JP7099211B2 - Ball payout device and gaming machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a ball payout device and a game machine for paying out a game ball to a ball plate in a game machine.

Generally, in a gaming machine such as a pachinko machine, a gaming ball is supplied from the back side of the gaming machine to the front side of the gaming machine. A storage tank for storing a large number of game balls is installed in the upper part of the back surface of the game machine, and the game balls are guided from the storage tank to the lower ball payout device via the ball alignment passage and the ball passage.

The ball payout device pays out the game balls of the number of balls ordered to be paid out to the upper ball plate or the lower ball plate located at the lower part of the front surface of the game machine. The ball payout device sends out the game balls using a screw or a slot bucket, counts the sent out game balls with a downstream counting sensor, and manages the number of payouts. Such a ball payout device is provided with a ball pulling structure for pulling out a game ball left in a ball supply passage.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes a configuration in which a side of a ball payout device is used as a ball discharge passage in a ball payout device of a type in which a horizontally placed screw is rotated to send out a game ball. According to this, an open / close type ball pulling member (ball pulling valve) forming a part of the passage wall of the ball supply passage is provided on the side of the ball payout device, and the shape of the passage upstream of the ball supply passage is a game. It is formed in a shape that guides the ball to the ball discharge passage. By opening the ball ejection member to open the ball ejection passage, the game ball flowing down the ball supply passage can be guided to the ball ejection passage and extracted.

Further, in Patent Document 2, in a ball payout device of a type in which a vertically placed screw is rotated to send out a game ball, a ball payout outlet and a ball takeout port are provided side by side, and a rotary ball pulling member (ball pulling valve) is provided. The configuration is described in which the ball ejection port is closed in the normal state, and the ball ejection port is opened to close the ball payout outlet in the ball removing state. The ball pulling member has a ball pulling guide that closes the ball paying outlet, and guides the game ball that has flowed down the ball supply passage to the ball pulling port by the ball pulling guide.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-206329 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-136079

The back side of the gaming machine in which the ball payout device is arranged is a space for installing a gaming board including a large display device and an accessory device arranged in the gaming area of the gaming machine. Therefore, it is always required to reduce the size and space of the ball payout device so that the game board can be further increased in size.

In the configuration of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to secure a space for providing a ball discharge passage on the side of the ball payout device, and there is a problem in space saving. Further, since the game ball is guided to the ball discharge passage by the shape of the ball supply passage, the degree of freedom in the passage configuration is low, the external dimension of the ball payout device becomes large, and space saving cannot be achieved.

On the other hand, in the configuration of Patent Document 2, it is not necessary to secure a space for providing a ball discharge passage on the side of the ball payout device. However, the ball pulling guide that guides the game ball to the ball pulling port is a tongue piece-shaped member that protrudes so as to close the ball payout outlet, and is configured to receive the game ball flowing down on the upper surface of the tongue piece-shaped member. Therefore, if it is used for a long period of time, the ball pulling guide may be damaged, and it is undeniable that there is a problem in durability.

Further, in any of the configurations of Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is possible to pull out the game ball as long as the ball pulling member blocking the ball discharging passage or the ball pulling opening is moved, regardless of the rotation position of the screw. ing. In other words, this means that there is a margin in the passage structure, and the external dimensions of the ball payout device are increased accordingly.

An object of the present invention is to provide a ball payout device which is smaller in size, more space-saving, and has excellent durability, and a gaming machine equipped with the ball payout device.

The present invention employs the following configuration in order to solve the above problems.

That is, in the ball payout device according to one aspect of the present invention, a screw and a ball are provided on the outer periphery of the shaft portion and are arranged substantially horizontally to send the game ball in the ball passage to the ball payout outlet. In the payout state, the outer peripheral wall surface forms a part of the passage wall of the ball passage to guide the game ball in the ball passage to the ball payout outlet, and in the ball removal state, the outer peripheral wall surface is the passage wall of the ball passage. The screw is provided with a ball removing member that opens a ball discharging passage that guides a game ball in the ball passage to a ball ejection port without forming a part of the ball passage, and a control unit that controls the drive of the screw. In the state of being stopped at the rotation position of, the spiral protrusion closes the ball payout passage communicating with the ball payout outlet in the ball passage, and the ball removal member and the ball passage have the screw in a predetermined rotation position. When stopped at, the game ball in contact with the portion of the spiral protrusion blocking the ball payout passage is formed so as to enter the ball discharge passage, and the control unit stops the screw. At that time, the screw is stopped at the predetermined rotation position.

According to the above configuration, when the screw is stopped, the ball payout passage is blocked by the spiral protrusion, and the game ball flowing through the ball passage abuts on the spiral protrusion and stops flowing down. Here, the screw is controlled to stop at a predetermined rotation position by the control of the control unit.

The ball pulling member and the ball passage are formed so that the game ball in contact with the portion of the spiral protrusion blocking the ball payout passage enters the ball discharge passage when the screw is stopped at a predetermined rotation position. Has been done.

As a result, when the screw is stopped at a predetermined rotation position, the ball ejection member is set to the ball extraction state and the ball ejection passage is opened to guide the portion of the spiral protrusion that is blocking the ball ejection passage. It can function as a member to guide the game ball that has stopped flowing to the ball discharge passage.

As described above, with the above configuration, it is not necessary to give the ball passage a shape for guiding to the ball discharge passage, and the freedom of the passage configuration can be increased. Further, since the spiral protrusion has sufficient strength as compared with the above-mentioned tongue piece-shaped ball pulling guide member, there is no problem in durability even if the game ball is used as a member for guiding the game ball to the ball discharge passage. do not have. Further, with the above configuration, since the ball discharge passage can be provided side by side with the ball discharge passage, it is not necessary to secure a space for providing the ball discharge passage on the side of the ball discharge device.

Further, according to the above configuration, when the screw is stopped at a predetermined rotation position, it is necessary to allow the game ball to enter the ball discharge passage in the ball-pulled state. However, this is not the case when the screw is stopped at a position other than a predetermined rotation position, and a passage configuration may be included in which the ball cannot be pulled out even if the ball discharge passage is opened.

That is, in the above configuration, the ball can be pulled out regardless of the rotation position of the screw when stopped by deliberately adopting a passage structure in which the game ball in the ball passage cannot be pulled out even when the ball is pulled out. It is possible to reduce the external dimensions of the ball payout device as compared with the above. Even if the configuration is extremely tight, the control unit reliably stops the screw at a predetermined rotation position, so that the game ball can be pulled out without any problem.

In the ball payout device according to one aspect of the present invention, the ball removing member further receives the load of the game ball stopped in contact with the blocked portion on the outer peripheral wall surface, and is on the outer peripheral wall surface. The end portion in the direction in which the screw sends out the game ball may be configured to be located in the delivery direction from the position of the center of gravity of the stopped game ball.

