JP6394892B2 - Game ball alignment rail - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure of a game ball alignment rail that causes game balls to flow down in an aligned state and is supplied to a ball dispensing device.

  The invention of Patent Document 1 allows the pachinko balls to be aligned so that the pachinko balls can always be supplied smoothly and smoothly to the ball dispensing device without any additional parts such as a ball leveling member and a vibration generator. Therefore, the rail alignment rail 2 is provided in an inclined shape so that the pachinko balls P flow down due to their own weight, and the height of the side walls 17a to 17d can be stacked in multiple stages. By making the width of the flow path surrounded by the both side walls substantially constant so that the pachinko sphere can flow down in a single row, the flow path is formed by making the both side walls into a longitudinal corrugated plate shape that is repeatedly bent in the downward direction of the sphere flow. The pachinko balls piled up in multiple stages flowing down meander at the same time.

In the invention of Patent Document 2, for the purpose of regularly rectifying the game balls from the ball storage tank by the ball rectification path and sending them to the payout device, the game machine includes a ball storage tank for storing game balls, A payout device for paying out game balls stored in the ball storage tank to a player; and a ball rectifying passage for aligning the game balls supplied from the ball storage tank and sending them to the payout device The ball rectifying path has a first surface inclined at a predetermined angle for guiding the game ball supplied from the ball storage tank to the payout device side with respect to the horizontal direction, and with respect to the horizontal direction. A plurality of second surfaces inclined at an angle larger than the predetermined angle are alternately arranged.
JP 2006-149568 JP 2005-270182 A

  However, a ball supply device in which game balls are stacked in two or more stages and flow in a width of two or more is common, and if this is arranged in a single stage or one, it becomes easy to cause ball clogging. There is a problem that the probability is high, and the countermeasure has not been sufficient in the conventional invention. In addition, the cost reduction and slimming of the game ball alignment rails were insufficient.

  The present invention intends to invent the invention from a point of view that has never been conceived so far, and its purpose is to supply game balls to the payout device in one step and one row without causing the game balls to be clogged. It is to provide a game ball alignment rail that can be used.

  The game ball alignment rail of the present invention has a bottom plate and a pair of side plates erected from both sides of the bottom plate, forms a passage through which the game ball passes, and is inclined so that the game ball flows down by its own weight. In the game ball alignment rail attached to the base plate, the passage is formed in a linear shape in the longitudinal direction, and at least one step is provided on the bottom plate, and one of the pair of side plates is provided in the region of the passage provided with the step. A plurality of ridges are provided so as to protrude inward from the side surface, and no ridges are provided on the inner side of the other side plates, and the width of the passage is set to be larger than one game ball and smaller than two. It is characterized by that.

  It is preferable that the protrusion has a shape extending in the vertical direction.

  The interval between the protrusions is preferably less than 3 game balls.

  It is preferable that the protrusion has a square cross section.

In the second passage region on the downstream side of the step and the first passage region having a plurality of ridges, on top of the side plate, greater than the game balls 1 the height of the passage, and less restricted than two It is preferable to provide a spherical leveling plate to cover the passage.

  It is preferable that the first passage is formed to be inclined with respect to the outlet of the game ball storage tank and the second passage in a plan view. Thereby, it can arrange | position according to the component shape of the inner frame of a game machine.

  According to the invention of claim 1, by reducing the number of collisions with the projection of the game ball and making the path linear, the movement of the zigzag movement of movement can be made smaller than the meandering movement by the conventional meandering path, The movement speed and rotation speed can be increased by approaching the movement of a linear shape. Moreover, it becomes easy to arrange the game balls stacked in two or more stages on one stage. Furthermore, the side ridges or bottom surface steps can be made simple, and cost reduction and slimming are possible.

  According to the invention of claim 2, since the protrusion can be formed small, extra movement of the game ball can be eliminated, clogging can be effectively prevented, and cost reduction and slimming can be further promoted.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the zigzag motion of the game ball can be brought close to a linear motion.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the speed of the zigzag movement of the game ball can be increased.

