JP5743264B2 - Bullet ball machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a storage structure for game media.

  In Patent Document 1, a sliding body that is constantly biased to a position that always closes the ball extraction hole by a spring, a pressing member that is slidably embedded in the inside of the operation portion of the sliding body, and a sliding body that has a ball extraction hole. A ball receiving device for a ball receiving tray provided with a key portion and an engaging portion that are engaged at a position where the sliding member is released to prevent the sliding body from moving backward is described. Engagement between the engaging part and the key part that holds the opening of the ball extraction hole is released by pressing the pressing member.

  Patent Document 2 describes a structure having a frame that can be advanced and retracted in the front-rear direction of a pachinko machine, a shutter plate that rotates in a horizontal plane in conjunction with the advance and retreat of the frame, and a lock device. When the frame is placed at the forward end position, the shutter plate fully closes the ball opening, and when the frame moves from the forward end position to the backward end position, the shutter plate rotates in conjunction with the movement of the frame body. Fully open the ball opening. The locking device has a pair of claws that switch between an expanded state and a pinched state. When the frame body is pushed backward against the biasing force of the return spring, the claws in the spread state are pinched. , The engaging projections of the frame body and the claw body are engaged, the frame body is held at the retracted end position, and the ball opening is maintained in the fully open state. When the frame body is pushed rearward from this state, the claws in the closed state are switched to the expanded state, the engagement between the engagement protrusion and the claw body is released, and the frame body is moved forward by the urging force of the return spring. It moves to a position and the ball extraction opening is maintained in a fully closed state.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-53954 JP 2004-180890 A

  By applying the latch mechanism of the locking device as in Patent Document 2 to Patent Document 1 and holding the sliding body at the opening position of the ball extraction hole by the latch mechanism, the player can open and close the ball extraction hole by operating the sliding member. This can be done simply by operating the button, improving operability.

  However, when the latch mechanism of Patent Document 2 is applied to Patent Document 1, the sliding body held at the position where the ball extraction hole is opened by the engagement between the engagement protrusion and the claw body is opened in the direction of opening the ball extraction hole. If it is attempted to forcefully move the ball extraction hole in the direction of closing the ball extraction hole without pressing, the lock device and the engaging protrusion may be damaged, and the durability may be lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a storage structure for a game medium that has good operability and excellent durability.

  In order to achieve the above object, a storage structure for game media according to the present invention includes a storage tray, a medium discharge hole, an opening / closing plate, a stopper, a biasing means, a latch engagement recess, a latch unit, and a latch guide. Means.

The storage tray stores game media. The medium discharge hole is provided in the storage tray and allows the stored game medium to fall. The opening / closing plate has an engaging projection and is supported by the storage tray so as to be slidable along a predetermined opening / closing direction within a range including a closing position for closing the medium discharge hole and an opening position for opening the medium discharge hole. The The stopper is provided on the storage tray and abuts on the opening / closing plate at the closing position to restrict the movement of the opening / closing plate in the closing direction. The urging means urges the opening / closing plate in the closing direction. The latch engaging recess is provided at a predetermined position of the storage tray.

  The latch unit has a latch case and a latch mechanism. The latch case is attached to the storage tray by being inserted into and engaged with the latch engaging recess in a predetermined posture and substantially parallel to the opening / closing direction of the opening / closing plate. The latch mechanism is supported by the latch case, and is alternately switched between the engaged state and the released state by being pressed by the engaging protrusion of the opening / closing plate that moves further in the opening direction from the open position. The opening / closing plate is held in the open position by engaging with the protrusion, and in the released state, the engagement with the engaging protrusion is released to allow the opening / closing plate to move in the closing direction.

  The latch guide means is provided in the storage tray, and the latch case is detached from the latch engaging recess when the opening / closing plate moves from the open position to the closing direction while the latch mechanism and the engaging projection are engaged with each other. At the same time, when moving in the opening / closing direction, the posture of the moving latch case is restricted to the predetermined posture.

  In the above configuration, when the latch mechanism is in the released state, the opening / closing plate is maintained in the closed position by the biasing in the closing direction by the biasing means and the movement restriction in the closing direction by the stopper. It is possible to store game media.