According to the above configuration, the ball pulling member can easily allow the game ball to enter the ball discharging passage by using the portion of the spiral protrusion blocking the ball payout passage as a guide member. It can be realized.

In the ball payout device according to one aspect of the present invention, the position closer to the ball payout outlet than the screw is closed by the spiral protrusion in conjunction with the ball pulling member being in the ball pulling state. It is also possible to provide a ball supporting portion for supporting the game ball by blocking the ball payout passage.

According to the above configuration, even if the leading game ball is stopped at a position where the center of gravity is located on the ball payout passage side and the ball pulling member is pulled out but does not fall into the ball ejection passage, the ball is pulled out. By pulling out the member, the leading game ball can be supported by the ball supporting portion that prevents the ball payout passage in conjunction with the member. Since the position where the ball carrier blocks the ball payout passage is closer to the ball payout exit than when the screw closes with the spiral protrusion, a gap is secured for the second and subsequent game balls to pass out to the ball discharge passage. Then, the second and subsequent game balls escape to the ball ejection passage.

As a result, the game ball can be reliably pulled out by putting the ball pulling member in the ball pulling state regardless of the stop position of the screw.

In the ball payout device according to one aspect of the present invention, the ball supporting portion may be configured to be integrally provided with the ball removing member.

According to the above configuration, since the ball supporting portion is provided integrally with the ball pulling member, it is possible to easily realize the interlocking with the movement of the ball pulling member.

In the ball payout device according to one aspect of the present invention, the ball supporting portion may further have a configuration in which the surface on which the game ball is supported has an inclination that becomes lower toward the ball discharging passage. ..

According to the above configuration, the leading game ball supported on the ball-supporting portion rolls according to the inclination of the surface of the ball-supporting portion that supports the game ball after all the game balls have passed through the ball discharge passage. Then, it falls into the ball discharge passage. As a result, it becomes unnecessary to drop the leading game ball supported on the ball supporting portion into the ball discharge passage by hooking a finger or the like, and workability is improved.

In the ball payout device according to one aspect of the present invention, the predetermined rotation position may be further configured to be a home position in which the game ball sent out by the screw to the ball payout outlet is made to stand by.

Conventionally, in a ball payout device, after performing a ball payout operation, the screw is stopped at a home position in a state where the next game ball to be sent is made to stand by in preparation for the next ball payout operation. .. Therefore, the predetermined rotation position can be set as such a home position. As a result, the existing screw control of the ball payout device can be used as it is.

The ball payout device according to one aspect of the present invention further has a measurement sensor for measuring a game ball at the ball payout outlet, and the control unit sequentially rotates the screw at a predetermined angle, at that time. , The home position may be determined by using the detection result by the measurement sensor.

According to the above configuration, the home position can be determined using the detection result of the measurement sensor, which is an indispensable configuration in the ball payout device, without using the sensor for detecting the rotation position of the screw. The number of points can be reduced and the external dimensions can be made smaller.

In the ball payout device according to one aspect of the present invention, the ball passage further provides an upper ball passage through which a flowing game ball flows laterally along the axial direction of the screw in a substantially vertical direction in a plan view. The screw has the spiral protrusion against the game ball flowing in from the upper ball passage from the side along the axial direction in a plan view to stop the flow and make it stand by. The game ball that has been kept on standby due to rotation may be moved along the axial direction and sent out to the ball payout passage.

According to the above configuration, the flowing game ball is flowed into the side of the screw along the axial direction from the substantially vertical direction with respect to the screw arranged in the substantially horizontal direction, and is directed to the side of the game ball. The spiral protrusions are brought into contact with each other.

In such a configuration, since the upper ball passage in the substantially vertical direction is arranged so as to have a positional relationship of the twisted shaft on the side of the shaft of the screw arranged in the substantially horizontal direction, it is affected by the screw shaft length. It is possible to arrange the upper ball passage at an arbitrary horizontal position without any problem. Similarly, the lower ball passage can be arranged at an arbitrary horizontal position.

As a result, the horizontal movement distance from the ball standby position where the game ball flowing down by the screw is made to stand by to the ball release position (release point described later) where the game ball which is made to stand by the screw is moved in the axial direction and released. (The amount of movement of the game ball along the axial direction of the screw) can be kept within one pitch of the screw (the distance at which the ball in the ball standby position is paid out and the next game ball reaches the ball standby position). It will be possible. Since one pitch of the screw is set smaller than the diameter of the game ball, the amount of movement of the game ball along the axial direction of the screw can be made smaller than the size of one game ball.

By reducing the amount of movement of the game ball along the axial direction of the screw in this way, the distance required for the ball passage along the axial direction of the screw is shortened, and the length of the screw is lengthened along the axial direction of the screw. It is possible to reduce the size of the device and save space by reducing the size of the device as compared with the conventional configuration that requires a ball passage having a distance equal to or longer than that of the device.

Moreover, according to the above configuration, since the game ball flows into the screw from a direction substantially orthogonal to the axial direction (substantially vertical direction), the game ball adjacent to the leading game ball (the most downstream game ball) It is difficult for the screw to get caught. Therefore, it is not necessary to devise a special shape for avoiding the biting of the game ball adjacent to the spiral protrusion.

The gaming machine according to one aspect of the present invention includes the above-mentioned ball payout device.

As described above, the ball payout device according to one aspect of the present invention is smaller, more space-saving, and has excellent durability. Therefore, a gaming machine equipped with such a ball payout device is available. , The space on the back side can be effectively used to further increase the size of the game board.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a ball payout device which is smaller in size, more space-saving, and has excellent durability, and a gaming machine equipped with the ball payout device.

