3 of the game islands 2A and 2B through a plurality of baskets 4 and discharged to the outside. As shown in FIG. 4, a ball receiver unit 10 is provided at the upper portion of the large-capacity storage tank 1, and the ends of the respective baskets 4 are connected to the inside of the ball receiver unit 10. The receiving port cushioning members 12, 12 (see FIG. 6) are fixedly provided at the positions where the receiving ports 11, 11,.

  The large-capacity storage tank 1 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 4, the exterior of the tank has a configuration in which a plurality of panels 13 are arranged and screwed with an L-shaped sheet metal 14. Such a structure is a panel structure in which the constituent materials are transported in a disassembled state and assembled at the site, so that the materials can be easily transported, and the size of the structure depends on the size of the amusement hall and the length of the amusement island. It is also possible to change the size of the capacity storage tank 1.

  As shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, the large capacity storage tank 1 uses L-shaped vertical metal 15 at the four corners of the interior, and between the front wall 16a and the back wall 16b. Since a large number of bar-shaped reinforcing members 17 are provided and the bottom plate 18 of the large-capacity storage tank 1 is supported by a bottom plate support member 19, a large amount of pachinko balls are placed inside the large-capacity storage tank 1. Even when stored, the bottom plate 18 does not come off.

  Since each panel 13 constituting the large-capacity storage tank 1 is provided with a large number of slit-like switch mounting holes 21 whose width is smaller than the diameter of the pachinko balls, a switch (large capacity) is provided in each switch mounting hole 21. 20) (used as a sensor for detecting pachinko balls in the tank 1) can be freely set, and the large-capacity storage tank 1 can be set from the gap of the switch mounting hole 21 where the switch 20 is not mounted. It is possible to visually recognize the amount of pachinko balls inside.

  Furthermore, since the bottom plate 18 in the large-capacity storage tank 1 is provided with a step 18a having a lower step on the downstream side of each joint, pachinko balls are not caught on the joint of the bottom plate 18, As a result, the pachinko balls can smoothly flow down on the top plate 18.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, the ball receiving unit 10 is installed in the upper part of the mass storage tank 1 of the said structure. The ball receiving unit 10 is provided with a partition plate 22 that divides the internal space of the housing 10a shown in FIG. 6 into two front and rear chambers. Receiving ports 11, 11, 11 are formed in a line, and the end of each ridge 4 (see FIG. 1) is connected to each receiving port 11, and each receiving port 11 has a receiving port buffer member 12. The configuration is fixed. With such a configuration, it becomes possible to connect the collars 4, 4 provided on both sides of the ball receiving unit 10, and the collision between pachinko balls received from the receiving ports 11, 11. It becomes possible to do.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b), each receiving port cushioning member 12 has both plates 23, 23, a top plate 24, and a lower portion that are substantially the same width as the receiving port 11, and a lower portion having a curved shape. It is configured to have a curved elastic member 25 formed of an elastic member such as rubber or urethane, and a hanging elastic member 26 made of an elastic member such as rubber or urethane provided on the opposite side of the receiving port 11. Yes. With such a configuration, when the pachinko ball entered from the receiving port 11 collides with the drooping elastic member 26, the momentum of the pachinko ball having a strong striking force can be buffered, and noise generated at the time of the collision can be eliminated. The ball that has collided with the drooping elastic member 26 is received in a buffered state by the curved elastic member 25, and dropped to the falling ball receiving members 27a and 27b (see FIG. 6) below while being collected at the center of the curved shape. it can.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 8A to 8C, the lower open side of the ball receiving unit 10 having the housing 11 a is a pair of cantilever supports 28 attached from both lower sides of the ball receiving unit 10. The falling ball receiving members 27a and 27b are configured to have a downward slope in the direction of the pachinko ball dropping gap 27c. Yes.

  As a specific first embodiment of the above-described falling ball receiving members 27a, 27b, as shown in FIG. 6, each falling ball receiving member 27a, 27b has a thin member 29 stacked on top of a thick member 30. Since the thin member 29 is formed longer on the tip side than the thick member 30, the tip side is formed thin, and the support side is formed thick so that the tip is easily bent, and the mounting side is It is set as the structure which is hard to bend. In addition, you may form by using the integral member in which the front end side was thin and the support side was formed thick as a material to use for each fallen ball receiving member 27a, 27b.

  Further, as a specific second embodiment of the above-described falling ball receiving members 27a and 27b, as shown in FIG. 8A, each of the falling ball receiving members 27a and 27b is a first rigid receiving member having high rigidity. The second receiving member 32 having low rigidity is stacked and fixed on the upper part of the 31 and the second receiving member 32 is formed longer on the tip side than the first receiving member 31 so that the tip side has low rigidity and the mounting side is high. Therefore, the tip is easily bent and the mounting side is not easily bent. Even in such a configuration, the material used for each of the drop ball receiving members 27a and 27b may be formed by using an integral member having a low rigidity on the tip side and a high rigidity on the support side. Good.