  When the game medium stored in the game dish is discharged, the player moves the opening / closing plate in the opening direction against the biasing force of the biasing means to open the medium discharge hole, and the game medium falls from the medium discharge hole. Let When the player wants to maintain the opening of the medium discharge hole, the player moves the opening / closing plate further in the opening direction from the opening position, presses the latch mechanism by the engaging protrusion, and ends the operation. By such a single switching operation (an operation of pressing the latch mechanism once by the engaging protrusion), the latch mechanism is switched from the released state to the engaged state and engaged with the engaging protrusion, and the opening / closing plate is moved. Hold in the open position.

  When returning the opening / closing plate held in the open position to the closed position, the player performs a switching operation similar to that at the time of opening. By this switching operation, the latch mechanism is switched from the engaged state to the released state to release the engagement with the engaging protrusion, and the opening / closing plate is moved to the closed position by the urging force in the closing direction by the urging means. .

  When returning the open / close plate held in the open position to the close position, the player does not perform the switching operation (does not operate the operation unit in the open direction) and erroneously operates in the close direction, forcing the open / close plate in the close direction. When the latch case is detached from the latch engaging recess while the latch mechanism and the engaging protrusion are engaged, the latch guide means moves along with the opening / closing plate when the opening / closing plate moves. The latch case is regulated to a predetermined posture when being inserted into the latch engaging recess and engaged. For this reason, when the player moves the opening / closing plate to the open position, the latch case is inserted into and engaged with the latch engaging recess, and the opening / closing plate is held in the open position. That is, the latch case returns to the state before the latch engagement recess is released, and the holding function of the opening / closing plate by the latch unit is restored. Therefore, even if the player performs an erroneous operation, the latch unit or the like is not easily damaged, and the opening / closing function of the opening / closing plate can be restored without particularly requiring repair, thereby improving durability.

  Note that when the open / close plate held in the open position is forcibly moved in the closing direction, the latch case does not leave the latch engaging recess, and the latch mechanism and the engaging protrusion remain in the engaged state. Since the latch mechanism is switched from the engaged state to the released state by the first switching operation, the latch mechanism is switched from the released state to the engaged state by the second switching operation. The opening / closing plate is properly held in the open position by the switching operation of the rotation.

  In addition, the storage tray may include an upper tray body that stores the game medium, and a lower cover body that is fixed to the tray body and defines an opening / closing plate accommodation space between the lower surface of the tray body. . The medium discharge hole may be formed at least in the dish body. The opening / closing plate may be disposed in the opening / closing plate housing space and move on the upper surface of the cover body. The latch engaging recess may be provided on the upper surface of the cover body. The latch guide means protrudes upward from the upper surface of the cover body, a pair of lower guide portions that regulate the posture of the moving latch case from the side, and the posture of the latch case that protrudes downward from the lower surface of the plate body and moves. And an upper guide part that regulates from above.

  In the above configuration, the posture of the latch case that moves along with the opening / closing plate is regulated from the side by the pair of lower guide portions and from the upper side by the upper guide portion, and the posture of the latch case that is moving is Further stable. Therefore, when the player moves the opening / closing plate to the open position, the latch case is more reliably inserted into the latch engaging recess, and the durability is further improved.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve both the operability and durability of the opening / closing plate that opens and closes the medium discharge hole of the storage tray.

It is the front view which looked at the bullet ball game machine provided with the storage structure of one embodiment of the present invention from the front. It is a principal part enlarged view of the storage structure of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the storage structure of FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along arrow IV-IV in FIG. It is a top view which shows the cover body and the opening-and-closing plate of a closed position. It is a partial sectional view showing a latch unit typically, (a) shows the release state of a latch mechanism, and (b) shows the engagement state of a latch mechanism, respectively. It is a top view which shows a cover body and the opening-and-closing plate of an open position. It is a top view which shows the cover body and opening / closing plate in the state which the latch unit moved accompanying the opening / closing plate.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a ball game machine (pachinko machine) that plays a game by launching a game ball (game medium) in the game area of the game board will be described as an example. It can also be applied to other gaming machines such as a revolving type gaming machine (slot machine) that plays games. In the following description, the player side is the front, the ball game machine side is the rear, and the left and right viewed from the front are the left and right directions.