An example of application of the ball payout device according to the present embodiment is illustrated, and is a perspective view showing the configuration of a gaming machine equipped with the ball payout device. It is the figure which showed the back side of the said gaming machine, (a) is a rear view, (b) is a perspective view. It is a perspective view of the said ball payout device, and is the view seen from the side which operates with it attached to the gaming machine. It is a perspective view of the ball payout device, and is a view seen from the side facing the back surface of the gaming machine on the side opposite to the operating side. It is a perspective view which shows the state which the base of the ball payout device was removed, and is the figure which was seen from the side which operates. It is a top view of the ball payout device. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. It is a figure which shows the normal state | It is a front view which looked at the ball payout device in a state from the operation surface side. It is explanatory drawing which shows the payout operation of the said ball payout device, the cross-sectional view described in the upper part corresponds to the cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in the cross-sectional view taken along the line arrow. It is explanatory drawing which shows the payout operation of the said ball payout device, and is the figure which shows the continuation operation of FIG. It is a front view which saw from the operation surface side the state which pulled out the ball pulling member in the said ball payout device and opened the ball discharge passage. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. 12, showing a state in which the screw 10 is in the home position. It is a block diagram of the control system which controls the ball payout device. It is a flowchart of the payout control executed in the said ball payout device. It is a flowchart of the initialization operation in the flowchart of FIG. It is a flowchart of the payout operation in the flowchart of FIG. It is a figure which shows the ball pulling state which performs the ball pulling operation in the said ball payout device, (a) is the perspective view which looked at the ball payout device with the base removed from the operation surface side, (b) is the base outside. It is a front view which looked at the ball payout device in the state which was done from the operation surface side. It is a front view which looked at the state which removed the base in the ball payout device of a modification from the operation surface side, (a) is a figure which shows the normal state which a payout operation is possible, (b) is a ball pulling out state. It is a figure which shows. (A) is a perspective view of a state in which the ball pulling member is pulled out at a position where the screw in the ball payout device is moved three sets from the home position, and (b) is a perspective view of this state as seen from the operation surface side. It is a more seen front view. (A) is a perspective view of a state in which the ball pulling member is pulled out at a position where the screw has moved three sets from the home position in another embodiment of the ball payout device, as viewed from the operation surface side, and (b) is this state. Is a front view seen from the operation surface side. It is a perspective view of the ball pulling member in the ball payout device of the said another embodiment. (A) and (b) are diagrams showing the positional relationship between the ball supporting portion, the upper ball passage and the lower ball passage constituting the ball supply passage, and the ball discharge passage in the ball payout device of the other embodiment. Yes, (a) indicates a ball payout state, and (b) indicates a ball removal state. (A) and (b) are diagrams for explaining a ball-pulling operation of pulling out a ball-pulling member at a position where the screw has moved three sets from the home position in the ball-discharging device of the other embodiment. It shows before pulling out the ball pulling member, and (b) shows the state which pulled out the ball pulling member.

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to one aspect of the present invention (hereinafter, also referred to as “the present embodiment”) will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below are merely examples of the present invention in all respects. Needless to say, various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. That is, in carrying out the present invention, a specific configuration according to the embodiment may be appropriately adopted.

§1 Application example First, an example of a situation in which the present invention is applied will be described. FIG. 1 illustrates an application example of the ball payout device 1 according to the present embodiment, and is a perspective view showing a configuration of a gaming machine 100 on which the ball payout device 1 is mounted. The gaming machine 100 is a pachinko machine.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the gaming machine 100 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the gaming machine 100 includes a gaming area 101, a handle 102, an upper ball plate 103, a lower ball plate 104, and the like. The game area 101 is an area in which the game ball (game medium) launched by the handle 102 moves. The handle 102 is a device for launching a game ball, and when the user holds the handle 102 in a rotated state, the game ball is continuously fired and launched into the game area 101.

The upper ball plate 103 stores the game balls acquired in the game or the game balls lent out by the ball lending operation, and the lower ball plate 104 stores the game balls overflowing from the upper ball plate 103. That is, when a game ball wins a prize in the winning opening (not shown) provided in the game area 101, a number of game balls set according to the winning opening are distributed to the ball payout device installed on the back side of the game machine 100. 1 (see FIG. 2) is paid out to the upper ball plate 103 or the lower ball plate 104.

2A and 2B are views showing the back side of the gaming machine 100, where FIG. 2A is a rear view and FIG. 2B is a perspective view. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a storage tank 105, a ball alignment passage 106, a vertical ball passage 107, a ball payout device 1, and a game board 109 are installed on the back surface of the game machine 100. ..

The storage tank 105 is provided in the upper part of the back surface of the gaming machine 100, and is a storage unit for temporarily storing the gaming balls supplied to the gaming machine 100 from the supply chute (not shown) of the gaming island. The ball alignment passage 106 is a passage for aligning and flowing game balls, and the upstream side is connected to the storage tank 105 and the downstream side is connected to the vertical ball passage 107. The vertical ball passage 107 is a passage for dropping a game ball from above to below (in the direction of gravity), and the upstream side is connected to the ball alignment passage 106 and the downstream side is connected to the ball payout device 1. As a result, the game balls supplied to the game machine 100 from the supply chute (not shown) on the game island are supplied to the ball payout device 1 via the storage tank 105, the ball alignment passage 106, and the vertical ball passage 107 in this order. Will be done.

When the ball payout device 1 receives a payout signal (a signal instructing payout of a predetermined number of game balls) from the payout control unit (not shown), the ball payout device 1 discharges a predetermined number of game balls to the upper ball plate 103 or the lower ball plate 104. It is a device to (pay out). The ball payout device 1 is attached to the back side of the game machine 100, and the operation for the ball payout device 1 is performed from the back side of the game machine 100.

The game board 109 occupies the largest area on the back side of the game machine 100, and is a large display device or accessory device for displaying an effect image on the board surface of the game area 101 (see FIG. 1). It is equipped with a control unit and the like to control.

§2 Configuration example [Embodiment 1]
Hereinafter, embodiments of one aspect of the present invention will be illustrated with reference to FIGS. 3 to 18.

(Configuration of ball payout device 1)
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the ball payout device 1 of the present embodiment mounted on the gaming machine 100, and is a view seen from the side of operation while being attached to the gaming machine 100. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the ball payout device 1, which is a view seen from the side facing the back surface of the gaming machine 100 on the side opposite to the operating side. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the ball payout device 1 with the base 2A removed, which will be described later, and is a view seen from the operating side. Hereinafter, the operating side is referred to as an operation surface side, and the side facing the back surface of the gaming machine 100 on the opposite side of the operation surface side is referred to as a facing surface side.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the ball payout device 1 includes a resin case 2, and the case 2 includes a base 2A arranged on the operation surface side and a cover 2B arranged on the facing surface side. Have. The base 2A and the cover 2B are fixed to each other with screws or the like in a butted state. Inside the case 2, a ball supply passage (ball passage) 3 is formed and a screw 10 is arranged (see FIGS. 4 and 5). As will be described later, the screw 10 is arranged sideways in the middle of the ball supply passage 3. A screw cover 14 that covers the outer peripheral portion of the screw 10 is attached to the facing surface side of the cover 2B.

A motor 7 for rotating the screw 10 is arranged on the right side surface of the ball payout device 1 when viewed from the operation surface side. A motor cover 15 that protects the motor 7 is attached to the right side surface of the cover 2B.

A ball inlet 4, which is an inlet of the ball supply passage 3, is formed on the upper surface of the case 2, and a ball payout outlet 5, which is an exit of the ball supply passage 3, is formed on the bottom surface of the case 2. At the ball payout outlet 5, a counting sensor 11 for counting the number of game balls that have passed through the ball payout outlet 5 is arranged (see FIG. 5).