  Further, as a specific third embodiment of the above-described falling ball receiving members 27a and 27b, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), the bending restricting means 33a is provided near the lower side of each of the falling ball receiving members 27a and 27b. , 33b are provided. With such a configuration, the portion of the drop ball receiving member 27a, 27b on the distal end side than the respective deflection regulating means 33a, 33b is configured to be more easily bent than on the attachment side.

  Furthermore, as a specific fourth embodiment of the above-described falling ball receiving members 27a and 27b, as shown in FIG. 8C, a cut-out for increasing the bending toward the tip side of each falling ball receiving member 27a and 27b. The portions 34, 34... Are provided, and the distal end side having the cut portions 34, 34.

  With the above-described configuration, the pachinko balls dropped from the receiving port cushioning members 12, 12... Provided inside the ball receiving unit 10 are received in a buffered state by the respective falling ball receiving members 27 a, 27 b, and the dropped ball receiving members 27 a, Each tip end side of 27b is bent downward, and the pachinko balls dropped from the central drop gap 27c are caused to flow down to the large-capacity storage tank 1.

  Furthermore, as another embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to apply the configuration of the above-described drop ball receiving members 27a and 27b to an overflow mechanism that guides the pachinko balls overflowed from the upper tank 3 to the ball storage tank 8 shown in FIG. It is. The structure is such that an overflow pipe 45 is connected to the upper tank 3 provided above the game island 2A, and a ball receiving member 27a shown in FIG. 6 or FIGS. A ball receiving member 46 having the same configuration as 27b is provided.

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 10 (a) and 10 (b), at the lower part of the overflow pipe 45, a cover opened on one side by a lower receiving housing 47 formed in a U-shaped cross section is formed. A bracket 48 is fixed to the opposite side surface of the lens, and a single ball receiving member 46 having one end fixed by cantilever support is attached to the bracket 48. By applying the configuration of the ball receiving members 27a and 27b of various aspects shown in FIG. 6 or FIGS. 8A to 8C, the ball receiving member 46 is difficult to bend on the mounting side of the ball receiving member 46, and the tip side is The configuration is easy to bend. As a result, the tip side of the ball receiving member 46 bends due to the weight of the pachinko ball that has fallen in the overflow pipe 45, and the pachinko ball falls from the open side 47a.

  Further, the pachinko balls dropped from the bent tip end side of the ball receiving member 46 as described above are received by the inclined guide plate 49 provided below the overflow pipe 45, and are branched along the inclination while rolling. Flow down to 50. Around the inclined guide plate 49, a side wall 51 surrounding three sides other than the branch passage 50 side is provided, and a lower receiving housing 47 is supported by legs 52 and 53.

  The branch passage 50 has left and right inclined passages 50a and 50b, and the slant guide plate 49 has a pachinko ball preferentially placed on one side of the branch passage 50 (the side on which the ball storage tank 8 in FIG. 2 is provided). A partition plate 54 is provided for guiding the pachinko ball to the side to be prioritized by the partition plate 54 via the overflow pipe 45. Further, the partition plate 54 has a projecting portion 54a on the branch passage 50 side, and after the pachinko balls dropped from the open side 47a of the lower receiving housing 47 roll on the inclined guide plate 49, the top portion on the branch passage 50 side. It can be prevented from being guided to the left side of the recovery basket 9b in FIG. Further, when the lower storage tank 8 to be prioritized becomes full and the pachinko balls are clogged up from the branch passage 50 to the inclined passage 49, it is led to the left collection basket 9b shown in FIG. In addition, although the side plate 55 is provided in the side part of the branch passage 50, the left and right inclined passages 50a and 50b can be transported in a state where pachinko balls are leveled by the upper restriction plates 55a and 55b provided above. It is possible.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, a flat plate-shaped ball leveling plate 35 having a downward slope is provided at the upper portion in the large-capacity storage tank 1, and the upper surface near the downstream end of the ball leveling plate 35. Further, a buffer receiving member 36 made of an elastic member having a convex curved section is provided on the upstream side. With such a configuration, after the pachinko balls have fallen from the ball receiving unit 10 onto the ball leveling plate 35, the momentum of the pachinko balls when flowing down while rolling the ball leveling plate 35 is buffered by the buffer receiving member 36. The pachinko balls are prevented from colliding with the wall surface on the downstream side of the ball leveling plate 35 by being dropped downward.

  A tunnel-shaped ball passage 37 formed of a frame member having a U-shaped cross section is provided from the upstream side toward the downstream side along the inclined bottom plate 18 of the large-capacity storage tank 1. With such a configuration, the pachinko balls passing through the ball passage 37 can roll without receiving the pressure of the pachinko balls accumulated in the upper part thereof.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9A, an upstream side opening 38 through which a pachinko ball can flow is provided on the upstream side of the ball passage 37, and both side walls 37a, 37b of the ball passage 37 widen the discharge port 40. In addition to partitioning in the direction, it protrudes outward from the discharge port 40. A pressure relief plate 41 (see FIG. 5) is provided in the large-capacity storage tank 1 so as to cover the vicinity of the discharge port 40 from above, and the pressure relief plate 41 applies an excessive pressure to the discharge port 40 due to a large amount of pachinko balls. Even if it is applied, it becomes possible to prevent the occurrence of clogging.