[Schematic configuration of gaming machine]
As shown in FIG. 1, a pachinko machine P includes a vertical rectangular machine frame 1 installed in an island facility of a game hall, a front frame 2 attached to the machine frame 1 so as to be openable and closable, and a front frame. 2, a game board (not shown) accommodated inside, a glass door 4 attached to the front face of the front frame 2 so as to be openable and closable, and having a large opening 8 at the center, and the glass door 4 A transparent glass plate 9 attached to the opening 8, a front board 6 that is provided on the lower side of the front frame 2 so as to be openable and closable, and has an upper plate 5 and a lower plate 10 that respectively accommodate game balls, and a front frame 2, a launching device (not shown) provided at the lower part of 2, a handle 7 attached to the front board 6, and the like. The lower plate 10 has the storage structure of the present invention.

  When the player rotates the handle 7, a game ball is launched by the launching device, and flows down a game area (not shown) of the game board. A plurality of winning holes (not shown) are provided in the gaming area, and when a game ball wins a winning hole, a predetermined number of gaming balls are paid out to the player as a winning ball. The upper plate 5 accommodates game balls paid out as prize balls and supplies the game balls to the launching device. When the upper plate 5 is full, the overflowing game ball flows into the internal passage (not shown), flows down from the lower end opening 9 of the internal passage to the lower plate 10 and is stored. Further, even when the player performs a predetermined operation (for example, lever operation) to discharge the game ball from the upper plate 5, the game ball of the upper plate 5 flows down from the lower end opening 9 of the internal passage to the lower plate 10. Stored.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the lower tray 10 includes a storage tray 11, an opening / closing plate 12, a coil spring (biasing means) 13, and a latch unit 14.

  The storage dish 11 includes an upper dish body 20 and a lower cover body 21 fixed to the lower surface side of the dish body 20. The dish body 20 is an arm that integrally includes a bottom plate portion 22, a front plate portion 29 that rises from the front edge of the bottom plate portion 22, and a pair of side plate portions 23 that rise from the left and right side edges of the bottom wall portion 22. The game ball is stored on the upper surface 22 a of the bottom plate portion 22.

  An upper opening / closing plate guide protrusion 51 and an upper latch guide protrusion (upper guide portion) 52 are integrally formed on the lower surface 22 b of the bottom plate portion 22 of the dish body 20. The upper opening / closing plate guide protrusion 51 protrudes downward from the front side of the lower surface 22b of the bottom plate portion 22, and extends linearly in the left-right direction. The upper latch guide protrusion 52 protrudes downward from the lower surface 22b behind the upper opening / closing plate guide protrusion 51, and extends linearly in the left-right direction. The upper opening / closing plate guide protrusion 51 and the upper latch guide protrusion 52 are set substantially parallel to each other.

  The cover body 21 includes a frame-shaped outer cover body 25 having a rectangular opening 25a at the center, and a rectangular plate-shaped inner cover that is attached to the opening 25a of the outer cover body 25 from below and closes the opening 25a. It is comprised from the cover body 26, and covers the lower surface side of the plate main body 20 as a whole. An opening / closing plate accommodation space 24 is defined between the lower surface 22 b of the bottom plate portion 22 of the dish body 20 and the upper surface 26 a of the inner cover body 26. An operation portion insertion hole 27 extending linearly in the left-right direction is defined between the lower edge of the central portion of the front surface portion of the outer cover body 25 and the upper edge of the central portion of the front surface portion of the inner cover body 26.

  A medium discharge hole that communicates with the bottom plate portion 22 and the inner cover body 26 of the dish main body 20 in the vertical direction at the right end portions of the bottom plate part 22 and the inner cover body 26 and allows the game balls stored in the dish main body 20 to fall. 28 is formed. In order to efficiently discharge the stored game balls from the medium discharge hole 28, the upper surface 22 a of the bottom plate portion 22 of the dish body 20 is inclined toward the medium discharge hole 28. The plate thickness of the bottom plate portion 22 is uniform, and the lower end edges of the upper opening / closing plate guide protrusion 51 and the upper latch guide protrusion 52 are substantially parallel to the upper surface 26 a of the inner cover body 26 and the upper surface 12 a of the opening / closing plate 12. Therefore, the protrusion height from the lower surface 22b of the upper opening / closing plate guide protrusion 51 and the upper latch guide protrusion 52 gradually increases as the distance from the medium discharge hole 28 increases (from the right to the left).