Further, on the bottom surface of the case 2, a ball ejection port 6 is formed along with the ball payout outlet 5. The ball ejection port 6 is an outlet of the ball discharge passage 8 provided by branching from the ball supply passage 3. The ball discharge passage 8 is opened by pulling out the ball pulling member 12 whose outer peripheral wall surface 12a functions as a passage wall of the ball supply passage 3 from the base 2A and communicates with the ball supply passage 3. A partition wall 40 that separates the ball discharge passage 8 and the lower ball passage 32 is provided between the ball discharge passage 8 and the lower ball passage 32 that forms the ball payout passage, which will be described later. The partition wall 40 is provided above the counting sensor 11.

In the normal state (ball payout state) of the ball pulling member 12, the outer peripheral wall surface 12a forms a part of the passage wall of the ball supply passage 3 and guides the game ball in the ball supply passage 3 to the ball payout outlet 5. In the ball pulling state, the ball pulling member 12 opens the ball discharging passage 8 for guiding the game ball of the ball supply passage 3 to the ball pulling port 6 without the outer peripheral wall surface 12a forming a part of the passage wall of the ball supply passage 3. .. A grip portion 12b that is gripped by an operator at the time of pulling out is provided on the surface of the ball pulling member 12 on the side to be pulled out.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the ball payout device 1. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 7 and 8 are cross-sectional views of the ball payout device 1 as viewed from the operation surface side.

As shown in FIG. 7, the ball supply passage 3 is formed in a state where the game ball is allowed to flow down by one row. The ball payout outlet 5 is displaced to the motor 7 side (on the right side when viewed from the operation surface side) by about half the width of the passage with respect to the ball inlet 4. The ball supply passage 3 allows the game ball to flow down to the side along the axial direction of the screw 10 in a plan view of the ball payout device 1 from above, in this example, to the operation surface side of the screw 10. ..

Specifically, the ball supply passage 3 includes an upper ball passage 31 that causes the game ball that has flowed in from the ball inlet 4 to flow down into the screw 10, and a lower ball passage 32 that causes the game ball that is sent out from the screw 10 to flow down. It has a curved passage 33 connecting the upper ball passage 31 and the lower ball passage 32. In this example, the upper ball passage 31 is slightly inclined to the left (to the left when viewed from the operation surface side) from the ball entrance 4 toward the curved passage 33, but is inclined from the ball entrance 4 to the curved passage 33. It may be a configuration that extends without doing anything.

The passage wall on the left side of the lower part of the upper ball passage 31 and the curved passage 33 when viewed from the operation surface side is composed of the outer peripheral wall surface 12a of the ball removing member 12. By pulling out the ball removing member 12 from the operation surface side, the ball supply passage 3 and the ball discharge passage 8 communicate with each other. Although not shown, the lower ball passage 32 is inclined toward the facing surface side from the curved passage 33 to the ball payout outlet 5.

As shown in FIG. 8, the screw 10 has a configuration in which a spiral protrusion 22 is provided on the outer periphery of the shaft portion 21, and is arranged in a substantially horizontal direction (horizontally placed) with the axial direction as the left-right direction. The screw 10 has end portions on both sides of the shaft portion 21 rotatably supported by two bearings 23 and 23. One end of the shaft portion 21 of the screw 10 is coaxially connected to the motor shaft 7a of the motor 7 via the joint member 24, and is rotationally driven by the motor 7.

The screw 10 is arranged on the facing surface side of the ball supply passage 3, and is arranged in the curved passage 33 so as to cross the ball supply passage 3. The screw 10 stops the flow of the game ball by bringing the spiral protrusion 22 into contact with the game ball flowing down the upper ball passage 31 from the facing surface side at the portion of the curved passage 33 (standby). Hereinafter, the position where the flow of the game ball is stopped and made to stand by is referred to as a ball waiting position.

The screw 10 is rotationally driven to move the waiting game ball along the axial direction of the screw 10 to the right side when viewed from the operation surface side. The game ball moved from the ball standby position to the ball release position (release point) described later by the rotational drive of the screw 10 is released from the standby position by the screw 10 and sent out to the lower ball passage 32.

Further, in the state where the screw 10 is stopped at the home position, the lower ball passage 32 is blocked by the spiral protrusion 22, and the portion of the spiral protrusion 22 blocking the lower ball passage 32 allows the game ball to be discharged from the ball discharge passage 8. It also functions as a guide member to guide the driver.

(Payout operation of ball payout device 1)
9A and 9B are views showing a normal state in which the ball payout device 1 is capable of payout operation, and FIG. 9A is a perspective view of the ball payout device 1 with the base 2A removed, as viewed from the operation surface side, (b). ) Is a front view of the ball payout device 1 with the base 2A removed as viewed from the operation surface side. In FIG. 9, the screw 10 is located in the home position.

As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, under the normal state, the spiral protrusion 22 of the screw 10 blocks the lower ball passage 32 connected to the ball payout outlet 5. This position is also a position where the spiral protrusion 22 of the screw 10 guides (guides) the game ball R to the ball discharge passage 8. Further, the ball removing member 12 closes the ball discharging passage 8, and the outer peripheral wall surface 12a of the ball removing member 12 guides the game ball R to the lower ball passage 32. During the payout operation, the spiral protrusion 22 in contact with the game ball R is sent to the front side of the passage by the rotation of the screw 10, and the ball is released to the lower ball passage 32 forming the ball payout passage at a predetermined point. To.

More specifically, the game ball R continuously flows into the ball supply passage 3 from the ball entrance 4. The flow of the leading (most downstream) game ball R of the inflowing game ball R abuts on the spiral protrusion 22 of the screw 10 in the curved passage 33 and is made to stand by. This position is the ball standby position where the game ball R is made to stand by, and is the home position (predetermined rotation position) of the screw 10. When the screw 10 is rotationally driven, the stopped leading game ball R moves downward (diagonally downward to the right) along the screw 10 while moving to the right when viewed from the operation surface side. Then, when the ball release position is reached, the ball is released from the screw 10 and sent out to the lower ball passage 32.

In this example, one pitch of the screw 10 (one pitch of the spiral protrusion 22) is set to 7 mm, which is smaller than the diameter of the game ball R of 11 mm. One pitch of the screw corresponds to the distance at which the game ball R in the ball standby position is paid out and the next game ball R reaches the standby position. The release point (ball release position) is designed at a position where the screw 10 is rotated by 270 ° from the home position with reference to the home position of the screw 10 that makes the game ball R stand by. Although it is set to 7 mm in this example, one pitch of the screw 10 can be realized even if it is less than 7 mm. Of course, one pitch of the screw 10 can be a pitch of 7 mm or more.

10 and 11 are explanatory views showing a payout operation of the ball payout device 1. In FIGS. 10 and 11, the cross-sectional view shown in the upper part corresponds to the cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 6, and the cross-sectional view shown in the lower part corresponds to the cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in the upper part C. -C sectional view taken along the line C. In FIGS. 10 and 11, the first game ball is referred to as R1, and the second game ball adjacent thereto is referred to as R2.