  According to the invention of claim 5, since the height of the stacking of game balls can be regulated from above, it is possible to prevent clogging of balls.

It is a perspective view of the game ball alignment rail of the embodiment of the present invention. It is also a plan view. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2. It is a front view showing the flow of game balls by attaching the game ball alignment rail of the embodiment of the present invention to a ball storage tank. It is the perspective view which looked at the game machine with which the game ball alignment rail of this embodiment was attached to the inner frame of a game machine from the back side. It is a back view similarly.

  A game ball alignment rail 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The game ball alignment rail 1 is arranged on the upper part of the gaming machine 100 as shown in FIGS.

  The game ball alignment rail 1 of the present embodiment has a bottom plate 2 and a pair of side plates 3 and 4 erected from both sides of the bottom plate 2, thereby forming a passage 5 through which the game ball K passes, The game ball K is attached in an inclined manner so that the height decreases in the traveling direction so that the game ball K flows down due to its own weight. The side plates 3, 4 and the passage 5 are formed in a linear shape in the longitudinal direction, and at least one (here, two) steps 6 are provided at intervals along the longitudinal direction of the bottom plate 2. The game ball alignment rail 1 includes a first passage area A at the front and a second passage area B at the rear. In the first passage region A, a plurality of (three in this case) protrusions 7 project inward from the inner surface of one side plate 3 of the step 6 and the pair of side plates 3 and 4 into the passage 5. The protrusion is not provided inside the other side plate 4. In the second passage region B, the step 5 is not provided in the passage 5, and a plurality (two in this case) of the ridges 7 from the inner side surface of one side plate 3 of the pair of side plates 3 and 4 to the inside. It is provided so as to protrude toward the outside, and no protrusion is provided inside the other side plate 4. The width of the passage 5 is set to be larger than the diameter of one game ball K and smaller than the diameter of two game balls, and the game balls K1 can pass through in a state of being aligned in one row. Hereinafter, each configuration will be described in detail.

  The width of the bottom plate 2 is more than 1 time of the diameter of the game ball K and less than 2 times, preferably more than 1 time and less than 1.5 times. This is to make a so-called single passage.

  The bottom plate 2 includes dust discharge holes 3a and 4a at the lower end. The height of the side plates 3 and 4 is preferably larger than the diameter of two game balls K and smaller than the diameter of three. Here, the height of the side plates 3 and 4 is equal to or less than the diameter of two and a half of the game balls K. It is sufficient if the height is such that the game ball K does not overflow.

  The passage 5 is formed by the bottom plate 2 and the side plates 3 and 4 which are linear plate materials, and is a linear passage.

  The height of the step 6 is less than the radius of one game ball K, preferably 1/3 of the radius, particularly preferably less than 1/6. The distance in the longitudinal direction of the step 6 is not less than the diameter of one game ball K and less than 3, particularly preferably less than 2. The width of the step 6 is equal to or less than the width of the bottom plate 2.

  In addition to the first passage area A, the protrusions 7 are additionally provided in the second passage area B which is the rear portion of the passage 5. The protrusion 7 has a linear shape extending in the vertical direction, and protrudes toward the inside of the passage 5. The height is set to be equal to or larger than the diameter of the game balls K1 to 2 below the height of the side plates 3 and 4, and the lateral width in the longitudinal direction and the protruding length in the short direction are equivalent to one game ball. It is set to be less than the radius, preferably 1/3, particularly preferably less than 1/6. The intervals in the longitudinal direction of these protrusions 7 are less than 3 game balls, preferably less than 2 balls, and 1 ball or more. The ridge 7 has a square cross section, and here, a triangular shape with a pointed portion facing the inside of the passage 5, but may be a semicircular shape, an elliptical shape, or other shapes.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the first passage area A is connected to the outlet of the game ball storage tank 101 and the second passage area B in a plan view, and the connection portion is refracted. The This is to adapt to the shape of the part 102a (see FIG. 5) of the inner frame 102. If necessary, the first passage area A and the second passage area B may be formed in a straight line shape.