  On the upper surface 26 a of the inner cover body 26, a pair of front opening / closing plate guide protrusions 31, one rear opening / closing plate guide protrusion 32, a stopper 33, a cover side spring locking portion 34, and a latch The engaging plate 35 and a pair of front and rear lower latch guide protrusions (lower guide portions) 36 are integrally formed.

  The front opening / closing plate guide protrusion 31 protrudes upward from the front side of the upper surface 26a of the inner cover body 26 and extends linearly in the left-right direction. The rear opening / closing plate guide protrusion 32 protrudes upward from the rear side of the upper surface 26a and extends linearly in the left-right direction. The stopper 33 protrudes upward from the upper surface 26 a between the right end portions of the pair of front opening / closing plate guide protrusions 31.

  The lower latch guide protrusion 36 protrudes upward from the upper surface 26a of the inner cover body 26 between the front and rear opening / closing plate guide protrusions 31, 32, and extends linearly in the left-right direction. The latch engagement plate 35 protrudes upward from the upper surface 26a between the left end portions of the pair of latch guide protrusions 36, and stands up along the front-rear direction. The latch engagement plate 35 is formed with a latch engagement recess 37 having a rectangular hole shape penetrating in the left-right direction. The pair of front opening / closing plate guide protrusions 31, the rear opening / closing plate guide protrusions 32, and the pair of lower latch guide protrusions 36 are set substantially parallel to each other.

  The opening / closing plate 12 is placed on the upper surface 26 a of the inner cover body 26 in the opening / closing plate accommodation space 24. The opening / closing plate 12 includes an operating portion 41, an engaging protrusion 42, a pair of front and lower front guide grooves 43, a rear lower guide groove 44, and a pair of front and rear lower latch guide receiving grooves 47, The upper surface guide groove 45, the upper latch guide accommodation groove 48, and the opening / closing plate side spring locking portion 46 are integrally formed.

  The operation unit 41 protrudes forward from the front surface portion of the opening / closing plate 12 and is exposed to the outside through the operation unit insertion hole 27. The engaging protrusion 42 has an arrowhead-like tip and protrudes from the left end surface of the opening / closing plate 12 to the left.

  The front lower surface guide groove 43 is recessed on the front side of the lower surface 12b of the opening / closing plate 12, and extends linearly in the left-right direction. The rear lower surface guide groove 44 is recessed on the rear side of the lower surface 12b and extends linearly in the left-right direction. The lower latch guide receiving groove 47 is recessed in the lower surface 12 b between the front lower surface guide groove 43 and the rear lower surface guide groove 44. The pair of front lower surface guide grooves 43 and rear lower surface guide grooves 44 are set substantially parallel to each other.

  The upper surface guide groove 45 is recessed on the front side of the upper surface 12a of the opening / closing plate 12, and extends linearly in the left-right direction. The upper latch guide receiving groove 48 is recessed behind the upper surface guide groove 45 and extends linearly in the left-right direction. The front lower surface guide groove 43, the rear lower surface guide groove 44, the lower latch guide accommodation groove 47, the upper surface guide groove 45, and the upper latch guide accommodation groove 48 extend from the front end side to the rear end side of the opening / closing plate 12. The front lower surface guide groove 43, the upper surface guide groove 45, the front lower surface guide groove 43, the lower latch guide accommodation groove 47, the upper latch guide accommodation groove 48, the lower latch guide accommodation groove 47, and the rear lower surface guide groove 44 Line up in order.

  In the opening / closing plate 12, the opening / closing plate guide protrusions 31, 32 and the lower latch guide protrusion 36 of the inner cover body 26 are respectively inserted into the lower surface guide grooves 43, 44 and the lower latch guide receiving groove 47 of the opening / closing plate 12. In this state, it is placed on the upper surface 26 a of the inner cover body 26.