The screw 10 rotates 360 ° in 6 sets with the home position as the origin and 60 ° as one set. The rotation direction is the arrow direction shown in the cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 10, and is counterclockwise when the ball payout device 1 is viewed from the side opposite to the side where the motor 7 is arranged. One set corresponds to a step angle of 15 ° × 4 steps of the motor 7 (stepping motor).

Every time the screw 10 rotates one set, the leading game ball R1 moves diagonally to the lower right. The second game ball R2 also moves together with the first game ball R1. In the middle of the rotation of the fifth set (240 ° to 300 °), the screw 10 reaches 270 ° from the home position, and the leading game ball R1 is released from the screw 10. That is, the distance between the tip of the motor 7 side (right side) portion of the spiral protrusion 22 of the screw 10 and the passage wall of the ball supply passage 3 becomes larger than the diameter of the game ball R of 11 mm, and the game ball R1 is a lower ball. It is sent out to the passage 32. At this time, the second game ball R2 comes into contact with the portion of the spiral protrusion 22 of the screw 10 opposite to the motor 7 side (left side). The distance between the tip of the opposite portion at this position and the passage wall of the ball supply passage 3 is smaller than the diameter of the game ball R of 11 mm. Therefore, the flow of the second game ball R2 is stopped, and the movement of the second game ball R2 is restricted by the screw 10. When the screw 10 finishes the rotation of the sixth set (300 ° to 360 °) and reaches the home position, the second game ball R2 reaches the ball standby position. At this point, the leading game ball R1 is discharged from the ball payout outlet 5 through the lower ball passage 32.

As described above, the ball payout device 1 of this example rotates the screw 10 N times according to the payout number N indicated by the payout signal based on the payout signal from the gaming machine 100, that is, for N × 6 sets. By rotating, the number of game balls R ordered by the payout signal is paid out.

When a stepping motor having a step angle of 18 ° is used as the motor 7, for example, 72 ° of 18 ° × 4 steps is set as one set, and the screw 10 is rotated once in 5 sets, for example, the 4th set. A release point may be provided in the middle of rotation. Further, it is not necessary to set the position where the release point is provided one set before the screw 10 returns to the home position. For example, a release point may be set before 21 sets returning to the home position or in the middle of a set reaching the home position.

(Ball removal structure of ball payout device 1)
The ball pulling structure of the ball payout device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9, 10, 12, and 13. FIG. 12 is a front view of the ball payout device 1 in a state where the ball ejection member 12 is pulled out and the ball discharge passage 8 is opened, as viewed from the operation surface side. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. 12, showing a state in which the screw 10 is in the home position.

As shown in FIG. 13, with the screw 10 in the home position, the distance W1 between the tip of the spiral protrusion 22 and the passage wall of the ball supply passage 3 is set to be smaller than the diameter (11 mm) of the game ball R. ing. As a result, the lower ball passage 32 following the ball payout exit 5 is blocked, and the game ball R cannot pass through the lower ball passage 32.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the ball pulling member 12 receives the load of the stopped game ball R on the outer peripheral wall surface 12a, and the end portion of the outer peripheral wall surface 12a in the direction in which the screw 10 sends out the game ball R is formed. It is located in the delivery direction from the position of the center of gravity of the stopped game ball R.

When the ball removing member 12 is pulled out in this state, the ball discharging passage 8 is opened, and the ball supply passage 3 and the ball discharging passage 8 communicate with each other. The ball discharge passage 8 has a passage width W2 larger than the diameter (11 mm) of the game ball R. When the ball discharge passage 8 is opened, the game ball R, which is in contact with the tip of the spiral protrusion 22 and whose movement is restricted, moves (falls) to the ball discharge passage 8 and passes through the ball discharge passage 8. It is discharged from the ball ejection port 6.

As shown in FIG. 12, the spiral protrusion 22 of the screw 10 is designed so as not to come into contact with the game ball R entering the ball discharge passage 8 and restrict its movement.

Here, the ball discharge passage 8 and the ball supply passage 3 are designed so that the game ball R whose movement is restricted always enters the open ball discharge passage 8 when the screw 10 is in the home position. Has been done. However, this is not the case when the screw 10 is in a position other than the home position.

This will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11 described above. As shown in FIG. 10, with the screw 10 in the home position, the second game ball R2 is loaded on the right side (viewed from the operation surface side) of the leading game ball R1. As a result, a force is acting on the leading game ball R1 to push it to the left side where the ball discharge passage 8 is located due to the load from the game ball R on the downstream side. Therefore, when the ball pulling member 12 is pulled out in this state, the leading game ball R1 is pushed out to the ball discharge passage 8, and the subsequent game ball R is also pushed out into the ball discharge passage 8.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, when the screw 10 moves one set from the home position, the second game ball R2 is loaded on the left side of the leading game ball R1. As a result, a force that pushes the lower ball passage 32 to the right side where the lower ball passage 32 is located acts on the leading game ball R1 due to the load from the game ball R on the downstream flow side, contrary to the state in which the ball is in the home position. Even if 12 is pulled out, it is difficult to be pushed out to the ball discharge passage 8. However, even in this state, if the leading game ball R1 is taken into the ball discharge passage 8 by applying a physical force, the subsequent game balls R are also pushed out into the ball discharge passage 8.

In the state where the screw 10 has moved 3 sets or 4 sets from the home position, the center of gravity of the leading game ball R1 has already moved above the ball discharge passage 8 and above the lower ball passage 32. Therefore, even if the ball pulling member 12 is pulled out in this state, the leading game ball R1 does not fall into the ball discharging passage 8. The movement of the second game ball R2 is also restricted by the first game ball R1, and the ball does not go out to the ball discharge passage 8.

When the screw 10 is set 5 times from the home position, the game ball R can be pulled out by pulling out the ball pulling member 12 as in the case where the screw 10 is in the home position.

As described above, in the above configuration, by deliberately adopting a passage structure in which the game ball R in the ball supply passage 3 cannot be pulled out even when the ball is pulled out, there is no margin, and the ball is irrespective of the rotation position of the screw when stopped. It is possible to reduce the external dimensions of the ball payout device 1 as compared with the configuration that can be pulled out. Even if the configuration is extremely tight, the control unit 110, which will be described later, reliably stops the screw 10 at the home position, so that the game ball R can be pulled out without any problem.

(Control of ball payout device 1)
FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a control system that controls the ball payout device 1. As shown in FIG. 14, the motor 7 and the counting sensor 11 of the ball payout device 1 are connected to the control unit 110 included in the gaming machine 100. The control unit 110 has a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like, and incorporates a control unit capable of executing various arithmetic processes according to a program stored in the ROM in advance. A control unit connected to the gaming machine 100 and controlling the drive of the screw 10 may be provided inside the ball payout device 1.