  According to said structure, the pachinko ball which rolls the bottom plate 18 of the large capacity | capacitance storage tank 1 outside the ball | bowl channel | path 37, and is discharged | emitted from the discharge port 40 protrudes the direction of a flow from the discharge port 40 outside. The pachinko balls that have been rolling in the ball passage 37 in a state of being arranged in the direction along the both side walls 37a and 37b will join together, and the pachinko that rolls in the ball passage 37 and is discharged from the discharge port 40 Smooth discharge is possible without obstructing the flow of the ball. In addition, by cutting the upper wall of the upstream opening 38 shown in FIG. 5 into a V shape, even when a large amount of pachinko balls are pressed against the upstream opening 38 of the upper wall, the pachinko balls are slanted along the edge of the upper wall. Thus, even when a large amount of pachinko balls are pushed toward the upstream opening 38, it is possible to avoid clogging of the balls in the upstream opening 38.

  Further, as another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), the downstream opening 39 is formed by notching both side walls 37a and 37b, and the pachinko balls stored on the downstream side are the same. It can flow into the ball passage 37 from the downstream opening 39. Further, partition walls 43 a and 43 b that partition the discharge port 40 in the width direction are provided inside the downstream opening 39 in the width direction, and the partition walls 43 a and 43 b are formed to protrude outward from the discharge port 40. With such a configuration, the pachinko balls that have been rolling off the floor plate 18 of the large-capacity storage tank 1 outside the ball passage 37 and discharged from the discharge port 40 protruded from the discharge port 40 to the outside. The pachinko balls that have been rolled in the ball passage 37 after being aligned in the direction along the partition walls 43a and 43b will join together, and the flow of the pachinko balls that roll in the ball passage 37 and are discharged from the discharge port 40 Smooth discharge is possible without hindering.

  In the above embodiment, the ball circulation mechanism of the present invention is applied to the large-capacity storage tank 1 provided in the pachinko machine rows 5A and 5B as shown in FIG. The mechanism can also be applied to a ball storage tank 8 that stores pachinko balls that have overflowed from the upper tank 3 of the game island 2A.

  The ball circulation mechanism of the present invention allows the pachinko balls conveyed from the outside to flow into the storage tank with the momentum of the pachinko balls relaxed, and the balls stored in the storage tank as a whole It can be used as a ball circulation mechanism that is discharged evenly.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Large capacity storage tank 2A, 2B Game island 3 Upper tank 4 樋 5 Pachinko machine 5A, 5B Pachinko machine row 6 Game media rental machine 7 Lifting device 8 Ball storage tank 9a Replenishment hoe 9b Collection hoe 10 Ball receiving unit 10a Case 11 Receiving port 12 Receiving port buffer member 13 Panel 14 L-shaped sheet metal 15 L-shaped vertical metal 16a Front wall 16b Rear wall 17 Reinforcing member 18 Bottom plate 18a Step 19 Bottom plate support member 20 Switch 21 Switch mounting hole 22 Partition plate 23 Both plates 24 Top Plate 25 Curved elastic member 26 Suspended elastic members 27a, 27b Dropping ball receiving member 27c Gap for dropping 28 Cantilever support 29 Thin member 30 Thick member 31 First receiving member 32 Second receiving member 33a, 33b Deflection regulating means 34 Cut portion 35 Ball equalizing plate 36 Buffer receiving member 37 Ball passages 37a, 37b Both side walls 38 Upstream opening 39 Downstream opening 40 Discharge port 41 Pressure relief plates 42a, 42b Extension portions 43a, 43b Partition wall 44 Counter 45 Overflow tube 46 Ball receiving member 47 Lower receiving housing 47a Open side 48 Bracket 49 Inclined guide plate 50 Branch passages 50a, 50b Inclined passage 50c Top 51 Side wall 52, 53 Leg part 54 Partition plate 54a Projection part 55 Side plate 55a, 55b Upper control board

Claims (1)

In the ball circulation mechanism equipped with a pachinko ball storage tank for storing pachinko balls used in the pachinko machine,
A tunnel-like ball passage provided from the upstream side toward the downstream outlet at the bottom surface in the pachinko ball storage tank ;
An upstream-side opening pachinko balls capable inflow opening to the upstream side of the ball passage,
While preventing the clogging of the discharge port due to the pressure of pachinko balls stored in the storage tank covering the vicinity of the discharge port from above,
A pressure relief plate having an opening for guiding a pachinko ball that rolls on the bottom surface of the pachinko ball storage tank outside the ball passage to the discharge port,
The ball passage protrudes outward from the discharge port,
By the ball passage and the pressure relief plate,
Discharged from the outlet,
A pachinko ball that rolls inside the ball passage,
A pachinko ball rolling outside the ball passage,
Is divided in the width direction of the discharge port,
A pachinko ball that rolls outside the ball passage and flows from the opening of the pressure relief plate,
The direction of the flow is adjusted to the direction along both side walls of the ball passage protruding outward from the discharge port,
A ball circulation mechanism that joins with a pachinko ball that has flowed from the upstream opening and rolled inside the ball passage .