  A cover body 21 is formed by attaching the inner cover body 26 on which the opening / closing plate 12 is placed to the outer cover body 25 from below, and the cover body 21 is attached to the dish body 20 from below. Four screw insertion holes 38 are formed in the inner cover body 26, and screws (not shown) are inserted into the screw insertion holes 38 from below, and screw holes (not shown) formed in the plate body 20 from below. The cover body 21 and the opening / closing plate 12 are assembled to the dish body 20 by screwing. Further, bolt insertion holes 39 are formed at both left and right ends of the outer cover body 25, and bolts (not shown) that are inserted through the bolt insertion holes 39 from the rear are formed on the front board 6 (see FIG. 1). The lower plate 10 is fixed to the front surface of the front board 6 by being screwed onto the front plate 6.

  In a state where the cover body 21 and the opening / closing plate 12 are assembled to the plate body 20, the upper opening / closing plate guide protrusion 51 and the upper latch guide protrusion 52 of the plate body 20 are the upper surface guide groove 45 and the upper latch of the opening / closing plate 12. It is inserted into the guide receiving groove 48 respectively. The opening / closing plate guide protrusions 31 and 32 of the inner cover body 26 are inserted into the lower surface guide grooves 43 and 44 of the opening / closing plate 12, and the upper opening / closing plate guide protrusions 51 of the plate body 20 are inserted into the upper surface guide groove 45 of the opening / closing plate 12. As a result, the open / close plate 12 is left and right in a state in which movement in the front-rear direction is restricted within a range including a right closing position for closing the medium discharge hole 28 and a left opening position for opening the medium discharge hole 28. It is slidably supported in the direction. The stopper 33 of the inner cover body 26 abuts on the right end surface of the opening / closing plate 12 at the closed position, and restricts the movement of the closing plate 12 at the closed position in the closing direction. Further, the engaging protrusion 42 of the opening / closing plate 12 moves between the front and rear lower latch guide protrusions 36 as the opening / closing plate 12 moves. The lower latch guide receiving groove 47 and the upper latch guide receiving groove 48 of the opening / closing plate 12 are for avoiding interference with the opening / closing plate 12, the lower latch guide protrusion 36 and the upper latch guide protrusion 52 during movement. Although provided, the sliding movement of the opening / closing plate 12 may be guided by these.

  One end (right end) 13 a of the coil spring 13 is locked to the cover side spring locking portion 34 of the inner cover body 26, and the other end (left end) 13 b is the opening / closing plate side spring locking portion of the opening / closing plate 12. 46 is locked. In this state, the coil spring 13 extends beyond the natural length, and biases the opening / closing plate 12 in the closing direction (left direction).

  The latch unit 14 includes a latch case 61 and a latch mechanism 62.

  The latch case 61 has a rectangular box shape with a flange portion 63 at one end (right end). The front and rear side portions on the other end side (left side) of the flange portion 63 of the latch case 61 Locking protrusions 64 that protrude rearward are provided. The outer surface of the locking projection 64 has an inclined surface shape that is inclined from one end side of the latch case 61 toward the other end side (toward the left). The gap in the front-rear direction of the lower latch guide protrusion 36 at the front and rear of the inner cover body 26 is set slightly wider than the width of the flange portion 63 of the latch case 61, and the latch engagement recess 37 of the latch engagement plate 35 is When the latch case 61 is inserted into the latch engaging recess 37 from one end and pressed, the size is set such that the latch engaging recess 37 can be engaged with the gap between the locking projection 64 and the flange portion 63. .

  The latch case 61 is placed between the lower latch guide protrusions 36 in a predetermined posture with the flange 63 facing the right side, and the latch case 61 is directed toward the latch engagement plate 35 along the lower latch guide protrusions 36. When the left end of the latch case 61 is inserted and pressed into the latch engagement recess 37 of the latch engagement plate 35 by sliding to the left, the locking projection 64 reaches the left side of the latch engagement recess 37, The latch case 61 engages with the latch engaging recess 37. That is, the latch case 61 is attached to the storage tray 11 by being inserted into and engaged with the latch engaging recess 37 in a predetermined posture and substantially parallel to the opening / closing direction of the opening / closing plate 12.

As shown in FIG. 6, the latch mechanism 62 includes a movable body 66, the engaging piece 67, and the engaged portion 68, the first protrusion 69, and the second protrusion 70, and a compression spring 71 .