The signal indicating the detection result output from the counting sensor 11 is input to the control unit 110. When the counting sensor 11 detects the game ball R, an ON signal is input to the control unit 110. Further, the motor 7 is controlled to supply electric power based on a command signal output from the control unit 110 to a drive circuit (not shown). The control unit 110 receives a payout signal from another control unit (not shown) that manages the prize ball, and controls the motor 7 based on the received payout signal. The control unit 110 drives the motor 7 so that the screw 10 always stops at the home position.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of payout control executed in the ball payout device 1. FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the initialization operation in the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 17 is a flowchart of the payout operation in the flowchart of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 15, when the power of the gaming machine 100 is turned on and the power of the ball payout device 1 is turned on, the control unit 110 determines whether or not the first payout signal is received after the power is turned on (. S1). When the control unit 110 determines that the first payout signal has been received after the power is turned on, the control unit 110 proceeds to the next S2 and executes the initialization operation.

As shown in FIG. 16, in the initialization operation, the control unit 110 controls the motor 7 to rotate the screw 10 by one set (60 °) (S11). Next, the process proceeds to S12, and it is determined whether or not an ON signal has been input from the counting sensor 11. That is, it is determined whether or not the counting sensor 11 has detected the game ball R. When the control unit 110 determines that the ON signal has not been input, the control unit 110 returns to S11 and further rotates the screw 10 by one set (60 °). The control unit 110 repeats S11 and S12 until it is determined that the ON signal has been input in S12. When the control unit 110 determines that the ON signal has been input in S12, the control unit 110 proceeds to the next S13, and determines the position where the screw 10 is swept and rotated by one set as the home position of the screw 10. This ends the initialization operation.

Returning to FIG. 15, the control unit 110 proceeds to S3 when the initialization operation is completed, and sets the number of rotations of the screw 10 to a value obtained by subtracting 1 from the number of payouts commanded by the payout signal received in S1. This is a process of subtracting one already paid out in the initialization operation of S2. When the number of rotations of the screw 10 is set, the process proceeds to S4 to execute the payout operation of the game ball.

As shown in FIG. 17, in the payout operation of the game ball, the control unit 110 controls the motor 7 to rotate the screw 10 by a set number (S21). For example, if the set number is "12", the screw 10 is rotated 12 times to pay out 12 game balls R. After paying out the last game ball R, the control unit 110 always stops the screw 10 at the home position.

When the screw 10 is rotated by the set number, the control unit 110 proceeds to the next S22 and determines whether or not the game ball R corresponding to the set number is detected by the counting sensor. That is, it is determined whether or not the ON signal is input from the counting sensor 11 according to the set number.

When the control unit 110 determines that the game ball R corresponding to the set number has been detected by the counting sensor, the control unit 110 ends the payout operation and proceeds to S5 in FIG. On the other hand, if it is determined that the game ball R corresponding to the set number has not been detected by the counting sensor, the process proceeds to S23, and it is determined whether or not the predetermined time has elapsed. When it is determined in S23 that the predetermined time has elapsed, the retry operation is started, and the process proceeds to S24 to perform the initialization operation.

When the initialization operation is completed, the process proceeds to the next S25, the number of rotations of the screw 10 is reset to a value obtained by subtracting the number already paid out from the set value, and then the process returns to S21. For example, the value set in S6 of FIG. 15 is "20", and the number of ON signals detected in S22 is "12". In this case, in S25, the number of rotations of the screw 10 is reset to the value "7" obtained by subtracting the one paid out in the initialization operation and the twelve already paid out.

Although not particularly described in the flowcharts of FIGS. 15 to 17, a step for detecting the power off of the ball payout device 1 is appropriately inserted, and when the power off is detected, the routine shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15 is performed. finish.

(Ball removal operation of ball payout device 1)
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a ball pulling state in which the ball paying operation is performed in the ball paying device 1, and FIG. 18A is a perspective view of the ball paying device 1 in a state where the base 2A is removed, as viewed from the operation surface side. b) is a front view of the ball payout device 1 with the base 2A removed as viewed from the operation surface side.

As shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B, in the ball pulling state, the ball pulling member 12 is pulled out to open the ball discharging passage 8, and the game ball R is guided by the spiral protrusion 22 of the screw 10. Lead to the discharge passage 8. At this time, the lower ball passage 32 connected to the ball payout outlet 5 is blocked by the spiral protrusion 22, and the game ball R is not discharged to the lower ball passage 32 side.

In the ball-pulled state, the rotation position of the screw 10 is controlled by the control unit 110, and the spiral protrusion 22 of the screw 10 surely closes the lower ball passage 32 and guides the contacted game ball R to the ball discharge passage 8. It is operated so as to be in a predetermined rotation position. As the predetermined rotation position, in this example, as described above, the ball standby position in which the game ball R is made to stand by in a payable state, that is, the home position of the screw 10 is set. Not only in the ball payout device using the screw, but also in the ball payout device using the sprocket, after finishing the payout of the game ball, both the screw and the sprocket always stand by at the home position so that the next payout can be performed promptly. ..

Therefore, except for the drive stop due to an unexpected situation such as a power failure, the screw and the sprocket are always in the home position when the ball needs to be pulled out. Therefore, by setting the predetermined rotation position as the home position, the control of the existing screw of the ball payout device can be used as it is.

As described above, in the ball payout device 1, it is not necessary for the ball supply passage 3 to have a shape for guiding the ball discharge passage 83, and the freedom of the passage configuration can be increased. Further, since the spiral protrusion 22 has sufficient strength as compared with the above-mentioned tongue piece-shaped ball pulling guide member, it is durable even if it is used as a member for guiding the game ball to the ball discharge passage 8. No problem. Further, with the above configuration, the ball discharge passage 8 can be provided side by side with the lower ball passage 32 forming the ball discharge passage, so that a space for providing the ball discharge passage is secured on the side of the ball discharge device. There is no need.

Moreover, the ball pulling member 12 and the ball supply passage 3 discharge the game ball in contact with the portion of the spiral protrusion 22 that is blocking the lower ball passage 32 only when the screw 10 is stopped at a predetermined rotation position. Since the structure is extremely tight, such as accepting the ball in the passage 8, the external dimensions of the ball payout device 1 can be made extremely small.

Even if the configuration is extremely tight, the control unit 110 reliably stops the screw at a predetermined rotation position, so that the game ball can be pulled out without any problem.

(Modification example)
FIG. 19 is a front view of the ball payout device 1'of the modified example in which the base 2A is removed from the operation surface side, and FIG. 19A is a view showing a normal state in which the payout operation is possible, and FIG. ) Is a diagram showing a ball-free state.

In the above-mentioned example, the upper ball passage 31 is slightly inclined to the left, but as shown in FIG. 19, it can also be formed linearly.