  In the second passage region B downstream of the first passage region A provided with the step 6 and the plurality of protrusions 7, the height of the game ball K flowing through the passage 5 is one step above the side plates 3 and 4. As described above, the ball leveling plate 8 that restricts the height of the passage 5 to be larger than the diameter of one game ball K1 and smaller than the diameter of two game balls K is provided so as to cover the passage 5. The sphere leveling plate 8 has a height at the front end portion higher than the height at the rear end portion, and has a shape in which the height gradually decreases in the traveling direction, and has a linear shape at the rear portion. This is because even if the game balls K are stacked in two steps, the game balls K are collided with the ball leveling plate 8 and corrected to one step.

  In order to fix the sphere leveling plate 8, as shown in FIG. 1 and the like, two pairs of attachment portions 9 having two pairs of through holes are provided on the upper portions of the side plates 3 and 4, and a shaft portion 8a is inserted into the through holes. doing.

  The game ball alignment rail 1 includes a connection portion 10 connected to the outlet of the ball storage tank 101. The connecting portion 10 extends in the longitudinal direction of the sphere storage tank 101. In addition, the game ball alignment rail 1 includes attachment portions 11 on the bottom surfaces of the upstream end portion and the downstream end portion, respectively, and is fixed to a component 102a (see FIG. 5) of the inner frame 102.

  Next, the operation and effect of the game ball alignment rail 1 will be described. The game ball K flowing down from the island is once received by the ball storage tank 101 and then the game ball K urged by its own weight flows down to the game ball alignment rail 1. By reducing the number of collisions and making the passage 5 linear, the zigzag motion of the movement of the game ball K can be made smaller compared to the meandering movement by the conventional meandering passage, closer to the movement of the linear shape. The moving speed and rotation speed can be increased, and by dropping the upper game balls K stacked between the game balls K at intervals, it becomes easier to align the two or more stacked balls into one step. Clogging can be reliably prevented. Further, the bottom surface step 6 or the side protrusions 7 are small and the number can be made simple, and the game ball K flows down into the passage 5 in one step and one passage. It can also be shortened, enabling cost reduction and slimming.

  The protrusion 7 has a shape extending in the vertical direction, and its height is set larger than the interval of the step 6 or the diameter of one game ball, and the protrusion length of the protrusion 7 into the passage 5 can be made small. The extra movement of the game ball K can be eliminated, the game ball K can be reliably prevented from being clogged, and cost reduction and slimming can be further promoted.

  Since the interval between the protrusions 7 is about the diameter of one or two game balls, the zigzag motion of the game ball K can be brought close to a linear motion. Moreover, since the protrusion 7 has a square cross section, the speed of the zigzag motion of the game ball K can be increased.

  In the second passage region B on the downstream side of the first passage region A provided with the step 6 and the plurality of protrusions 7, the height is larger than the diameter of one game ball at the upper part of the side plates 3 and 4, and Since the ball leveling plate 8 that regulates smaller than two diameters is provided so as to cover the passage 5, the stacking height of the game balls K can be regulated from above, and ball clogging can be reliably prevented.

  Since the first passage area A is formed to be inclined with respect to the outlet of the game ball storage tank 101 and the second passage area B in plan view, the first passage area A is arranged so as to be adapted to the part 102a of the inner frame 102 of the gaming machine. be able to.

  In addition, the example which applied the game ball alignment rail 1 of the game machine of this invention embodiment to the game machine 100 is demonstrated with reference to FIGS. The game ball alignment rail 1 is connected to an outlet on the downstream side of the ball storage tank 101 and is formed in an upper one side (right side) region of the back surface of the inner frame 102. The sphere supply device is divided into a first sphere passage unit C extending in the horizontal direction and a second sphere passage unit D extending in the vertical direction, and a rectangular inner frame 102 so that these are continuous in an L shape. It was attached to. The first ball passage unit C and the second ball passage unit D are formed of a light-transmitting synthetic resin material so that the state where the game ball K flows down can be easily seen. The inner frame 102 includes a rectangular opening 103 and is attached to a vertical frame on one side of a rectangular outer frame 105 having the rectangular opening 104 by a hinge 106 so as to be opened and closed. The first sphere passage unit C and the second sphere passage unit D are attached to the inner frame 102 by screws (not shown).