  A long hole 73 that extends linearly in the left-right direction is formed on the upper surface of the latch case 61, and a pin 72 that is inserted into the long hole 73 from below is projected on the upper surface of the moving body 66. When the pin 72 moves in the long hole 73, the moving direction of the moving body 66 is restricted to the left-right direction. The compression spring 71 is disposed between the left end of the moving body 66 and the left surface portion of the latch case 61, and urges the moving body 66 in the right direction. The moving body 66 integrally has a pair of front and rear locking claws 65. The locking claw 65 extends from the moving body 66 so as to protrude rightward. The engagement piece 67 is supported on the upper surface of the moving body 66 so as to be rotatable about a vertical rotation axis. A concave engagement recess 67a is formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the engagement piece 67, and the inner surface (lower surface) of the upper surface of the latch case 61 is engaged with each engagement recess 67a of the engagement piece 67. A possible engaged portion 68 is provided. The first protrusion 69 and the second protrusion 70 are fixed to the inner surface of the left surface portion of the latch case 61, and the cam surface 69a is formed on the first protrusion 69.

  In the released latch mechanism 62, the moving body 66 reaches the right end position by receiving a rightward biasing force from the compression spring 71, as shown in FIG. At the right end position, the pin 72 of the moving body 66 comes into contact with the front end portion of the long hole 73 of the latch case 61 and the movement of the moving body 66 in the right direction is prevented. The pair of locking claws 65 protrude from the flange portion 63 of the latch case 61 in the expanded state.

  The opening / closing plate 12 moves in the opening direction, and the engaging projection 42 enters between the pair of locking claws 65 and contacts and presses against the front end surface of the moving body 66 to resist the urging force of the compression spring 71. When the moving body 66 moves to the left, the pair of the locking claws 65 in the expanded state gradually tilts in the closing direction by coming into contact with the inner surface of the flange portion 63 of the latch case 61, and the engaging protrusions The part 42 is clamped from the front and rear. When the movable body 66 reaches the left end position, the engagement piece 67 rotates counterclockwise by the left end of the engagement piece 67 moving on the cam surface 69a. After the moving body 66 reaches the left end position, the pressing of the moving body 66 by the engaging protrusion 42 is released, and the moving body 66 returns to the right by the urging force of the compression spring 71, as shown in FIG. Thus, the engaging recess 67a of the engaging piece 67 engages with the engaged portion 68 of the latch case 61, the rotation of the engaging piece 67 is prevented, and the moving body 66 is maintained at the engaging position. Thereby, the latching claw 65 is maintained in the pinched state that engages with the engaging protrusion 42, the latch mechanism 14 is switched from the released state to the engaged state, and the opening / closing plate 12 is held in the open position.

  The engaging protrusion 42 presses the moving body 66 against the latch mechanism 62 in the engaged state, and the moving body 66 moves leftward from the engaging position against the urging force of the compression spring 71 to the left end position. When it reaches, the engagement piece 67 rotates counterclockwise by the left end of the engagement piece 67 coming into contact with the second protrusion 70. After the moving body 66 reaches the left end position, the pressing of the moving body 66 by the engaging protrusion 42 is released, and when the moving body 66 returns to the right by the urging force of the compression spring 71, the engaging piece 67 rotates. Therefore, the engaging recess 67a does not engage with the engaged portion 68 of the latch case 61, the moving body 66 returns to the right end position, and the locking claw 65 is in the expanded state.

  As described above, the latch mechanism 62 supported by the latch case 61 is pressed by the engagement protrusion 42 of the opening / closing plate 12 that moves further in the opening direction from the open position, thereby pinching the locking claw 65 ( The state is alternately switched between an engaged state) and an expanded state (released state). In the sandwiched state, the width between the tips of the locking claws 65 is narrowed, the left and right locking claws 65 are engaged with the engagement protrusions 42 from both sides, and the opening / closing plate 12 is held in the open position. In the expanded state, the width between the tips of the locking claws 65 is widened, the engagement between the locking claws 65 and the engaging protrusions 42 is released, and the movement of the opening / closing plate 12 in the closing direction is allowed.