[Embodiment 2]
Hereinafter, other embodiments of one aspect of the present invention will be illustrated with reference to FIGS. 20 to 24. For convenience of explanation, the same reference numerals are given to the members having the same functions as the members described in the above embodiment, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

As described above, in the case of the ball payout device 1 of the first embodiment, at the position where the screw 10 has moved 3 sets or 4 sets from the home position, even if the ball pulling member 12 is pulled out, the game ball R cannot be pulled out. (See FIGS. 10 and 11). Here, the state in which the game ball R cannot be extracted will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 20 (a) and 20 (b).

FIG. 20A is a perspective view showing a state in which the ball pulling member 12 is pulled out at a position where the screw 10 in the ball payout device 1 is moved by 3 sets from the home position, as viewed from the operation surface side, and FIG. 20B is a perspective view thereof. It is a front view which looked at the state from the operation surface side. Note that, in FIGS. 20A and 20B, the base 2A is removed, and in FIG. 20B, the ball removing member 12 is also removed.

As shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B, the center of gravity of the leading game ball R1 is on the lower ball passage 32 at the position where the screw 10 has moved three sets. Therefore, even if the ball pulling member 12 is pulled out, the leading game ball R1 does not fall into the ball discharging passage 8. At this time, the leading game ball R1 abuts on the spiral protrusion 22 of the screw 10 and the partition wall 40 and is stopped.

When the leading game ball R1 stops at such a position, the distance L1 between the lower end portion 41a of the passage wall 41 on the ball entrance 4 side of the ball supply passage 3 and the leading game ball R1 is larger than the diameter of the game ball R. small. Therefore, the second game ball R2 cannot escape to the ball discharge passage 8. The passage wall 41 constitutes the passage wall of the ball supply passage 3 continuously with the outer peripheral wall surface 12a of the ball removing member 12. By pulling out the ball pulling member 12, the lower end portion 41a of the passage wall 41 becomes the entrance of the ball discharge passage 8. Although not shown, the same applies to the position where the screw 10 is moved by 4 sets.

Even if the screw 10 stops at such a position where the screw 10 has moved 3 sets or 4 sets for some reason, the game ball R can be taken out by moving the screw 10 to the home position.

The ball payout device 50 of the present embodiment reliably pulls out the ball pulling member 51 regardless of the stop position of the screw 10, that is, even when the screw is stopped at a position where the screw has moved 3 sets or 4 sets. It is configured so that R can be extracted.

21 (a) is a perspective view of a state in which the ball pulling member 51 is pulled out at a position where the screw 10 in the ball payout device 50 is moved by 3 sets from the home position, as viewed from the operation surface side, and (b) is this. It is a front view which looked at the state from the operation surface side. In addition, in (a) and (b) of FIG. 21, the base 2A is removed, and in (b) of FIG. ..

As shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B, the ball payout device 50 includes a ball pulling member 51 instead of the ball pulling member 12. The ball removing member 51 has a ball supporting portion 51d. The ball supporting portion 51d is located at a position where the partition wall 40 is provided in the ball payout device 1 in the ball pulling state in which the ball pulling member 51 is pulled out (see (a) of FIG. 20). In the ball payout device 50, the partition wall 40 is not provided. These points are the main differences between the ball payout device 1 and the ball payout device 50 of the first embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the ball removing member 51. As shown in FIG. 22, the ball pulling member 51 has an outer peripheral wall surface 51a and a grip portion 51b corresponding to the outer peripheral wall surface 12a and the grip portion 12b, similarly to the ball pulling member 12. The difference between the ball pulling member 51 and the ball pulling member 12 is that the ball pulling member 51 includes an extension wall 51c and a ball supporting portion 51d.

The extension wall 51c extends downward from the lower end of the outer peripheral wall surface 51a. The extension wall 51c has a length extending to the vicinity of the upper surface of the counting sensor 11 (see (a) in FIG. 21), and functions as a partition wall separating the ball discharge passage 8 and the lower ball passage 32 in the ball payout state.

The ball supporting portion 51d is provided at the tip end portion of the extension portion 51e extending from the lower end portion of the extension wall 51c to the back side opposite to the operation surface on which the grip portion 51b is provided. As shown in FIGS. 21 (a) and 21 (b), the ball supporting portion 51d closes the lower ball passage 32 in the ball-pulled state in which the ball-pulling member 51 is pulled out, and supports the game ball R. The ball supporting portion 51d supports the lower ball passage 32 at a position closer to the ball payout outlet 5 than the position where the screw 10 blocks the lower ball passage 32 with the spiral protrusion 22.

In the present embodiment, the ball supporting portion 51d is provided integrally with the ball removing member 51. Therefore, it is possible to easily realize the interlocking with the movement of the ball removing member 51. However, it is not essential to provide the ball pulling member integrally with the ball pulling member 51, and it is sufficient if the ball pulling member is configured to block the lower ball passage 32 in conjunction with the ball pulling state, and is configured separately from the ball pulling member. It may have been done.

Further, in the present embodiment, the ball supporting portion 51d is formed in the shape of a tongue piece protruding toward the lower ball passage 32 at the tip end portion of the extending portion 51e. Then, as shown in FIGS. 21 (a) and 21 (b), the ball-supporting portion 51d has an inclination on the surface (upper surface) that supports the game ball R1 so as to be lowered toward the ball discharge passage 8. As a result, the ball supporting portion 51d can feed the supported game ball R1 into the ball discharge passage 8 by rolling using the weight of the game ball R1.

(A) and (b) of FIG. 23 are views showing the positional relationship between the ball supporting portion 51d, the upper ball passage 31 and the lower ball passage 32 constituting the ball supply passage 3, and the ball discharge passage 8. FIG. 23 (a) shows a ball payout state, and FIG. 23 (b) shows a ball removal state.

As shown in FIG. 23A, in the ball payout state in which the ball pulling member 51 is not pulled out, the ball supporting portion 51d is located behind the upper ball passage 31 and the lower ball passage 32 shown by the broken line. is doing. Therefore, the flow of the game ball R flowing down from the upper ball passage 31 to the lower ball passage 32 is not hindered. In this state, the extension wall 51c of the ball removing member 51 functions as a partition wall separating the lower ball passage 32 and the ball discharge passage 8.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 23 (b), in the ball payout state in which the ball pulling member 51 is pulled out, the ball supporting portion 51d is located in the lower ball passage 32 so as to block the lower ball passage 32. Therefore, when the ball pulling member 51 is pulled out, if the center of gravity of the leading game ball R1 is on the lower ball passage 32 side, the leading game ball R1 falls on the ball supporting portion 51d and is supported.