  The first ball passage unit C is provided on the back side of the inner frame 102 and receives the game ball K, temporarily stores it, and discharges it downstream, and is connected to the downstream side of the ball storage tank 101. And a game ball alignment rail 1 that receives the game balls K flowing out of the ball storage tank 101 and guides the alignment in one row in the longitudinal direction.

  The game ball alignment rail 1 has a single-row structure in which one ball flows. At the exit of the game ball alignment rail 1 and the entrance of the basket 108, the game ball K is changed in the traveling direction by 90 degrees in the vertical direction.

  The second ball passage unit D includes a basket 108, a ball payout device 109, and a guide rod 110 that guides the game ball K paid out from the ball payout device 109 to a ball tray (not shown). . A ball break switch (not shown) for detecting whether or not the game ball K is present in the basket 108 and a ball removal mechanism (not shown) for discharging the game ball K to the outside of the machine are provided.

  The ball payout device 109 includes a basket for paying out game balls K (prize balls, rental balls), a payout unit, a ball passage sensor, a motor, and the like. The guide rod 110 allows the game ball K (prize ball) discharged from the ball payout device 109 to flow down to an upper plate (not shown).

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications and the like can be made without departing from the technical idea of the present invention. Is included in the technical scope. Of course, those skilled in the art will be able to make numerous improvements, changes, substitutions, deletions, additions, etc. without departing from the spirit of the present invention in view of the disclosure of the present invention.

  For example, although application to a pachinko machine has been described as an example of a gaming machine, the invention may be applied to other gaming machines such as a sparrow ball gaming machine and an arrangement ball gaming machine.

  For example, the shape / structure of the step 6 or the protrusion 7 is not limited to that of the embodiment, and can be changed within an appropriate range. Although the protrusion 7 is provided in the 2nd channel | path area | region B, this may be eliminated.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Game ball alignment rail 2 ... Bottom plate 3, 4 ... Side plate 3a, 4a ... Dust discharge hole 5 ... Channel 6 ... Step 7 ... Projection 8 ... Ball Leveling plate 8a ... shaft portion 9 ... mounting portion 10 ... connecting portion 11 ... mounting portion A ... first passage region B ... second passage region C ... first sphere Passage unit D ... second ball passage unit 100 ... game machine 101 ... game ball storage tank 102 ... inner frame 102a ... component 103 ... opening 104 ... opening 105 ... Outer frame 106 ... Hinge 108 ... 竪 樋 109 ... Ball delivery device 110 ... Guide 樋 K ... Game ball

Claims (5)

In the game ball alignment rail that has a bottom plate and a pair of side plates that are erected from both sides of the bottom plate, forms a passage through which the game ball passes, and is attached in an inclined manner so that the game ball flows down by its own weight,
The passage is formed in a linear shape in the longitudinal direction;
At least one step is provided on the bottom plate, and a plurality of ridges are provided so as to protrude inward from one inner side surface of the pair of side plates in the region of the passage provided with the step. No ridges on the inside,
The game ball alignment rail, wherein the width of the passage is set to be larger than one game ball and smaller than two.   The game ball alignment rail according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion has a shape extending in a vertical direction.   2. The game ball alignment rail according to claim 1, wherein an interval between the protrusions is less than 3 game balls.   4. The game ball alignment rail according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion has a square cross section. In the second passage region on the downstream side of the step and the first passage region having a plurality of ridges, on top of the side plate, greater than the game balls 1 the height of the passage, and less restricted than two The game ball alignment rail according to claim 1, wherein a ball leveling plate is provided so as to cover the passage.

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