  The lower latch guide protrusion 36 and the upper latch guide protrusion 52 are configured so that the latch case 61 is moved by moving the open / close plate 12 from the open position to the close direction while the latch mechanism 62 and the engagement protrusion 42 are engaged. When the latch case 61 is detached from the latch engagement recess 37 (latch engagement plate 35) and moved in the opening / closing direction together with the opening / closing plate 12, the attitude of the moving latch case 61 is the same as that when the latch case 61 is inserted into the latch engagement plate 35. Restrict to a predetermined posture. The lower latch guide protrusion 36 restricts the posture of the moving latch case 61 from the side (front and rear), and suppresses the occurrence of left and right inclinations of the latch case 61 with respect to the front-rear direction. The upper latch guide protrusion 52 restricts the attitude of the moving latch case 61 from above, and suppresses the floating of the latch case 61 and the occurrence of vertical inclination with respect to the front-rear direction.

  According to the present embodiment, when the locking claw 65 is in the expanded state, as shown in FIG. 5, the opening / closing plate 12 is biased in the closing direction by the coil spring 13 and restricted in movement in the closing direction by the stopper 33. Therefore, the player can store the game ball in the storage tray 11.

  When discharging the game balls stored in the game dish 11, the player operates the operation unit 41 in the opening direction (left direction) and moves the opening / closing plate 12 in the opening direction against the biasing force of the coil spring 13. The medium discharge hole 28 is opened, and the game ball is dropped from the medium discharge hole 28. When the player wants to maintain the opening of the medium discharge hole 28, the player operates the operation portion 41 in the opening direction, moves the opening / closing plate 12 further from the opening position in the opening direction, and presses the latch mechanism 62 by the engagement protrusion 42. Then, the operation of the operation unit 41 is finished. By such a single switching operation (operation of pressing the latch mechanism 62 once by the engaging protrusion 42), the locking claw 65 is switched from the expanded state to the pinched state, and is engaged with the engaging protrusion 42. As shown in FIG. 7, the opening / closing plate 12 is held in the open position.

  When returning the opening / closing plate 12 held in the open position to the closed position, the player performs a switching operation similar to that at the time of opening. By this switching operation, the locking claw 65 is switched from the closed state to the expanded state to release the engagement with the engaging protrusion 42, and the opening / closing plate 12 is closed by the biasing force of the coil spring 13 in the closing direction. Move to position (see FIG. 5).

When the opening / closing plate 12 held in the open position is returned to the closing position, the player erroneously operates in the closing direction without performing the switching operation (without operating the operation unit 41 in the opening direction), so that the opening / closing plate 12 is closed. As shown in FIG. 8, the latch case 61 is latched with the latch engaging recess 37 (latch engaging plate 35) while the latching claw 65 and the engaging projection 42 are engaged. When the opening / closing plate 12 is moved, the lower latch guide protrusion 36 and the upper latch guide protrusion 52 cause the latch case 61 that moves accompanying the opening / closing plate 12 to the latch engaging recess 37 when the opening / closing plate 12 moves. It is restricted to a predetermined posture when inserted and engaged. For this reason, when the player moves the opening / closing plate 12 to the open position by operating the operation unit 41 in the opening direction, the latch case 61 is inserted into the latch engaging recess 37 and engaged therewith. Is held in the open position (see FIG. 7). In other words, the latch case 61 returns to the original state before being released from the latch engaging recess 37, and the holding function of the opening / closing plate 12 by the latch unit 14 is restored. Therefore, even if the player performs an erroneous operation, the latch unit 14 and the like are not easily damaged, and the opening / closing function of the opening / closing plate 12 can be restored without requiring any repairs, thereby improving durability. To do.

  Further, the posture of the latch case 61 that moves along with the opening / closing plate 12 is regulated from the front and the rear by the pair of lower latch guide projections 36 and from the upper side by the upper latch guide projections 52. The posture of the latch case 61 is further stabilized. Therefore, when the player moves the opening / closing plate 12 to the open position, the latch case 61 is more reliably inserted into the latch engaging recess 37, and the durability is further improved.

When the open / close plate 12 held in the open position is forcibly moved in the closing direction, the latch case 61 does not leave the latch engaging recess 37, and the locking claw 65 remains in the closed state. When the engaging protrusion 42 is removed from 65 , the locking claw 65 is switched from the closed state to the expanded state by the first switching operation, and from the expanded state to the closed state by the second switching operation. Therefore, the opening / closing plate 12 is properly held in the open position by such two switching operations.