FIGS. 24A and 24B are views for explaining a ball pulling operation in which the ball pulling member 51 is pulled out at a position where the screw 10 is moved by 3 sets from the home position in the ball payout device 50, and FIG. 24A is a diagram. It shows before pulling out the ball pulling member 51, and (b) shows the state which pulled out the ball pulling member 51. In (a) and (b) of FIG. 24, the base 2A is removed, and in (b) of FIG. 24, the description of the portion other than the ball-supporting portion 51d of the ball-pulling member 51 is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 24A, the center of gravity of the leading game ball R1 is on the lower ball passage 32 at the position where the screw 10 has moved three sets. Therefore, when the ball pulling member 51 is pulled out in this state, the leading game ball R1 falls to the lower ball passage 32 side as shown in FIG. 24 (b). However, since the ball supporting portion 51d blocks the lower ball passage 32 in conjunction with the pulling-out operation of the ball pulling member 51, the leading game ball R1 is supported (held) on the ball supporting portion 51d without reaching the counting sensor 11. ).

When the leading game ball R1 falls on the ball supporting portion 51d, the distance L2 between the lower end portion 41a of the passage wall 41 and the leading game ball R1 becomes larger than the diameter of the game ball R. As a result, the second game ball R2 can escape to the ball discharge passage 8, and the subsequent game ball R also exits to the ball discharge passage 8. When all the second and subsequent game balls R are discharged, the leading game ball R1 rolls on the slope of the upper surface of the ball supporting portion 51d and is discharged to the ball discharge passage 8.

In this embodiment, the upper surface of the ball supporting portion 51d is provided with an inclination that becomes lower toward the ball discharging passage 8. However, the ball supporting portion 51d need only have a function of blocking the lower ball passage 32 and supporting and holding the leading game ball R1. Therefore, the upper surface of the ball supporting portion 51d may be flat. In that case, after all the second and subsequent game balls R have been ejected, the first game ball R1 may be taken out by hooking a finger or the like.

Further, although not shown, an opening is formed in the passage wall on the inner side of the lower ball passage 32 through which the ball supporting portion 51d appears and disappears in the lower ball passage 32. Since such an opening is a step formed in the passage wall, the possibility of affecting the movement of the game ball R flowing down the lower ball passage 32 is not zero.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 24 (b), the ball supporting portion 51d is configured to protrude into the lower ball passage 32 with a dimension smaller than half the passage width of the lower ball passage 32. With such a configuration, the opening for the ball supporting portion 51d to appear and disappear is formed in a portion other than the portion where the game ball R comes into contact, and the influence of the step can be completely eliminated.

As described above, according to the configuration of the ball payout device 50 of the present embodiment, the ball support that blocks the lower ball passage 32 and supports the leading game ball R1 in conjunction with the ball pulling member being in the ball pulling state. A portion 51d is provided. As a result, the game ball R can be reliably pulled out by pulling out the ball pulling member 51 regardless of the stop position of the screw 10.

Finally, the durability of the tongue piece-shaped member protruding so as to close the ball payout outlet of Patent Document 2 described above is compared with the durability of the ball supporting portion 51d. The tongue piece-shaped member of Patent Document 2 needs to be durable because it receives all the game balls to be pulled out when the game balls are pulled out. On the other hand, in the case of the ball supporting portion 51d, when the game ball is taken out, only the leading game ball R1 is received and supported. Therefore, unlike the tongue piece-shaped member of Patent Document 2, a large impact that a plurality of game balls collide with each other is not received, and the number of times the game balls come into contact with each other is overwhelmingly small. Therefore, durability is not an issue.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and the embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in the different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1 Ball payout device 2 Case 2A Base 2B Cover 3 Ball supply passage (ball passage)
4 Ball inlet 5 Ball payout outlet 7 Motor 7a Motor shaft 8 Ball discharge passage 10 Screw 11 Counting sensor 12 Ball pulling member 12a Outer wall surface 14 Screw cover 15 Motor cover 21 Shaft 22 Spiral protrusion 23/23 Bearing 31 Upper ball passage 32 Lower ball passage (ball payout passage)
33 Curved passage 50 Ball payout device 51 Ball extraction member 51a Outer wall surface 51c Extension wall 51d Ball support part 100 Game machine 109 Game board 110 Control part

Claims (9)

A screw that is provided with a spiral protrusion on the outer circumference of the shaft and is arranged in a substantially horizontal direction to send the game ball in the ball passage to the ball payout outlet.
In the ball payout state, the outer peripheral wall surface forms a part of the passage wall of the ball passage to guide the game ball in the ball passage to the ball payout exit, and in the ball removal state, the outer peripheral wall surface forms the passage of the ball passage. A ball removal member that opens a ball discharge passage that guides the game ball in the ball passage to the ball removal port without forming a part of the wall.
A control unit that controls the drive of the screw is provided.
The screw is stopped at a predetermined rotation position, and the spiral protrusion closes the ball payout passage communicating with the ball payout outlet in the ball passage.
In the ball pulling member and the ball passage, when the screw is stopped at a predetermined rotation position, a game ball in contact with a portion of the spiral protrusion blocking the ball payout passage is used for ejecting the ball. Formed to enter the aisle,
When the screw is stopped, the control unit stops the screw at the predetermined rotation position.
The ball passage has an upper ball passage through which a flowing game ball flows laterally along the axial direction of the screw from a substantially vertical direction in a plan view.
The ball payout passage and the upper ball passage are connected by a curved passage curved downward.
The screw is a ball payout device arranged so as to cross the curved passage in a front view . The ball removing member receives the load of the game ball stopped in contact with the blocked portion on the outer peripheral wall surface, and the end portion of the outer peripheral wall surface in the direction in which the screw sends out the game ball is the end portion. The ball payout device according to claim 1, which is located in the direction of feeding out from the position of the center of gravity of the stopped game ball. A ball that supports a game ball by blocking the ball payout passage at a position closer to the ball payout outlet than the screw closing with the spiral protrusion in conjunction with the ball pulling member being in the ball pulling state. The ball payout device according to claim 2, further comprising a carrier. The ball dispensing device according to claim 3, wherein the ball supporting portion is integrally provided with the ball removing member. The ball dispensing device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the ball-carrying portion has an inclination toward the ball discharging passage on the surface on which the game ball is supported. The ball payout device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the predetermined rotation position is a home position where the game ball sent out by the screw to the ball payout outlet is on standby. A measurement sensor for measuring a game ball is provided at the ball payout exit.
The ball payout device according to claim 6, wherein the control unit sequentially rotates the screw at a predetermined angle, and at that time, uses the detection result of the measurement sensor to determine the home position. The screw abuts the spiral protrusion from the side along the axial direction with respect to the game ball flowing in from the upper ball passage to stop the flow and make it stand by for rotation. The ball payout device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the game ball that has been made to stand by is moved along the axial direction and sent out to the ball payout passage. A gaming machine provided with the ball payout device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

Images