  As mentioned above, although the embodiment to which the invention made by the present inventor is applied has been described, the present invention is not limited by the discussion and the drawings that form part of the disclosure of the present invention according to this embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the opening / closing direction of the opening / closing plate 12 is the left-right direction has been described. However, the direction is arbitrary, and may be another direction such as the front-rear direction. Moreover, although the storage dish 11 was divided | segmented and formed into the plate main body 20 and the cover body 21, and the cover body 21 was divided into the outer cover body 25 and the inner cover body 26 and demonstrated, the example which divided | segmented these was demonstrated. It is arbitrary whether or not it is formed. Further, when the storage tray 11 is formed by dividing it into the tray body 20 and the cover body 21, the game medium discharge hole 28 of the dish body 20 may be configured not to be covered with the cover body 21. The game medium discharge hole 28 is provided only in the plate body 20. Further, the upper latch guide protrusion 52 may be omitted, and only the lower latch guide protrusion 36 may be provided. That is, it should be added that other embodiments, examples, operation techniques, and the like made by those skilled in the art based on this embodiment are all included in the scope of the present invention.

10: Lower plate 11: Storage plate 12: Opening / closing plate 13: Coil spring (biasing means)
14: Latch unit 20: Dish body 21: Cover body 24: Opening / closing plate housing space 25: Outer cover body 26: Inner cover body 27: Operation portion insertion hole 28: Medium discharge hole 31: Front opening / closing plate guide protrusion 32: Rear Side opening / closing plate guide projection 33: Stopper 34: Cover side spring locking portion 35: Latch engagement plate 36: Lower latch guide projection (lower guide portion)
37: Latch engaging recess 37
41: Operation unit 41
42: engagement protrusion 43: front lower surface guide groove 44: rear lower surface guide groove 45: upper surface guide groove 46: open / close plate side spring locking portion 47: lower latch guide accommodation groove 48: upper latch guide accommodation groove 51: Upper opening / closing plate guide protrusion 52: upper latch guide protrusion (upper guide portion)
61: Latch case 62: Latch mechanism 63: Flange portion 64: Locking protrusion 65: Locking claw P: Pachinko machine

Claims (2)

A storage tray for storing game media;
A medium discharge hole provided in the storage tray and allowing the stored game medium to fall;
It has an engaging projection, and is supported by the storage tray so as to be slidable along a predetermined opening / closing direction within a range including a closing position for closing the medium discharge hole and an opening position for opening the medium discharge hole. An opening and closing plate;
A stopper that is provided on the storage tray and abuts on the opening / closing plate at the closing position to restrict movement of the opening / closing plate in a closing direction;
Biasing means for biasing the opening and closing plate in the closing direction;
A latch engaging recess provided at a predetermined position of the storage tray;
A latch case that is inserted into and engaged with a latch engaging recess in a predetermined posture and substantially parallel to the opening and closing direction of the opening and closing plate, and is supported by the latch case and further opened from the open position. When the engagement protrusion of the opening / closing plate that moves to the position is pressed, the engagement state and the release state are alternately switched. In the engagement state, the engagement protrusion is engaged to engage the opening / closing plate. A latch mechanism that is held in an open position and releases the engagement with the engagement protrusion in the released state to allow the opening and closing plate to move in the closing direction;
The latch case is disengaged from the latch engagement recess when the open / close plate is moved in the closing direction from the open position while the latch mechanism and the engagement protrusion are engaged with each other. A game medium storage structure, comprising: latch guide means for restricting a posture of the moving latch case to the predetermined posture when moving in the opening and closing direction together with the opening and closing plate. A storage structure for a game medium according to claim 1,
The storage tray has an upper tray body that stores game media, and a lower cover body that is fixed to the tray body and defines an open / close plate accommodation space between the lower surface of the dish body,
The medium discharge hole is formed at least in the dish body,
The opening / closing plate is disposed in the opening / closing plate housing space and moves on the upper surface of the cover body,
The latch engaging recess is provided on the upper surface of the cover body,
The latch guide means protrudes upward from the upper surface of the cover body, protrudes downward from the lower surface of the plate body, and moves by a pair of lower guide portions that regulate the posture of the moving latch case from the side. A storage structure for a game medium, comprising: an upper guide portion that regulates a posture of the latch case from above.

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